Rolls: pencil, egg, teddy bear
Ready when: Shapes and balances (b1) started.
What you are learning
The first rolls, all sideways or rocking: rocking on a round back, the pencil roll (long and straight), the egg roll (tucked tight) and the teddy bear roll. These come before the forward roll and teach the body to stay round and the chin tucked.
Words on this card Shapes, Body tension, Pencil roll, Forward roll
- Shapes
- Body shapes. Tuck: knees hugged to the chest. Pike: legs straight, folded at the hips. Straddle: legs straight and wide apart. Star: arms and legs spread wide. Straight: the body long and tight.
- Body tension
- Squeezing the whole body firm so it holds a shape.
- Pencil roll
- Sideways rolls. Pencil: long and straight. Egg: tucked tight. Teddy bear: sitting in a straddle, rolling round across the back to sit up again.
- Forward roll
- Rolling head over heels forward, or backward, with the chin tucked.
Show it first for the one teaching
- Sit tucked, hug the knees, chin on the chest, and rock back and forward on a round back.
- Pencil roll: lie long with the arms above the head and roll sideways along the mat.
- Egg roll: kneel tucked into a small ball and roll sideways.
- Teddy bear roll: sit in a straddle holding the legs, lean to one side, roll across the back and come up sitting on the other side.
Your part while they practise
Stay beside the mat; do not push the child over.
Step by step
- Rock back and forth on a round back, chin tucked.
- Pencil roll, both ways.
- Egg roll, tucked tight.
- Teddy bear roll round to sitting.
- Master these before the forward roll.
How much: 5 of each roll 8 min a session 3 days a week
Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.
The game: Roll call
You call a roll and the child shows it; a point for each one done tight.
Who plays: the child against their own best; you call.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- The child sits at one end of the mat
- Call "pencil", "egg", "teddy bear" or "rock"
- The child does that roll along the mat
- 10 calls
- Fair play
- A younger child is called the rock and egg only.
- Points
- 1 point for the right roll; 1 point if the body stays tight the whole way.
- Fouls
- No points for that roll
- The head touching the mat
- The tuck coming apart
- Rolling off the mat
- Winning
- Beat your best from 10 calls.
- 8 points for 1 star
- 14 points for 2 stars
- 18 points for 3 stars
Easier or harder
Slow, on a slight slope.
Roll to a stand.
What you will see, and what to say
- the body unfolds
Keep the tuck, like a ball
Hug the knees tight. - the head hits the mat
Chin on chest
Look at your belly button.
Self-check
5 egg rolls in a row staying tucked.
Stop and get a coach when
Neck pain.
Fitness for this
Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.
This card trains rolling, strength.
awiseathlete.com/sports/gymnastics/gymnastics-b3