Gymnastics in PE: 20 Educational Gymnastics Skills and Safety Tips for Elementary Students
Updated: 3 days ago
Educational gymnastics and tumbling give students a fun, exciting way to learn new movement skills, both moving and still. They build coordination, agility, balance, strength, flexibility, and body control. As students link balances, rolls, and jumps into sequences, they build endurance and creativity, too. Gymnastics also gets students active and working together.
Pics by Kelly Brown @LovePrimaryPE
Quick Answer: Educational gymnastics in PE teaches jumps, crawls and animal walks, rolls, and balances in a safe, step-by-step way. Start with simple skills like tuck jumps, bear crawls, egg rolls, and V-sits, then progress to forward rolls, tripods, and shoulder stands. Always warm up, use mats, keep lines short, and supervise closely.
Gymnastics doesn't get much attention in most teacher training programs, so it can feel intimidating to teach. This post will help you teach it with confidence. You'll find benefits, safety tips, and 20 educational gymnastics skills you can use in your PE lessons right away.
Pic by Kelly Brown @LovePrimaryPE
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Why Teach Gymnastics in PE?
There are lots of great reasons to include gymnastics in your PE program. Creating tumbling sequences lets students be creative, have fun, and build confidence. Gymnastics teaches new movement skills, improves coordination and agility, and keeps students fit. It also helps with posture, focus, self-discipline, and perseverance.
Here are six more benefits of including a gymnastics unit in PE:
6 Benefits of Educational Gymnastics
1. Builds Strength: Gymnastics builds muscle strength, which supports overall health. My muscular strength post has more ways to build it.
2. Improves Flexibility: Gymnastics improves flexibility, which helps students stay active and lowers the risk of injury. It also helps them move with more agility and coordination in other activities. Check out my flexibility post for more ideas.
3. Improves Balance: Gymnastics helps students control their bodies and muscles, which improves balance, both when they hold still and when they move. Good balance is important in almost every sport.
4. Builds Coordination: Gymnastics uses lots of different movement patterns, so students learn to coordinate their bodies and move efficiently.
5. Teaches Self-Discipline: Learning gymnastics skills shows students the value of practice and hard work in reaching their goals.
6. Builds Confidence: Mastering new gymnastics skills helps students feel proud of what they can do, and working with partners teaches them to cooperate on movement tasks.
Educational Gymnastics Stations Video
Does Teaching Educational Gymnastics Help Address PE Standards?
Yes! Gymnastics is a fun way to get students active, and it helps them master coordination, balance, and strength. The activities in this post line up directly with SHAPE America's Standard 1: Develops a variety of motor skills.* The gymnastics skills you choose can easily line up with your national, state, or district standards.
Tips for Teaching Gymnastics in PE
Here are some tips for bringing gymnastics into your PE lessons:
Know Your Students: Plan skills that fit your students' age and ability so every student stays safe. Keep any special needs or accommodations in mind.
Warm Up First: Start with light exercises and stretching to get muscles ready and lower the risk of injury.
Put Safety First: Supervise closely, and make sure every gymnastics skill is done on mats or padded surfaces.
Pic by Tanner Roos @Mr RoosPE
Keep It Simple: Start with basic skills like jumping, crawling, balancing, and rolling. Once students master the basics, you can introduce harder skills like cartwheels or handstands.
Limit the Lines: Keep mat lines short so students spend more time moving. Spread students out across the gym so they aren't moving too close to each other.
Teach Step by Step and Offer Choice: Break each skill into small steps. Let students choose skills that fit their level, with harder challenges for students who are ready and simpler options for those who need more support.
Use Demonstrations and Visuals: Show each skill and use pictures, posters, or videos to back up your directions.
Keep It Fun and Creative: Add creative challenges and equipment like beanbags, scarves, hula hoops, or balance beams. Music and games help keep students motivated, and partner tasks build teamwork.
Video by Brooke Gustavel and Ami Crawford @TESPhysEd
Give Positive Feedback: Praise students when they perform skills well. It builds confidence and makes gymnastics more fun.
20 Educational Gymnastics Skills to Teach
These 20 educational gymnastics skills are easy to teach and organized into four groups: jumps, crawls and animal walks, rolls, and balances and inverts. Use them in any gymnastics or tumbling lesson. My 10 Ways to Move on a Tumbling Mat poster is a great visual to go with them.
Students can practice on their own, or work in small groups at stations around the gym and take turns teaching each other. You can also lead the whole class through the skills together.
1. Jumps
Tuck Jump: Take off from 2 feet and bring your knees up to your chest. Touch your knees with your hands in the air. Land softly with bent knees, then repeat down the mat.
Star Jump: Take off from 2 feet and spread your arms and straight legs out to make a star shape in the air. Land softly with bent knees, then repeat down the mat.
Video by Christine Mason @LPESVB
Straddle Jump: Take off from 2 feet and kick your legs out to the sides in the air. Reach your hands toward your toes. Land softly with bent knees, then repeat down the mat.
Half Turn Jump: Start at the front of the mat facing forward. Take off from 2 feet, turn halfway around in the air, and land facing the direction you came from. Keep going down the mat.
Full Turn Jump: Start at the front of the mat facing forward. Take off from 2 feet, turn all the way around in the air, and land facing the same way you started. Keep going down the mat.
2. Crawls and Animal Walks
Army Crawl: Lie face down at the front of the mat. Stay low and move down the mat using your elbows and knees.
Bear Crawl: Walk down the mat on your hands and feet, keeping your knees off the mat.
Lame Dog Walk: Start on your hands and one foot. Move down the mat using both hands and one leg, with your other leg lifted behind you.
Seal Walk: Lie on your stomach with your hands on the mat. Use your arms to pull your body down the mat while your legs drag behind you.
Inchworm: Start in a push-up position. Keep your legs straight and walk your feet up to your hands. Then walk your hands back out to a push-up position. Repeat down the mat.
3. Rolls
Pencil Roll: Lie on your side with your arms stretched above your head. Keep your body tight and straight, and roll sideways down the mat.
Egg Roll: Lie on your side, hug your knees, and pull yourself into a tight ball. Stay in a ball and roll sideways down the mat.
Forward Roll: Start in a squat with your hands out in front. Tuck your chin to your chest. Place your hands on the mat, push with your legs, and roll over onto the back of your head and shoulders. Stay in a tight ball and let your momentum bring you back to your feet.
Fish Flop: Sit in an L-sit on the mat with your arms out to the sides. Turn your head to one side and roll back over the opposite shoulder, then flop over onto your belly with your body straight.
Backward Roll: Start in a squat with your back to the mat and your hands by your ears, palms up. Roll back until your hands touch the mat, then push evenly with your hands to lift your head as you roll over in a tight ball. Let your momentum bring you back to your feet.
4. Balances and Inverts
V-Sit Balance: Sit on the mat with your legs straight out in front. Lift your legs and arms at the same time to make a V shape. Hold as long as you can, rest, and try again.
2 and 3 Point Balances: Find your own space on the mat. Balance on 2 or 3 body parts and hold as long as you can. Try a variety of balance shapes.
Shoulder Stand: Sit in an L-sit with your arms by your sides. Roll back and lift your legs straight up in the air, resting on your upper back and shoulders. Keep your body tight and point your toes.
Pic by Christopher Sanders @SandersCB3
Tripod: Squat down and place your hands and the top front of your head on the mat to make a triangle (head in front). Slowly place your knees on your elbows and balance. Readjust if you start to tip.
Headstand: Start in a tripod. Slowly lift your legs straight up and keep your body tight. To come down, tuck your chin and roll out. Only try a headstand with your teacher's permission and a spotter.
Final Thoughts
Gymnastics can have a big impact on your students' physical, social, and emotional growth. It works for any age group and gives students a fun, challenging workout. With the tips and skills in this post, you can plan engaging gymnastics lessons that help your students for years to come. If you'd like a ready-to-go plan, my Educational Gymnastics Skills Unit includes 10 K-5 lesson plans, and my Gymnastics PE Bundle adds task cards and tumbling signs. My Forward Roll Rubrics, Backward Roll Rubrics, and Static Balance Rubrics make assessment simple.
Thanks for reading! I hope this post helps as you plan your gymnastics lessons. For more ideas, check out my posts on yoga in PE, locomotor skills, and non-locomotor skills. Which of these gymnastics skills will you teach first? Let me know in the comments below!
*National Physical Education Standards are used under license from SHAPE America. © 2024, SHAPE America, https://www.shapeamerica.org/. All rights reserved.
Need Resources?
Do you need PE Tumbling Mat Challenge Cards that make it easy to teach movements like the ones in this post? Would it help to have visuals with clear instructions and colorful graphics? Here's a set to help!
Fill in the form below to download 12 FREE PE Tumbling Mat Challenge Cards with a variety of gymnastics movement skills to use in your PE classes.
This PDF digital download includes 12 cards for teaching educational gymnastics. They make it easy to guide students through fun mat-based movements and give them chances to build jumping, crawling, rolling, balancing, and partner skills. For even more mat activities, check out my Tumbling Mat Task Cards on TPT.
This freebie set will give your PE curriculum a boost for years to come!
If you want to expand your gymnastics resources, check out my PE Educational Gymnastics Station Signs and Task Cards: 36 Instructional Visuals. This packet includes 36 printable signs and cards for teaching educational gymnastics and tumbling with a variety of teaching styles, like stations, peer teaching, and practice style. Each card shows and describes a specific jumping, crawling, rolling, or balancing skill commonly taught in a gymnastics or tumbling unit.
You can find it in my TPT store: PE Activity: Gymnastics Task Card Visuals for Elementary Phys Ed Lesson Plans
About Pete Charrette
Pete Charrette is a National Board Certified physical education teacher and former Georgia PE Teacher of the Year with more than 30 years of experience teaching elementary PE. He is the creator of Cap'n Pete's Power PE and has developed more than 1,000 PE and health resources used by teachers around the world. Pete loves helping PE teachers build programs their students enjoy.
