Replies to This Discussion

StudentPermalink Reply by Miss Jacqui* on May 22, 2011 at 5:36pm

What ages will you be teaching? How you handle a class is very dependant on their age.

Permalink Reply by Kerry Mahoney on May 22, 2011 at 11:06pm

I agree that it depends on their age, I have never taught a class only of children, I mainly teach an adult hoopdance class, but I have done alot of family community events, so there are always kids of different ages there (from 3year olds-teenagers), so here goes....

Balloons!- Get them to pat balloons above their head or to each other while waist hooping (adults like this one too!)

Play fun music

Get them to stand in a circle holding hands loop a hoop over one of their shoulders and pass the hoop around their bodies without breaking the circle, if you have adults and kids get them to stand alternating adult/ kid and add progressively smaller hoops. The little kids will have an advantage and will love beating the adults!

Alot of younger ones are unable to waist hoop at first, get them to balance the hoop on their head and step through it with their arms out, and let it fall on the back of their neck, their arms will hold it it place behind them.

Knee hooping, tosses, arm hooping, jumps, skipping, roll the hoop along the ground and see how many can jump through (on grass)

Musical hoops (same as musical chairs)

Simon says

They all seem to want to do multiple hooping (we have alot of amazing circus hoopers in Aust) so if you have some lightweight hoops this is safer.

They all seem to want to do neck hooping, which I refuse to let them do as I don't want an excited kid pulling on a hoop while its round someones neck and some of my hoops are too heavy so its easier to have a blanket rule when dealing with kids. The groups I deal with are sometimes large though, so it may be different in a more formal class setting

Stick on name tags at first class, to get specific kids attention if needed (they like them anyway, depending on the age)!

I also started teaching soon after learning as I wanted to share hooping with my community and it's been a great learning experience for me too!

Good luck, have fun and I am sure it will go well!

 

Permalink Reply by Ele-Beth Little on May 23, 2011 at 2:07am

Thanks for all the advice!

A friend of mine who teaches a class mentioned a similar game to the one with balloons, I think she used balls, the idea being for them to be focusing on something other than the hoop so that becomes second nature?

 

The children who's details I've taken so far tend to be between age 8 and 12. Alot of them have played with hoops at school - there being hoops there to use at break times - so are comfortable with waist hooping and skipping, but haven't had anyone show them anything else.

Permalink Reply by Froggy on May 23, 2011 at 2:12am

ay i was in charge of teaching hooping to a whole primary school in 15-20 min slots per class so as you can imagine it was more than hectic.

how long are the lessons going to last?

Kerry i hope you don't mind if i use some of the things in your post in the future too? :) lol

i would make sure you have consent forms, telling the parents of the childen and the hoop students that hooping can cause bruising, have a slight risk of flying off and hitting others or themselves. at the start of each session i always point out the importance of watching out for each other but you will need to have eyes all over the place. on occasion if they do get too roudy i instruct them all to put the hoop down and stand in the middle of it with hands in the air.

for the little ones who can't hoop too well yet i tend to turn the hoop class into more of an expresive movement class, pretending to be different things like space travelers. they are great at doing the hoop move where you hold the hoop while turning round lifting the hoop above your head and then down to the floor. (i am not sure if it actually has a name but it looks a little like a vortex without letting go) anything with the hoop where they can hold it teaches them about spacial awareness.

name badges are really important, kids respond better to the fact you know their name, and of cause if you can not see the childs name over the other side of the room if you call them bob until you can read it, it makes you look a little silly which makes the kids more relaxed.

getting them to drop the hoop ... on purpose ... and learning a fun ways to pick it up

i always tell my groups that if they are learning a new move with the hoop and it hurts, they do not have to do it. i dislike the pressure kids are put under in the rest of their lives and i am not going to do that to my students so i use a lot of light heartedness and always tell them that the only way to learn hoop is the way that suits them. some prefer off the body moves while some prefer just standing their waist hooping.

Kerry is also right about the multi hooping and neck hooping too, in fact the two questions i am always asked is "how many can you hoop with?" and "can you do it round your neck?"  i let them have a go(with the lighter hoops) usualy they realise that actually its not quite comfy and go back to doing other things. but the ones that do like it then like trying to put their arms through.

kids love the 'dippy hand' into the hoop move.

lesson plans can be really helpful especialy if you are going to be doing regular classes with the same kids, and you can use the first lesson to gauge the skill level.

 

hope you have loads of fun <3

 

StudentPermalink Reply by Tilly Whirls on June 23, 2011 at 12:40pm

I'm so glad this thread is here! I'm getting lots of great ideas. I'm working on my teaching certification now and my first classes will be in September, but the town/community center I'm working with has asked me to do a two-hour hoop jam at their Fourth of July event! (I'm thrilled!) We hope to promote the class as well as just have some fun. :D All this info on what to do with kids/groups helps a lot.

StudentPermalink Reply by Wrenna Hill on July 1, 2011 at 8:08am

The games are great warm-ups for 8-12 year olds, and then you can start to share basic hoop moves. They are old enough to try and will likely want to after they see you hoop! Another game is Hoop-scotch -- lay the hoops out in a hopscotch pattern and let the kids hop through the pattern.

 

You can share the shimmy up to the chest with them. It comes pretty naturally to some kids, and others it will take awhile (like adults!) but it's such a cool move that they will want to try it and can. The orbit, the revolving door, the lasso and low lasso. Those are all pretty basic hoop moves that 8-12 year olds can enjoy.

 

I feel that older kids are much easier to work with than younger kids. Little ones have a tricky time with waist hooping, and in large groups it can easily deteriorate into a lot of running around while wielding hoops if it's just you and no other adult is there to help with crowd control! The name tag suggestion is fabulous. Have fun!