Spicing
up your Kids Classes
By Bob Hubbard
Kids are the life blood of many schools. Attracting and keeping them
can be a crucial step towards the long term success of your school.
Each child can be worth over $2,000 each annually (from tuition, event
and merchandise) to your bottom line, and can be a return customer for
over a decade if treated right.
Kids
join for many reasons: self confidence, protection from bullies, they
thought it was cool because they saw a movie or tv show, and for fun,
among other reasons. In the end though, they want to have fun. Making
your classes fun is a key component to keeping them coming back for
more.
Now,
obviously kids have different needs than adults. Shorter attention spans,
endurance and strength levels, etc. While an adult might think nothing
of 15 minutes of non stop punch drills, for a kid it can seem to be
forever. So, spice things up a bit. This can be done at minimal extra
cost to you.
Lets
take a look at some basic drills and how to spice them up.
Punching
and kicking drills.
These
can become boring fast to a child. So, spice them up by adding targets
to hit. Not just the standard kicking shield, but moving targets as
well.
-
Take a stack of kicking shields. Place a hand shield on the top and
see who can kick or punch it the farthest using the various strikes
of your art.
-
Set up an obstacle course, with targets at various points. As the
kids move from station to station, change up the required strike at
that spot. At one it’s a back fist, at another a hook kick,
etc.
-
Hang some rope from the ceiling and tie hand pads, pool noodles or
kicking shields to them. Set the swinging and send the kids through.
They can duck or strike as they see fit. This drill can build timing,
object tracking and motion detection, as well as hand-eye coordination.
-
Stand alone punching bags (the type you can remove safely from their
stands), or thick kicking shields make excellent targets as well.
Set them up so that the child can jump over 1 and strike/kick the
second.
Reaction
Drills
Obstacle Dodge-Em
Get some Nerf or other foam balls. Have the parents help here. As
the kids run from one end of your floor to the other, the parents
will toss the balls at the kids. The kids should block or dodge the
balls as they run.
Dodgeball.
Get a large foam ball and divide the kids up into teams. When the
childs is hit, they should step to the side and do a form or technique
or a couple of pushups or something else appropriate to your school.
When they complete this, they can then rejoin the game. This will
require you to pay attention as some kids react negatively to being
“outted” but that can be overcome with positive attention.
Also be alert to “gang up” situations where they seem
to be focusing on 1 particular student. Dodgeball works on reactions,
awareness, movement, and observation, as well as helps build teamwork.
Circle version 1
The class lines up in a circle. 1 child is in the center, holding
a kicking shield. Each child is given a number. As you call out the
numbers they are to attack the child in the center with that technique
(targeting the shield). Care must be taken that they don’t start
the attack until the target holder is ready. This can improve reaction
time as well as peripheral vision.
Circle version 2
A variation is to pair or trio off the class. 1-2 are given kicking
or hand shields and circle around the other who remains stationary.
The center child will strike or kick at the targets held by the others
who will take turns closing and circling the stationary child.
Circle version 3
This is the same as above, but you allow all 3 kids to move about
within a specific area. For added variety, you can setup a kick bag,
BOB or other obstacle within the space. The child can use it for cover
while it serves as both protection and obstacle.
Large
classes can be split off and timed for use with any of the Circle games.
Ending a class with 10 minutes of attribute building games like these
can greatly improve the “funess” factor of your classes,
as well as serving as a reward to your students for a good class. You
might find that they will be more attentive as well as better behaved
during class so as to be able to play the game at the end. Some might
even enjoy it so much that they tell their friends who might then visit
and check out your program, leading to new students for your school.
Treat
your kids right, and they can make your school a profitable success.
===
Bob
Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site
MartialTalk.com
and president of SilverStar
WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing
in affordable solutions for martial artists. A student of all the arts,
he is currently studying Modern
Arnis.
Bob can be reached at kaith@martialtalk.com.
More of Bob's articles can be found at rustaz.net.