Warm Up Gymnastics Activities for Year 1

Children form letter shapes with their bodies on mats, developing body awareness and letter recognition

An engaging warm-up using animal movements to prepare body for physical activity

A movement warm-up where students travel as different animals at varying levels

Students explore different ways to move on, over, under and around gymnastics apparatus in small groups

A fun warm-up game using hoops to prepare children for ground-level gymnastics work

A themed warm-up where children move like different fairground rides to explore spinning, turning and level changes

Calm performance opportunity with peer observation and vocabulary reflection

An active warm-up game where tagged students must balance on different body parts until rescued

A listening and reaction game where students jump across a line following commands

Students systematically explore movement using the four big body parts: tummy, back, side, and bottom

Dynamic warm-up game where students move around the space and quickly form pairs or groups by touching specific body parts together in response to teacher calls

A listening and movement game where students travel around and touch different body parts to the ground on command

Children explore balancing on different large body parts (patches) with control and pointed toes

Dynamic warm-up exploring contrasting big and small movements with champion posture

Students explore balancing on different body parts while maintaining champion posture and control

A movement assessment warm-up where students demonstrate champion qualities while moving and making shapes

Children explore different ways of moving while following 'champion gymnast' rules

A movement exploration warm-up that assesses students' natural movement while introducing 'champion' qualities

Students explore champion gymnastics qualities through partner movement sequences and shape holds

Students move around the space with champion qualities and freeze in different body shapes when music stops

Progressive sequence building where students copy movements and add new actions to create longer sequences

A progressive warm-up that develops spatial awareness through travelling and balance challenges

Dynamic warm-up where students clap and step to syllables in flower names, developing rhythm awareness and connecting language to movement patterns

Partners practice copying movements in canon timing to develop coordination and timing skills