Tiny Team Tips

[prittinnpink]

Newbie Looking for some positive reinforcement tips/tricks to keep a tiny team (ages 4-6) interested for the full hour.

 

[cheermomforever]

Every 15 min or so have a "game" to practice counting, jumping together, or just let them run around corner to corner. Anything to let them get energy out! Good luck!!


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[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Keep it short.

Any one thing lasts longer than 10-15 min and you lose them.

Ex: They cannot work on that opening stunt for 30 min. Or spend an entire practice on the pyramid like a Worlds team. They will be bored.

 

[alexacheer2010]

I split practice up into 5-10 minute things. We do a fun warmup, then we do tumbling stations for 10 minutes, maybe an obstacle course for 5-10, duck duck goose for 5-10, line drills (run from this hula hoop to that one), relay races (squeeze the foam pit block between your feet and jump to the other side, this helps with squeezing their feet in things like backhandsprings later on), 5-10 stunting, tumble track is usually last because it's the favorite!


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[retiredl5cheer]

ALWAYS have a predetermined schedule for your practice. It prevents you from wasting time trying to figure out what to do next, and little ones will take any free moment to go wild, so you want to be as structured as possible with little to no time between activities. I also advise against games because I find that they disrupt practice and become a hard habit to break. If your tiny team plays duck duck goose every 20 minutes, your kids will come to expect that they can play anytime they want, and they WILL ask repeatedly to play. I used games as a reward (i.e. trampoline time, duck duck goose, etc. for good behavior during practice), but they were always done at the end of practice.

 

[prittinnpink]

Thanks for the quick replies!

I had trouble with one in particular who gave me a frown face the entire practice because she didn't want to practice. Then she was upset cause I had her in the second row and not the first (she's tall compared to the rest). So not sure how to motivate this particular one. The rest are mostly all eager to learn and cheer although sometimes easily distracted lol

 

[retiredl5cheer]

Thanks for the quick replies!

I had trouble with one in particular who gave me a frown face the entire practice because she didn't want to practice. Then she was upset cause I had her in the second row and not the first (she's tall compared to the rest). So not sure how to motivate this particular one. The rest are mostly all eager to learn and cheer although sometimes easily distracted lol

Is she just pouting or is she refusing to participate? If she's pouting, don't give her any special attention, just continue to be happy, bubbly, and engaging towards the whole team. If she's refusing to work, it may be a good idea to chat with Mom about 1. whether cheer is actually what she wants to be doing and 2. ways to motivate that particular child.

One year I had a stubborn pouter who refused to do anything she didn't want to do. Mom was pretty sane, so I felt completely comfortable telling the child "you can sit in the waiting room with Mom until you decide you can behave like a part of the team." She was removed from practice probably 2-3 times before she realized I was serious, and started shaping up. Again, she wasn't always thrilled to be doing what the team was doing, but at least she tried. I don't expect every child to do everything with a smile on their face, but I do expect them to listen and participate.

 

[410Brookesmom]

To help your "frowner" have the athletes stand in a circle facing each other. Have them practice giving the best competition smile. Alternate with the craziest face they can make.