Learning Forward Rolls: Practice Cards for Physical Education

From easy to difficult, these exercise cards guide children and young people step by step toward the forward roll. First, they roll over their backs back and forth. Later, they can push off from a box or springboard and land on their necks, until they can complete the full roll on the mat. Drawings and brief movement cues on each card show what matters. This allows the exercises to be carried out without lengthy explanations in physical education classes and club sports. They were developed together with a former professional gymnast and gymnastics coach.

What is included in the material

• Technique cards for the forward roll in the basic form and for advanced learners with straight legs: starting position, rolling movement, and ending position with the most important movement cues
• Exercise cards showing the required equipment, setup, and movement sequence in numbered steps, with instructions for helpers for individual exercises; the last exercise is also available with straight legs
• Instructions for implementation with suggestions for using the cards in class
• Safety instructions regarding warm-ups, the surface, support, and gradual progression
• Foreword outlining the goals of rolling in physical education

Tips for using the material

• Show first, then practice: To ensure everyone knows what the roll looks like, the technique cards are suitable at the beginning. The teacher or someone who already knows how to roll can also demonstrate it.
• Open station work: If the exercises are set up side by side, learners can choose their own starting point and move on after completing each exercise. Those who already know how to roll can help the others as a "coach".
• Partner work: Laid out in the correct order or hung on the wall, the cards guide pairs or groups of three through the exercises one after another. They can give each other tips and assistance.
• Frontal instruction in small learning groups: Here, learners can look at each exercise on the card and imitate it under the teacher's guidance, one by one, until as many as possible master the basic forward roll.

These competencies are promoted

• Technique of the forward roll, from placing the hands shoulder-width apart and rolling over the round back to standing up from a squat
• Safe rolling by landing on the neck instead of the head
• Push-off and support when pushing off with the feet and legs and bending the arms
• Helping and giving tips in partner work and as a "coach"

Organizational notes

The exercises require gymnastics mats, small boxes, springboards, a gymnastics bench, and a soft-floor mat.

The same series includes exercise cards for the backward roll, the spring roll, and the handstand.