Head over Heels Gymnastics is a fantastic new way to learn, practice and perfect your gymnastics skills in your own home. Whether you are a beginner, a bit more advanced, have lessons already or just want to learn alone from home, then these guides for children are incredibly user friendly, simple to follow and progress at a good rate to see your child learn, improve and be challenged!
We received Head over Heels Gymnastics Volume 1: Boys & Girls Floor Skills book which really does incorporate all the moves a young gymnast will encounter in there first few years. My daughter has been attending weekly gymnastics lessons for the last couple of years and loves it so much that she practices at home (notably with headstands on her bed, and feet up against the painted wall) when she is able. The book is extremely well thought out and has been designed perfectly for someone to follow step by step to ensure they get the move/position correct.
The first major bonus of this book is the spiral binding of the book along with the fact that it has a 3D element that allows it to stand up so you can view it as you perform the moves – this is a fantastic feature and really enables the book to be used as you practice.
The book is very clearly laid out with a contents page so you can go directly to the skill you wish to practice or if you start from the beginning it takes you through a warm up then gradually guides you from simple moves to those more challenging and even helps you with mini routines at the end. What I like about this book is that it comes with full colour photographic pictures guiding you through each move so you can see exactly how to perform and accomplish them to your best ability. The step by step guides are brilliant and I can’t fault them, you can see every move, there are arrows to guide you and in some cases crosses to show you if you are doing the wrong thing. I also love the ‘post it’ style notes that give you all the hints and tips you need to perfect the move.
As much as my daughter is ultra sporty and partakes in all sports be it rugby, football, swimming, athletics etc. her elegance has never been her strongest point but I love the fact that she enjoys gymnastics as it gains her a lot of strength and flexibility skills. So here is her interpretation of some of the gymnastic skills from the Head over Heels Gymnastics book.
She loved doing this in the garden as she had more room and could run around doing things like cartwheels as well which I usually dread when she does indoors as I fear her feet hitting the light fittings! She was able to see the book and flip over the page as she wished.
We also received a dvd Volume 3: The Floor Beam which is equally as fanatastic as the book. Even if you don’t have any sort of floor beam at home, you can simply use your floor. We just put two gym mats down leaving a gap in between which represented the beam and my daughter tried to stay in the gap. What I liked about the dvd are that there are various age children showing you the moves and you can literally just copy and follow them as they do things. It’s really broken down step by step and moves at a slow pace guiding you as you go. Miss M has had a few tries at this and enjoys following it. I was surprised by how much content is on it and think for anyone child who really wants to gain experience then this is a great dvd to have to practice at home with.
Overall I have to say I’m impressed with the Head over heels about… Gymnastics! set of books and dvds. There’s very little in the way of books to guide you in this sport so this really a unique range and across the set there really is something for every little budding gymnast out there – so go check them out!
All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.
The books come well presented and individually wrapped up with a cute note and sticker. This all adds to the excitement when the child opens it up and they are eager to see what books are inside. Also included is a freepost envelope where you can return any books that have been read or any from your child’s own collection that they no longer want. As long as they are in good condition they will be recycled in other boxes so that more children can get enjoyment from them. The more you do this, the more likely that extra books will be included in your future boxes.
The book is a handy small size and my 8yr old couldn’t wait to flick through and see what she could spot. We have a countryside holiday coming up at the end of August and she is determined to reach 1000 points after that as we have lots of woodland walks and trails to pursue on our break. The points really encourage children to find things and they like to tick things of in the book too once they’ve been spotted.
The Collins i-Spy range are a really fun idea, with a hidden educational element as they learn about the objects. It gives us lots to talk about too and even my little boy was thrilled when he spotted a dandelion out the other day and remember he had seen it in the book so needed to tick it off when we got home – bless him!
