During preschool, children develop the basics for further, more complex movements. The things that they don't develop during this sensitive time will later be difficult to develop. Therefore, it is important to give them the opportunity to experience and develop different types of movements. Through joint movement activities, they are also developing communication and other social skills. A practice I have dedicated myself to in my thesis and that develops flexibility, strength, coordination, balance and social skills is acroyoga. Acroyoga combines yoga, acrobatics and Thai massage. It’s a form of exercise in which the base supports the flyer, and together they perform individual or combined movements that can be linked into a fluid motion.
The theoretical part of my thesis defines yoga, its history, types of yoga and the importance of dieting, breathing and asanas, i.e. yoga postures. It also describes acroyoga with its rules and benefits. Moreover, it also contains the methods and forms of work in kindergarten, and acroyoga connected with educational and curricular principles. I provided some guidelines for practicing acroyoga with children aged from 3 to 6 years old, to ensure safety while training.
The empirical part of my work consists of movement classes with acroyoga elements that I performed with children from 4 to 6 years old. I was gradually teaching them the basics of acroyoga, with which they slowly began to understand its concept, which later on developed into them creating and naming their own elements. Before each activity class I planned our goals, warm up exercises/games and acroyoga elements. Later on, I analyzed the performed acroyoga elements by the children, their responses and factoring them in at our next session. I also added some pictures for a more thorough presentation. The children, the kindergarten teachers and the children’s parents all responded extremely positively to the addition of acroyoga to their classes. Through our trainings, the children slowly became more relaxed while executing the proper movements and, with the increasing difficulty began to trust me more. While practicing in pairs of two, they began to communicate and help each other even more than regularly. As individuals, they started developing more empathy and a deeper understanding of each other, which helped them become more connected as a group. They became more attentive and better at identifying when other classmates are in need of help. Communication and trust between the children became richer, which contributes to a more successful practice of acroyoga.
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