teaching little kids: game ideas

[ben]

Reicheru mentioned that at her dojo the sensei has a game where the kids try and bounce coloured balls with their shinai.

Does anyone else have any good game ideas to share?

b

[nodachi]

My sensei does this with everyone, kids and adults, but it should be fun none the less.

He will do the standing in chudan thing and then after a few moments give an obvious openning for you to hit. If you get it quickly, you get a good job, or a bow if it is done well, or points. If you are too slow, you get a yell of "dame", or have to do anywhere from 10 to 30 suburi back to the end of the line depending on how much sensei wants to impress upon you to do better.

Just modify the prize/points/whatever reward to make it game like for the kids. Maybe even do teams, or kids versus adults. You get the idea.

And speed drills at practicing hitting target areas is fun too. Same old stand in line and hit your sensei, but you have to run back to the end of the line. Once it gets going pretty quickly it is a lot of fun.

[Will]

Um...when i work with the little kid at my dojo before class, I do the drill where we do footwork forward and backwards at signals.

Like, we'll be going forward, whistle, we go backwards, whistle, he does a men and goes forward.

He seems to like it.

[MiddleEarthNet]

Though I haven't seen these used in kendo, I have seen them used in other martial arts.

First one, a kendo version of 'Simon Says' (maybe Sensei Says :laugh:) Ignore the first few mistakes, or just give them a warning so no child looses first round but soon they will all want to beat their mates.

Next, is a game of 'add on'. First child suggests a technique or stance and everyone does it. Then the next suggests a move to follow it and you do the first then second move and so on. Keep on adding one move at time until it gets to the point where frustration at not remembering the order takes over. Don't worry if te order of moves is completly daft - if they are anything like the youngsters at karate, it will be really daft.

I'm running out of lunch break but have a few more to post later.

[MiddleEarthNet]

I just realised the age of the post. So, sorry about that. I didn't mean to reply to an old thread.