Do you want a fun way for your kids or students to be active during the holiday season? This energetic jingle bell jumps exercise goes with my jingle bell jumps dice printable and is a fantastic way to combine education, exercise, and the holiday season!
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JINGLE BELL JUMPS EXERCISE FOR KIDS – YOUTUBE VIDEO
My 3-year-old niece, Zoey, demonstrates the jingle bell jumps in this festive video! {Note: For more bell activities and free printables, see Free Bell Printables and Montessori-Inspired Bell Activities, Holiday Bell Sensory Bin with Scavenger Hunt, Free Christmas Bell Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download, and Free Bell Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download).
Watch the Jingle Bell Jumps Exercise for Kids YouTube video!
JINGLE BELL JUMPS EXERCISE
The jingle bell jumps exercise for kids is focused on jumping, movement, posture, core strength, strength, coordination, control, speed, agility, quickness, explosive power, and physical fitness.
When performing the jingle bell jumps exercise with kids, it’s important to keep these in mind:
- Start with jumping to get the feeling of the movement and warm up the body. Bend knees and push off of the floor by pressing into the floor to straighten legs and launch into the air. Arms can be used for assistance in this version. This can be a simpler version of the exercise on its own or you could use jingle bells that work as bracelets for the easier version. You can also help your child get used to jumping by holding their hands while standing in front of them and jumping with them. This helps the child to feel your movement and understand better.
- Add handheld jingle bells while jumping. The child can hold their jingle bells in their hands while jumping. The arms and hands can be held in front for this version. The jingle bells will still make a jingling sound when they jump.
- Add shaking the jingle bells when in the air or after landing. Kids can improve their coordination by either shaking the jingle bells once at the top of the jump (while in the air) or just after landing (when on the ground) while keeping the hands in front of their body. The shaking of the jingle bells can be done on its own first and then combined with the jump for quicker understanding of the exercise.
- Place the hands just above the shoulders, so the jingle bells are in line with the ears (More Advanced). The child can hold hands above shoulders while jumping. This is more advanced because it’s harder to keep the arms up higher. The jingle bells will still make a jingling sound when the child jumps.
- Add shaking the jingle bells when in the air or after landing (Even More Advanced). Kids can improve their coordination by either shaking the jingle bells once at the top of the jump (while in the air) or just after landing (when on the ground) while keeping the hands above the shoulders. The shaking of the jingle bells can be done on its own first and then combined with the jump for quicker understanding of the exercise.
- Focus on fun and controlled range of motion. This exercise is meant to be fun and to have as big of jumps or as quick of jumps as possible while maintaining control.
- Remind kids about using good posture and engaging abdominals. Encourage kids to make themselves as tall as possible by bringing their head closer to the ceiling and pull their belly button in toward the back wall (drawing their belly button into their spine), and keep good posture throughout the exercise. It can be tough to maintain good posture as they get tired, but good posture increases the effectiveness immensely. It will also help prevent injury.
- Encourage kids to keep trying. As long as they are trying and moving, encourage them! This will help them gain confidence. Then you can begin to refine the movement as confidence increases.
PROGRESSIONS OF THE JINGLE BELL JUMPS EXERCISE FOR KIDS
When it’s apparent that your child is ready to progress to a more difficult version of the jingle bell jumps exercise, here are some progressions to try while performing the exercise:
- Bring arms higher. The arms can continue to raise overhead in increments until they are straight, but make sure the elbows are slightly soft.
- Add shaking the jingle bells at specific times while keeping the arms higher.
- Increase jump height.
- Increase quickness.
- Increase repetitions. For older kids and adults, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division can be done with the dice to increase repetitions, focus on educational skills, and make the game more interesting.
HOW TO DO THE JINGLE BELL JUMPS DICE FITNESS GAME
First download the free Jingle Bell Jumps Dice Printable below. Then print out and tape or glue together the dice printable or print out and put the dice printable inserts in the differentiated instruction cube/photo cube.
This fitness game can be done with one or more kids of all ages and adults. If two or more are playing this fitness game, you can alternate rolling the dice and doing the exercise individually, or you can alternate who rolls the dice and everyone playing can do the exercise each time.
My niece, Zoey, loves to alternate when doing the exercise {Auntie Chrissy (me), Grandma (my mom), and then Zoey}! She will also take out the dice and play it on her own if she’s at Grandma’s (my mom and dad’s) and I’m not there.
- Figure out where you will do the dice fitness game.
- Roll the dice.
- Have the child count the number of dots on the dice that the dice has landed on.
- Do Jingle Bell Jumps for that number of times. For example, if the dice landed on 5, you will jingle bell jump 5 times.
- Continue this game for a specific number of rounds, length of time, or other specified amount. You can also do this dice fitness game for the specified duration, followed by one or more of my other dice fitness games that you can find below.
If I’m with Zoey, she usually likes to do multiple dice fitness games together! We typically have four fitness dice available on her shelves at all times. We use the differentiated instruction cubes/photo cubes.
FREE JINGLE BELL JUMPS DICE PRINTABLE {FITNESS & COUNTING INSTANT DOWNLOAD}
You can get a free, instant download of my Jingle Bell Jumps Dice and Differentiated Instruction Cube (photo cube) printables!
SIMPLE AND FUN FROG LEAP ACTIVITY FOR KIDS {FREE PRINTABLE}
Check out my “Simple and Fun Frog Leap Activity for Kids” post for another fun fitness for kids printable plus ideas of activity trays you can easily prepare with these printables. Since she was 2 years old, my niece, Zoey, has brought the frog dice out often and does it on her own or will ask for a family member to do it with her. So adorable and an awesome way to get kids loving to move from an early age!
RACCOON WALKS EXERCISE TUTORIAL AND YOUTUBE VIDEO
Check out my blog post with a YouTube video and tutorial on how to do the raccoon walks exercise and to get the FREE Raccoon Walks Dice Printable {Fitness & Counting Instant Download}!
ANT CRAWLS EXERCISE TUTORIAL AND YOUTUBE VIDEO
Check out my blog post with a YouTube video and tutorial on how to do the ant crawls exercise and to get the FREE Ant Crawls Dice Printable {Fitness & Counting Instant Download}!
FISH SWIMMING EXERCISE TUTORIALS AND YOUTUBE VIDEOS
Check out my blog post with YouTube videos and tutorials on how to do the swimming exercises and get the One Fish, Two Fish, FREE Fish Swimming Dice Printable {Dr. Seuss, Finding Nemo, Ocean, and Pet Themes Instant Download}!
BUNNY HOPS EXERCISE TUTORIALS AND YOUTUBE VIDEOS
Check out my blog post with YouTube videos and tutorials on how to do the bunny hops exercise options and to get the FREE Bunny Hops Dice Printable {Spring, Easter, Peter Rabbit, and Pet Themes Instant Download}!
BUTTERFLY FLAPS EXERCISE TUTORIAL AND YOUTUBE VIDEO
Check out my blog post with a YouTube video and tutorial on how to do the butterfly flaps exercise and to get the FREE Butterfly Flaps Dice Printable {Spring, Summer, and Nature Themes Instant Download}!
DUCK WALKS EXERCISE TUTORIAL AND YOUTUBE VIDEO
Check out my blog post with a YouTube video and tutorial on how to do the duck walks exercise and to get the FREE Duck Walks Dice Printable {Fitness & Counting Instant Download}!
HORSE GALLOPS EXERCISE TUTORIAL AND YOUTUBE VIDEO
Check out my blog post with a YouTube video and tutorial on how to do the horse gallops exercise and to get the FREE Horse Gallops Dice Printable {Fitness & Counting Instant Download}!
RECYCLING CRUSHES EXERCISE TUTORIAL AND YOUTUBE VIDEO
Check out my blog post with a YouTube video and tutorial on how to do the recycling crushes exercise and to get the FREE Recycling Crushes Dice Printable {Fitness & Counting Instant Download}!
CAR RACING LAPS EXERCISE TUTORIAL AND YOUTUBE VIDEO
Check out my blog post with a YouTube video and tutorial on how to do the car racing laps exercise and to get the FREE Car Racing Laps Dice Printable {Fitness & Counting Instant Download}!
WHALE BREACHES EXERCISE TUTORIAL AND YOUTUBE VIDEO
Check out my blog post with a YouTube video and tutorial on how to do the whale breaches exercise and to get the FREE Whale Breaches Dice Printable {Fitness & Counting Instant Download}!
SNAIL CRAWLS EXERCISE TUTORIAL AND YOUTUBE VIDEO
Check out my blog post with a YouTube video and tutorial on how to do the snail crawls exercise and to get the FREE Snail Crawls Dice Printable {Fitness & Counting Instant Download}!
DICE FITNESS GAMES
Here’s a Dice Fitness Game I created for kids and adults that uses regular dice!
HAVE FUN!
Jumping exercises are very important for all ages!
Have you, your child(ren), or your students tried the jingle bell jumps exercise? What other exercises or types of exercises would you like tutorials on?
Have fun!
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