SKILLED ENERGY WORKSHOPS
At Yoho! we are passionate about teaching people the fun and
benefits of our skill games. We believe that children in particular
gain a great many positive outcomes from physical skill play that
are not always available in other more traditional school sports
or physical educational practices. The last twenty years has seen
a strong resurgence in the popularity of these skills in schools
and communities. Much has been written by academics and practitioners
in the field.
 Below
we have listed some of the benefits that have been described.
- Psychomotor skills: timing,
coordination, throwing and catching. Gross and fine motor skills
- Cognitive skills: understanding
patterns, rhythm, conceptualising in 3 dimensions
- Affective skills: goal setting,
determination, learning through failure
- Providing an excellent model for cooperative learning
- Involves all students, regardless of gender, size, age, physical
skill, fitness level or experience
- Boost to students personal self esteem and self confidence
- Development of group co-operation skills
- Develop balance, rhythm and reflexes;
- Improving concentration and staying ‘on task’
- Giving musical, spatial, kinesthetic & interpersonal learners
a way to excel · Development of patience, persistence and gratification
delay
- Develop tracking and crossing the midline, vital elements
in reading;
- Improve sequencing skills that are used in math and science;
- The learning process is cumulative and reinforces the benefits
of practicing a skill
The above benefits are extended when skilled play is taken to
the ‘Performance’ level .
Many children love to perform their skills in front of others.
Even the simplest performance can involve an entire new range
of responsibilities and deliver new personal and interpersonal
benefits. When students can get up and perform successfully for
adults or other students, self esteem soars. The key to enhanced
self-esteem is the realization of one's self-worth, and nothing
brings this home to kids better than praise and applause from
peers and adults. Furthermore, as most students are excited about
the opportunity to perform they are usually very willing to be
involved in the organization, promotion and running of the performance
event.
If you would like to experience the fun and positive
outcomes of our Skilled Energy workshops in your School or community
please email us at info@yohotoys.com
or give us a call on 07 3374 0090.
For a more detailed description of the benifits of Yoho
skilled energy product in a schools environment you can download
the work of our researcher Nick Seton. Skill
Play Learning Benefits  (48KB
pdf)
TESTIMONIALS
I am writing this letter to thank you for encouraging us to participate
in the Skilled Energy Workshops at our school last week.
Staff and students alike have remarked on the fantastic, enjoyable,
informative and well organised sessions with your performers catering
to the needs of the students and managing their interest levels
very well.
An interest in diabolos, twirling sticks etc has been re-kindled
with many parents commenting on the benefits of the sessions.
- Their children are feeling more confident and are more willing
to perserve when attempting to use a diabolo. Should you consider
repeating the Yoho Skilled Energy Workshops we would be very interested
in participating.
Regards and thankyou
Tania Fairman
A/Dep Principal
5/09/2005
Hi Yoho,
I would like to congratulate you all on a great product, and a
great website. I purchased a Yoho Diabolo last year, after working
with a group of school children who were a part of a circus program
that involved your diabolos in a local primary school.
I am currently teaching a group of 10 highly disadvantaged 13
and 14 year olds at Kiwinana Senior High School, and have begun
to use your diabolos in our class program. I have seen my students
develop in a multitude of ways since we began to use the diabolo,
my students are learning to share equally, use hand-eye co-ordination,
concentration, patience, teamwork, social skills and also teach
skills to others. These are all skills that my students struggle
with in a traditional classroom setting.
We are currently using 3 diabolos in our class, the one that
I purchased last year, as well as two others that we bought at
the beginning of this term. I also purchased a set of spin stix
over the weekend, and spent a lot of time learning new skills
from the DVD that came with it (which is just brilliant by the
way).We would like to further our diabolo program, and begin to
teach the skills to other students in the mainstream classes at
our school.
Thankyou so much for your time.
Brooke Baker
Education Support Teacher
29/07/2005
Dear Yoho Team,
I am writing to thank you for the recent energy skills workshop
that you conducted here at Forest Lake College. It was a fantastic
day with all 3 sessions receiving glowing reports back from the
students. The skills and instructions of the performers and the
structure of the 90 minute sessions allowed all students to enjoy
a fully hands on experience. In this day and age it is amazing
to witness a large group of adolescents fully engrossed in an
active activity for an extended period of time. In fact I can
not remember the last time I had 100% participation in a PE lesson
(even the kids in casts were giving it a try). Yoho products allowed
the students to enhance both their fine and gross motor skills
and fostered their hand eye coordination. In the teaching profession
the importance of time on task is regularly stressed, this means
the percentage of the lesson that students are actively learning.
Both myself and the other teachers involved with the workshop
commented on the students desire to get involved and to learn
the skills required to perfect the basic skills of the 4 products.
Some students in Physical Education classes shy away from the
competitive nature of sports but Yoho products allowed them to
learn at their own pace and to experience success at different
levels. The instructors were able to cater beautifully for the
range of abilities of the students and could advance the skills
for older age groups or more naturally coordinated children. The
popularity of the workshops was evident at lunchtime when so many
students returned to practice what they had learnt in previous
sessions or brought their friends to come and try the products.
Since your workshop some of the students continue to bring the
Yoho products they purchased to school and practice at lunchtimes.
I’m sure that many of the skills and new found coordination they
have gained through use of the products will transfer to other
activities and sports they encounter in the future. Thanks again!
Hilton Whitehorne
Physical Education Teacher
Forest Lake College
12/09/2005
What a buzz the school yard is! Our school has been involved
with Little Devils circus skills and students have all purchased
YOHO circus products. We are thrilled with the quality and service
YOHO have offered us. I would recommend these products and would
encourage all schools to participate fully. Hoopla Hoopla the
circus is in town!
Traci Cenedese.
Performing Arts Teacher
Hampton Primary School.
17/8/05
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