An exercise DVD that also teaches math? I have to admit this product combines my least two favorite subjects from my school years—math and PE. However, in recent years, I’ve discovered that I actually enjoy exercise, and math isn’t that bad either. When I heard the Crew was going to review GyMathtics from Exploracise, I was curious to give it a try.
The package arrived in October, a month that almost set a record in Michigan for the amount of cloud cover, rain, and cold temperatures. This DVD has come in handy during those days when everyone was cooped up inside. The first day the kids tried it, my three year old asked me as I finished my exercise DVD if there is an exercise video for kids. Voila! I popped this in and they had fun.
The DVD begins with stretching exercises that reference lines, shapes, and their attributes (parallel, congruent, similar, etc.). Then the warm-up moves into skip counting with calisthenics—jumping jacks, punches, and jogging in place. The second section has the children doing various patterns of exercises, including crunches, lunges, and pushups. With this one, the mathematical information is about patterns—growing patterns, repeating patterns, and others. I’m not sure how much of this information my three and five year olds comprehend, but they can do most of the movements. My seven year old loves the counting section and the pattern section, although it moves very quickly for her, and she sometimes misses an exercise or two.
Like most exercise DVDs, this one has background music to keep you moving. It is strictly instrumental, with most of the tracks reminding me of Mission Impossible soundtracks—very upbeat. The final cool-down section has very airy sounding music, which helps bring the tension level in the room back down, as well as the kids’ heart rates.
Throughout most of the DVD, the leader limits her instructions to the math facts and exercise routines. She frequently inserts comments about exercise being fun, strengthening their bodies while strengthening their minds, etc. It becomes quite repetitive and I could tell my kids just tuned it out. In the final cool down, however, she becomes a little more specific in spreading her philosophy (more on their website here), with almost constant positive thinking comments sprinkled throughout the instructions to help others, eat well, sleep well, reach for your dreams, drink water, etc. While I don’t disagree with any of it, it seemed a little overdone for the target age range of 2nd-5th graders.
My ten year old, who is very active and enjoys math, did not enjoy this DVD at all. He found it interesting to watch, but said that it was too young for him.
We will definitely keep using this as we continue into the cold, cooped up months of Michigan winter. While my little ones may not completely understand all the math concepts, those ideas are getting into their heads and providing hooks for real understanding later. And they are having fun…with math and exercise. Who would have known?
Just the facts:
Length: 30 minutes
Intended age: all ages (for the exercises) 2nd-5th grades (for the math)
Cost: $24.99
Award Winning: Dr. Toy awards, Mom’s Best Awards, and more. See the website for more details.
