Cheer drills at home for 8 year olds

At a glance

At 8

25 cheer drills the app opens for an 8 year old work at home, across 6 skills.

How long

One home session of about 25 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 30 minutes for an 8 year old.

How often

At most 3 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 8 hours for an 8 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: floor (6 of the 25 drills), mat (4), music (4), mirror (3), soft mat (3), open floor (2), markers (1), music or counter (1). 2 drills need nothing but space. 5 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

Safe at home

One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

25 at-home drills

Cheer drills for 8 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for an 8 year old and one that works at home: a room, garage or yard, one parent as the partner, no venue. Each drill's page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a log to print.

dance

Dance

• Eight-Count BasicsAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Freeze Dance GameAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Clean Arms and StepsAges 7 and up · 8 min

jumps

Jumps

• Star Jumps GameAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Toe-Touch Shape on the FloorAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Jump and FreezeAges 7 and up · 6 min

motions

Motions

• Motion Simon SaysAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Tight Fists and Locked WristsAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Basic Motions: High V, Low V, TAges 7 and up · 6 min

stunts

Stunts

• Flyer One-Foot BalanceAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Flyer Tight Body on the FloorAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Base Hand ShapesAges 7 and up · 6 min

tumbling

Tumbling

• Handstand Against a WallAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Log Rolls and Rocking ChairsAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Tumbling Body ShapesAges 7 and up · 8 min

A 21-minute session

A home cheer session for an 8 year old

A warm-up, 1 drill and a cool-down, 21 minutes in all. Do it up to 3 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Cheer Warm-Up, Ages 7 to 10An 8-minute moving warm-up for cheer players aged 7 to 10: easy running, moving stretches, balance and soft landings, then cheer moves. Before practice, never still stretches first.8 min
2. 2Handstand Against a WallPush tall, belly tight.8 min
3. 3Cheer Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 7 to 10A 5-minute cool-down for cheer players aged 7 to 10 after training: an easy walk, then gentle stretches for the legs, hips and wrists, each held for a slow count of 10.5 min

At 8

What changes in cheer training at 8

The app opens the same 25 at-home drills at 8 as at 7; the ones below are a different selection from that list.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 8 hours for an 8 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting cheer into a week at 8

At 8 the limit is 8 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 3 sessions of 25 minutes is 1.25 hours, which leaves 6.75 for team practice and games. Even 3 days at the app's longest, 30 minutes, is 1.5 hours.

The research behind it

• Ages 6 to 12 are the "sampling years": high play, low deliberate practice.

  Côté and Vierimaa 2014

• Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week.

  NATA youth sport specialization recommendations

Questions and answers