Depending on the child, they may not be capable of doing a proper pushup, which IMO, would defeat the purpose of having them do them in the first place. That being said, in the past, I've done the following:
1) Have them hold the push up position. That can be just as taxing on them as he actual pushup itself.
2) Have them sit down, off to the side. After 5min or so, ask them if they are ready to come back to the class, minus the fooling around. If it continues, have them sit out for the remainder of the class.
Now, this can have a negative result too, as I've done this and have had parentsapproach me either during the class, when they realize their child is sitting or afterwards. They ask why and tell me they're not paying to have their child sit down. I tell them that I'm not here to have my class disrupted by their child, who can't seem to control themselves and pay attention. If they're going to take away from the others that're there to learn, as well as my time for teaching, then perhaps they're not ready for class. I've always had the backing of the school owners, so I was never really worried.
Good luck. Teaching kids can be a rather challenging task.
Simply have them go against the wall in the squat position and hold it. A stick, staff, etc., can be placed across their legs. This will ensure that they maintain the squat. If the stick moves, falls, etc., it'll be apparent the child is adjusting to compensate for the uncomfortable feeling.
Was she 10 or 3 when you did this test. At 10 Most TKD kids can do this and more. But if she was 3, yeah my hands clap for you.
I once tested my 10 year old daughter after seeing a program about a kid with a genetic disorder who was freakishly strong. According to the doctors, there were a couple of things that a 3 year old should not be able to do (properly), like pushups and situps because they lack the strength in their core muscles.
Without problems, she did 10 correct pushups and 20 correct situps. And she could also climb a pole hand over hand. And in the annual inter school competition for kids, she's the fastest girl of her birthyear since she was 2. When we asked around, it turned out that she is indeed on the far end of the bell curve, because usually a 3 year old can't really do those things.
Sorry I'm just having a 'proud dad moment' here
.Oopsie. That was a typo. She was 3 at the time.
She is quick with everything. She could communicate in sign at 8 months old, she started running around at 10 months, climbed ladders and stairs at 1 year, and spoke in correct full sentences at age 2, with sometimes hilarious results when people did not expect that
That said, the coin does have a flip side: she's an energy sink for my and my wife, because she continuously wants to learn things: counting, sums, reading and writing simple words, etc (she's barely 5...). Last week we had parent - teacher meeting, and my daughter has 3 problems: she's so far ahead that she's often bored, she always wants to win, and the biggest problem is that she has now understands that she is way ahead of the rest (which makes her difficult to handle sometimes).
Last year we suggested she skip a grade to prevent this. It would teach her some humbleness, and besides she could already do everything they were supposed to learn this year. But of course they didn't listen.
Btw just to prevent any misconceptions: we don't push her at all. She just has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, a winners mentality and the genetics to back them up. We just support her and try to keep her from injuring herself.
