Learning To Juggle As A Kid - Is It Possible?

As a few of you might be aware - I have "signs" in Atlanta that promote juggling for 13 year olds to 83 year olds. Yes...I did choose 83 in a sense to be "cute" - however, I did not choose 13 arbitrarily - as based on my experience - those under the age are much less likely to learn juggling in one lesson. That said, I HAVE had success (learning in one session) with both 12 year olds and 11 year olds.

I bring this up because in the last year I've had a number of parents contact me asking about teaching their child to juggle. Yes...there are children under 10 on YouTube who can juggle. Yes. But as we all know..the exception is not the rule...and because of that, it is indeed unlikely most children can learn very early in life. Again, of course, there are exceptions.

So, what happens you ask when I do accept a lesson where the primary goal is to have the children learn to juggle? The answer is a variety of things....but before that...let me talk a moment about the times I have tried to teach young kids to juggle spontaneously. You see, my family had one of those "scarecrows" in downtown Woodstock for a couple of the first years they did that October event. And, during the month I would personally go up to our scarecrow (all scarecrows have "business" signs who are sponsoring the scarecrow) and stand next to it and offer FREE on the spot juggling lessons. I have also done the same in Piedmont Park on a couple occasions (actually my approach was different there - I randomly offered to teach folks (mainly adults) to learn to JUGGLE IN 3  MINUTES.) I also was hired one time by a BOY Scout Troop and while everyone had fun throwing the balls around and a few dads picked up the skill... they were simply too young to learn in a large group.

What happened in those experiments in learning to juggle for FREE was that "spontaneous" learning was rare and largely confined to young adults - but that it was possible. I was never able to get a child under 13 to learn to spontaneously juggle - so, prior desire is a near requirement.

Now..back to the kids and learning to juggle. As mentioned it's really a matter of desire in learning to juggle for any age - so, first, the idea of wanting to learn to juggle almost MUST come from the child. IF that happens and the child is involved in a "hand-eye" sport (as opposed to soccer or dancing for example) that also is a strong plus. Normally if your child was 9 or 10 - and had those skills/desire - I would be willing to accept the in person lesson. Normal kids 8 and below generally have limited physical abilities and lack of attention spans that are needed to learn to juggle in one lesson. Since I've never had a parent pursue multiple lessons for a young kid... I can't say if it may be picked up with one lesson, practice at home and then a return for more lessons. If the desire was there...I can see a kid being able to do what you see on YouTube for young kids.

Over the age of 11 and teens ARE THE EASIEST TO TEACH OF ALL AGE GROUPS. As a parent, you REALLY should consider having your kid learn this solo person sport (for all the reasons you see on this page, such as growing brain tissue and focus and eye hand coordination). That said... even 11 to 17 year olds can be iffy too if the desire is not there, or if the child does NO sports whatsoever.

Finally, what IS learning to juggle - I define juggling as three balls thrown and three balls caught. So, if your child is under 13 (really 11) - while it may seem simple - doing that is probably beyond what your child will learn IN ONE LESSON. What they WILL learn is all the basic ideas of juggling. All the basic arm moves. All the catching moves. All the throwing moves. And...the chance to put it together on their own with due diligence, or additional lessons. 

Lastly, I stress to all learners of all ages - that there are FOUR distinct levels of being able to juggle. 3 throws and catches, 4 throws and catches, 8 throws and catches and about 30 throws and catches. Of ALL the paying adults (self defining as to having the desire to learn) who I've taught over the last few years in Woodstock, only ONE did not learn/perform he basics of three throws and catches, a few only got to 3.... most got to 4....many got to 8, and a very few got to 30 in one lesson. 

In the sidebar is a picture of the first FAMILY that I taught to juggle - the boy was 12 and the girl was 15 - all four family members were jugglers with some level of competence by the end. Is your family next?

UPDATE

Very recently I was able to teach a sports oriented 10 year old to learn the first step of juggling - getting three throws and three catches (I think he may have done 4 or 5 catches once or twice also). So...that means we are indeed exploring the lower reaches of who can learn juggling...is his 8 year old brother next...he got close in lesson one.