Encouraging Jumping Skills
Summertime means lots of fun opportunities for gross motor play outdoors! And with that comes lots of: JUMPING!
Y’all have been asking me so much lately about jumping, so I wanted to cover the basics on this important and exciting motor skill!
I first wanted to settle some anxieties surrounding a pre-jumping skill: lifting onto tiptoes and/or walking on tiptoes. Often once your little one is a confident walker, they will begin movement exploration of standing or walking on tiptoes. This builds strength and stability for jumping and is only a concern if…
It is happening more than 50% of their walking throughout the day
It persists longer than 2-3 months
You begin to notice difficulty with them maintaining their feet flat/keeping their heels down
If you notice any of these signs, talk with your Pediatrician about a therapy referral–specifically PT and OT to address the underlying cause and prevent tightness that can affect skeletal growth and alignment, as well as potentially create a need for surgical intervention. Early Intervention is crucial to receiving the least intervention methods and fastest outcomes!
You can expect jumping in place to happen anywhere from 22-30 months (a bit before their second birthday up until they’re 2.5!)
Jumping forward happens around this time frame, as well–typically beginning a couple months after they learn to jump in place!
Jumping down from a step can happen even before jumping in place and is typically seen between 24-26 months.
Now I know you’re thinking–”But HOW do we encourage jumping skills?!”
Here are a few of my favorite simple Jumping Support Activities:
With any of the activities below, meet your child where they are. Consider giving some support and reducing that support over time as they become more proficient.
Lifting onto tiptoes: the ability to lift onto tiptoes without support is crucial for jumping propulsion.
Try blowing bubbles and catching them on the wand: Encourage your child to lift up onto tiptotes to pop the bubble. Count how many they can pop!
Use food as motivator: Got a bag of goldfish? See if they can reach up to get each one
Give lots of HIGH fives: Encourage them to reach way up high to give you a high 5 for a job well done!
Practice ballerina walking: Put on The Nutcracker soundtrack and practice your best pointe walking.
Visual cue for jumping: When learning a skill, having a visual marker is crucial to understanding. Showing your child WHERE to jump will help them tremendously!
Hopscotch: an age old classic–bust out the chalk and switch up the pattern each time to encourage jumping feet together, apart, etc!
Over a hula hoop: Hula hoops have SO many uses in motor play! Place one down on the floor and encourage them to jump in/out. As they get better, either place multiple in a row for them to jump into OR hold the hula hoop a couple inches off the ground and see if they can jump OVER.
Down a step: Play “squash the bug” and pretend they are jumping down to squash a bug. Face them and hold both hands for the first time they are trying this.
Popping bubbles: Blow bubbles downward and see how many they can pop by jumping on them!
Deep squatting play: building up these larger muscles of the hips and legs will inevitably support jumping skills! Some of my favorite ways are to do chalk, a puzzle, or simply digging for worms and bugs while squatting :) Even better if you can get them to do some sort of repetitive squat to stand activity like squat to get a puzzle piece and then stand to place it in the puzzle on a table or couch.
Bouncing on the couch or bed: Now don’t get me in trouble here, but bouncing on a soft surface is a great way to explore this skill on a soft landing surface. No More Monkeys is a fun song to encourage this activity and will remind them to stay away from the edges :)
Physical modeling & verbal cueing: Your toddler’s skills are continuing to emerge for watching someone do something and then replicating the action with their body! Practice showing them how to jump, while using the verbal cues of “downnnnnn, jump!” You can even physically give them downward pressure through their legs to encourage them to bend their knees and then lift them up and down to complete the jump. Sometimes all children need is a few rounds of us showing them how to motor plan the action and then letting them try!
Let me know in the comments below if you found this helpful :) And even better–tag me @themovementmama on IG when you try this out and they get those first sweet little jumps!
