May

Jumping

Jumping is important for two main reasons. It is a great strengthening exercise because it incorporates every muscle in your lower extremities and it is something that young children do when participating in gross motor play. Some kids learn to jump at 18 months, while other kids might jump at 5 or not at all. However, many of these kids who never jump, can jump with support.

1. Have your child just practice bending and straightening his/her legs.

• Say the words “bend and push”.
• If your child is bending too much which often happens with new jumpers say “tiny bend, and push”.
• Hold his/her hands and try and time pulling up your child’s hands at the same time as they are pushing off with their feet.

2. A mattress or a small trampoline (either outdoor or indoor) that are well supervised are good places to start learning how to jump as they make it easier to be successful. You can do the same sequence as above with your child standing on the trampoline.

3. To keep jumping motivating you can have your child try and jump on bubble wrap that you spread on the ground (may need to tape it down so it doesn’t slide). You can also jump on regular bubbles and pop them.

Jumping down

Once your child can jump and clear the ground, have him/her move on to jumping down. Start by holding your child's hands and progress to independently jumping.

• Start small and make sure your child is standing with feet at the edge. You stand in front and crouch down on your knees so that you can catch him/her if they stumble on the landing.
• Once your child can jump down independently, increase the height of the jump.