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What is the balance? It is the ability to control one’s weight by spreading it equally, so one doesn’t fall. As parents, it’s your responsibility to engage your child in activities that enhance their coordination and balancing skills.
Engaging your child as early as now to balance enhancing activities has many benefits. It can allow your child to have adequate body awareness, hand-eye coordination, proper attention and concentration, postural control, etc. Of course, toddlers are still kids who need guidance from their parents.
As such, this page compiled ten activities to enhance balancing skills for kids:
1. Stand on one foot
Standing on one foot is the first activity that the child should accomplish. It’s a primary activity that a toddler should do without any hassle. After achieving this activity, you can now move on to more advanced movements.
2. Ride a scooter
Does your child like to run around the house and jump up and down? It’s normal for toddlers, especially those around two years old, to love speed. A good way for your child to enhance their balance and coordination skills is by purchasing a scooter range. You can encourage your child’s love of playing outdoors by buying a scooter and a helmet from My Happy Helpers.
3. Kicking balls
Naturally, a kid would be engrossed in a ball and try to kick and carry it. Playing soccer or kickball are an excellent and easy activities to enhance balancing skills. You would need to stand on one foot to kick a ball, so it’s a more advanced activity than just standing still since the child would have to kick a ball in this activity.
4. Stand on a Bosu ball
A Bosu ball is another great medium to enhance a toddler’s balance and coordination skills. This type of ball is simply a ball cut in half. The impressive thing about a Bosu ball is using both sides to test and improve your child’s balance.
Once your child gets used to standing on top of the Bosu ball, you can turn it upside down and the semicircle or ball would be underneath and let the child stand up on the flat side.
5. Use a balance board
After the child has successfully stood up on both sides of a Bosu ball, it’s now time to level up to a balance board. A balance board has a flat wooden or plastic surface with a rounded or curved bottom. Using this item can be very difficult, so ensure that you assure and honour their progress.
6. Do the tree pose
All genders and ages can do yoga. It has incredible benefits for kids, too, including increased focus, memory and cognitive functioning, strength, and positive mental health. One of the yoga poses that a child can do to enhance their balance skills is the tree pose.
When doing this exercise with your child, be sure to demonstrate how to do it first and let them follow after you. The child should stand with one bent knee resting on the opposite leg for balance. To improve their control and encourage motivation, give them the task of staring ahead of a stationary object.
7. Ride a bike
If your child has outgrown their scooter, you can level up to a bike. This task needs postural control and proper balance. Ensure that your toddler is old enough and has enough balance skills to control a bike’s balance.
8. Stand on a trampoline with just one foot
A trampoline is an unsteady surface that makes it challenging for toddlers to maintain balance. It’s a great way to encourage the child to stand and jump independently. Also, for an extra challenge, invite someone to walk or jump on the trampoline while your kid tries to stand on one foot. Doing so is an excellent way for your child to enjoy themselves while improving their skills.
9. Freeze Dance
Freeze dance is an activity that consists of more than two people, typically kids of the same age, to motivate the kids to play. You would play music in a freeze dance, and the players are supposed to mimic your movements. They should ‘freeze’ in whatever action they imitate when the music stops.
As an adult, ensure that you include movements that would have them freeze while standing on one foot, e.g., hopping, marching, etc.
10. Hopscotch
You might remember this game in your childhood. If not, hopscotch is a game where a player throws an object into outlined figures on the ground, and players stand and hop on one foot to regain the thing. This activity would be best played if there were numerous children for your child to play with.
Takeaway:
The critical factor in doing these balance enhancing activities is your presence. The parent(s) should always watch the child since falling can be possible. Be sure to assure your child that you or a safety mat can protect them if they fall. Your role as an adult is essential in the process to keep your child engaged in the activity, happy, and determined.
Montessori toys play a pivotal role in a child’s development by fostering independence, creativity, and cognitive growth. Inspired by Maria Montessori’s educational philosophy, these toys are thoughtfully designed to encourage hands-on learning, sensorial exploration, and self-directed discovery.
Montessori toys play a pivotal role in a child’s development by fostering independence, creativity, and cognitive growth. Inspired by Maria Montessori’s educational philosophy, these toys are thoughtfully designed to encourage hands-on learning, sensorial exploration, and self-directed discovery.
Wow, all these activities mentioned above are so easy and helpful to develop the balancing skill in kids . I will try out with my kids too .
My son has ADHD and the teacher had told me to make him do balancing exercises to improve his concentration. Thanks for the tips
This are amazing ideas on how to keep children entertained without the use of gadgets. While the use of technology is something we can’t escape anymore, and why not want it if it really can help make our lives easier, for raising children though, great supervision is needed for it to be used properly. This list gives parents tons of ideas to choose from!
It’s such an important skill to be taught. Glad you put up a detailed post. My daughter is being taught these over online classes
In today’s high-tech world, there is so much for our children to learn. Balance in childhood is an important skill for several reasons. Balance is used when we control and maintain our body positions while sitting or standing still or while moving. You have mentioned great fun activities here to do with kids.
I wasn’t aware of the fact that kick balling can improve balancing. These are great tips and I really appreciate your research.
We play all this except Bosu Ball. This is new to me. Let me check it out and include that in my kiddos playtime.
Balancing is an important skill that kids learn earlier on. The various methods that you have discussed are really helpful in improving their balance. I also like the fact that you have specifically underlined the need of parental presence in these activities.
wow such amazing fun activities for the kids. You penned the content so well and I loved it. Keep sharing such awesome posts.
These look like some fun activities for the kids. Few I already play with my kiddo but I could try the others. My little one enjoys the trampoline and trying to stand on one foot should be something new for her.