Tumbling Toddlers
Now that your toddler has taken off and started to walk, have you noticed your toddler falls, and falls often? They are rambunctious and moving and grooving all over the place. Likely, with limited awareness of their surroundings. Read below to learn about a few fun activities that require no fancy toys or equipment to help promote their balance, ankle stability, and strength! Just a reminder, excessive falls are more common the first 3 to 5 months after initiating independent steps.
Introduce balance and strengthen those ankles by stepping into or over obstacles. This could be stepping in and out of a laundry basket, a cardboard box, or something as simple as stepping over paper towel rolls! Won’t slow down? Add 1-2 canned goods into a backpack and have them wear it to help give weighted resistance and grounding.
Stop moving and just balance on a dynamic surface. You can stand on pillows, couch cushions, squishy surfaces, or even a dynamic bridge on a playground. Bonus tip: bring their feet closer together for more of a challenge.
Fire up the tiny foot and ankle muscles by picking up pom poms or cotton balls with their toes either in seated or standing. You can also complete one leg balance beanie or stuffed animal elevator rides lifting them to dump into a bucket on the top of their foot!
Twisting and quick turns strengthen the inside and outside of the ankle. Completing rotational reaching activities or navigating around an obstacle course you have created in different directions can help not only their pivoting movements for strength and stabilization of the ankles, but also their cognitive processing and motor planning.