What will help my toddler with gross motor development?
This post is very similar to my locomotor skills post, so I’ll try to make it short. Basically, having your toddler walk on a line is a wonderful skill for gross motor development. The simple act of having to watch where their feet are going, not only uses great gross motor muscles, but it also creates a stronger connection between their brain and their feet.
This isn’t the most fun activity on its own, so you may need to have lots of enthusiasm to get your toddler to play. You can make up fun scenarios to get your child to walk across a line. Try something like, “We have to bring these rocks to the rock pile, but we have to walk on this line or else the rock pile will fall down (or a monster will come, or we’ll lose the rocks, or we’ll have to start over, etc.).” Get your toddler excited, then walk across the line to demonstrate. This will be very difficult for young toddlers, but the more they do it, the more gross motor development they will get.
Another great thing about this gross motor development game is that it can change a lot with age. As your child gets older, have him jump across the line, or slide across the line. Or, have your child go across a balance beam. I don’t suggest using a balance beam with young toddlers, but if you have a preschooler, a balance beam is a wonderful tool for gross motor development.
If you want more information about walking on a line, please check out my locomotor skills post. It is geared mostly toward preschoolers, but it has quite a bit more information about walking on a line and how it helps gross motor development. If you are looking for gross motor development skills for toddlers, then definitely try this walk the line activity.
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