When can a child jump with two legs? Age stages and practice tips
Always something to do for the holidays or rainy day?
Play Choice now has the ultimate activity book collection, with over 60 pages of fun coloring pages and educational puzzles.
Jumping is a movement that arises from gross motor skills. Step by step, children learn to make this movement, using balance, movement coordination and strength.
A toddler can jump with the help of a step. From the age of two a child can land on the flat foot and from the age of 3 it can jump a few times in a row.
The action becomes more attractive if you teach the child to jump with two legs at the same time while playing.
In this article I will explain how the development of learning to jump with two legs at the same time goes.
I will also explain how you can best teach a child to jump, why some children make 'movements' in the beginning and I will also give you tips about games and toys to stimulate jumping with two legs.
From toddler to toddler activity book collection
Educational games and coloring pages for 3 to 6 years
Your toddler and preschooler will love this e-book, along with the accompanying printables. He or she can play with it at every stage of development, together with mom and dad.
Buy at Bol.comWhat we discuss in this comprehensive post:
How do you teach a child to jump?
Jump, like hopscotch en couple diving, is a complex movement and appeals to gross motor skills. The assignment requires not only movement coordination, but also control of balance and muscle strength.
To achieve this movement, children must first be able to make a bend in the hip joint and knee joint. In order to come up explosively afterwards, both these joints must stretch as quickly as possible.
A child also learns to use the arms to make the movement more powerful.
In what order do children learn to jump?
- Jump off something
- Jump up and down (in place)
- Jump forward
- Jump on something
- Jump back
- Jump over something
In the beginning it is normal if a child still has insufficient balance to jump and land with both feet at the same time. The movement will then be more of a 'canter' movement.
Your child will master the skill better and better and it will also become easier to jump and land with two legs at the same time.
What are the different age stages of gross motor skills?
How does the jumping movement develop over the years, from toddler to toddler?
- Toddler age (1-2 years): In this age stage, a child can jump from the last step with the help of mom and dad.
- 2-3 : At this age, a child can jump up with both feet at the same time and land on the flat foot. They can jump down a step with both feet at the same time, feet apart.
- 3-4 : A child can now jump with their feet together a number of times in a row. It can also jump over a rope of about 5 cm high and can jump, pushing off with both legs at the same time (about 20 cm further).
- 4-5 years: A child now has good physical control and, above all, a lot of fun jumping (and running and climbing!).
- From 5 years old More complex movements such as skipping rope (turning and jumping) are possible!
Most toddlers love being with mom or dad learn new gross motor skills. You probably know the beaming face when something works!
From 2,5 to 3 years old, body movements become smoother and more balanced.
Falls can still occur, keep that in mind! Your toddler is still coordinating the head and limbs and that is not without a struggle.
It is therefore important to always find a protected place to play jumping games with your child so that they can master the technique in a safe way.
Did you know that jumping has a positive effect on the brain? The brain associates jumping with happiness, which affects children's moods.
As well as jumping is an essential skill that children learn, it also makes children very happy!
Does the child make 'movements'?
Joint movements can be observed with different motor skills, and therefore also when jumping with two legs at the same time.
When children still make a lot of movements, it means that they are not yet completely independent in their movement pattern.
An example of a co-movement is when a child jumps, moves with the mouth or, for example, sticks the tongue out of the mouth during the effort.
As a parent, it is good to observe whether your child is still moving a lot. If it does, keep an eye on it and see if it diminishes over time.
The firmer the base, the better the motor skills can work out and the less movements a child will make.
Until the age of nine, it is even normal to observe these kinds of movements during difficult assignments.
Tips about jumping games
What can you do as a parent to teach a child to jump with two legs? Make a game out of it, of course! Because learning is more fun when it is accompanied by play and fun.
The action can be made more attractive to a child if you let him or her jump over a line, string, or seam in the carpet.
It is also important to grab the child's hands first, count to three together and then let him or her jump.
In this way you help the child to practice coordination to control the movements. With time, the child should be able to jump alone.
Here's Coach Greg with even more ideas about jumping games at home or in the park:
Tips about toys that can encourage jumping
There are toys for everything! This is also the case for practicing jumping with two legs at the same time.
If a child enjoys practicing, they will master the skill in no time and will be proud to show it to everyone!
With this Gonge River stone set children will be stimulated to play, jump and balance.
The set consists of 6 river stones and 5 hill tops. The 5 hill tops all have different heights.
Children can jump from top to top or rock and train their balance. Children will also learn to estimate distances, and motor skills will be trained.
It is nice that every hilltop is provided with rubber on the bottom so that it protects the floor and does not slide away when the child jumps on it. The hilltops cannot simply fall over.
To make it more difficult, you can move the positions of the hilltops and stones a little further apart.
The river stones provide a lot of fun. You can start by holding your child's hands and making them jump from one platform to another.
You can also easily let a child jump off one of the heights, with two legs.
After that, it can try to jump alone, with two legs at the same time. It can also practice with one leg.
The toy is suitable for kids from 2 years of age.
Always something to do for the holidays or rainy day?
Play Choice now has the ultimate activity book collection, with over 60 pages of fun coloring pages and educational puzzles.
Joost Nusselder, the founder of Speelkeuze.nl is a content marketer, father and loves trying out new toys. As a child he came into contact with everything related to games when his mother started the Tinnen Soldaat in Ede. Now he and his team create helpful blog articles to help loyal readers with fun play ideas.