Jumping
Jumping is one of my favorite gross motor skills. There are so many different versions of this one skill that kids can practice and incorporate into play which makes it really versatile and fun. Jumping also challenges both our muscle strength and our cardiovascular endurance making it a great way to exercise. Before we dive deeper into the different forms of jumping let’s review some of the terms I just mentioned so we can better understand the benefits of jumping.
Gross Motor Skills: Skills that use large muscles in the torso, arms, and legs. These skills are often whole body movements that require balance and coordination. Examples include sitting, crawling, walking, running, playing with a ball, and jumping.
Muscle Strength: The amount of force a muscle can create.
Cardiovascular Endurance: The body’s ability to supply oxygen to the muscles during sustained physical activity.
Jumping Skills can vary from simple to complex. Here are some of my favorites and the average age kids should be able to complete them:
Vertical Jump: Jumping straight up off of the ground with both feet clearing the surface at the same time. Kids start to jump around age 2.
Jumping Forward: Jumping with the start and stop position being spaced apart. Kids start to jump forward between the ages of 2 and 3. The older they get the farther they should be able to jump.
Jumping Down: Jumping from a higher surface down to a lower surface like jumping off of a step. Kids start to jump down around age 3. The older they get the higher surface they can jump down from.
Hopping: Jumping on one foot. Kids start to hop proficiently around age 4.
As with all gross motor skills including jumping, practice is how kids learn. They have to do the task over and over again so that:
Their muscles can get strong enough to complete the action. Practice is their version of gym reps.
Their brain and body can figure out how to move different parts at the same time (coordination).
Their brain can learn how much force and effort it takes to successfully complete the skill (graded control).
They can try the activity in different way and figure out what to do and what not to do (motor learning).
In this week’s video, we are going to jump around with some silly animal characters to practice our jumping skills. Each section of jumping will last about 25 seconds. Then, the music will stop and you will need to freeze in whatever position you are in. I hope you have so much fun Jumping Around!
See you next time,
Dr. Heather
