Physical development programme ideas please for older baby and toddler

[lzp11]

I am really inspired reading some of the threads saying how much physical development has boosted learning in their children, to ask for some help with putting together a physical activity program for both my kids.  My younger son aged 1 year only started commando crawling a few weeks ago, and proper crawling last week.  I don't think I did anything really different than with my daughter who was rolling really early and crawled much earlier too.  He's had loads of tummy time and I don't think it was because he was being given all his toys by his older sister, even when they were out of reach he would just kick his legs swimming style, but had no interest in moving towards things.  In fact, he did roll a few times quite early on and then did not seem to be interested in trying again.  He is a very chilled little chap who is extremely smiley and much more interested in fine motor / manual dexterity than his older sister.  He can pick out specific keys on a keyboard for example, which I don't think she would have done at the same age.  He also loves swimming and will be starting lessons in september with his older sister.

I don't know if it's my fault - it has been hard to fit everything in with two children and a part-time job that take up so much time, it's always a struggle to give everyone exactly what they need and fit in all the early learning goals.   

But physical activity is really important in our house - I'd love to hear more about a structured approach to what I should / could try.  I looked at the Doman physically superb book on amazon but it is really expensive, and outside the budget at the moment, and is not in the library.  In fact, I'm also keen to hear about what else I could be trying with his older sister (3.4).  We do weekly drop in at a gymnastics class (currently soft play on the equipment rather than a structured class but hopefully she'll be up for this in September), swimming, balance bike, scooter, as much hanging as possible (we don't have a brachiation ladder but use any opportunities in parks and at the gymnastics class to do so).  Running - not formal or measured but as much as possible, in terms of games in the garden and park.  Maybe I could do more of this - I do run myself so she knows it is a normal part of life, but has never been very enthused to try.

All ideas and input greatly welcomed!

[shadahfree]

I don't have my notes on the physically superb book. It looks like you have everything covered for your daughter. I think I would try creeping/crawling for her. It is very good for language and reading.It alsi might inspire your younger child. I get my dd to play baby or act like certain animals. It gets her going on the floor.
I wish I had more ideas for you.

[kiwimum]

I too would like some more ideas on the physical side of things aswell. I havnt been able to get my hand on Glenn Domans book "physically superb" but I have read 'how smart is your baby'

Here is a run down of some of the stuff we do in a week
I try and go for a walk at 15 month old speed, we stop and post leaves in other peoples letter boxes and climb up and down slopes etc. when she asks to be picked up i do but then put her back down to walk after about one minute and then she will walk again. I try and get her to walk on different surfaces. When we get to the park my daughter enjoys climbing up the steps of the slide and I try and encourage her to learn how to climb down as well as up.
We do swimming lessions once a week, Im thinking about going twice in a week.
At home we practice Rollie-pollies on the couch, I get her to tuck her head under and push off her feet, she is getting more and more stronger and coordinated at this skill.
Our hugs are sometimes quite physical, both my husband and I flip her around quite a lot, lift her up high and lower her down low head first so she feels what its like to be upside down. She is learning to hold on and just loves it. if we stop she will sign for "more" or say "up". I gently swing her in my arms back and forth, the swings get bigger and bigger.
I try and make her tunnels to crawl through, even tho she can walk now I read somewhere it's still important to get them crawling as its the cross motion in the arms and legs helps with brain development.
At the moment she is learning the word "jump" off little reader and enjoys practicing jumping when ever there is an audience to watch her.
I try and be vocal with what she is doing aswell eg "turn around, feet first" "up you go" "run run run"

Lzp11 that might give you some ideas of little things you can do but yeah I'm keen for any other ideas people might have

[Mandabplus3]

 A couple of questions first...
Do you mean crawling as in crawling ( like normal people say) or crawling as in creeping? Doman uses two words to mean different things. So is your son up on all fours confidently moving about?
Assuming he is on hands and knees- now it's time to develop his balance and leg strength, so he can walk pronto. Given that he has a sibling we can assume you are time poor  But sorry thing one takes time at the start. Spend lots of short bursts holding his hands/ or anderarms and encouraging him to walk. he may start with a tip toe walk, lots of kids do. To get the most consistent practice you could try always making him walk up a hallway or walk to his high chair, rather than carrying him each time you go up the hall of to the highchair. That way he gets lots of practice, regularly, daily.
My kids had a jolly jumper, I know they're controversial but they work well for developing both balance and leg and upper body strength. My son didn't like it though so I only used it with the girls.
Once he can walk along furniture, independently, never sit him down always put him down standing near something to hold onto. Re arrange the furniture a bit so he can walk longer distances. Coffee table to couch, to chair to table leg..... This is what got my son really walking he had been creeping for ages, we spent a week on holidays in an apartment with low furniture. He had plenty of chances to walk small distances with support and was walking independently by the end of day 4, by the end of the week he was walking everywhere.
For both kids add in rolling, spinning and swinging regularly. Rolling down an incline you can do at Gymnastics and down small hills or using a mattress at home. Spinning we do to music. Dancing is fun for mums and good for kids  Swinging on swings has been proven to grow brain areas so try to do this one regularly. Even if it means getting an indoor toddler swing. Any movement is developing brain connections and  balance.
For your older child at 3.4 she must be nearly ready for a structured gym class. But while she is in the free play class you are in control of what equipment she used, so focus on her weaker areas and the most beneficial ones. I would pick climbing on anything and rolling ( sideways rolling and forward summersault rolls) on the incline mat. People say get them to crawl but if you run it is likely your daughter already has a fairly good cross pattern style run, using opposite arms and legs swinging. If not she needs to crawl more.
Now is a good time to introduce a totem tennis style game for hand eye coordination. Any bat and ball games. Tball, or a balloon with a stick for a beginner.
Add in catching balls of all shapes and sized. Bean bags, balloons and large light balls are the easiest to start with.
The one thing I thought was most useful for my kids was spending time in rough natural environments ( my backyard is full of gumtrees, boulders, massive bigger than a car rocks, uneven path ways, mini forests....) doing activities like rock hopping, climbing trees and fences and just walking to the back shed keeps them thinking and active, all mobile children can benefit from time on uneven ground. Spend some time in natural settings, often their are local parks like this. Take a picnic.
 They also spend a lot of time racing each other. Ever time a car leaves our house they race it across the front lawn. ( safely, there is a fence between them)
I can look in the physically superb book for you if you want some Doman recommendations too.

[Korrale4kq]

Some great ideas already. I would recommend getting a balance bike. My son started using his at 15 months. Now he sizzles around the house on it with his feet lifted a lot. If you older child is not yet riding a bike she will benefit also.
Try not to hold hands and "walk" your son so much. Try and help him build torso strength by holding him at his armpits then later at his hips as he stands. Or as he sits if he needs assistance there still.
When he does start stepping roll a towel or small sheet and and use that to support him under the arms like walking wings. But don't rely in this too much either.
Have both your children do sideways rolls, front rolls, and backward rolls in that progression.
Give your daughter the chance to do a balance beam, start with a taped out area on the floor using painters tape. Then use a 2x4 lumber stud.
Give your daughter a chance to jump and hop. Set up things like hoops or blankets she an jump/hoo to.
Give your daughter and son a chance to kick, throw and catch objects. If your daughter can't catch start with using clothing or washcloths. Then move on beanbags or stuffed animals.
Leg both your children practice going up and down stairs until mastery.

[kiwimum]

Thanks mandabplus3 and korrale4kg
I like your ideas about rolling down hills, catching wash cloths and stuffed animals. I'm also now looking into one of those balance bikes.

[Mandabplus3]

We considered just taking the pedals of our sons bike..but we took off his training wheels and then ran out of time...anyway before we got the pedals off he started to ride it with no training wheels! Self taught. I had figured he could do it he does love to ride....but i was surprised! So if the balance bikes turn out to be ridiculously expensive look into removing pedals as an alternative. we could have bought 3 and a half bikes for the price of one balance bike when i looked. I would have bough a bike and had the local welder hack the peddles off one  for that price 

[Korrale4kq]

I have recommended people remove the pedals before Manda. I would have done that too. However it was not really an option for us.

My son has a wee rider balance bike it was under USD$30 which was a fraction of the price of a first bike.
The wee rider also has 10inch wheels, a first bike with pedals and training wheels has 12 inch wheels. So we needed the balance bike for its small size. And even so I still had to turn the seat around for about a year before he was tall enough to sit on it and touch the ground.
James 2.5  is still too small for a first bike, but I have found that the balance bike will do for a while longer. It is great for off roading. Up hill, down hill, through the thick grass, through ditches, just places a standard bike cant go. I don't have a flat space other than the street.

[Mandabplus3]

Keep looking! I have an 8 inch wheel ( yep it's tiny!) and a 10 inch wheeled bike with pedals. Jaykob is big, he learnt on the 10 and 12 inch wheels and now rides the average size for a 6-8 year old no problem.
The smaller bikes always come with those parent bars attached but you can take them off as needed. The parent bar would be useful for when you first take off the training wheels I suppose...less bending over and chasing! Lol
 that is a good price for a balance bike, my cheapest quote was more than triple that! You must be better at finding a bargain 

[kiwimum]

I've been reading some older posts and I have taken notes for myself to try. Others might find this useful. Feel free to add to it.


Physical program

Try walking on a lot of different surfaces, if you have hills near you even better 

crawl with your child even if he is too old, this can be great fun as well as good exercise, great for balance later and is very very important for proper brain development

a balance beam is wonderful, do some work on it everyday, remember not to hold your child's hand while he uses the balance beam a few steps by himself is much better then 20 steps with your help. Start with masking tape on the ground nice and thick, then build up

rolls, this is very important for proper balance as well do forward rolls everyday as well as rolling from side to side. Roll down grass slopes.

let him climb as much as possible, if your park has rope net or other climbing toys this is great fun and good for upper body strength

gross motor activities; like throwing, kicking, jumping, standing on one foot, etc. 
jumping is really good too, use a trampoline if you have one
hop around the house or yard, hop like a bunny, frog or bug 
kick a ball, try balls of all different sizes, work up to running and kicking
Catch ball, Start with wash cloth, soft toys, different size balls

hanging from a dowel- start with grip, build up to lifting but supporting their weight, to being unassisted to using a stool close by so the child can hang from it when ever they want. Then this leads onto brachiation 

brachiate, monkey bars - very important for breathing, balance, strength and so much more. you can build your own for quite cheap(doman's book tells you how) or if you can do that go to the park and use the monkey bars there 

obstacle course at home when we can't go walking where she has to climb over, creep under and other stuff. 

[Skeptic]

Thanks so much! I got a lot of great ideas here in this thread

[Korrale4kq]

No bargain Manda. Just Walmart.
IF there are 8 or 10 inch bikes they are not in my budget. I did find a 12 inch bike with a bar but it was $100!!! Nuts to me. I scoured online for smaller ones but no bueno.

[lzp11]

Thank you all for some fantastic ideas and inspiration.

You have all given me some really good ideas and I now just need to write down a plan for the next 3 months. It's also given me reassurance that we are doing many of these activities so we are not way off - just nice to have some new suggestions.

I would definitely agree that a balance bike is brilliant if within people's budgets. We have had one since oldest daughter was 2 - she was able to pedal a bike without pedals last month but for her confidence she still prefers the balance bike at the moment which she lifts up both feet to ride downhill. It's much lighter and easier to manoeuvre than her proper bike so she feels more in control. It's also great for introducing off more challenging biking such as off road skills even after the child is well able to ride a standard bike on the flat.

We live in a 3 storey house so stairs have always been a big part of our life! It still amazes me to watch the difference in confidence on stairs between my DD and some of her friends who still need to hold hands with a parent.  We do lots of dancing, jumping and outdoor play. There is a park with swings about 2 mins from the house so we are there a lot too. I think I just need to be a little more structured and write a list to make sure I'm not forgetting anything. I love the tape on the floor to make a beam!  Will try that this week. And more rolling. Lots of rolling!

Manda your back yard sounds amazing - i am very jealous!! We have a tiny garden but access to lots of safe outdoor space around where we live with very little traffic. I will make efforts to visit more woodlands and wild parkland, as I love this myself and is a great way to climb fallen trees, jump between branches etc. 

I used to be a rock climber at uni - would love to take my kids to a safe indoor climbing wall but so far the youngest they will accept is age 5!!  Bah - with a responsible parent there's no reason a younger child could not participate safely and enjoy themselves. 

Oh and I love the idea of swing tennis - fantastic for a smaller garden and for practicing ball skills! 

For my son, sorry I'm not great with Doman's terminology. He started what I call commando crawling on his belly, using mainly right arm to pull forwards and a combination of knees and toes to help. On his first birthday he finally got up on his knees and is now doing cross pattern crawling (creeping?) on hands and knees. Hes not yet able to walk, even being held - he doesn't seem to know to move his legs.  But he's really into pulling himself to stand on furniture so hopefully this will develop over time. Having read the benefits of crawling, even though he's late starting, it still sounds benficial to encourage plenty of crawling.  I try not to pick him up and let him explore independently where possible (although he is a monkey for trying to eat everything he lays eyes on  ). I will start encouraging him to go upstairs independently and set up some obstacle courses with cushions on the floor and get out our pop up tunnel.

In fact, I've realised that nursery might be part of the problem. Because he is so smiley, there is constantly someone picking up and holding him - way more than at home. I love that they are so fond of him but this does worry me.  He is there for 3 days per week so quite a big chunk of time. Perhaps I should talk to them.

And thanks again - and always happy to hear new ideas

[CVMomma]

Thanks for all the great ideas!!  I, too, do not have most of the Doman books, and my hubby says "no more early learning books!"  So, I am very grateful for all of the specifics that other people can post.  (I love this forum )

My 2 year old is quite active, but I need ways to direct all of her motion into more productive activity.  Plus, she is very independent (OK, Ok, she is stubborn!  ), so I need to convince her that new ideas are her ideas and then she just flies with them!

We don't live anywhere close to parks and quite a bit of our outdoors is unsuitable for playing.  We do go for walks and she can usually walk close to 2 and a half miles on her own.  Actually, it ends up being more than that for her, as she takes so many side trips after the dog, or flowers, etc!  We don't have hills close and most of the rocks are also home to rattlesnakes, so I'm a bit leery of letting her climb on the rock piles!

She already loves trying to turn somersaults, but so far she ends up just going over sideways.  I guess I always just chalked that up to being "ungraceful".  Something I assumed that she inherited from me.  We will continue to work on that and add rolling sideways also. 

We are in the process of adding on to our house, so there are generally ladders around.  She loves to climb them, but we have always been careful to set them down so she can't go climbing when we aren't around.  I should probably set the short one up just for her to practice a couple times a day.  We could find a 2x4 to walk on also.  Should I not hold her hand while she starts doing that? 

How do you get a child to learn to jump??  She knows what jumping is, just can't get more than one heel off the ground at a time    Quite hilarious to watch actually!!  I would love a trampoline, but...too expensive!!

Anyway, thanks again for all the ideas!!  Keep them coming!! 

[Mandabplus3]

to start with just put the 2 by 4 on the ground. if she needs encouragement tell her there is a muddy puddle there she has to cross. raise it as she develops confidence. my gym says no more than 18 inches of the ground EVER without safety mats.
jumping takes time and practice to master but it doesnt take long. demonstrate two feet off teh ground jumping and let her practice. I reccommend to music, especially if you can find a jumping song (if your happy and you know it, frogs on a log...) most kids jump with one leg at a time to start. it is a bit humerous but dont let her see you laughing Also teach hopping so they know the difference.

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