Balance Activities for New Walkers
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Is your child ready to start walking?
New walkers tend to walk with arms above waist, referred to as mid or high-guard positioning. They will also keep their legs farther apart to widen their base of support and may lock joints resulting in walking with straight legs. These are all typical positions for new walkers as they are not yet confident in their newly learned motor skills. As your child continues to practice walking, their arms should lower to their sides and they will begin to unlock their knees, bring legs closer together, and increase trunk rotation.
If your child has been walking for a few months and continues to display frequent signs of instability including keeping arms up, stiff walking, difficulty staying still, keeping legs in wide positioning, or poking their bellies out, then they may benefit from core strengthening to help their balance.
Let’s talk about some tips to help your new walker improve their balance and increase their steps.
Have them play in half kneel or tall kneel position at a low table or chair. New walkers usually don’t love to stay in one spot so you may have to get creative in positioning them and find some fun and interactive toys to play with.
Suction cup toys such as squigz. Place them around shoulder height on a solid surface such as a fridge or windows and have your children pull them off while maintaining balance. Once this gets easy for your child, place them lower or higher to have them squat down and stand on toes for more of a challenge.
Stand and play on an unstable surface such as a couch cushion or pillow on floor. This will challenge their core and leg muscles to improve balance.
Push walkers can be beneficial for new walkers to improve upright standing and further strengthen legs. Walkers with a basket or child size grocery carts are also great for an added challenge. I like to place a few toys in there for added weight or make it a scavenger hunt and have them search to pick up their favorite toys to add to the cart.
If your child is always searching for a wall or surface for support, placing a toy in each hand will help them realize they can let go and balance on their own.
I hope these fun ideas get your little ones moving with more confidence. However, if you do have concerns, please reach out to your pediatrician or pediatric physical therapist for further evaluation.
Feel free to reach out to Dr. Haley, PT directly with further questions at haley@setinmotionphysicaltherapy.com. As always, we would love to hear how you used these ideas to help your child move.