Jaan Saks, Author at Improve Motor Skills

Kids are different and while some might be walking and running with confidence at 12 months, others might reach that level at 18 months or even later. And this is normal as everyone has their own speed of acquiring certain motor skills. Practically every activity kids do in life will improve their balance. If you keep your kids active, they will improve their balance day by day. But if you are looking for additional fun activities to boost their balance, keep reading. Kids tend to quickly forget activities they don’t find fun. So if you would like them to do some specific exercises, try “disguising” them as games. In other words, kids learn through play :) Here’s a list of 15 fun and developing activities that will help improve your toddler’s balance once they are already walking. Please note that the list contains activities for kids of various ages, use the ones appropriate for your kid’s age and skills. 16 Fun Games and Activities To Improve Your Toddler’s Balance 1. Mirror Game This is a great social game to bond with your little one. It works best with two participants but can be played in a group as well. Face each other and ask your kid to mirror everything you do. Start with simpler things like moving your arms and torso while keeping your feet on the ground. Try touching the ground, your head, or high-fiving each other. Step by step, start introducing more difficult movements, like raising one foot off the ground, moving it around, or doing some jumps. Keep pushing them by gradually introducing more difficult movements, even if they can’t mirror those right away. They will one day and they’ll have fun trying anyway. 2. Dance, Monkey! Here’s a great game for kids who like to dance (or just move to the music). Fill two small plastic bags with rice and put them on your heads (yep, you’ll be playing as well). Now turn on the music and start dancing. There are two goals in this game: 1 - have fun, and 2 - the bags can’t fall down. But if the bag should fall, just put it back and continue :) 3. Don’t Stop the Music Another game for music lovers. The rules are simple - tell the kid to dance when the music plays (allow them to go crazy and do all the weirdest dance moves they know) and to stop in their last position when the music stops. You will be the DJ to play and stop the tunes they love. Seems an easy game but staying still in that last position might be really difficult as, depending on the position, a lot of the core muscles have to work to avoid movement. And that’s a win for improving balance. 4. Airplane Landing There are five simple steps to this activity: Put a toy on the ground in front of your kid.Ask your kid to stand on one foot.Ask the child to ‘fly’ by leaning forward. Try to get them to lean their upper body so that there’s a a roughly 90-degree angle between their abs and thighs).Ask the child spread their wings wide by extending their arms wide.Ask them to stretch their tail by extending the other leg backward.After flying for a little while on one foot with the arms stretched wide and the other leg extended backwards in the air, ask your kid to land the plane by grabbing the toy in front of them.Repeat standing on the other foot. Adding sound effects (making crazy airplane sounds) will make this one even more fun for the kids. 5. ‘Wheelbarrow’ Treasure Hunt Position some toys around the room and hide some under a blanket or in some boxes. Then turn your kid into a wheelbarrow by grabbing their legs and having them walk around on their hands to find the treasure. Once they find a ‘gold watch’ or a ‘pearl necklace’, they’ll have to remove any obstacles with one hand, grab it, and give it over to you for safekeeping while they continue their treasure hunt. If necessary, rest every now and then to examine the findings. 6. Run Away from the Monster I found this game on ProPhysio Clinic Youtube page and instantly knew it would have to be on this list. For preparation, use some masking tape to make a straight line on the floor. Then find the most fierce or angry-looking toy your kid has and put it at the start of the line. Now tell your kid a story that the monster has captured them and the only way to escape is to scare the monster by running 15 circles around it and then running away over a narrow bridge (the tape). Count the circles out loud together. As a bonus, this is a fun way to practice counting numbers as well ;) 7. Hopscotch This is an activity for kids who already can jump on one foot. Draw the hopscotch pattern on the pavement with chalk or mark one with masking tape (if indoors). As we are talking about improving balance for toddlers in this article, it makes sense to simplify the rules of traditional hopscotch to match their age. A simplified version could work like this: Throw a marker (a pebble, bean bag, etc.) into one of the boxes. If it lands outside of the boxes, go get it and try again.Hop through the pattern (one foot in single boxes and two in double boxes).At the end, hop on two feet, turn around and start jumping back.When you reach the marker, pick it up, and finish the course. If the kids are already older, introducing the competitive side of traditional hopscotch is a good idea. 8. Obstacle Course Use anything you can find in your household to improvise and build an obstacle course for your child. Try to use different types of objects so the kid would have to use various skills to balance, climb, crawl, jump, etc. over and under the objects. Completing such a course will boost their balance but will also be good for their strength, endurance, problem-solving skills, and much more. Some items you could use: Create a track with masking tape or string on the floor to keep balance on.Pillows to climb over.Chairs to climb through or over.Bigger boxes to climb through.Couch to climb over.Anything else you can find at home that’s a little unstable (but not dangerous) and would intrigue kids to climb over it. 9. Balance Track As a skeleton for this activity, use masking tape or string to create a track of straight lines and curves on the floor. And then introduce some of the following activities to your kid. Most of these require quite advanced coordination and may not be suitable for very young toddlers, just pick the ones that seem appropriate for your child. But don’t be afraid to challenge kids, they can often perform tasks much more complicated than parents might think they can. Complete the track with small steps (place one foot right in front of the other).Complete the track walking backwards.Put some toys on both sides of the track and let the kid pick them up while completing the course.Complete the track on two hands and one foot (always keep them on the track while moving). Keep the other foot in the air. Then change to one hand and two feet on the track. Then to one hand and one foot.Put obstacles on the track and have your kid jump over them. At first on two feet and if your kid is old enough and skilled enough, you can try the same thing on one foot.Face each other at the start of the track (one of you has their back towards the direction of movement) and start slowly completing the track while throwing a ball back and forth to each other. Then switch positions.Complete the balance track while jumping. Start on two feet and if the kid feels comfortable, do another round on one foot.Use the track you marked down as an obstacle. Have the kid jump over the line (diagonally) from left to right and right to left, to complete the course. If they feel comfortable, ask them to do the same on one foot, and finally backward. 10. Throwing a Balloon Take a regular balloon, fill it with air, and start throwing it to each other. To catch the balloon, your kid needs to keep their eyes up on the balloon, so they won’t be able to actively focus so much on the steps they make. To make it even more difficult, open windows for some airflow or go and play this outside. The balloon’s movement will become relatively unpredictable so catching it will need good balance and coordination. Make sure the area you play in is safe for your kid as their attention will be on the ball, not the ground. 11. Surfing on a Balance Board NB! This is a bit more advanced activity that should not be introduced too early and should be done only under adult supervision in a safe surroundings. If you have a balance board at home - great. If you don’t - make one yourself. Just get a wooden plank or a bigger cutting board and put it on a rolling pin. Now ask your kid to get on it and start surfing. The goal is to keep the board parallel to the ground with both sides in the air. 12. Pikler Triangle and Other Climbing Frames Pikler triangle is not a game itself, but it’s a piece of equipment that helps improve many-many skills, including balance, in a fun and entertaining way. Kids will generate tons of ideas on how to climb on and play around it but if you feel you need some more ideas, we’ve put together a separate list of fun games and activities with a Pikler. In short, anything that triggers your toddler to climb, is perfect for them, so getting your own Pikler triangle or taking your kid to the nearest outdoor climbing frame is of a huge benefit for their balance. While getting your own outdoor climbing frame can be a bit too expensive, buying or building a Pikler triangle is much more affordable (prices start from around $150). 13. Riding a Bike Although not a game, riding a bike is a fun activity that tremendously helps to improve kids’ balance. Toddlers are generally not yet ready to ride a traditional bike but a balance bike can be introduced already at around 18-24 months. If you want your kid to improve their balance then balance bikes should be your first choice over a tricycle or a regular bike with training wheels. 14. Standing on One Foot There are multiple levels for this exercise: Stand on one foot.Stand on one foot with eyes closed.Stand on one foot and pass a small ball below the other leg. If standing on one foot is difficult at first, you can put some object under the second foot for additional support. Remove it when your kid feels more comfortable in this position. 15. Socks on, Socks off This is a practical game that you can play every day. The goal of the game is simple - have the kid stand on one foot and extend the other leg while you put on their socks or shoes. At the end of the day, repeat the process to take the socks or shoes off (or they can actually take them off themselves). You get to practice practical life skills as well as improve balance. 16. Cleaning up the Toys This might not be the first thing that comes to your mind when talking about fun activities to improve your kid’s balance. But it does have value besides the clean-up itself. Repeatedly squatting and picking up items has a huge benefit for the kids’ muscles and balance. And it helps to create a good routine to clean up after yourself. So two birds with one stone ;)