Jumping is a pretty amazing milestone. Two footed jumping generally happens around the age of two years old. You can check out all of the different jumping milestones including two footed, single leg and more. Below are jumping activities for kids whether you are working on getting a kiddo jumping, or looking for fun activities that involve jumping.
Jumping Activities For Kids
The following ideas are for working on jumping skills with those that haven’t started jumping with a two footed take off quite yet.
Squats
These are great for working on lower extremity strength. You may even see when little kids are just starting to jump they squat down, but there feet don’t quite leave the ground.
Lots of squatting happens when kids are in play in general. This may be through picking up different objects and toys on the ground. Placing objects of interest and toys on the ground is a great way to facilitate this.
Bouncing
Often times you may see kiddos starting to jump while holding on to the side of the crib. You may see them in the corner first (for more stability) before progressing to the side rail.
In older kids, you can work on this skill with trampolines, starting with those that have handle bars for stability and when comfortable moving away from the bar and bouncing in general. If you don’t have handle bars, holding hands while bouncing on the trampoline is another option.
If no trampoline is available, jumping on furniture or mattresses will work too.
Using Scooter Boards
Another fun idea, typically with slightly older kids, is doing scooter board blast offs from the wall. With this activity you bend the legs and jump from the wall. Depending on the size of the scooter board you can try it in seated or supine. This eliminates some of the effects of gravity, plus feels like a game.
Target Jumping
When your kiddo is getting close to jumping you can try some target jumping. Initially, you may see more of one foot take off as the kiddo is progressing towards a two footed take off.
Some of these ideas can also be used on surfaces such as trampolines or mattresses that give that bounce assistance.
Other ideas include jumping towards targets. Ideas for this include jumping on
- Bubble Wrap
- Bubbles On The Ground
- Jumping In Puddles
- Jumping on footprints (get these in the Pink Oatmeal freebie library)
- Jumping in obstacle courses or sensory paths.
This can also include targets above the head such as holding an object of interest above the head where the kiddo needs to attempt to jump up and reach them.
Jumping Down
You can also work on jumping down from curbs or steps to practice the two footed take-off and landing.
You can use some of the same concepts above such as landing on footprints, color dots, a lily pad etc.
Advanced Jumping Skills for Kids
Now you’ve got a kiddo that has achieved two footed take-offs and landings and you want to work on more advanced jumping activities for kids such as single foot jumping, forward/backward jumping, side/side jumping and more.
Below are some ideas to work on these more advanced jumping skills for kids.
Jump Roping
Hop Scotch
Obstacle courses, agility ladders and motor paths.
Here you can incorporate a wide variety of jumping challenges including single foot, side to side, and two-footed jumping. You don’t need fancy equipment to create these. Here are several DIY ideas for creating courses and sensory motor paths.
You can also work on backward and forward jumping skills by making a game out of it, check out the following bean bag games.
Lateral Jumps
Forward and Backward Jumps
You can even make games out of jumping with partners such as this one where the partner has to match what the other partner is doing.
Another super fun jumping game includes the Popcorn Jumping Game from Pink Oatmeal. In this game you combine one to one counting with jumping. Kids LOVE this game.
More Jumping Activity Resources
Pink Oatmeal has more jumping activity resources for you. These games, cards, and printables are designed to make jumping fun and engaging! They include trampoline jumping and jumping from the ground.
You can click on the NAME of the jumping resource below to get a full detailed view of that resource.
