Gross Motor Milestone Series: Jumping

By 24 months of age, 50% of children can jump with both feet off the ground. By 27 months of age, this increases to 75%. Jumping helps to develop leg strength and balance. It requires coordination of upper and lower extremity movements, is used during childhood games, and plays a large role in sports such as basketball and volleyball. Jumping is a building block for more complex  movements, specialized skills, and general physical activity.

Children who lack basic skills, including jumping, often show lower levels of physical fitness as they get older.  Missing skills can make participation in physical activities more difficult and cause kids to avoid them, which can also lead to social isolation from their peers.

While the initiation of activities such as jumping happen spontaneously, these skills need to be practiced in order to be mastered. The most important thing that you can do as a parent to help promote jumping is to give your children the time, space, and opportunity to move.

How To Encourage Jumping

• Make sure your child is able to step over obstacles without support and without falling.
• Work on bouncing on soft surfaces, such as a trampoline or a pillow on the floor.
• Holding both of your child’s hands, help them jump forward or down a few inches. Progress to 1 hand hold assist and then to 1 finger assist and then to no assist.
• Encourage jumping with both feet leaving the ground at the same time.

What Should Children Do When Jumping?

• Keep their eyes focused forward or upward throughout the jump
• Crouch with knees bent and arms behind the body
• Use a forceful forward and upward swing of the arms
• Straighten legs in the air
• Land on the balls of the feet with knees bent to absorb the shock from the landing
• Control the landing with no more than one step in any direction

Activities To Practice Jumping

• Cut out shapes, bugs, or letters and practice jumping from shape to shape
• Blow bubbles and have your child jump up to pop them
• Place various objects on the ground for your child to jump over. These can include a jump rope, hula hoop, garden hose, sticks, toys, etc.
• Suspend a ball in the air and have the child jump up and touch it
• Hopscotch, trampoline, jump rope
• Jump over (or in) puddles

When To See a Physical Therapist

A physical therapy screen or evaluation might be beneficial if your child is 2½ and still isn’t jumping or is jumping and showing any of the following:

Asymmetric jumping: A typically developing child does not show side preference until preschool age. If you notice your child always pushing off and landing with one side, drags one leg or holds it stiffly, or if one side is not helping in the initiation of jumping, there is probably an underlying cause, such as weakness or pain.

No power during push-off: If your child prepares to jump by initiating a squat but then her feet barely leave the floor, her leg muscles may not be strong enough yet to fully propel her weight forwards or upwards.  He or she might have trouble planning how to initiate and complete the jump.

Frequent falls: If your child crumbles to the floor or if their knees buckle every time they land from a jump, or if your child falls on purpose when trying to jump, it could be a sign that there is an underlying impairment that is impacting ability to maintain balance during jumping.

Increased anxiety or behavioral resistance to the task: Does your child hesitate, ask to be picked up, or ask for a hand any time he or she is  encouraged to jump down or over something on the ground? Do they throw a tantrum or flop to the ground if you don’t help?  These are signs that indicate jumping is scary or too hard for them.

Check out Gross Motor Milestones: Stairs to learn what your child should develop next. If you have concerns regarding your child’s gross motor skills, contact MOSAIC Health & Rehab for additional suggestions or for a free screen. To learn more, check out this great milestone moments list from the CDC.