5 Ways to Improve Your Child's Balance

Optimal control over one’s body position minimizes the energy required to perform any assignment and reduces fatigue. In order to operate as efficiently as possible, we all have to achieve and maintain an ideal dynamic and static balance.

It’s no secret that all kids, especially toddlers, have mastered the art of falling down. However, with proper training, even the clumsiest youngsters can take their balance, coordination, and moving to a whole new level, exceeding their own performance in sports, games, and other daily activities.  

Why Is Balance So Important?

Youngsters who get the chance to improve their balance and coordination grow intellectually at a faster pace, increase their strength, get involved in new activities that benefit their social lives, and boost their self-confidence.

5 Ways to Help Young Children Improve Their Balance and Coordination Skills

There are several fun, interactive strategies that parents could employ to help their youngest family members work on their balance and coordination, and ultimately explore the world around them with more ease, and get involved in more complex physical activities. Here are five such examples that any parent can rely on to reach these goals.

1. Playing Ball.  By encouraging their toddlers to throw, kick, catch or roll a ball indoors or outdoors, parents can stimulate them to better their hand-eye coordination. By throwing a beach ball in the air and letting the child catch it, or by rolling it back and forth to the toddler, grownups involved in this fun exercise can support the development of improved motor skills, showing the young child how to maintain his or her balance whilst in motion.  
2. Maintaining Balance on a Bosu Ball. Bosu balls are popular fitness tools that can be used by adults to help their youngsters enhance their balance and coordination. For starters, parents may ask their children to stand on top of the ball for as long as they can; afterward, to make the exercise a bit more challenging, they can turn the ball upside down and have their kids stand still on the flat side of the ball.
3. Using Balance Boards. Maintaining a certain position on balance boards can be a difficult task for both adults and kids; this is why this type of activity can lead to quality bonding time, enabling both parents and children to try to stay on the balance board for the longest period of time. Wobble or balance boards are great for exercising swift movements and balance and are commonly used in fitness regimens revolving around coordination training and/or equilibrium repair and injury prevention.
4. Playing Hopscotch. Hopscotch is an exciting classic activity that most kids love to perform. Aside from being quite entertaining, it also constitutes an excellent method to develop balance. To turn hopscotch into an even more challenging and effective balance and coordination exercise, parents should tell their kids to play this game without switching feet; this way, they would work on maintaining balance while standing on one foot.
5. Playing Pretend. Through creative, personalized pretend games, parents can have their kids fly like airplanes, stand on one leg like a pirate, or jump around like rabbits to develop gross motor skills in the most enjoyable manner.

Through all these suggestions, which serve as interactive, pleasurable moving and learning experiences, kids can develop stronger balance and coordination skills, while experimenting and having fun.

Running, jumping, or kicking a ball are just a few examples of activities that kids should get involved in to discover their surroundings, play, and eventually fuel their mental and physical development.