Walking has been one of the most basic actions man performs and so do all other animals. Every living being in this world knows how to walk and therefore walking is the most natural action.
You are happy that your toddler recently has taken her first steps and is making good progress in the most natural and healthiest activity.
But do you know that you can improve your child’s development through walk even more with something called animal walks?
And not only your young prince will get health benefits from this, but also will enjoy it thoroughly. So, you don’t even have to push him for doing it.
It’s great for kids to induce their imagination and pretend to walk like animals they might have seen in zoo or books or in the form of toys like the ones at https://www.tinytinyshopshop.com.au/.
Image Courtesy: tinytinyshopshop.com.au
This is great for sensory input and practising gross motor skills to progress towards milestones in development.
Here are a few animal walks you can try out for your toddler.
1. Penguin Walk
Tell your baby to keep arms straight by her side and walk in quick, short steps. If you encourage her further to walk on her heels, she can waddle like a penguin and enjoy it a lot.
2. Elephant Swing
Tell your child to put his arms together in front of his body and swing them from one side to the other like an elephant’s trunk while walking bent.
3. Bear Walk
Along with giving your kid baby walking toys from Tiny Tiny Shop Shop, also make her move around on her hands and feet, with the front of her body parallel to the ground.
Your kid’s interest will still grow if you engage her in a conversation and ask her whether she is a polar bear, a grizzly or a black bear.
4. Crab Walk
Ask your little one to sit down with his hands by his side and fingers pointing towards feet. Ask him to push on his hands and feet so his body seems like a table.
Ask him to keep the bottom high to strengthen core muscles. See if your kid is willing to do a balance change by touching the left hand to right foot during a crab walk, and then switch hands to learn balancing.
5. Flamingo Hop
Teach your kid to stand on one foot and make a small jump. Have her switch off the raised leg when she hops to practise balancing.
6. Tiger Crawl
Let your child crawl on his arms and knees, while keeping as low as he can to the ground just like a tiger would in the wilderness.
7. Duck Walk
Your kid is surely going to love walking like a duck by squatting down and walking around, while keeping arms out or bending them to resemble with wings.
Image Courtesy: tinytinyshopshop.com.au
8. Horse Run
Galloping like a horse is excellent for developing gross motor skills. Encourage your child to take the highest leap as he can, having one foot forward.
Here the leg movements must coordinate and should be timed perfectly and acting similar to a horse is a great way to practice.
Have you started these various animal walks to help accelerate the growth of your child in addition to having fun?
