Why Your Toddler Needs Physical Activity Every Day

Why Your Toddler Needs Physical Activity Every Day

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Exercise is important for everyone, toddlers included! Of course, we’re not talking about taking your child to a step aerobics or spinning class, but instead making physical activity part of his everyday routine through active play. Active, Coordinated Movement, which makes all of his activities possible, refers to the large muscle movements your toddler makes that help him achieve a physical goal,1 such as throwing, kicking, jumping, or carrying something while walking or running. At 18-24 months, his Active Coordinated Movement and fine motor skills are giving him the muscle control and coordination to let him play catch and other active games. Although it’ll be a while before he masters how to catch a ball well, by now he can probably throw a ball overhand and try to catch a ball by clasping his hands together.2

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Because muscle groups are interdependent, or all connected, any type of physical activity can help improve the function of all your child’s muscles. And as he repeats physical movements through a variety of activities, he will be able to put these skills into muscle memory, allowing him to move and perform specific tasks without having to think about them.3 Therefore, it is important for him to get physical exercise every day to develop muscle coordination and memory as well as healthy habits. Current recommendations for toddlers include 30 minutes of structured and 60 minutes of unstructured physical activity every day.4,5

Children should also spend less than 60 minutes at a time sedentary, or not moving.4,5 According to the American Journal of Human Biology, “Children who spend more than three-quarters of their time engaging in sedentary behavior, such as watching TV and sitting at computers, have up to nine times poorer motor coordination than their more active peers.”6

To keep your child active, suggest a wide range of physical activities to provide practice to all his muscle groups. Give him opportunities to practice throwing, catching, walking forward and back, running, kicking, pushing, pulling, climbing, and moving objects from one place to another.7 During less active times, let him scribble, play with puzzles, use a pegboard, or do other fine motor activities to build hand and finger coordination.2

Because children develop at different rates, have varying inborn abilities, and become ready for certain activities at different times, it is best not to worry if your child takes a little longer to get his movements coordinated.7 Just keep providing time for various types of physical activity, and challenge him to try new things.

Play Tips:

Do you want to know how you can support your child’s development of these Active, Coordinated Movement skills at this age? It’s easy! Read on for some simple tips to incorporate into your daily play time together.

  1. Encourage plenty of spontaneous, active outdoor play.6,9 All young children need some time playing outside each day (when weather permits), where they can run, jump, play ball, and climb without constraints. Be sure to use sunscreen to protect your child’s skin and to secure the environment from hazards. At this age, it’s important to keep an eye on him during these outdoor activities in the event he needs support or assistance, while giving him the freedom to explore and play on his own.
  2. Offer your child a variety of push and pull toys to play with. Keep your child interested in walking practice by offering him different push and pull toys to explore. For instance, he could pull a lightweight wagon or animals on a string or push a toy shopping cart or baby doll stroller. The best part about these toys is that many of them also support pretend play, which your toddler may now be enjoying during open play time.
  3. Encourage activities that improve manual dexterity. Large muscle coordination develops first. The stronger your child’s large muscles become, the more adept his fine motor skills will also be. Human bodies develop from the head down and from the inside out, so be sure to pair his large muscle activity with fine motor practice to exercise all parts of his body.8

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Developmental Milestones:

Has your baby achieved the following Active, Coordinated Movement and Physical Exercise developmental milestones yet? If yes, check off all the skill(s) she has already mastered to date using Playful Bee’s developmental milestones tracker. It’s absolutely FREE and easy to use, just click HERE!

  • Tries to kick a ball.
  • Throws a ball overhand.

 

Sources:

1Diedrickson, Joern; Shadmehr, Reza; and Ivry, Richard B. (2009). The Coordination of Movement: Optimal Feedback Control and Beyond. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 14(1), 31-39. Retrieved February 12, 2014, from http://keck.ucsf.edu/~houde/sensorimotor_jc/JDiedrichsen10a.pdf.

2Maryland State Department of Education (2010). Healthy Beginnings: Supporting Development and Learning from Birth through Three Years of Age.

3Gellens, Suzanne R. (2013). Building Brains. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.

4National Association for Sport and Physical Education. Active Start: A Statement of Physical Activity Guidelines for Children from Birth to Age 5, 2nd Edition. National Association for Sport and Physical Education. Retrieved February 9, 2014, from http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/standards/nationalguidelines/activestart.cfm.

5The Nemours Foundation (2009). Best Practices for Physical Activity: A Guide to Help Children Grow Up Healthy. Nemours Health & Prevention Services. Retrieved February 9, 2014, from http://www.nemours.org/content/dam/nemours/www/filebox/service/preventive/nhps/paguidelines.pdf.

6Lopes, Luis; Santos, Rute; Pereira, Beatriz; and Lopes, Vítor Pires (2012). Associations between sedentary behavior and motor coordination in children. American Journal of Human Biology, 24(6), 746-752.

7First Things First and Arizona Department of Education. Arizona’s Infant and Toddler Developmental Guidelines.

8Gallahue, David L., and Donnelly, Frances Cleland (2003). Developmental Physical Education for All Children (4th ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers.

9Cobb, Brenda. The Importance of Taking Infants and Toddlers Outdoors. Clayton Early Learning. Retrieved February 9, 2014, from http://www.claytonearlylearning.org/images/uploads/importance-of-taking-infants-toddlers-outdoors.pdf or http://www.claytonearlylearning.org/training/ers/ers-tools/ (under Quality Improvement Tips).

Playful Bee

Education Team at Playful Bee
Playful Bee is an e-Preschool that delivers inquiry-based preschool learning from the classroom to your home. Our preschool curriculum was created by our talented team of rock star teachers. With years of hands-on preschool and Kindergarten teaching experience, they've developed a high-quality preschool experience that is convenient-to-use and easy-to-teach by you, grandparents, or your nanny at home.

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