As we observe children’s development, we may take some of these milestone’s for granted… just see them as cute or entertaining. The fact is, every little step is a BIG one leading them down the road.
Here’s quick and important info about the crawling stage:
- It is thought that because of the use of alternating sides of the body there is increased communication between the two sides of the brain, this enhances learning.
- Learning to operate the upper and lower body independent of each other.
- Lifting their bodies off the floor while on all fours, helps align the spinal cord for standing and walking.
- Binocular vision. This involves exercising the eyes to look off into the distance and then back at the hands while moving forward.
- “They” say that it may even go so far as to be one of the causes of ADHD.
Long term effects, it has been thought, can cause some of these issues; Poor eye-hand coordination & attention, Difficulty at copying & vertical tracking (ie/ accounting/math skills), Difficulty with activities where the upper and lower parts of the body have to work independently, like swimming.
We know of many new movers in our YuuMii circle, some of which jumped right up to walking. How do we encourage crawling in these early walkers to get back down?
- Tunnel play, tents, and fort building.
- Using the “I’ma…” animal series of adventures to pretend they are different animals.
- Bonding games like “Crab Race” to get them on all fours in an interesting and fun way.