Gross motor development
Toddlers practice walking by participating in an animal parade.
[Invite mobile toddlers to gather for songs. Sing two familiar songs about animals. Examples: “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” “Five Little Ducks.” Encourage toddlers to move their hands or clap along.]
Our songs are about animals. Today we will walk with animals for an animal parade. A parade is like walking together.
[Give each toddler one small toy animal to carry in the parade. Say the name of the animal as you give the toy to a toddler. Example: “Here is a little duck for you to carry in our animal parade.”]
Now we all stand up and hold our animals. Let’s walk together. Please follow me with your animal!
[Sing a little song as you walk. You may wish to sing one of the animal-focused songs used at the beginning of the activity.]
Encourage toddlers to follow you around the room. Walk slowly in a large circle that is free of obstructions, keeping in mind that toddlers are not expected to follow you in single-file fashion.
About mid-way through the walk, explain that it is time to return to our gathering place. Example: “Now we all walk back to our _____area with our animals.”
If a toddler stops walking in the parade, invite him/her to watch the parade and move his/her animal to the song or walk while holding your hand.]
[Briefly describe the activity. Include actions, such as how toddlers held their animals as they walked. Example: “Jailynn held her tiger up high while she walked in our animal parade. Richie gave his sheep a big hug while he walked in our animal parade. We had fun walking in our animal parade!”]
Although this activity is primarily for toddlers who are able to walk independently, there is likely to be a range of walking skills across participants in the parade. Move slowly in a predictable pattern and do not offer embellishments, such as swaying your body from side to side, unless all participants are able to imitate your pattern without risk of falling. Many motor skills are involved in walking. A parade adds the challenge of paying attention to the route and avoiding bumping into others.
Toddlers who do not join the gathering may wish to play in another area of the room or watch the parade. Offer a toy animal to the parade observers. Observers could move their animal to the song as they watch. Consider them to be parade participants as suggested in the Extra Support tip.
Remember that at this age toddlers are not expected to understand the concept of lining up. The intent is to provide a fun and safe setting for toddlers to practice walking that also supports the development of attention skills.
Extra support
Enrichment
Gross motor development
Toddlers practice walking on a simple path in their room.
Be Prepared: Form a large circle with nonslip place mats, or 12-inch squares made of nonslip materials, preferably in different colors.
Invite toddlers to join you for a fun time of walking around. Explain the plan to follow the colored mats. Example: “We are going to walk on our colored mats. Let’s go this way.” Point and begin moving in the direction you want to walk. Encourage toddlers to walk with you, recognizing toddlers are not expected to form a line. Offer a song as you walk. See the following possibility. Walk slowly.
Walk, walk, walk around.
Walk around together.
Here we are, happy today,
Walking ‘round together.
After several walks around the circle, invite toddlers to sit down near you. Ask toddlers what we just did together. Acknowledge and expand on their comments. Example: “Tanya said ‘walk.’ We walked around together on mats.”
The path provides focused practice in walking and slightly more challenge than the more open-ended follow-the-leader approach in Option 1. Toddlers will generally take two steps on each mat. If you provide spaces between mats (see Enrichment tip), do not expect or encourage toddlers to step over the space. The lyrics of the suggested song for you to sing offer a description of what toddlers are doing (“walk around together”) that would not be available on CD music. Singing a song also helps you align the tempo of the tune and lyrics with toddlers’ walking pace.
Some toddlers may become excited and wish to run. Help toddlers understand the walking expectation by saying what to do, rather than saying no to running. Examples: “Let’s make our feet go slowly. This is fun.” “Our feet go walk, walk, and walk.” Demonstrate a walking step.
Extra support
Enrichment
Gross motor development
Toddlers practice walking and another gross motor movement of their choice.
Be Prepared: In an open activity area in your room, arrange three place mats in a straight path that ends at the tumble mat. Arrange the other three place mats in a straight path on the other side of the tumble mat.
Invite 1–2 toddlers at a time to walk along the place mat path to the tumble play mat. Point out the path by walking it alone. Draw attention to the tumble mat that is in the middle of the path. Explain that we will take turns walking to the tumble mat. We can do whatever we want to do on the tumble mat. We could jump, hop, crawl, turn around, or whatever else we like to do. We can do different things; we do not need to do the same thing. Then we walk on the path that is on the other side of the tumble mat.
Encourage toddlers to think about what they would like to do on the mat before they start walking. Also, encourage toddlers to stop when they get to the tumble mat and then do what they want to do on the mat. Remind toddlers to do one movement on the tumble mat. Describe each toddler’s movement on the tumble mat.
Provide guidance in turn-taking and expected actions. Example: “Noah, it is your turn. You can walk to the tumble mat.” Make sure the tumble mat is clear before you invite a toddler to start walking, and that there is only one toddler at a time on the tumble mat.
Provide another set of turns for interested toddlers, if time permits.
The activity promotes advanced thinking about a physical movement (also called “motor planning”). In addition to your encouragement about thinking ahead, some toddlers may reflect on their actions on the mat and consider a different way to do something the next time. This may prompt interest in repeating the activity. Also, some toddlers may enjoy the feeling of adjusting their walking steps to the surface of the tumble mat. These gross motor actions foster strength and coordination and also provide sensory stimulation. Encouraging toddlers to stop when they reach the tumble mat before engaging in a different physical movement supports the development of self-control, an important dimension of self-regulation. Waiting for a turn also promotes self-control.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: basket, small stuffed animals, tape, chalk, books, and push toys
Place a basket of small stuffed animals on a low surface. Encourage toddlers to choose an animal and continue a smaller version of a parade. For skilled walkers, tape a path to the floor with lines four inches apart. For outdoor activity, draw parallel chalk lines toddlers can follow. At this age, toddlers are not expected to walk on a narrow line. Provide books that show children moving their bodies. Provide push toys for toddlers to move around indoors.
Materials Needed: push toy, pull toys
Foster walking skills by walking with toddlers on grass, sand, and other surfaces. Encourage preschool-age children to pretend to walk like various animals, or to take giant steps. “Let’s take giant steps to the bathroom.” Also, engage preschool-age children in a follow-the-leader game, using different types of walking, such as fast-slow, little-big, and maybe forward-backwards.
Infants who are beginning to take steps will set their own learning schedule. There is a lot of variation in how infants approach walking. Paying attention to infants’ walking and celebrating their accomplishments are good supports. Example: “Mateo, you are walking by yourself. I see your big smile!” ELM’s activity plans for birth to 12 months offer numerous supports for early mobility.
An outdoor parade can add extra fun for toddlers and preschool-age children. Encourage children to use pull toys to carry their animals. They may wish for you to sing a song as they walk. In the outdoor play area, infants will enjoy being part of the parade while riding in a stroller. Older children may enjoy making paper streamer flags or noisemakers for the parade.
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