How to Teach Locomotor Skills to Children

Locomotor skills are the basic foundation of human movement. They include walking, running, skipping, hopping, galloping, leaping, jumping and sliding. By extension, both throwing and dribbling skills may be included under the locomotor label. Most children are ready to practice walking around 12 months, running/hopping/jumping at 24 months and galloping/sliding/skipping at 36 months. Proficiency in these areas is critical to developing a confident and agile child. Fortunately, the movements often come naturally to children and can be incorporated into the context of play. The key to teaching locomotor skills is proper modeling and repeated guided practice. The steps below explain the basic process of introducing and reinforcing all locomotor skills with children.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Beanbags Small, soft balls Music (any type)

Directions

1. Begin by teaching one skill at a time, starting with a basic movement (such as jumping) before moving on to other more difficult skills (such as skipping). Model the chosen action first, using narration to explain what you are doing. Be clear in the way that one motion differs from another. For example, when showing children how to jump, you might say, "Last time we practiced, we did hopping. We took small little hops, like this. Today, we're going to try jumping. Watch as I show you how to JUMP. I'm going to put both feet together and make a big jump, landing with my feet together. Notice how my jump was bigger than my hop, but not so big that I lost my balance and fell. Watch again. One, two, three ... jump! One, two, three ... jump! One, two, three ... jump!"

2. Provide guided practice for the skill by performing the action with children, again narrating the movement and encouraging children to chant along with you. You could say, "Now it's your turn. Put your feet together, just like mine. We'll count to three, then we'll take a small jump and each land with our feet together. Ready? One, two, three ... jump!" If a child struggles to maintain balance or focus on the desired movement, try holding his hand.

3. Give feedback on each child's execution of the motion, and provide continued guided practice. You may comment, "That was an excellent jumping movement! This time when you try it, remember to land with your feet together. Watch as I do it. One, two, three ... jump! Can you see how my feet look? Now you try with me. One, two, three ... jump! That's it! You landed with your feet together! Let's try again." Continue practicing, and provide feedback to build the children's confidence and correct errors.

4. Provide regular, ongoing practice and frequently review the previously taught skills. To maintain the children's interest, incorporate games into locomotor practice whenever possible. For instance, introduce a signal (such as a bell or whistle) to indicate when children should begin and end a particular motion. ("When you hear the bell, I want you to skip. When you hear the bell again, freeze.") "Simon Says" is another fun and easy way to have students demonstrate particular motions. Another way to add interest to locomotor practice is with the use of beanbags. Spread a number of different colored beanbags around the room, and give directions for children to move to each beanbag. ("Leap to the red beanbag. Now gallop to the blue beanbag.") You could even have children toss the beanbags themselves, then use various movements to retrieve them. ("Slide over to get your beanbag, then run back to the starting place.")

Tips & Warnings

• To add variety, try incorporating music into the locomotor practice. Play short songs or segments of songs, and instruct children to practice a particular movement until the music ends.

• To avoid frustration, be sure to consider children's developmental readiness before introducing more complex locomotor movements. Take cues from the children's behavior, and change activities when restlessness occurs.

Resources

• Locomotor practice games