Jump up the ladder! Support the bilateral movement of your toddlers' arms and legs

What you need 

• Space to create a ‘ladder’ on the ground 
• Masking tape or chalk 

What to do 

• Using masking tape, tape out a ladder on the floor. If you’re outside, you could use chalk to draw a ladder on the ground instead.  
• Start with around seven rungs. Keep the width between each rung quite short initially, with enough space for your toddler to be able to place their hands and feet on the rungs.  
• Invite your toddler to stand with their feet on the first rung.  
• Next, invite them to crouch down and jump both their hands onto rung number three. They are now going to jump both feet onto rung number two. 
• Encourage your toddler to keep going until they reach the end.  
• When they reach the end, can they travel back down the ladder? This time their feet will move first, and their hands should jump backwards to follow. 

Good to know 

This is quite a difficult activity and will need lots of practice. You could have a go yourself to inspire your toddler to join in! 

Your toddler might need to spend a bit of time exploring the ladder and making up their own movements or game before they can focus on jumping their feet along it.  

See how many different ways of moving your child uses to explore the ladder – they might even come up with some moves you never would have thought of!