Jump

How high a platform would you jump off of? What kind of surface would you like to land on? Would you land on your feet or go into a roll?

As an adult, you just don’t wake up one day and decide to jump out a second story window onto the concrete driveway – unless the house is on fire.

But the truth is, you have been jumping off stuff since you were little. Maybe it was your bed or the couch onto a carpeted floor. You learned to flex your knees to absorb the impact.

As an adult, jumping off a couch wouldn’t be a challenge. It’s only 18 inches or about 1/4 of your height. But 18 inches to a toddler is 2/3 of their height, or the equivalent of 4 feet for you.

We all take risks, and that’s how we learn to know our current capabilities. The key word is current. Each year children challenge themselves to the next level. Let’s take a real world example.

A toddler sees a curb and walks along it holding on to mom’s hand. It’s only 4 inches high, but they are practicing their ability to walk straight and balance. Soon they want to try it without holding mom’s hand. They may fall. But they’re small, so it isn’t far to the ground and their bones aren’t hardened yet, so the bones will flex rather than break.

I still remember balance walking a short retaining wall when I was four years old. If I lost my balance, I knew the grass on one side wouldn’t hurt as much as the sidewalk a foot down. I still remember the concentration I had and my arms outstretched. As we get more skilled, we learn how to balance and jump off other objects without skinning a knee.

Soon we are trying out logs in the woods. Is it rotting and will it give way? Is it safe to jump off of or will I fall on something that will hurt?

Kids really don’t want to get hurt! All these steps are vitally important to their understanding of their body mechanics and the complex environment we live in. It’s all about risk assessment. Which can’t happen on a video screen or inside a house. They need to be outside!

That’s what much of play is all about – trying things out, determining consequences. Each year the child tries more difficult actions.

We as parents are trying to protect them from injury. But our protection is actually hurting them in the long run. They need that testing of their abilities! They need to be outdoors, running, climbing, balancing and JUMPING!

Don’t help them. Let them practice, so they can master it on their own. Only step in when there is true danger. The confidence they are learning will give them assurance and skills for the rest of their life.