Cruising – what is it? This older post of ours will talk about it. We may come out with another one in the future so stay tuned!
Today’s post is about how to progress cruising. Your child has mastered moving along the couch or other straight surface, what can you work on next? Here are three ways to advance cruising: (PS – just a reminder to always use strong motivators, especially if it is a challenging task!)
- Inside Corners – Inside corners are when you put two surfaces next to each other and you are on the inside. So if you had a square it would be all the corners on the inside. These are the easiest for your child to navigate because they can easily reach to the next surface as they are moving along. You could increase the challenge slightly by creating a small space so that the two surfaces aren’t touching completely but still close enough that they are easily reachable.
- Outside Corners – This is the opposite of inside corners. We are now navigating the outside of the square. These are harder because they have to move around the corner which is a smaller surface area before they can really get back in contact with the flat surface.
- Parallel Surfaces – This is the hardest. This is when you have two surfaces opposite of each other and you have to move between them. In the beginning you want to make sure they can easily reach the opposite surface but the goal is to slowly move then further apart so there is more weight shifting and reaching and eventual standing!
Here is a little video with someone practicing all three options as well as a visual of the options that I am talking about.