Hopping on one foot is generally seen around 3-4 years of age for typically developing children. This skill requires strength, balance, and coordination and usually comes after jumping. Here is a progression of exercises to get your child hopping on one leg.
Hopping Progressions
- Toe raises: Helps build calf strength and pushing off through ankles. Check out this blog post!
- Walking on tip toes: Works on increasing balancing, weight shifting. Can you walk on a line?
- Standing on one leg: Can be done on flat ground, or unstable surfaces like pillows to increase single limb stability. Add a toe raise to increase the challenge. Check out this blog post!
- Skipping: Step on to one leg and hop on the opposite leg. Helps to work on coordination and pushing through legs. Check out this blog post!
- Leaping: Take off of one foot and land on the opposite foot. Pretend to leap over a puddle or actually leap over a small object
- Jump onto 1 foot: Take off of 2 feet and land on one foot while maintaining your balance
- Hopping with hands held/ supported: Stand on one foot with hands supported, hop up and down while taking off and landing on the same leg
- Hopping on 1 foot: Start standing on one leg with the opposite foot held in the air, hop up and down. You can stay in the same spot or hop forwards.
Higher Level Hopping:
- Varied directions: Use a line to hop side to side or forwards and backwards
- Onto objects: Hop up onto small heights like curbs
- Down from objects: Hop down and “stick the landing” to help with injury prevention and increase single limb strength and stability
- Hopscotch: Check out this blog post
