GM.B.82 WALKS A 30CM BOARD ON THE FLOOR, AIDED

This skill narrows the base used during walking and hence requires a maturation of balance ability.

How to Assess

Materials: A 30 cm wide and 3 metre long board on a flat surface.

Method: Hold the child’s hand and walk at the side as she walks on the board. Score plus if your child places her feet on the board as she walks and, without overbalancing, walks the full length of the board.

How to Teach

Start your practice on a board just slightly narrower than the width of her normal gait. Practise in bare feet and hold both hands from in front. Straddle the board, facing her, and walk backwards. It must be sufficiently narrow for her to feel the edge of the board with her feet as she steps and thus to become aware she will fall off if she doesn’t watch her step! Some children are not worried by the thought of falling off, as the board is on the floor and there is no distance to fall, and therefore do not attempt to try to stay on the board. If this happens with your child, place a brick under each end of the board to raise it slightly, then she will be more careful about placing her feet. If you have a spare board, adding 4 cm sides to it is often a great success as the children then feel very confident. As she becomes more confident with her feet placement, support her with only one hand. Tell her constantly to ‘Step carefully’ and alternate the hand that you support her. Keep an eye open for brick fences to walk along – garden edges, painter planks, edges of pools (obviously with all necessary water precautions); each of these will make practice of this skill a lot of fun.