GM.B.122 RUNS ON FOREFOOT WEIGHT FORWARD, WITH ALTERNATE ARM SWING

If you watch a slow-motion film of someone running, you will see that there is a phase of the movement in which neither foot touches the ground. To run in a mature and fluent way, the child needs to be very well balanced, with her weight slightly forward and her arms swinging alternately.

Your child may achieve this skill at much the same time as the previous skill in this sequence, or it may take her longer to develop a mature, arm-swinging run.

How to Assess

Method: Set up a game in which your child is required to run fast. You will need to watch her carefully, so it will be best if someone else is running with her. Score plus if your child runs with a slight tilt forward, on her forefeet (heels off the ground) for at least 3.5 metres. She must swing her arms alternately as she runs.

How to Teach

Your child should by now be walking on her toes (see GM.B.117); now encourage her to run on her toes as well.

If she does not yet wing her arms, show her how to do this, and tell her that it helps her to run fast. Give her opportunities to watch older children running and, if possible, to run with them.