Walking is a simple activity which brings a lot of good impacts to our body, including toddlers. It is considered as one of the easiest ways to be physically active too. You don’t have to buy some special tools to make your toddlers active, you just need to buy them a pair of comfortable shoes.
Training toddlers to walk brings a lot of good impacts for them. One of them is arising or developing road awareness so that they will be aware of their surroundings while they are walking as a teenager.
It also encourages them to practice good habits for an active life when they become an adult. You can encourage them to walk to the nearest garden, or even to their school.
You will see a lot of benefits your toddlers can get by walking. Let’s check the reasons why your toddlers should walk.
1. Stay Healthy
Staying healthy and fit can be done as simple as walking. Walking is a great exercise for everyone, from toddlers to adult or even elderly. It will reduce the risk of getting obesity and heart disease. Furthermore, it also improves your toddler’s mood, so they can be happy while walking.
After walking, your toddlers will likely to be tired. Hence, they will get better sleep.
There are some other activities you can do with your kids to stay healthy. How about playing outdoors? There are health benefits of outdoor play for children you may want to find out!
2. Help your Toddler to Learn
Not only good for your health, walking can also be an activity where your toddlers learn about nature. They can observe the green plants and many beautiful creatures and spots.
Do you know that walking is also great for your toddler’s mental health? When your toddlers walk, they will release good hormones. Hence, it helps boosting their confidence as well as their performance at school. You can encourage them to walk with you to school too.
3. Strengthen their Bodies
Being more specific from the first point (being healthy), walking for toddlers can help strengthening their bones, lungs, heart, and muscles.
When you encourage them to walk, their bones, muscles and heart also get stronger. Try encouraging your toddlers to walk as short as 3 minutes a day.
Strengthening bodies can be done in many ways. For adults, you can travel with your toddler and feel these health benefits of travelling.
4. Develop Motor Skills
The act of walking in toddlers age might be effortless for adults. However, there is a research study which found that nearly 30% of four-year-old kids are not physically ready to start school due to their lack of essential motor skills, such as ability to sit up straight or hold a pencil.
Fortunately, every walk improves balance, posture, flexibility and coordination. Hence, it will help developing their motor skills.
You can also consider reading these benefits of gardening in early childhood. It is good for your toddlers’ mental and physical health.
5. Better Sleep Patterns
When your toddlers have trouble going to sleep, then just ask them to walk. By walking regularly, they will be able to improve their sleeping cycles as well as the sleeping quality that every child gets.
Those health benefits are great for your toddler’s good. If you still don’t get the idea of walking with them, let us give some tips so that you’ll be able to successfully complete the entire walk.
- Do it 2 to 3 times a day. Don’t force your toddlers to do it for a long walk. Instead, increase the frequency by doing it multiple times. You can start with a short distance first.
- Increase the length of the walk gradually. You can add 2-3 minutes extra walk every week.
- Be diligent and consistent. Try not to miss a week as the endurance will be lost. Children are gaining mass quickly, so if they don’t walk they might gain extra weight. You have to encourage them to be diligent by staying on top of this walking thing every day.
Walking with toddlers might be tiring, but it is indeed bringing a lot of health benefits. Not only for the toddlers themselves, but for you as well. Not only for kids, walking is also beneficial for everyone, including the seniors.
You can ask your parents to join the walk and let them experience these health benefits of walking for seniors. A simple step will save up your life for sure. So, start encouraging your children to walk and get ready to stay healthy forever!
Not only exercising, your toddlers need to eat some healthy food. Read some recommended food and get these health benefits of carrots for toddlers.