Why They Are Called “Toddlers”
Walking in the First Two Years of Life
12-month-old Alicia is in the park, where her mother
has taken her to sit and crawl in a large grassy field.
Suddenly, Alicia grabs onto the grass in front of her,
pulls herself forward, and rises up onto her two legs.
Alicia’s mother is amazed at her daughter’s sudden
ability to stand—she has always been a quiet and
somewhat inactive baby. Later that evening at home,
Alicia again pulls herself to a stand. To her parents’
surprise and delight, she begins taking cautious steps.
Within a week, Alicia is walking everywhere, and her
parents scratch their heads over how quickly she was
able to learn to stand and then walk.
Parents, caregivers, and teachers often report sudden bursts of
physical development in young children. One moment a child is
crawling or creeping; the next she is up and walking and even
running. A careful look at toddler motor development, however,
reveals that walking and running abilities actually take a long time to develop. Although motor milestones seem to
miraculously emerge, achieving these milestones involves many small stages of learning and development along the way.
One of the best examples of this gradual progress toward motor competence is the way children learn to walk.
Foundations of Walking
Babies are hard-wired for walking, and this can be seen shortly after birth. Most newborns will engage in “stepping”
behaviors if an adult holds them up so that their feet touch the floor or another flat surface. It was once believed that this
was purely a reflex. However, new studies suggest that babies move deliberately based on what they see—for example,
they are more likely to move their legs in a stepping action when they see the ground passing under their feet. Already
their bodies and brains are getting them ready for walking. Adults can influence the development of these abilities. Babies
who spend more of their awake time on their stomachs on the floor, unrestricted by baby seats or playpens, will more
quickly learn the skills they need to walk. Those who come from families and cultures where walking is actively
encouraged will also receive better preparation for walking during their first year of life.
Setting the Stage for Walking: The Role of Adults
Adults can do much to provide babies with opportunities to develop the skills they will need for learning to walk later on.
• Avoid restricting babies’ movements: A baby who is confined to a seat or playpen is restricted in his movements—he
has less opportunity to develop his motor skills. Adults should limit the use of walkers, exersaucers, playpens,
jumpers, swings, baby seats, high chairs, and other furniture and equipment that limits babies’ movements. To address
safety concerns, adults can child-proof rooms as much as possible and block off unsafe areas with baby gates.
• Set up the environment for movement: Adults can encourage babies to develop the muscles needed for later walking
by providing safe, engaging play environments where babies can crawl or “cruise” freely around the room. Providing
babies with toys that produce an interesting sound or visual effect when moved—such as rattles or scarves—
encourages movement in babies who are not yet moving around the room. Adults may also consider attaching large
bells or other toys to a bar that an infant can kick with her feet while lying on her back.
•
•
•
Move with babies: Giving babies opportunities to feel
the sensation of motion helps them to understand how
bodies move through space. Adults can help this
understanding develop by taking babies for walks,
rocking them, dancing with them, or holding them
facing outward and moving about. These motion
activities are especially useful if the infant’s legs are
free to move.
Plan “tummy time”: Placing babies on their stomachs
to play helps them build up the chest and arm strength
that they’ll soon use in crawling. Adults can encourage
babies to develop these muscles by placing interesting
toys within reach and by responding with enthusiasm
to babies’ efforts to lift their heads, reach for objects,
push up on their hands/elbows, and begin to crawl or
creep.
Support early walking attempts: Adults can encourage
early attempts at walking by setting up the room to
support “cruising” (walking around the room while
holding on to furniture). By strategically placing two
pieces of furniture near each other, but just far enough away so that a child must take one “unsupported” step to move
between them, adults can encourage children to move from one stage of early walking to the next stage.
Away They Go!
Once children take their first steps, they are considered to be “toddlers.” This suggests that infancy and toddlerhood are
separate, clearly defined stages—children can either walk, or they can’t. In fact, even after children can walk, their
walking and running behaviors continue to develop in small increments. It is important that adults are aware of the more
subtle accomplishments of early walking, when they are observing and assessing children’s motor development. Children
just learning to walk use a stride that is unsteady and variable. They may use a very long stride with one step, a short
stride with the next step. It is as if they are experimenting to find just the right length of step to keep them from falling
down. In contrast, the width of their strides is very consistent. They are not as capable at narrowing or widening their step
in response to different walking conditions. Adults can study the consistency of stride length and width to determine how
well toddlers are progressing in their walking and running. If children are using more consistent strides and are varying
stride width, parents and teachers can conclude their motor development is on track.
Toddlers also become more skillful in walking on different kinds of surfaces as they develop. For example, they learn to
adjust their stride and use “braking behaviors” when walking or running down a hill. They acquire greater muscle strength
and coordination to allow them to walk on surfaces of different textures and characteristics. They also begin to think about
their walking and other motor actions. For example, toddlers have been found to modify how they walk across a bridge,
depending on its characteristics. If a bridge is wide, they walk or run across with confidence. If it is narrow, they move
slowly, take short strides, and use handrails.
Supporting Walkers and Runners
Parents, teachers, and caregivers play an important role in supporting toddlers’ walking and running abilities. They can
encourage toddlers to take safe risks that will challenge them. As with younger infants, adults can also create challenging,
engaging, and safe play spaces for toddlers that are free of restrictive equipment, such as walkers.
The following are some ways adults can support walking and running skills in centers and homes:
• Provide active movement experiences every day: Walking and running abilities are directly related to the number of
steps children take in play at home and in child care. Adults can make sure that children have opportunities to go
outside every day. If the weather is bad, adults can dance with toddlers or set up indoor obstacle courses to encourage
active play.
• Provide play spaces with varying surfaces: Toddlers will master walking and running skills more quickly if they can
experiment with walking on different types of surfaces. Adults can encourage toddlers to walk on soft mats and
pillows on the floor, in addition to giving toddlers the chance to walk on grass, hardwood floors, and carpeting.
•
•
Set up obstacle courses: Obstacle courses help build toddlers’ walking skills by giving them new movement
challenges. Adults can design simple obstacle courses by using pillows, blankets stretched over two tables, mats, hula
hoops, and other inexpensive materials for toddlers to walk over, around, or under.
Encourage risk-taking: Adults can encourage toddlers to try new things to build their movement skills. Giving
toddlers the opportunity to walk or run up and down hills, to jump onto a soft mat, and to walk across a makeshift
“bridge” builds toddlers’ confidence in their own abilities—especially when adults respond to their efforts with
enthusiasm. Teachers and parents who carefully watch toddlers to see what they can already do will be the most
successful in setting up challenges that stretch children’s abilities just above their current level of locomotor ability.
Abilities related to walking and running begin to develop in infancy and continue to be refined throughout childhood.
Teachers, parents, and caregivers can support these skills by providing challenging and varied motor play opportunities
and by encouraging children to move and take risks.
Additional Resources
Video Resource
The following resources provide additional information about
Watch a video with ideas that you can try
encouraging active play in young children and supporting beginning and
with toddlers, including an obstacle
later walking skills:
course and running down hills. Visit
• The Moving and Learning website (www.movingandlearning.com)
www.easternct.edu/cece/resources.html and
includes tips and ideas for parents and teachers, book
click on “Head Start Body Start
recommendations, and articles about helping young children stay
project.”
active.
• Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care and Education
Programs outlines physical activity standards for young children and
includes age-specific guidelines for ensuring that infants, toddlers, and preschoolers have enough opportunities for
active play. Developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association, and the
National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education, the report is available for
download at: http://nrckids.org/CFOC3/PDFVersion/preventing_obesity.pdf
• In Active Start: A Statement of Physical Activity Guidelines for Children From Birth to Age 5, the National
Association for Sport and Physical Education provides age-specific guidelines for children’s physical activity. The
book includes suggested activities for parents and teachers for achieving FITT (Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type)
guidelines for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. See
http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/standards/nationalGuidelines/ActiveStart.cfm.
• In “Babies on the Move” in the July 2010 issue of Young Children, Rae Pica describes several activities that adults
can do with babies to encourage movement.
References
Abbott, A. L., & Bartlett, D. J. (2002). Infant motor development and equipment use in the home. Child: Care, Health and
Development, 27, 295-306.
Adolph, K. E., Vereijken, B., & Shrout, P. E. (2003). What changes in infant walking and why. Child Development, 74, 475-497.
Barbu-Roth, M., Anderson, D. I., Desprès, A., Provasi, J., Cabrol, D., & Campos, J. J. (2009). Neonatal stepping in relation to
terrestrial optic flow. Child Development, 80, 8-14.
Berger, S. E., & Adolph, K. E. (2003). Infants use handrails as tools in a locomotor task. Developmental Psychology, 39, 594–605.
Gill, S. V., Adolph, K. E., & Vereijken, B. (2009). Change in action: How infants learn to walk down slopes. Developmental Science,
12, 888-902.
Kuo, Y., Liao, H., Chen, P., Hsieh, W., & Hwang, A. (2008). The influence of wakeful prone positioning on motor development
during the early life. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 29, 367-376.
Pin, T., Eldridge, B., & Galea, M. P. (2007). A review of the effects of sleep position, play position, and equipment use on motor
development in infants. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 49, 858-867.
Super, C. (2008). Environmental effects on motor development: The case of “African
infant precocity.” Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 18, 561-567.
This brief was developed by the
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Adolph, K. E., Lobo, S. A., Karasik, L. B., Ishak, A., &
Center
for Early Childhood Education
Dimitropoulou, K.A. (2008). When infants take mothers’ advice: 18-month-olds
at
Eastern Connecticut State
integrate perceptual and social information to guide motor action. Developmental
University
for Head Start Body Start.
Psychology, 44, 734–746.
Authors: Dr. Jeffrey Trawick-Smith
and Julia DeLapp