Hopping
Hopping is a more advanced skill than jumping as it requires balance and strength. Children between the age of 5 and 7 should show marked improvement in speed, control and technique. Hopping is a good indicator of being able to maintain balance while moving, which is often referred to as dynamic balance. This is a difficult skill for kindergarten/preschool children who still may be learning to jump.
Teaching cues
- Bend your leg to push off
- Head up and eyes forward (look towards where you are hopping)
- Swing & spring
- Quiet landings (bend ankles, knees and hips)
Teaching strategies
- Focus on bending support leg on landing and then straightening on take-off
- Start by practicing balancing on one leg
- Hold hands with the child if needed when attempting to hop to help with balance
- See how many hops in a row
- Try hopping through and around obstacles
- Have a go hopping on the other leg
- Play games such as Wicked Witch and What the Time Mr Wolf
- Encourage children to achieve greater distance in their hops by hopping over obstacles such as hoops or small cones. Create a hopping obstacle course
- Introduce the use of the arms to generate power
- Hopping can be very tiring so break activities up with running, side stepping, skipping etc.
- Play hopping games such as Lilypads and Leapfrogs
- Use hopping as the form of locomotion in fun tag games such as Anything Tag or Waspital
- Try out some Hopping Patterns, children can follow feet markers (L, L, R, L, R, R, R) and then can create their own hopping pattern
- Introduce Hop, Step and Jump into a long jump pit
- Play some hopping games - Stork Tag
Skill criteria
- Support leg bends on landing, then straightens to push off
- Lands and pushes off on the ball of the foot
- Non-support leg bent and swings in rhythm with the support leg
- Head and trunk stable, eyes focused forward
- Arms bent and swing forward as support leg pushes off
- Able to hop on both left and right legs
Common errors
- Unable to maintain balance for consecutive hops
- Landing with stiff ankles, knees and hips – you may hear a slap when they land
- Hold swing leg stiffly to front, side or back
- Arms not actively moving to assist the action
Skill usage