Whenever we go visit someone in their own home, inevitably, within a handful of minutes, six year old J is jumping, climbing, or hanging upside down on their furniture. Most often jumping though.
He likes to jump.
A lot.
He needs to jump.
A lot.
However, once he has gotten his fill of jumping in, he is more organized and calm. So we try to do lots of jumping throughout the day in order to fulfill his sensory needs.
We recently came up with this arrow jumping game, which is not only a great way to provide him with the proprioceptive input that he needs, but it is a great way to reinforce the concept of directions. Both of my kids love this game and we are constantly changing it up to make it new and different every time we play. Here are 10 different jumping games for kids that provide proprioceptive sensory input and a free printable to help you get going.
Jumping Games for Kids That Provide Proprioceptive Sensory Input
This jumping game was inspired by an activity that I found in the book Growing an In-Sync Child, but instead of naming the directions of the arrows while jumping, we jumped the direction of the arrows.
So not only was this game a great way to burn off energy, but it was a great way to reinforce the concepts of forwards, backwards, left, and right. Or up, down, left, right.
Or in my case, it was a great way to test how well my bladder functions...like seriously, can I jump without peeing myself? #mommyproblems
Anyway, there are two main ways to play the arrow jumping game.
Variation 1: Arrow Patterning & Jumping Game
Using the first page of the free printable, the kids would take turns arranging the arrows in different patterns. This allows the kids to have some control over the game and offers predictability since they can see what direction is coming next.
Then they would jump the pattern that they created, shouting the names of the directions they were moving based off of their patterns.
You can watch how four year old K plays in the video that is shown in this post .
Variation 2: Single Arrow Jumping
We originally started this game with a page in my notebook. One night I quickly drew a large arrow. It's nothing pretty, as you can, see, so that's why I included a large arrow in the free printable.
We would each take turns holding the notebook with the large arrow. The arrow holder, as I will call it, would rotate the page so that the arrow could change directions. Then the other people playing the game would have to jump in that direction.
This variation is more unpredictable as the other players never know which direction the arrow holder is going to turn the page. It's a good way to push kids with strict routines outside their comfort zone since they are no longer in control nor can they see what is happening next.
Other Variations of the Arrow Jumping Game
- Try the arrow jumping game on a trampoline using the large arrow
- Time how fast you can jump the arrow jumping patterns
- Instead of jumping, stretch your arms up, down, left, and right
- Set out four pillows (mats or balance cushions would work great too!) around your body (one for each direction) and jump on the pillow that matches the direction of the arrow
- Set out four buckets around your body (one for each direction) and throw a ball or beanbag into the bucket that matches the direction of the arrow
- Hold a large exercise ball in your hands and point the ball in the direction of the arrow
- Try the arrow jumping game while hopping on a hopper ball
- Lay your legs on an exercise ball and use your hands to rotate your body in the direction of the arrow
Download the Free Arrow Jumping Game Printable
