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Behaviour/development

Could you (just) 2 yo do these things?

29 replies

Ozziegirly · 27/09/2012 06:54

We went to a very enjoyable "gym" class at our local place today. It was fab, lots of wedgy things to climb up, bars to walk along, things to hang from, a ground level trampoline and (my fave) a big pit of foam squares.

Anyway, I was there with a group of friends, all our children are around 2. They all had fun, but basically spent the time, climbing up, jumping off, hanging from the bars and screaming with laughter at us flailing in the foam pit.

There was a teacher there who tried to instill some "routine" - basically he wanted them to;

  1. Jump from hoop to hoop.
  2. Walk along a low narrow bar, without us holding their hand.
  3. Do an assisted forward roll.
  4. Do kind of "bunny jumps" (where you put your hands on a wedge and jump your feet) around a big square thing.
  5. Hang by their feet and hands underneath a bar and move along.
  6. Crawl along two parrallel (sp) bars, with a hand and foot on each side, and us supporting their front/underneath.


Which of these things do you reckon your 2 year olds would have been capable of doing?
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LetsKateWin · 27/09/2012 07:00

DD had only been walking for 2 months by then, so none really.

I'm a bit PFB so would worry about the forward roll.

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shelley72 · 27/09/2012 07:03

Probably all except the bunny jump, which I've never seen her do. But she has afn older brother and has always been very physical. Does seem a bit regimented! Was thinking of going to a similar activity with dd, but not if its so strict - she will be a nightmare!

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Sirzy · 27/09/2012 07:05

Ds is nearly 3 and still couldn't do all of that!

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shelley72 · 27/09/2012 07:06

Yes and I wouldn't have let my pfb do half those things at 2. Am a lot more slack relaxed with dd! Totally different children.

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flubba · 27/09/2012 07:08

My DC3 is 20m and would be able to do absolutely none of those (not by design anyway! :o)

DD2 is nearly 4 and does those kinds of things at gymnastics I think - and reckon she would have been able to do them in the past year, but not much before.

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Robomummy · 27/09/2012 07:09

None of them at 2 I don't think

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Ozziegirly · 27/09/2012 07:09

Well, he tried to be strict but we kind of ignored him really, poor man.

See the only one that DS could do (who is also v physical and willing to try stuff) was the walking along the bar. He could juuust hang under the bar but would immediately let go, can't jump yet (none of ours can), wasn't interested in the forward roll, and although tried the parallel bar, basically tried to crawl along one bar but kept slipping underneath.

But the guy running it seemed faintly surprised that none of ours could do these things, even though we all think of them as pretty "able" IYSWIM.

All are 1st children, wonder if that makes a difference.

It was huge fun though.

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Ozziegirly · 27/09/2012 07:11

Oh and I did hold his hand anyway on the bar.

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hazeyjane · 27/09/2012 07:11

dd1 would have been able to do all of them, she did a similar class and has always been very good at physical stuff.

dd2 did same class, and couldn't as much, not so physical and had only started walking at 21 months.

ds couldn't walk at 2 (he is disabled) so would need a lot of assistance!

At the class we did, they had the circuit and they were helped around it - they weren't expected to be able to do it on their own or straight away.

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hazeyjane · 27/09/2012 07:13

I remember our gym teacher told us not to hold the hand on the bar, but gently hold waist , it is very easy to dislocate an arm if the fall when you hold their hand.

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Ozziegirly · 27/09/2012 07:13

Yes, ours was a circuit too which they were supposed to work through, although it was like herding cats as they all wanted to do bits over and over and were boinging along the trampoline or we were having to hoist ourselves, sobbing with laughter out of the foam pit. I'm 7months pg as well so I can flail quite well.

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Ozziegirly · 27/09/2012 07:15

That makes sense hazey - this was quite a low bar anyway, but I did worry about him falling and me accidentally yanking him.

On the higher bar he wanted us to hold them under the underarms (I assume for the same reason) but my DS was too busy climbing underneath.

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shelley72 · 27/09/2012 07:16

We also swim, and our swimming teacher said (not sure if its true) that jumping with both feet happens a bit later. Dd has only got this last couple ofd months - so about 2.1. I do often wonder if dd is so active as shes a second. she can never be left as chairs are moved, worktops are climbed etc Shock. She definitely needs an outlet for it!

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Rosebud05 · 27/09/2012 07:18

Neither of mind were able to follow instructions for more than 20 seconds at that age, let alone whilst they were in a fun place with loads to explore.

HTH Smile

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Ozziegirly · 27/09/2012 07:18

DS can jump on a bouncy thing, like his cot or a trampoline but he can't get any "lift" if he's on a hard surface.

They all do a kind of skippy jump at this stage.

He's having a super long nap (3 hours!) this afternoon so I reckon it must have been quite tiring...

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Pascha · 27/09/2012 07:18

DS could walk the bar and probably the crawling parallel bars one, although he probably wouldn't unless he had absolutely no other option. He can't jump yet, he bounces up and down but doesn't take off without help. He might try the forward roll but I would have to get him at least halfway over.

He is just 2 though and although he is physically capable of some of it he wouldn't actually stick to a routine, he would muck about with yours I expect.

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Ozziegirly · 27/09/2012 07:23

DS is quite good at following instructions normally but put him in a big exciting room full of things to explore and bounce on and climb and any semblance of control goes out the window.

And in my opinion, that's exactly how it should be when you're 2. Plenty of time for following a routine through the rest of his life.

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BeaWheesht · 27/09/2012 07:24

Dd was two this week - she could probably do everything apart from jump from hoop to hoop but only if she happened to be in the mood

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flubba · 27/09/2012 07:26

DC3 can jump with two feet but that would be it I reckon.

Where's the fun in making them do all that?!

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NobodySaidItWasGoingToBeEasy · 27/09/2012 07:26

I reckon my 22 month old could do all of that if he understood what he was supposed to do!

He is a fourth child though, and third boy!

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BeaWheesht · 27/09/2012 07:26

Oh and dd can jump off the ground with two feet but da couldn't until he was 3+

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BeaWheesht · 27/09/2012 07:26

Ds

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Trazzletoes · 27/09/2012 07:27

DS is 3 and couldn't/wouldn't do any of that.

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bbface · 27/09/2012 07:28

Ds 2.2, can do it all (although I hold him at the knees at he does the monkey bars, but only lightly).

He is very in tune with his body, very physical, was riding a scooter at 18 months (and I mean, really riding it).

However, he is most definitely not advanced when it comes to language skills, in fact he is a tad behind where he 'should' be. It seems to be one or the other.

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BonnieBumble · 27/09/2012 07:29

You would be surprised. I took ds1 to tumble tots and at 1 it was basically a free for all then at 2 he moved into the next class and the instructor got them to do the things that you describe. I think a lot of 2 year olds have the capability but not necessarily the inclination. It's more fun for a most toddlers to just run around.

Ds2 is 2.5 and we go to a gym that sounds like the one you describe. We are still in the unstructured free for all class but ds is getting a bit bored now so we might move up to the structured class.

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