Trampolining is great fun, children enjoy it and it’s not too hard to admit that adults love trampolining too. Have you ever seen a child on a trampoline without a massive huge smile on their face? Nope me neither.
But did you know that trampolines provide some amazing great benefits to children health and development, and the best part is that they don’t even know they are learning and developing while having so much fun? Health benefits are great and so are development benefits and I want to encourage that for every parent that comes across this website.
I’ve spent time researching and coming up with 10 brilliant trampoline benefits for kids and children.
1. Coordination and Motor Skills development
Many children struggle to achieve an advanced level of coordination and motor skills, it comes so naturally to many kids, but that’s not the case for all children. In fact, many children suffer from delayed development of both coordination and motor skills and that’s one of the main benefits of regular trampoline use can provide for children, an increase in coordination and motor skills development.
Trampolines can aid in the development of Gross Motor Skills, this is the ability that allows children to do things that involves using many of the large muscles and appendages in the body. While body movements, twisting and turning are forms of gross motor skills and use muscles in the torso, arms, legs, and back.
Does your kid struggle with movement or coordination?
If your kid seems ‘clumsy’ or has problems with movement or gets angry that they can’t seem to achieve what they are trying to do then you should consider a trampoline to improve their development and coordination.
2. Improves children’s self-Esteem
If you’ve been noticing your child has been withdrawn and seem to be avoiding trying new things then they could be suffering from self-esteem issues. Kids with low self-esteem lack confidence to try new things and often doubt that they can do things well.
Self-Esteem matters because it gives them the confidence to try new things and stops them withdrawing into themselves which can be quite common as a child begins to grow and develop from a toddler right up to a teenager.
Good self-esteem results in kids doing better at school and both at home.
How does trampolining help self-esteem in kids?
Using a trampoline, with time and practice allows kids to try new things, to gain confidence in achieving a bigger bounce. You’ll often hear a ‘mum look at how high I can bounce!’ or ‘look what I can do on the trampoline’.
These verbal cues are real evidence that trampolines can improve child self-esteem and confidence. Using a trampoline allows kids to face their fears and gain confidence in many things outside using a trampoline.
3. Trampolining improves posture
Not only do regular trampolines improve coordination and development skills they can also improve posture and set a foundation for future growth. Posture in kids is the position in which they hold their bodies and limbs when standing or in action.
Good posture has a number of great benefits for children, improving posture helps to improve productivity and stops children from getting tired so quickly, they keep the joints and bones inline so muscles are used the correct way and it promotes strong, flexible muscles.
Regular exercise improves posture, so a trampoline is a great way for introducing regular exercise to your child’s routine.
A trampoline is a great way to improve posture, allowing leg muscles and back muscles to strengthen will put your child’s body into the right alignment and build up their strength every time they use the trampoline.
4. Social skills develop naturally
Developing social skills is a very important part of any kids growth and development. How many times are you telling your children to share and play along with their friends?
Trampolines are a great way of encouraging the development of social skills naturally. If you allow more than one child on a trampoline at a time you will see them interacting naturally and having a great time together, this encourages bonding between children and allows social skills to develop.
Respecting yourself and others and improvement of communication skills are both trampoline benefits that go under the social skills box for great benefits to kids for using a trampoline.
One child at a time on a trampoline encourages a ‘who’s turn is it next?’ approach that means that your child learns what waiting means, what their turn means and encourages sharing of specific items.
Cooperation, Being a friend, Being Patient and Following directions are all social skills that are benefits of owning a trampoline for kids. If you’re looking at ways to develop your children’s social skills then you should consider buying a trampoline for your garden or an indoor trampoline.
5. Regular exercise
Are you struggling to get your kids outside and enjoy some fresh air? One of the main benefits of trampolines and trampolining for children is that they encourage children to go outside firstly, and then do participate in regular exercise without knowing they are.
Regular exercise and physical exercise has benefits in itself, it can allow children to develop strong bones, lower the risk of health problems and keeps their heart and lungs healthy and strong. It’s one of the best benefits to owning a trampoline.
Trampolines are great fun, I know what I’d rather be doing. Playing computer games or jumping on a trampoline. Yep, it’s the trampoline 100% of the time.
Trampoline allow children to exercise by using their muscles to achieve a jump and moving around the trampoline. If you’re looking to get your children outside in the garden more often and to encourage regular exercise just a few minutes a day on a trampoline could help immensely with this.
6. Balance
Balance is similar to gross motor skills and coordination but I believed it deserved its own place in this top 10 benefits for using a trampoline for kids because it’s one of the main skills that can be developed on a trampoline.
Everything your child does on a trampoline will encourage balance, it’s needed to stand, to move, to bounce, to exit. Regular use of a trampoline is great for the encouragement of balance. If your child is struggling with standing and movement then a trampoline is a perfect tool to develop those skills.
Balance is so important to encourage in children as it allows them to develop great coordination skills and movement skills. Development of all three of these can benefit any child greatly.
7. Being more independent
I know it’s hard letting your child go free on a trampoline but as long as your nearby to supervise the trampoline usage and to keep an eye on your child. Don’t forget that in the UK you should have a trampoline enclosure, most of the time kids are more coordinated and have better balance on a trampoline than an adult, they adapt very quickly to new environments and trying new fun things.
Allowing your child to achieve more independence is a great skill to promote, it shows your child that they can achieve something on their own, this, in turn, allows them and gives them the confidence to try new things outside of using a trampoline. If they can do this then what else can they do?
Promoting independence is important in a child’s development and trampolining is a great way to springboard that skill into other aspects of life.
8. Learning that they can succeed
Trampolining promotes succession. Along with independence, a trampoline can teach a child that they can succeed, Succession is a great benefit to children who regularly use a trampoline, once they have their first bounce their second isn’t far away.
Success is a great way of building your child’s future prospects, it allows them to see that they can achieve many different things in life, a great way to start and promote success in kids and children is the regular use of a trampoline as it does not always succeed, they will fall, stumble and in the end, they will get back up and try again.
9. Persistence with a trampoline
As we touched on it before in the succession part, persistence is a key part of a child’s development and that’s where a trampoline is ideal. Using a trampoline is never easy for young children and any child that hasn’t used one before. They will fall often, you shouldn’t worry although, you should have a trampoline safety enclosure attached to your trampoline.
They will try new bounces, new tricks, and regular movement. Failing at these the first few times is normal, persistence is learned from mistakes and using a trampoline allows children to push through those mistakes and to try harder and try again. A great skill to be teaching your children at a young age.
10. It’s great fun!
You thought I’d forget the best aspect of owning a trampoline? No way! Every child will agree that having a trampoline in the garden is one of the best ways to spend the summer. Hours and hours of bouncing fun, garden parties and friends and family involved. I love trampolines and the social aspects of them and your children will too.
How much fun is a trampoline?
It’s a lot of fun! the feeling a child gets from bouncing up and down improves mood. Seeing that your child is having a great time will increase your mood too. It’s important to let your child have great moments in life and memories of really good and exciting things. Using a trampoline greatly improves a child’s mood.
That wraps up my top 10 trampoline benefits for kids. If you think I’ve missed health or general benefits for using a trampoline then comment below and I’ll add to the list.
Resources:
I researched and developed this list with the help of the following resources.
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/self-esteem.html
https://www.bringingupgreatkids.org/en/development/promoting-independence
