Toddlers who are just learning to stand and walk independently do a lot of falling. This is an important part of learning to make the important very rapid adjustments in the alignment of the trunk and limbs needed to maintain balance in standing and when walking. 

Typically developing children mostly fall without hurting themselves. This is because they have learned to bend their knees as they go down.

When they fall backwards they bend the knees, bend the trunk forwards and lift the head which allows them to sit down rather than falling backwards and banging their heads. 

They also do not get overly distressed when they fall, and will most often get straight back up onto their feet again. 

If they fall forwards they stretch the arms out to break the fall, and will usually lift the head up so that it does not bang on the floor. 

Toddlers and young children with movement difficulties often do not have the muscle strength and coordination in the trunk, arms and legs for these very fast protective responses needed for falling down in a more controlled manner.  

Some children topple over without bending their knees and with minimal protective reaching out with their arms. They may hit their heads on the floor or on close by walls or furniture. 

Training for falling well 

The aim of these activities is to train the child to bend the knees and lower themselves down onto the floor in a more controlled manner when they loose their balance. 

Reaching down to the floor in supported standing 

Let your child stand close to a low table or a chair for hand support.

Encourage your child to reach down to the floor to pick up a toy and put it on the table. This action involves bending the knees to lower the body enough to reach the floor. 

The tricky bit of this activity is finding activities that will get your child to reach down and come up again repeatedly.  

Suggestions for games to get your child reaching down in standing

The tricky bit of this activity is finding activities that will get your child to reach down and come up again repeatedly. Below are some suggestions.

Posting box activities

Put the posting box on the table and the "posting" toys on the floor near your child's feet. 

Packing toys away

Put the toys on the floor and the packing away box on the table. 

Sitting down and standing up 

Typically developing toddlers are able to squat and stand up again easily. This requires strong leg muscles and good balance.

Practicing sitting down onto a low step strengthens the leg muscles and gets the child used to bending the knees and going backwards at the same time. 
This activity is also useful if your toddler tends to keep the legs straight when reaching down to the floor. 

Let your child sit on a 10-15 cm high step facing a stool, sofa or low table. 
Encourage your child to reach forwards towards the chair or sofa and stand up and then sit down again. 
  

Sitting down onto a soft surface 

Once your child is confident sitting down onto a low step, replace the step with a large foam block or a pile of big pillows. 

Encourage your child to bend the knees and fall back onto the pillows. This activity helps to build confidence as well as overcome the fear of falling.

As the child falls backwards he/she also learns to lift the trunk and head forwards as he/she falls backwards. 

Falling forwards 

It is also important for your child to learn to bend the knees and stretch the arms forwards when loosing balance in a forwards direction.

Start with your child facing a high foam block - the block should reach up to a height that is a little lower than your child's hips. 

Encourage her to reach forwards with her arms and then topple over onto her hands. In most instances the child will bend the knees as she topples forwards.

You may need to support her by holding the pelvis to ensure that she does not fall onto her face.  You can give a little push with your hands to get her moving forwards. Do this slowly to start with, and maintain your support at the hips. 

Once she is confident and enjoying falling forwards on a block/soft surface, make the surface lower so that she fall further before catching her weight on her arms.