The Surprising Benefits of Sliding

A slide – whether it’s in the playground or indoors – is doing more for your child than you might think. From challenging their balance, to teaching good manners, a slide supports your child’s development in unique and surprising ways. Read on to learn more.

Highlights:  

• From their first steps to toddlerhood, an indoor slide challenges your child’s body control.  
• Your child’s balance improves through movements like climbing, pivoting, and sliding.     
• A slide teaches your child important lessons on gravity, weight, and texture. 
• Sliding supports more than just movement skills – it also evokes courage and excitement.   
• The slide invites children to practice social skills like sharing, turn-taking, and tolerance. 
• Always make sure your little ones play under adult supervision. 

All the Way from Balance to Social Intelligence 

When you choose a FLEXA toy for your little girl or boy, you can be sure it’s safe and educational. The Wooden Slide and Play Tower with Slide exercise your little one’s competencies in more than one area: 

Body control: 

From the moment your baby can stand on their own two feet, they can use The Wooden Slide. Let their tiny hands grab at the edges of the slide and watch them take their first, precious sideways steps. Later, when they turn two or three, they will love to experiment with walking up the slippery side, another great way for them to gain more control over their body.    

Balance: 

Your child’s balance will improve every time they climb the ladder, pivots on the top plateau, and make their way down the slide. Expert on children’s motor skills, Mette Vainer Wegloop, encourages balance exercises that differ in direction and speed, so try shifting position and letting your child slide down on their stomach. Or lose the socks and see what happens then!  

Physical intelligence:

The slide teaches your child important lessons on gravity, weight, and texture. For your little one, the concept of gravity can be hard to grasp, but feeling the pull on their own body will make them understand gravity’s power. Bonus: according to expert in children’s development, Joern Martin Steenhold, children’s physical knowledge will also kickstart the development of their verbal and creative skills.     

Courage: 

Sliding supports more than movement skills. Remember how enormous a rollercoaster seemed when you were a kid? It takes a great deal of courage to push yourself forward, and a great deal of concentration too, but once you’ve overcome this challenge, the rush of excitement gives you the courage to try again – and again, and again.    

Social skills: 

An indoor slide invites siblings and friends to practice social skills like sharing, turn-taking, and tolerance. And the ability to wait their turn and practice patience, such as when their siblings suddenly want to try, is a gift that will come in handy for your child many times throughout their childhood.  

A Note on Safety 
Always make sure your little ones play under adult supervision and play with toys appropriate for their age. Childhood is the stage in life where we can practice (and fail) without facing many serious consequences – so, practice as much as you can with your kids and let them explore their physical capabilities through play.