A kid jumping on trampoline is often seen as a fun and effortless way of cutting down on screen time. Sure enough, trampolines are irresistible not only for toddlers and preschoolers but for adolescents and adults too.
But that there’s so much to a child trampoline than merely jumping up and down. For the next couple of minutes, we’ll take you through the major physical, mental, and social benefits of trampoline jumping for kids.
Benefits of a trampoline for child development
1. Boosts heart health
One of the greatest gifts that you can give your child is a healthy cardiovascular system. Developing a healthy heart and blood vessel network at an early age prevents tons of health problems that come later in life, including cardiovascular diseases, weight control, and blood pressure.
But how does jumping on the trampoline improve the cardiovascular system? Well, any activity that increases the heart rate is considered beneficial for a healthy circulatory system. As the child jumps up and down, there’s an increased demand for oxygen by the muscles. This makes the heart contract faster and with more force to meet the demand. As it does so, the heart muscles grow stronger, and they are able to sustain deeper breaths.
Also, regular trampoline exercises lead to the growth of more blood vessels, which further optimize heart health.
2. It improves children’s motor skills (posture, balance, and coordination)
Jumping on a mini indoor trampoline is rated as a moderate-to-vigorous activity. But let’s face it: it’s often difficult to control what kids do once they join the jumpy bandwagon. For this reason, most conscious parents ask, “Is a trampoline safe for a toddlers brain development?”
Well, the issue of trampoline jumping and child’s brain development has been widely researched in the recent past. And the findings point out that a kid trampoline has tons of mental benefits, including improving their motor skills.
Motor skills refer to the ability to move muscles precisely to achieve a predetermined movement outcome, such as kicking a ball or holding and using a pen.
So, how does a trampoline for small child improve motor skills? It’s easy to understand. You see, as your toddler bounces up and down, he/she needs to use a couple of large muscles and appendages to do a certain trick. As they try to perfect the trick, they gain better control of their muscles and coordination skills. These learned skills come in handy in other applications outside the trampoline, including riding bikes, swimming, and dancing.
3. Rebounding on a trampoline increases bone density
How often do you think about your children’s bones as you think about their health? If bone health rarely crosses your mind, you’re not alone. The body and all its organs are literally attached to the bones, so it’s not hard to see why a healthy skeleton is vital for overall development.
Now, most physical activities, including running, jogging, and weight lifting, will help build and strengthen bone density. But there must be a reason why NASA mainly relies on rebounding on a trampoline to rebuild astronauts’ bones. And the reason is that jumping on a trampoline increases an individual’s G-force, and this has been found to be the best way to increase bone density. Moreover, jumping on a trampoline is the only exercise that engages all the 206-270 bones plus all the muscles in a human body.
Importantly, a child jumping on a square trampoline has a much lower risk of breaking bones or hurting the knees, ankle, or back compared to other exercises. Actually, trampoline rebounding helps in preventing fractures in future and conditions, such as osteoporosis.
4. It boosts academic performance
You may be surprised to learn that trampoline child development benefits go as far as performance in school and beyond. When using a small kid trampoline, the jumper’s brain needs to remain in total control of everything that goes into each bounce: the amount of force to expend, balance, and planning for the next move.
What is the link between a trampoline and child development academically? All the multiple tasks that the brain has to carry out when rebounding culminate in one thing; concentration. Enhanced concentration is a crucial component of improved academic performance.
Also, researchers say that physical activities increase brain-derived neurotrophins. Neurotrophins are proteins that nourish the neurons that are responsible for learning, memory, and critical thinking. All of this helps in boosting IQ and overall academic performance.
5. Boosts risks assessment abilities
As your child grows, they must learn how to manage emotions, including meltdowns, anger, and frustrations. While jumping on the trampoline is fun for kids, it requires them to have a lot of patience and persistence to perfect certain tricks.
As they learn new tricks, they are also able to assess their physical limits at all times. In addition, a baby development trampoline boosts self-esteem. Altogether, these abilities make a child who can manage his/her emotions both at school and at home. Importantly, these abilities shape your child’s behavior and decision-making skills, especially where there are risks involved.
Sum Up
To this end, it’s clear that there are tremendous trampoline benefits for kids. Notably, children’s trampolines and rebounders have improved significantly in terms of safety and durability. Don’t overlook anything, though. If you’re about to buy a trampoline for your little ones, double-check all critical aspects, including age limit, safety features, and overall construction quality.
