5 Brilliant Reasons Why Kids Should Jump in a Puddle

  • By: The DIG for Kids
  • Time to read: 9 min.
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Jumping over puddles and splashing around is an excellent way for your kids to have a fun physical activity while going on family walks and helps with those essential motor skills. Jumping over puddles also uses brain activity such as estimations, making measurements, and spatial awareness skills. Getting enough exercise and mental activity is an excellent way to keep your kids healthy and ensure enough sleep. 

Chances are if your kid comes across a tempting puddle while going out for a walk, there is very little you can do to prevent them from jumping it. Jumping over and around puddles is an exciting activity that kids can’t resist. Luckily, it’s also an activity with plenty of physical and mental benefits, so there’s no reason you would need to step in and stop them. 

Jumping in and around puddles works on leg muscles and the overall physical health of your kid. Chances are, if you are outside, you are probably also already going on a walk or playing outdoors in general, so your child is likely to get plenty of exercise in tandem with the puddle jumping. It’s also an opportunity to work on mental skills like spatial awareness and sciences.

Why Do Kids Need to Jump?

Jumping, in general, is an excellent physical activity for your kids to participate in. And not only strengthens muscles and bones but also helps develop balance and spatial awareness. You can also improve social interactions as it’s a physical activity that kids can do with other kids their age and incorporate different games that they can use for teamwork and negotiation. 

Jumping may not be the first activity you think of as an excellent physical activity for your kid to be participating in. However, it has many physical benefits as well as social and mental benefits as well. You should start to think of jumping as a legitimate source of exercise for young kids while also being a fun activity.

Some of the reasons that jumping is a great physical activity are:

  • Balance: being able to lift both feet off the ground requires a bunch of ballads on the part of the child. Doing several jumps in a row also requires a certain amount of balance. Add in switching from foot to foot, and you’ve got even another layer of developing this skill.
  • Muscle strength: jumping requires all of the muscles in the child’s legs. Bending at the knees and then pushing off with their toes is it using all of the muscles of their feet, size, bottom muscles.
  • Bone strength: jumping requires pressure down words through the bones of the legs, which in turn helps them grow and harden.
  • Motor skills: jumping requires a lot of movement and planning as to the child’s actions. This includes judging distance, how much power is needed to jump and land, we’re to jump, and how to perform the jump to land safely.
  • Health: physical activity is always one of the best ways to keep your children healthy. Activities like jumping are a lot of fun and have their health benefits to go along with them.
  • Social skills: jumping is a game children can engage in with other kids their age. It allows them to have social interaction and learn how to navigate and interact with other people while not requiring talking and verbal social skills.

As you can see, there are probably a lot more benefits to the activity of jumping than you would have expected. It’s an activity that uses many muscles to contribute to better physical health, and it also uses different social and mental skills, which children can strengthen through jumping.

What is Puddle Jumping?

Puddle jumping is the act of jumping in or around puddles of water either well playing outside or going on a walk. It’s an activity that some parents may be against because it can get the child wet and dirty. However, it is also an activity with plenty of benefits from both a physical and mental standpoint.

Puddle jumping is one of those activities that few parents think of as a fun outdoor activity. Usually, when going for a walk and your child spots a tempting puddle by the side of the road, most parents would feel trepidation about what was about to come. The thought of your child getting wet and dirty and needing a new change of clothes when you get home can seem unwanted. 

However, you should challenge yourself to think of puddle jumping as an outdoor activity in and of itself. Like playing hopscotch or tag, you should think of puddle jumping as something your child can do after a rainy day where they probably had to spend a lot of time inside—letting them enjoy some jumping around, and splashing can be a great way to get some exercise.

5 Reasons Why Kids Should Jump in Puddles

Jumping in puddles is one of the fun things that kids can do while also getting some physical exercise and working on different mental capabilities. Doing this activity while also interacting with kids their age or parents can strengthen their social skills. It’s a fun activity that has more benefits than downfalls.

While your instinct may be to prevent your kids from jumping into that puddle while going on a family walk or spending time at a playground, there are lots of reasons why you should be allowing them to play. It can be easy to get caught up in the idea of needing to clean up after playing in the puddles, but it’s time to reframe how you think about puddles.

Some of the reasons you should let your kid jump in puddles are:

  1. It gets them outside. One of the best reasons for letting your child jump around in puddles is that it is an outdoor activity that they can enjoy. Likely after a day of rain coming down, they’ve been cooped up inside for a while, and we’ll need the outdoor activity.
  2. It uses their whole body. Another benefit of jumping in puddles is that active jumping around uses all of the muscles in their body. Kids can strengthen the muscles and bones in their legs and torso by jumping from one puddle to another.
  3. It improves their mental skills. Jumping over or into a puddle requires them to judge distance, estimate how much power to put into their legs for the jump, And be aware and navigate any obstructions that might be nearby.
  4. Improves social skills. Interacting with other kids their age while jumping red in puddles allows them to build social relationships while not requiring many verbal skills. This is especially helpful for younger kids who are still learning to speak correctly.
  5. It helps them sleep better. Any amount of regular physical activity will help your kid fall asleep faster and have a more regular sleeping schedule. Because jumping around in puddles requires the whole body to accomplish, it’s more likely to tire them out and require them to need more rest.

These are just a few of the reasons that jumping puddles is more beneficial for your kids than you might think. There are plenty of health benefits to justify letting your kids splash around. They are inevitably going to want to jump into the puddle when they spot it anyway, so it’s a good thing that there are some good sides to let them indulge in this.

Is Playing in Puddles Safe?

Jumping in puddles is safe as long as the children have the proper outdoor wear to keep them from any potential slips or falls. It’s also a way of building immunity to play outside and interact with nature. Ensuring that you dress them appropriately is the best way to keep them safe while jumping around outside.

Spending time outside is a vital step in helping build a healthy immune system. Children are quickly trying to build up defenses to protect themselves from any external sources that might make them sick from the moment children are born. The more different things that your child can interact with will help them fight off sicknesses in the future.

While there are benefits of letting your kid play in puddles to help their immune system, ensure that you give them the proper outdoor wear so that they don’t get soaking wet, slipped on the wet ground, or get too cold. Think of this as an exercise where you adequately prepare your child.

Can Kids Get Sick From Jumping in Puddles?

The common cold is the most common illness that your kid is likely to get from jumping around in puddles. Some other minor diseases can cause a night with a nasty stomach ache or a few sniffles, but there is no serious illness that your child can get from puddles. Keeping them as dry and warm as possible will help prevent most of them. 

Mixing wet clothes with cooler temperatures is a standard equation for getting some sniffles. Ensuring that your child has the proper outdoor wear so that they can stay as dry as possible is one of the best ways to prevent illness. Drying them off entirely by changing clothes and even taking a blow dryer for their hair can also help keep any sneezes away. 

Another thing that children can interact with is bacterial ailments from jumping around in puddles. Something like leptospirosis will not cause any severe damage but can result in a night of stomach aches. It can also be an illness passed on to any adults in the same household. While it may lead to a change of plans, it isn’t going to cause any severe symptoms.

If your child has sensitive skin, you might want to be aware that skin infections are a possibility when dealing with water. This isn’t specifically geared towards puddles only but also pools and lakes. Any other illnesses that you might need to be aware of are caused by ingesting water so ensure that you make it clear to your kids to prevent swallowing any of it. 

What You Need for Safe Puddle Jumping

Your children are going to need proper waterproof boots and other waterproof clothing to ensure that they keep themselves from getting soaking wet, but you can bring on colds and other illnesses. You also want to make sure that the boots they’re wearing have proper grip so that they don’t slip and fall on any wet ground. However, ensure that what they’re wearing doesn’t obstruct movement. 

Before allowing your child to jump around in puddles, you’re going to need to invest in a good pair of rain boots or Wellington’s. These are rubber boots that are entirely waterproof and ensure that their feet don’t get soaking wet while playing around. Ensure that these boots also have sturdy souls and an excellent grip to prevent slips and falls. 

You may also want to invest in some good rain we’re in general. A good rain jacket can help not only keep them from getting their clothes soaking wet, but it can also help prevent illnesses like cold from being outside in cooler temperatures will also potentially be in wet clothing. Just make sure that the raincoat doesn’t obstruct any kind of movement which might cause them to fall.

You may also want to consider a raincoat that comes with a removable fleece layer. This will allow you to have more versatility with the jacket since it can be worn as a light windbreaker or more padding to keep them warm and cooler temperatures. A rain suit is also a good idea to cover the entire body to keep it waterproof.

Conclusion

Jumping around in puddles is a great outdoor activity for kids to build their muscle and bone strength and contribute to their cognitive abilities. It’s a great form of exercise where they can go outside to build their immune system and build social relationships with other kids their age. The extra exercise will also help them sleep better.

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