Look at me! I’m 6 months old!

Supporting and understanding babies creeping and crawling development at six months of age with Intellidance®

From 6 to 12 months, a baby’s perception of the world changes dramatically! Babies begin moving about their surroundings on their own, utilizing different locomotor movements instead of relying on their caregivers. The feeling of independence provides them with the opportunity to discover their bodies and the world around them, as well as to learn new things.

Creeping and Crawling

Before you can run, you must walk. And before you can walk, you must crawl. But, what comes before crawling? A lot! Babies must progress through several developmental milestones before successfully creeping and crawling. Babies typically begin crawling between 6-11 months old, with 50% of babies crawling by 8 months. Different muscle groups must work in unison before crawling can occur, including shoulders, spinal extensors, core, neck and arms.

Prior to crawling, spinal extension, rolling from front to back and back to front, pushing themselves backward while on their belly and pressing up into a plank all need to occur. As both sides of the body move in harmony, crawling and creeping require babies to integrate their expanding strength and coordination. This cross-lateral body movement also aids brain expansion and growth!

Intellidance® activities are designed to nurture the physical, emotional and cognitive development of our youngest dancers. Take a look at how our activities directly aid in crawling development.

Spinal Extension

As babies develop core and spinal strength, tummy time on the floor in dance class ensures their success in learning new locomotor skills. At 6 months you’ll notice that babies begin to do an “airplane fly”. Their spine is fully extended as they lift their legs and arms off the ground, requiring their core muscles to engage. This movement strengthens core muscles and provides greater support for the spine.

Intellidance® Activity: Magic Carpet Ride

Lay your baby front on top of a sturdy sheet or receiving blanket. Holding two corners of the blanket the caregiver gently pulls along a smooth surfaced floor (kitchen floors work very well). To maintain balance, the baby may extend into the airplane position. Start by moving in straight pathways. Once they are comfortable with this game and have increased their core stability, begin to expand the pathway into curved and zigzag pathways, always moving at a gentle, slow pace.

Rolling Back to Front and Front to Back

After they’ve mastered foundational movements and have spent time developing muscular strength, babies will begin to add this spinal extension to their side lying, giving them the control they need to completely roll from back to front and front to back.

Intellidance® Activity: London Bridge is Falling Down

Lay your baby on its back facing you. Taking their left hand and foot, gently guide their left body side towards the right, rolling them onto their right side. Then, guide their left body side back to neutral on their back. Repeat using their right hand and foot.

Pressing Up to Plank & Sliding Backward

As babies explore rolling movements, they will also begin using different push patterns. They may discover if they push with both hands their body slides backward through space. Be prepared for frustration with this movement pattern as rather than moving toward the object of interest, they are moving away from it.

Babies will also begin to coordinate their upper and lower body in a pull-push movement, pressing up onto their hands and tucking their bare toes under. They will enjoy this feeling of stability so be sure to give them ample barefoot time.

Once they have mastered the pull-push position, they may also explore changing levels by pushing themselves up into a plank position and then dropping back down to the ground. Essentially, they’re doing a pushup! Isn’t it amazing how strong they are? All of these movements prepare them for the belly creeping and crawling they will begin to explore in the next few months.

Intellidance® Activity: Fuzzy Caterpillar

Lay on your tummy pressing up into your hands, tucking your toes under facing your baby while singing her the Fuzzy Caterpillar Song. See if she will copy your pull-push movement.

It’s amazing what they can achieve when you sing, move and explore together in dance class!

Learn more about what makes Intellidance® unique

The foundation of the Intellidance® Method is the combination of dance and music concepts, identifying specific vocabulary in dance and music, and developing the understanding of both through the connection between concepts. These connected concepts provide opportunities for children to explore, discover, practice, and create using multiple senses and intelligences. This is what makes the Intellidance® Method so unique!

Interested in learning more? Check out our website to continue reading about Intellidance® Method.

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