Why I still want children to jump

There is something beautifully simple about watching children jump.

A line on the floor becomes a river.

A chalk mark becomes somewhere they have to land.

A teacher says “jump and freeze” and suddenly the whole class is laughing while their legs, trunk and balance systems are doing an enormous amount of work.

As an Exercise Physiologist, I see all of that.

But these days I see something else as well.

I also work with older adults.

I spend time thinking about the strength someone needs to get up from a chair, climb a step, recover their balance, walk confidently through their home and keep doing the everyday things that matter to them.

Working at both ends of the lifespan has made me even more passionate about protecting movement in childhood.

I think we sometimes underestimate what a jump asks the body to do

A jump looks simple because children make it look playful.

Physiologically, there is quite a lot going on.

The child bends through the hips, knees and ankles, generates force through the legs, moves their body away from the ground and then has to control that same body as it returns.

A two foot jump also asks the two sides of the body to work together.

Then comes the part I particularly like watching: the landing.

Landing asks the body to absorb force while staying controlled. The ankles, knees, hips and trunk all have a job to do while the child regains their balance.

This is why screens worry me as an Exercise Physiologist

I want to say this carefully because I am not interested in frightening parents or making teachers feel guilty about screens.

Screens are part of modern childhood.

Children use technology to learn, communicate, create and relax. Gaming can be fun. It can be social. And sometimes families simply need a quiet afternoon.

My concern is not that looking at a screen somehow makes a child's legs weak.

My concern is what can happen when highly engaging sedentary activities become much easier to fit into a child's day than jumping, running, climbing, squatting and playing.

Australian physical activity recommendations reflect this.

For children and young people aged 5 to 17, the recommendation is at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day, with vigorous and muscle and bone strengthening activities included on at least three days each week.

The Australian guidelines also recommend limiting sedentary recreational screen time to no more than two hours per day for this age group.

I do not see those recommendations as another rule for exhausted families to fail at.

I see them as a reminder that growing bodies need opportunities to physically work.

Why leg strength in childhood matters to me so much

We cannot look at a seven year old and predict exactly how strong they will be at 70.

Human health does not work that neatly.

What we do know is that muscular strength shows some tracking across the life course.

Australian longitudinal research following people from childhood into adulthood has found that childhood physical activity, physical fitness and positive attitudes toward being active were associated with more favourable muscular strength patterns later in life.

That matters to me.

Not because childhood jumping is an insurance policy against weakness in old age.

It matters because childhood is one of the places where children begin discovering whether movement feels familiar, achievable and enjoyable.

If being active feels difficult from the beginning, children may have fewer reasons to seek it out.

If we can help movement feel successful, playful and normal, we have given them something worth carrying forward.

I am not asking teachers to run fitness classes

This message is not about adding another item to an already crowded curriculum.

Children can strengthen their legs in the middle of ordinary play.

Jump across a pretend river.

Squat to collect the blocks.

Run to the next chalk marker.

Climb the playground steps.

Jump off a low safe surface and practise landing softly.

Stand up from the floor.

Carry equipment.

Play a game where the body has to move.

None of that needs to look like a gym session.

Jumping gives us so many variations

A simple jump and freeze game can ask children to generate force, coordinate both legs and regain their balance when they land.

The landing tells me a lot

When I watch jumping, I often pay as much attention to the landing as the take off.

Does the child land and regain control?

Do their knees bend to help absorb the landing?

Do they immediately need another step to stop themselves falling?

Are both feet working together?

Does the child look confident enough to try again?

These are observations, not a diagnosis.

But they help us understand the physical challenge the child is experiencing.

And what about the child who cannot jump yet?

This is where compassion matters.

A child who avoids jumping may not be refusing movement.

Jumping may genuinely be hard.

They may still be developing the leg strength, balance, coordination or confidence needed to leave the ground and land safely.

If we turn every movement activity into a race, that child quickly learns something we never intended to teach them.

They learn that movement is where everyone else succeeds faster.

Let them step first.

Hold a stable support if they need it.

Give them a tiny line to cross rather than a huge distance.

Celebrate control rather than who jumped the furthest.

Then build from there.

I want us to protect active childhoods

Technology is not disappearing.

Nor do I think it needs to.

But movement should not quietly disappear around it.

Children need places where running is allowed.

Time when they can climb.

Adults who still invite them to jump.

Classrooms where standing and moving are sometimes part of learning.

Playgrounds where their bodies get to solve physical problems.

Families who can choose a walk, a bike ride or ten minutes kicking a ball without feeling that it has to become organised sport.

I am not worried about whether every child becomes athletic.

I am worried about whether we are giving growing bodies enough opportunity to become strong.