3 Ways to Make Crawling and Creeping More Enjoyable for Your Child
by Jordan Earnest
Crawling and creeping are some of the foundational programs of the Doman Method®. They are important for neurological organization and development of the midbrain, for developing a child’s convergence of vision and depth perception, and so much more.
For immobile children, crawling and creeping are the stepping stones of mobility, allowing these children to move up the mobility pathway and develop other neurological functions.
For mobile children with problems in the midbrain, crawling and creeping provides them with the stimulation and experience they need to develop aspects of the midbrain like vision, auditory, tactility, and manual competence, respiration for improved language, and neurological organization.
Because crawling and creeping helps develop the midbrain, we call these activities The Midbrain Organization Program. But as important as crawling and creeping are, they can be challenging for kids, and let’s face it, boring.
Outlined below are all of my best ideas for making crawling and creeping more enjoyable for you and your child.
Three Things Every Midbrain Organization Program Needs:
A Track. Not just any track, the best track.
Your child will be on their track doing their program day in and day out, so it is essential to get this perfect for them.
The surfaces must be ideal for each activity for optimum success. For crawling on their bellies, they need a smooth and slippery surface with no friction. Think wooden flooring, tile, or linoleum. For creeping on their hands and knees, they need a softer surface to absorb the impact on their knees: carpet, yoga mats, or grass.
These mats from Ikea or any other gymnastic mats are ideal for crawling and creeping; they are slippery enough for crawling on the belly and soft enough on the knees for creeping.
Your track can be a mixture of surfaces. It can be one surface throughout, or you could have two separate areas for each activity. I recommend having the one track that is dynamic, suitable for both, with a mixture of surfaces throughout, or one surface that works for both.
The length of your track is also vital and should be as long as possible and dynamic. A straight path going from one point to the other will become tedious and is very limiting in terms of distance.
We want your child to build up their distances consistently and to achieve significant numbers. The longer the track, the fewer times your child will need to go around it to reach their daily distances. Having the longest, most exciting track will encourage them to do more at one time.
Your track can go from one room to another, over some furniture, under a table, around an object, up some stairs, outside, and then back inside. Of course, crawling on your belly is not the easiest way to go up stairs or over a couch, but at this point in the track, your child can switch to creeping.
Add signs to the track. Your child may enjoy helping you with this: “Crawling this way”- “The creeping hallway”- “Time to crawl!”- “Turn left here” - “Choose your style.” Add arrows, words, pictures, and numbers. Get as creative as you can. See more ideas for your track below.
2. A Consistent and Desirable Rewards System:
A good reward system with clear expectations, checklists, and rewards is a vital tool for keeping crawling and creeping on track. A rewards system creates motivation, accountability, responsibility, and enjoyment. It has to be realistic and to have clear parameters. You need direct, established rules, rewards, consequences, and overall, you need to be consistent. The second you deviate from the system, it will fail. You will lose your child’s trust. You don’t want to show disrespect for their precious reward time and activities.
Check out my blog on patterning here for step-by-step instruction on reward systems. The blog has a lot of helpful information about an effective rewards system and about other aspects of doing any program with your child. In my experience, a reward system is imperative to a successful mobility program and just as relevant for creeping and crawling as it is for patterning.
Rewards can be anything your child enjoys and are not limited to material things. A reward can be as simple as feeding a pet, playing on their own in their room, playing music while they crawl, going for a drive, or even that lunchtime follows the session of crawling. If they enjoy something, it can be a reward.
Make the deal and set expectations. For the rewards system to work, your child needs to know how it works and what is expected of them. Be very clear about why they are doing this “boring activity,” so they get to use the iPad! Keep it black and white: crawling = iPad. No crawling = no iPad.
3. A Clear Schedule for Accountability:
Children are master manipulators!
All children learn from an early age how the world works, how you work, and how they can get the things they need. This is normal and innate behavior to help us survive. As children get older, they learn manipulative behaviors, not to be malicious or cruel, but because your behavior shows them how to take advantage and to manipulate you. They learn how to get what they need or to get out of what they don’t want to do.
This is a good sign. It shows intelligence and understanding, but it can turn into a nightmare for you. In the same way that you have taught your child to rely on you for love, comfort, and basic needs, you now have to teach them accountability. Most importantly, you must teach them how to listen to what they are asked to do. They must not try to manipulate you with tantrums or cry to get out of things.
Accountability is essential to help you get your program done and is an important life-lesson for your child. It can feel empowering to be accountable for something. It creates a sense of pride and accomplishment, and in turn, creates enjoyment.
Teaching your child to be accountable starts small, easy, and simple with a basic schedule:
The expectation is outlined: how much they will do and when.
The rewards are clear: Meals after each session, and the Ipad after all sessions are completed. It is their responsibility to earn these rewards by doing the crawling sessions; they can cross off each activity, and they are now accountable.
Now, this schedule alone won’t magically instill accountability overnight. You have to use it to show them how accountability works. Every morning, look at the schedule with your child or read it out to them. “Ok, Jay, right now you have to do one session of crawling, and then it’s breakfast time!”
No more taskmaster parenting: “crawl, crawl, ok crawl again, a little bit more, go, crawl, one more time around, ok now another!” This approach is super unmotivating. There is no accountability for your child to continue, and there is no end in sight!
Now you have a fantastic schedule to put on the wall; you can create it together and decorate it. Maybe every day, you can ask your child what the reward should be (form an approved list of options, of course). Your child is proud to look at his schedule, and to cross off each thing as he completes it. He is accountable for earning his reward for the day and for achieving his schedule.
But what if they say no? Perfect! It is an optimal opportunity to teach accountability!
Put the consequence on them and their schedule. Move accountability to them and away from you:
“You don’t want to crawl? Ok, my love, no problem, but I will have to put the iPad away in my room for the day.” Or, “Ok Jay, no worries, but we can’t go to the park this afternoon then. I know you were looking forward to it, but your schedule says we have to do crawling first.”
Again, this may not work straight away, but if you are consistent and do not cave in and give their reward without completing their schedule, they will learn that crying or having a tantrum about it won’t manipulate you. This may mean a few days of big tantrums. Your child may do anything they can to get that iPad. This is how they have learned to get things, and they will pull out all their best tricks to get you to cave.
Again this is normal! They are pushing the boundaries and behaving how they always have done. This will be a new and scary thing for them, but they will be ok. Remain calm and factual, “I know! You really want to use the iPad, Bud, but I’m sorry you can’t have it until you finish your schedule. It’s frustrating, isn’t it?” You don’t have to be mad or upset. Be calm. Show them that they are ok and that their behavior will not affect you. Console them and be with them while they are upset. Support them through this without giving in to their demand.
Empathize with them, show them that they are right to feel sad or angry, and help them see that they are accountable. “I know you are angry, you want to play with the Ipad, but we are not allowed to until you have crossed off your crawling sessions. Shall we do them now together?”
Reinforce the desired behavior: “Oh! Well done, my love. I know you were exhausted, but you did your best to do the crawling anyway, and now you can cross it off, and we can go to the park! I am so proud that you persevered even when you were tired,” or, “Well done, Jay, you did your last crawling session even though you were super angry and did not want to do it. You did your job, and now you get to use the iPad. I am so proud of your hard work!”
Now that you have the three most essential parts of your Midbrain Organization Program, here are many other ideas for making crawling and creeping more exciting and engaging:
Add tunnels or small obstacles to creep or crawl over, under, or around
Go through boxes or under chairs or tables
Follow a zig-zag track on the floor made from duct tape
For mixing both crawling and creeping: mark with words, signs, pictures, mats, colors, etc., places in the track where you switch to crawling or creeping. For example, when you come to a rug, you creep. Back to the floor again, you crawl. Or, as they come around the track to a specific place, you show a word card or Doman card that tells them what to do next, crawl or creep. Maybe you add hopping or jumping in there too, or rolling, barking like a dog, or singing your favorite song. You could add in so many other things for a small part of the track or at the end of the track, and then it goes back into crawling or creeping again. Then, they have to go all the way around the whole route again to see what word or card you will show them next!
Use word cards/ Doman cards or books: have categories set along the track in places around the house (track). When they crawl to that spot, and you show the category quickly, and they crawl along to the next stop. You could have words, Doman cards, sentences, a page in a book, math dots, or equations.
Spell a word: every time they go around the track to the starting line, you show a letter. In the end, you’ve spelled a word, or they have to make a word from those letters. You can also give one piece of an equation. OR, you give one word which added to the others makes a funny sentence.
You could read while they crawl around the track, or play music, an audiobook, or a podcast
You could make some kind of transportation device on their back by strapping a box or container to it. Every time they creep or crawl past you, you put another toy or small object in the box for them to carry around to another part of the track.
Strap a favorite toy on their back; they have to take the toy on a long pony ride or snake ride to the other room
Have some small toys that can be picked up in the mouth and transported from one place to another
Have netting or soft blankets that can be crawled or crept under. Make tunnels with boxes, or use flattened unfolded boxes as a perfect surface for crawling on the belly for something new.
If you have stairs, incorporate them into the track, creeping up to another part of the house. On the last two stairs at the bottom, you can lay flattened boxes for them to slide down, but first, they have to creep up around the second-floor track and then back down to the slide. Or, if you have a separate slide inside or out, build that into the track as well: crawl around the house, creep outside, down the slide, creep back inside, and then back to crawling.
The track can be as long and convoluted as you want. The longer the track, the more exciting and the more distance you can get with fewer times around. If your track is super long, the crawling and creeping could be broken into several single rounds in the day with lots of other stuff in between.
Get a timer for them to start and stop to record how fast they go around the track. Time your child and a sibling and record their times. See if they can beat their times or each other’s times. Send one child in one direction, the other in the other, and they race to the finish line, bumping into each other along the way.
Alternate between creeping and crawling or other activities. This can be helpful for variety, fun, and interest.
Use a visual representation of what has to be done: a whiteboard with checks that you cross off as they crawl around the track, a chart with stickers, a box of toys (every time they go around, take one toy out of the box. When the box is empty they are finished). You can use balls too, throwing them into another bucket each time they come around the track. As they come to the finish line, drive a toy car from one side to the next or into the “garage.” Use a flipbook with numbers 1-__. As they go around the track, flip the page to show the numbers counting down.
Try shorter, more frequent sessions. Sometimes less non-stop, more frequent sessions spread throughout the day can help it feel less tedious. Or, mix another activity with crawling and creeping as well: once around the track, then we do some tactile stimulation, then we hang, then we do a BEP, then we go back to another time around the track. Then, repeat the sequence.
Use meals as motivation, but not as a bribe… For example: “I know you are bored with crawling, but oh, it is lunchtime! Quick! Let’s finish these last two rounds, and then we can go make some lunch!” This works for anything else that is enjoyed, using the iPad, playing with a sibling, going outside, free time, playing with water, greeting Dad home from work, etc. Anything that they enjoy doing, now they can crawl or creep before they do it. You are not saying if you crawl, you can do ____. You are presenting it in a more motivating way… “Oh, we could play on the Ipad for 5 minutes. Quick, let’s finish your crawling session so that we can!” Or “ Your sister will be finished with school in 5 minutes, quick! Let’s finish your last two creeps so that you can play together!”
And finally:
Follow your programmed distances
Start small and achievable with less than your child’s best ability
Increase consistently every week and within your child’s ability to adapt
Keep motivation and rewards desirable and change them as often as you need
Be consistent
Be confident
Have fun!