Need a Super Fun Way to Strengthen Knee Extensors?

The model pictured can perform knee extension here to make the swing go forward and back without support otherwise.Many children need me to be in front to stabilize their feet to make the push off more successful. I like this activity because very little pushing is still rewarding. What child doesn’t like to swing?I may put the child’s feet on the floor as pictured but I may also put the child’s feet on an incline or slanted bench in front of him.This can be a difficult timing activity for children. If you allow the child’s feet to leave the support and then come back to it, the childoften has difficulty allowing the knees to bend on the approach and knowing exactly when to push on the swing away. You can slow this down to make it easier for the child or you can speed it up to real time to make it more challenging.If the child has poor sitting balance, I often use a net swing for the child to sit in sideways.I put a pillow behind the child for back support as he sits in the net swing.

If you want to double the work load, simply have the child cross 1 leg putting the unused leg's ankle on the opposite knee. I often will allow a child with a stronger side to use it first to get the feel of the activity...Then I have the child use the trickier leg. Actually sometimes I do the exact reverse. It's more like, "If you push with tricky leg 10 times, I'll let you push with the other."