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Like most clubfoot parents, I spent countless hours lying awake at night worrying about how delayed my bilateral clubfoot daughter would be in her gross motor development.
How long would it take for my daughter to crawl, walk, or run? Would she be able to chase her older sister around the house or play at the park with her daycare peers?
While your medical team will remind you that regardless of clubfoot, children progress through gross motor development at different ages and even siblings should not be compared, it is hard not to fret. I knew early on I wanted to find equipment to add to our small living space that would encourage age-appropriate gross motor development and coordination. That holiday season, we welcomed the pikler triangle into our home as a joint gift for my two daughters. Sure, I had seen the adorable pikler triangle on Pinterest and Instagram, but I didn’t realize how loved this piece of play equipment would become.
Over 100 years ago, the Hungarian paediatrician Dr. Emmi Pikler developed the pikler triangle to allow children the opportunity to practice stability, control, and balance in different ways as the child grows with age.
Newborns can lay under the triangle for tummy time, observing items hung (even in casts and braces). Babies from 6 to 8 months can practice pulling to stand using the rungs, while older babies can begin to climb. Older toddlers and preschoolers can climb to the top point and over, gaining confidence and developing their proprioceptive control. Their self-esteem grows as they master new skills and tackle self-driven challenges on the triangle. At the same time, the frame can build a child’s imagination as it can quickly be transformed into a tent, a dog house, a tunnel or even a castle as they play make-believe and tell stories.
Your clubfoot cutie will benefit from the natural stretches to the back of the calf and achilles tendon that will occur during climbing, squatting, and walking on different angles. Many pikler triangles also come with movable ramps and rock walls. This physical play naturally stimulates a balanced use of muscle groups in your child’s legs and feet, by strengthening weaker muscles and stretching muscles that are too tight.
If you can add a pikler triangle into your living space, let the open-ended design encourage gross motor development and imaginative play at your child’s own speed. And please remember, it is a climbing toy that should be placed on a soft surface and played with under supervision. Clubfoot.ca reminds you to use the climbing structure at your own risk.
