Veronika has taken five steps forward on her own… but she’s reluctant to do so and will drop to a crawl more often than not. Today, I was hoping a good old-fashioned game of Follow the Leader might inspire her forward.

We started out with a few copying moves (almost like ‘Simon Says‘) to get her in a follow-along mood. Could she tap sticks like me?

Stomp her feet like me?

(Note: We have a silly sloth toy that claps its hands and moves to the beat. Toys like these are also great to teach your toddler to play copycat).

Now it was time to follow the leader! Big brother marched ahead and we sang “We’re Following the Leader” as we marched around the apartment.

Finally, I let go of her hands and kept marching to see if she would continue to follow. It’s still a work in progress, but this was a great game to set her steps in motion!

Don’t forget to play a reverse version and let your toddler be the leader. I took a few minutes to copy her moves, whether crawling after her or tapping our tummies, and she loved being the one in charge!