# The pants elevator

Their pants turn into an elevator that travels down and up their legs, and they work it with both hands.

To do with your toddler between 2 and 3 years old. It works on: bilateral coordination, body awareness and self confidence. You'll need: loose-fitting pants with an elastic waistband.

## What do I need?

- Loose-fitting pants with an elastic waistband

## How do I do it?

1. **Set up the game.** Pick a quiet playtime, away from bath time or getting dressed. Put your little one in loose pants with an elastic waistband, like pajama bottoms or sweatpants. Stand in front of them and explain the game: “Your pants are an elevator. Which floors can it go to?”
2. **Call the first floor.** Ask them to hold the waistband with both hands, one on each side. Give them the first stop: “The elevator's going down to your knees. Stop right there!”
3. **Change floors.** Keep going with more stops: “Now down to your ankles.” “Going up to your tummy!” If they wobble on the way down to their ankles, they can lean their back against the wall or sit on the floor.
4. **Help if it gets stuck.** Free the elastic with one finger if it gets stuck, then let them keep going. Don't move their hands for them: they run the elevator with their own.
5. **Finish at the top.** Keep playing while they're enjoying it and end with the elevator at their tummy. Tell them calmly, “You're really good at running the elevator.”

## What are they learning?

To pull their pants down and up without twisting them, they have to tug with both hands at once and with the same strength. Each stop has them find their knees, ankles and tummy while keeping their balance. It's the same movement they'll use when they start using the potty.

- **Bilateral coordination**: Pulls the waistband with both hands at once so the pants don't twist
- **Body awareness**: Finds their knees, ankles and tummy at each elevator stop
- **Self confidence**: Pulls their pants down and up on their own and sees they can do it

## What the research says

- Corbetta D, Thelen E. The developmental origins of bimanual coordination: a dynamic perspective. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. 1996;22(2):502-522. doi:10.1037/0096-1523.22.2.502 (https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.22.2.502)
- Kimmerle M, Ferre CL, Kotwica KA, Michel GF. Development of role-differentiated bimanual manipulation during the infant's first year. Developmental Psychobiology. 2010;52(2):168-180. doi:10.1002/dev.20428 (https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20428)
- Rochat P. Self-perception and action in infancy. Experimental Brain Research. 1998;123(1-2):102-109. doi:10.1007/s002210050550 (https://doi.org/10.1007/s002210050550)
- Bremner AJ, Mareschal D, Lloyd-Fox S, Spence C. Spatial localization of touch in the first year of life: early influence of a visual spatial code and the development of remapping across changes in limb position. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 2008;137(1):149-162. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.137.1.149 (https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.137.1.149)
- Filippetti ML, Lloyd-Fox S, Longo MR, Farroni T, Johnson MH. Neural Mechanisms of Body Awareness in Infants. Cerebral cortex (New York, NY : 1991). 2015;25(10):3779-3787. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhu261 (https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhu261)
- Leonard JA, Lee Y, Schulz LE. Infants make more attempts to achieve a goal when they see adults persist. Science. 2017;357(6357):1290-1294. doi:10.1126/science.aan2317 (https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan2317)
- Morgan GA, Harmon RJ, Maslin-Cole CA. Mastery motivation: definition and measurement. Early Education and Development. 1990;1(5):318-339. doi:10.1207/s15566935eed0105_1 (https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed0105_1)

Reviewed by Javier Atance Ibar, PhD in Education.

https://papakoala.com/en/activities/the-pants-elevator/