The Pikler approach: what free movement means for babies

3 hours ago

8 min read

In short: The Pikler approach goes back to the Hungarian paediatrician Emmi Pikler. Babies should reach movements like rolling over, sitting or walking by their own efforts. For that, they need a safe environment and adults who accompany them attentively instead of taking steps for them.

A baby lies on the floor and looks. For a long time. Then turns its head. Spots something. Reaches out a hand. Maybe nothing seems to happen for minutes, and then suddenly a movement begins that nobody showed it.

With babies in particular, we adults quickly feel the urge to support their development. We sit them up, hold their hands to help them walk, move toys closer or show them how something works.

The Hungarian paediatrician Emmi Pikler was already asking a different question in the 20th century:

What happens when we give a child time, security and space to find its own next step?

This idea is at the core of the Pikler approach. Not developing faster. Not practising movements a child isn't ready for yet. But observing attentively, accompanying reliably and trusting that development also grows out of the child's own activity.

And much of what Pikler derived from close observation of children back then touches on questions that developmental scientists are still working on today.

Who was Emmi Pikler?

Emmi Pikler was a Hungarian paediatrician who studied the early development of babies and toddlers in depth.

The approach later named after her brings together several ideas:

free movement development, independent play, a safe prepared environment and a respectful, attentive relationship between child and adult. The Pikler Institute still describes these elements as central parts of the approach today.

Pikler became especially known for her view of motor development.

Put simply: a child should reach positions on their own as far as possible, instead of regularly being placed by adults in positions they can't yet get into by themselves.

This isn't about simply "leaving a baby to it".

It's about something far more demanding:

creating a safe setting and observing closely enough not to intervene unnecessarily.

Free movement doesn't mean a lack of accompaniment

This distinction matters.

Pikler doesn't mean:

Put the baby down somewhere and leave it alone.

Quite the opposite. A little person needs closeness, security and adults who notice their signals.

Modern developmental research describes responsive relationships between child and caregiver as an important part of early development. The Harvard Center on the Developing Child calls this "serve and return": the child sends a signal, through a look, a movement, a sound or a gesture, and an adult responds. Interactions like these support early social, language and cognitive development, among other things.

That fits remarkably well with an important idea behind Pikler:

being attentive without constantly taking the lead.

The child is allowed to give the impulse.

The adult stays within reach.

Babies take in far more than it sometimes looks

A baby who can't crawl yet is by no means passive.

It sees. Hears. Compares. Watches movements. Grasps. Turns.

Responds to people and objects.

And very early on, it starts directing its own attention to things it finds interesting.

Developmental scientists increasingly describe infants as active learners who use their attention selectively and gather information about their surroundings through their own actions.

Newer research on sensorimotor development also shows how closely perception, movement and learning are linked. Moving on their own creates new sensory experiences, and these experiences in turn help the child understand their environment better.

That means:

Even before a baby crawls across a room, it has long since started getting to know that room.

And then movement suddenly changes everything

This is where it gets really exciting.

New motor skills aren't just new "milestones".

They change what a child can experience for themselves.

When a baby learns to roll over, commando crawl, crawl or finally walk, it suddenly gains access to new perspectives, objects, distances and social situations.

A major line of developmental psychology research around Karen Adolph and other researchers therefore describes motor development as far more than muscle or movement development: new ways of moving create new opportunities for exploration and learning and can help set off development in other areas too.

A 2024 review puts it very aptly: the key point of locomotion isn't simply reaching a particular "milestone", but mobility as a way of making contact with the world.

And that's exactly what you can see when a child suddenly realises:

There's something over there. And I can get there myself.

What we see again and again at Baby Bee

For us, that very moment is one of the loveliest things in the play space.

Our spaces are designed so that even the littlest ones have a protected starting point. That's why Baby Bee deliberately has a baby corner.

There, babies can arrive first. Lie down. Watch. Grasp.

Sit, once they can reach that position safely on their own or in line with their individual development, and simply take in what's happening around them at first. And at some point, something changes. A child starts to commando crawl. Then maybe to crawl.

And suddenly we see something that fascinates us every time:

It's had a goal for a while.

Maybe something on the other side of the room had been interesting for minutes.

A mirror.

A ramp.

Another child.

A particular material.

And as soon as the motor skill is there, off it goes.

Not to where we adults have decided it should play now.

But to where its own attention has been all along.

Research on infants' spontaneous locomotion fits this observation: children generate part of their own learning input through their movement, and both the spatial and the social environment influence how they spontaneously move and explore.

That's why play at our place doesn't only begin with walking

Sometimes parents first think about a play space:

Is it even worth it yet for a baby?

Our answer: it depends on the individual child, of course, but a baby doesn't need to be able to walk to get something out of an interesting, safe environment.

It can watch.

React to sounds.

Feel materials.

See other children.

Connect with an adult.

Grasp, roll, turn and at some point widen its own radius.

The WHO also recommends that infants are physically active in a variety of ways several times a day, particularly through interactive floor-based play. For babies who aren't mobile yet, this includes time on their tummy while awake. At the same time, the WHO stresses a safe setting and appropriate supervision.

That isn't exactly "Pikler".

And that's an important distinction.

But it shows that today's developmental and health research attaches a lot of importance to a basic idea that is also central to Pikler:

Children need opportunities to actively use their own bodies.

The difference between helping and taking over

This is perhaps the hardest part.

A baby is trying to reach something.

We immediately see how we could help.

So we push the toy closer.

A child is trying to stand up.

We hold out both hands.

Something doesn't work straight away.

We solve it.

It's meant lovingly.

But sometimes we take away exactly the experience the child is looking for.

Not every obstacle needs to disappear.

Some small difficulties are the task.

So the question can be:

Does my child really need help right now, or do they need another ten seconds?

Of course there are situations where adults have to step in. Safety always comes before educational principles.

But between "leaving them alone" and "solving everything" there's a lot of room.

That's where accompanying happens.

An environment that says "yes"

Free movement only works where it's actually possible.

If a baby is constantly surrounded by things it mustn't touch, if adults have to stop it all the time or if dangers lurk everywhere, nobody can explore in a relaxed way.

That's why the prepared environment plays an important role in the Pikler approach too. The official Pikler material stresses both opportunities to move and a safe setting with suitable supervision.

At Baby Bee, we therefore try to create spaces where children can experience a yes as often as possible.

Yes, you can look.

Yes, you can try it out.

Yes, you can move over there.

Yes, you can come back again.

And of course there are limits when safety or other people are affected.

But the environment itself should create as few unnecessary prohibitions as possible.

What parents can take home from Pikler

By the way, you don't need a perfectly equipped Montessori or Pikler room for this.

Maybe it starts much smaller.

A safe area on the floor.

A few interesting, age-appropriate objects.

Time without constant entertainment.

Enough freedom to move.

And an adult who stays attentive.

Try observing before you step in.

Where is your baby looking?

Which sound interests them?

Which object are they trying to reach?

Which movement do they keep repeating?

Maybe this question changes something:

Not:

"What can I teach my child right now?"

But:

"What is my child trying to learn by themselves right now?"

For us, Pikler is inspiration, not dogma

Baby Bee is not a Pikler facility.

Nor are we a purely Montessori or Waldorf facility.

We draw inspiration from different approaches and combine them with what we learn from modern developmental research and from many years of observing families and children every day.

And we don't automatically take every historical educational claim as scientific fact.

Because research evolves.

Children are different.

Families are different.

And good accompaniment sometimes needs more flexibility than a fixed doctrine.

But one of Pikler's ideas is still exceptionally valuable to us today:

Children aren't only competent once we show them what to do.

Even a baby observes, decides, tries, corrects and begins to make sense of its world by its own efforts.

Maybe that's why we don't always have to speed up development.

Maybe our job is sometimes to create a safe space

and watch with curiosity where the child wants to go by itself.

Frequently asked questions about the Pikler approach

What is the Pikler approach?

An approach developed by the Hungarian paediatrician Emmi Pikler. It brings together free movement development, independent play, a safe prepared environment and a respectful, attentive relationship between child and adult.

Does free movement mean leaving my baby alone?

No. Your baby needs closeness, security and adults who notice their signals. The adult stays within reach and responds, but doesn't constantly take the lead.

Should I sit my baby up or walk them by the hands?

According to Pikler, a child should reach positions on their own as far as possible, instead of regularly being put into positions they can't yet get into by themselves. If you have questions about your child's development, your paediatrician is the right person to ask.

Is a play space worth it for babies?

Yes, a baby doesn't need to be able to walk to benefit from a safe, interesting environment. In the baby corner at Baby Bee, the littlest ones can lie, watch, grasp and widen their radius at their own pace.

Read more at Baby Bee