Creeping Victory

When children begin to move in a countergravity situation for the first time by getting their bellies off the floor and moving themselves forward on hands and knees, they have begun a great adventure- one of the greatest in all life.

They have given up total security in exchange for speed and ease of movement. Whereas before they had the security of lying flat on the floor (you can't fall off the floor), they also had the problem of dragging their bodies along the floor in the least efficient way. Now they have sacrificed this security (you can fall down from hands and knees) for efficiency and speed.

While crawling is movement for movement's sake, creeping is movement that is goal-directed. An infant crawls across the room to get across the room. A baby creeps to get the toy that is across the room.

When a child has learned to move by creeping, he or she has earned a Creeping Victory.