Hello all!
I hope you are all doing well and staying healthy! We’re a little late with our Quarantine Tip #5 — it’s been a busy month! But we hope these gross motor activities are helpful. These are from our physical therapy department. We’ve also included some interesting website links below.
Movement (part 3)
Get those kiddos moving! Computers and television promote poor attention in dynamic environments such as classrooms—movement helps brain development so much! Challenge your child to increase their gross motor planning skills through play & fun–remember to encourage them to succeed and there’s no failure in play! Reward them for trying.
Note–these are great activities for adults too!
- Ball play skills: Use a balloon to encourage planning/
coordinating movement in order to catch a ball; this can be challenging as it develops a child’s ability to judge how much effort is needed for a specific task. - Along these same lines, a fun activity that also promotes motor planning skills and appropriate exertion of energy is to play basketball—use different size, weighted, and colorful balls. Keep alternating from a light ball, to a fuzzy/sensory ball to a big volleyball size ball, to a small heavy ball and back again!
- Standing balance activities by performing activities while standing on a pillow using both feet at first and then alternating standing on one foot.
Practice hand washing at the sink by using a step stool (encouraging planning/coordinating movement to safely step up/down from the step stool at the sink). - Seated activities while on a pillow – trunk rotations toward either side, gently discourage planting of hand on the floor or support while encouraging your child to reach overhead and cross midline during turns. Try using a favorite toy–a rapper-snapper is fun!–to keep them motivated as this can be challenging for children who have poor trunk/core stability.
- Try doing silly walking activities together! Have a parade and take turns imitating silly walks such as walking on your heels, toes, or walking while squeezing a ball between legs–just some examples.
Here are some links to interesting activities & tips!
https://www.theatlantic.com/
https://www.hellowonderful.co/
It’s a challenging time. Change is hard for all of us. Sometimes we have to just shrug off the world and live for the present. Have fun, play, and enjoy your time at home with your children. This will pass–in the meantime, make some great memories!
best regards,
Elizabeth
