If your child seems uncoordinated or struggles with coordination skills and movements, try these activities at home! You can start by practicing just one part of the skill, then the other part, and then put them together. Additionally start with slow movements to help your child understand the movement, and then work up to moving faster. These skills are great to work on with kids 4 years and older.
Snow Angels
Have your child lay on the ground inside, or outside if it snows, with arms by their side and legs straight. Practice just arm movements then just leg movements, then add them together to make snow angels. If your child is having difficulty coordinating the movements with both sides of their body, you can break it down further and start with just moving one arm or one leg at a time. This activity is a great one to practice before working on standing jumping jacks.
Cross Taps
This exercise is great because it works on coordination, crossing midline, and core strength all in one! To start simple, have your child sit on a chair and then progress to standing up as they understand the task. Have your child use their left hand to cross their body and tap their right knee. Then return to the starting position (middle picture below). Finally have them reach their right arm across their body to tap their left knee. Repeat 10 times. To make this activity harder, have your child reach down to their foot instead of their knee or have them stand on a pillow or couch cushion while doing it.
Jumping Jacks
Jumping Jacks are great for working on both coordination and endurance. Have your child start with legs together and arms by their sides like a “pencil”. Then have them bring their arms out to the side and up, while also jumping and landing with their legs outward. This position will look like a “star”. Using the cues of “pencil” and “star” will help your child learn the proper movements. If this movement is too difficult altogether, you can start with just the arms or just the legs first. You can additionally practice the Snow Angels activity listed above if standing and performing jumping jacks is too challenging at first.
Hula Hooping
Hula Hooping helps work on coordination, body awareness, and endurance. It additionally gives input to the vestibular system. Have your child practice moving the hula hoop side to side by moving their hips side to side. An alternative option is to have your child practice moving their hips forward and backward with the hula hoop. It may be helpful to practice the hip movements first and then add the hula hoop.
Hopscotch
Hopscotch is a fantastic game to help work on coordination, jumping, hopping, strength, and motor planning. You can make your own Hopscotch grid with chalk outside or buy a Hopscotch mat. Instruct your child to hop on one foot if there is only one square in front of them, and jump and land on two feet if there are two squares.
DISCLAIMER
The content in this blog should not be used in place of medical advice/treatment and is solely for informational purposes. All activities/exercises posted in this blog should be performed with adult supervision, caution, and at your own risk. Big Leaps, LLC is not responsible for any injury while performing an activity/exercise that has been posted on this blog. If you have any information on the content of our blog, feel free to contact us at info@bigleapsct.com.
Comments