Activities to Improve Postural Stability

Postural control is the ability to keep oneself in and upright and stable position. It is necessary for a child’s ability to sit upright, pull up, stand, walk, maintain balance, and even perform fine motor tasks. Postural control provides a foundation for future participation in academics, daily routines, and sports. Postal control provide stability for the hands and fingers and supports other actions, such as looking, touching, grasping, and dynamic motor skills. When the hips, trunk, neck and shoulders are strong and stable, this provides a foundation for head control and upper extremity movement. In a previous post, I described how tummy time plays an important role in the development of postural control.

How to Improve Postural Stability
 
Below you will find a variety of activities in which a child can engage to improve postural control.

*  Animal walks
*  Crawling
*  Wheelbarrow walks
*  Holding a “superman position”
*  Playing games while in a tall or half kneeling position
*  Jumping, swinging, and hopscotch play
*  Play “waste basket” basketball with light wrist weights (1/4-pound) while lying on the stomach over a large exercise ball or ottoman 

 

6 Ways to Improve Your Little One’s Motor Skills While You Work Out

Photo Credit: By Ambro@FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Let’s face it: many parents have no choice but to become excellent multitaskers. If you can’t help with homework while also folding the laundry, for example, one of those things just doesn’t get done. All too often, the need to get the most out of every waking moment means making a sacrifice here and there – usually missing out on something we as parents would like to do (morning jog, I’m thinking of you).

If you are one of those people with a jam-packed day who would feel so much better about getting some exercise if it didn’t mean sacrificing quality time with your little one, despair no more. You can indeed multitask this portion of your life as well! There are also many benefits of exercise for kids, including developing their motor skills without them even realizing, so you get bonus points if you both get a workout.

Try out some of these simple ways to develop your little one’s motor skills while you squeeze in a workout. 

1. Try out some of the free “baby and me” workout videos that abound on YouTube. Many of these help develop hand-eye coordination for your baby while you do yoga, Pilates, cardio, strength training, or dance.
2. If your little one is a bit older, try some children’s exercise videos, also on YouTube (my preschooler loves the Cosmic Kids Yoga series), to help your child learn to balance, stretch, follow instructions, jump, and more while you actually get a fairly decent (if brief) workout.
3. Show your little one how to roll, do the army crawl, crab walk, somersault, and more. Demonstrating the activities gives you the chance to work your core and upper body while teaching your child how to move in different ways. If they’re old enough to try to copy you, they’ll be working on coordinating the motion of their arms and legs to try new postures.
4. Have a dance party. The vast majority of physical exercise I got when my son was 1 and 2 was in the form of dance parties. Raffi, Beyoncé, whoever. You can make it aerobically intense for you while having your child dance, hop, twist, or play the (pot and pan) drums. “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and the good old “Hokie Pokie” have the added benefit of teaching body parts and additional skills while getting you both moving and grooving.
5. Jog with your little one in the stroller and attach activity-based toys to keep them busy. These include books, shakers, mirrors, and other items with ties, buttons, springs, rattles and more. They will be happily occupied playing while simultaneously learning about colors, textures, physics, sounds, and more.
6. Reserve some of your coolest motor activity-based toys for your workout times. While you exercise, your little one can have a blast exploring a special toy that they only get to use during your workouts. This toy should be something that has lots of possible ways it can be used, such as a set of blocks, yarn pegboards or a kid-friendly toolkit.

Finding motor skill-building activities and exercises for kids that they enjoy can be the key to fitting in a workout for you without relegating them to a seat in front of the TV. Best wishes for a dual-purpose workout, fellow multitaskers!

Interview about Retro Baby

I was interviewed on WREG's "Live at Nine" this morning talking about my new parenting book Retro Baby.  Click HERE to watch the interview.

Prevent W-Sitting

I work as an occupational therapist in the school system, and I cringe every time I see a student “w-sitting”. Are you familiar with the term “w-sitting”? This is when a child sits on the floor with his knees bent, his bottom on the floor, and his lower legs splayed out on either side of his bottom. Just imagine if the child were in a tall kneeling position, spread his ankles apart, and plopped down on his bottom. If you look at a child sitting in this position from the top down, the legs form the letter “w”. (As you can see, I've worked with a student who found a way to "w-sit" on a therapy ball...Yikes! Of course, I got him out of this position right after I took the photo!)

During normal development, babies sometimes briefly move in and out of “w-sitting” when transitioning from one position to another, and this is nothing to worry about. The problem occurs when the little one remains in that position for an extended period of time, for example during floor play or while watching television. Staying in this awkward position for too long puts excessive pressure on the knee, hip, and ankle joints. Constant exposure to this position can lead to future orthopedic problems, such as poor posture, tight hamstrings, or even hip dislocation.

Why do children w-sit? Many children sit like this because it feels more stable than other sitting positions. Because the “w” position of the legs widens the child’s base of support, the trunk or core muscles don’t have to work as hard to keep the child upright. Children with hypotonia, or low muscle tone tend to prefer the stability of “w-sitting”. This is not good, because when in this position children tend to avoid shifting their weight and rotating the trunk while playing. Weight shifting and trunk rotation play an important role in balancing, crossing midline and using both hands together, skills that provide the foundation for hand preference and the development of fine motor skills.

Here are several suggestions that you may find helpful in reducing “w-sitting” in youngsters:

• With babies, alter their position to kneeling, side sitting, or sitting cross-legged.

• With toddlers and preschoolers, have them to sit in an appropriately sized chair that is pulled up to a small table for fine-motor activities such as playing with blocks or coloring.

• Give the child an alternative by saying “would you rather sit like this or this?” and demonstrate appropriate seating positions.

• Use a low tray as the work surface and have the child position her legs straight out in front of her under the tray.

• Use a verbal or gestural cue to remind the child by saying “sit nicely”, or “legs in front”. This keeps it positive, rather than saying, “don’t sit like that”.

 

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Handwriting Skills

         Writing is a multifaceted activity in which a child has to pay attention to many separate tasks at one time. Initially, a child has to think of a topic about which he is going to write, or formulate an idea for the text. He has to remember how to form each letter, and make sure to write the letters in the designated space and in the correct sequence on the page. Finally, there are the rules of spelling, grammar, and punctuation that must be attended to; all of this while staying focused amidst the many distractions that might occur. Considering all of these components, it’s no wonder that many children find handwriting to be a challenging task.

As I said in an earlier post, the foundation for good fine motor skills is postural control, so this is usually the first area that I assess when a student is referred to me for poor handwriting skills. If core weakness is present, the child will most likely have difficulty sitting at a desk with a proper “handwriting posture”. I address this issue by having the child work on the exercises described my post on Tuesday, March 1^st. These activities are fun and easy and can be carried out in a therapy session as well as at home.

Once I know that postural stability is being addressed, I typically look at some of these basic hand skills:

• Can the child rotate a pencil with one hand to use the eraser?  
• Can he bring coins from the palm out to the fingertips, as if putting money in a soda machine? 
• Can he perform that same task, with several other coins held in the palm, while bringing each coin out one at a time?  
• Can he pick up a handful of change from a table, one coin at a time, bringing each coin into the palm and storing it while picking up the rest? 
• Is he able to rapidly and sequentially touch the tip of each finger to the thumb?

If the child has problems with any of these skills, it might be an indication that there is weakness in the muscles of the hands and fingers. The activities listed on my March 3^rd post are great for strengthening the muscles of the hands and they are also good for fine motor coordination. 

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Reference: Marsh, D., Hanft, B, Cohn, D. (1993). Getting a grip on handwriting. American Occupational Therapy Association, Rockville, MD.

Fine Motor Skills

Does your child have difficulty with fine motor skills such as writing and cutting? If so, then you'll probably find my next series of posts helpful. I'm going to be providing some resources, tools, and tips that will help with the development of fine motor skill and/or visual motor skills.

You may be wondering what the difference is between these two terms. Fine motor skills are the coordination of small motor movements in the hands and fingers that allow us to manipulate small objects with precise control. Fine motor movements usually occur in coordination with vision. This ability to coordinate motor movements with visual information is called visual motor skills.  

In order to be adept with visual motor skills, your child needs good vision and a strong foundation. That foundation begins with the stability of the trunk, shoulder, and neck muscles, also known as postural control. Development occurs from the trunk outward. For example,  a baby learns to roll over and sit up before they gain skilled control of their arms and hands. So if a child is having problems with visual motor skills, it's likely that they have some weakness or incoordination in the trunk, shoulders, and/or neck. That's why it's so important for infants to be exposed to plenty of tummy time from the first days of life. Tummy time and crawling play a big role in the strengthening of the important muscles that lay a strong foundation for future fine motor skills.

You can spot trunk weakness by noticing if your child frequently slumps with a rounded posture when sitting. You can also have your child lie on his stomach and ask him to stretch his arms and legs out and "fly like superman". If he has trouble assuming or maintaining this position, it's likely that there is some weakness in the trunk, shoulders and neck (also called the core muscles). Another good test of upper body strength is to "wheelbarrow walk" your child. See if he can propel himself without his arms collapsing while you hold him at the ankles or knees. An inability to do so also indicates muscle weakness.


If there is an issue with core weakness and incoordination, there are activities and exercises that your child can carry out that will strengthen these muscles. For the best result, at least 3 of these activities should be completed at least 3 times per week.


                                          Core Exercises

• Play tug-of-war by holding each others hands, or use a towel, rope or therapy band.
• Rowboat Game-You and your child sit on the floor facing each other and put your feet together. One of you lean back onto the floor without letting go of the other's hands, and the other pulls the partner back up, and continued.
• Play "Frog" by squatting, hopping, and squatting again.
• Crab Walk- Sit on the floor and place your hands on the floor behind you and lift your bottom off of the floor by pushing up. Propel yourself around the room like a crab.
• Wheelbarrow Walks- Holding child at the knees or the ankles.
• Squat to Stand- Stand up from a squatting position with arms outstretched, keeping heels on the floor and repeat. 
• Airplane - lie on your stomach and lift your head, arms and legs. Hold the position for as long as you can.
• Rocker- lie on your back, bend your knees and wrap your arms around your legs. Rock yourself back and forth.
• Traditional Sit-Ups- provide support at the ankles.
• Ball toss- have your child lie on the stomach on the floor, or over an ottoman. Have them pick up a ball and toss it into an empty box or garbage can. You can eventually use a slightly weighted ball or light wrist weights. 

Dear Readers, If you have found my blog to be helpful, please click here and "like" my facebook page...I'm trying to get my book published and this would be a great help! Thanks :)

 

AND the winner of the 16-inch therapy ball is "Hetha" or Heather, former middle school teacher turned full-time mom. Please contact me ASAP so I can ship this out to you. Congratulations!