October’s Kid-friendly Exercises from Occupational Therapy 

October’s Kid-Friendly Exercises from Occupational Therapy

Theme: Super Heroes and Monsters

Kid-Friendly Exercises #1:

Prone Extension. This position can also be known as the superman pose. When laying on your stomach, lift arms overhead and hold arms, head, and legs off of the ground. This is great for building back, shoulder, and neck strength which can help to improve posture and shoulder stability.  When working with your child, see if they can hold this position for 10 seconds. For younger children, try placing a favorite toy above them to encourage reaching while they are on their stomach.

Kid-Friendly Exercises #2:

Rolling playdoh into a ball or a snake. Often times children have difficulty motor planning the fine motor skills necessary to roll playdoh into a ball or a snake. These skills involve different fine motor movements and involve different motor planning. In addition, playing with playdoh not only strengthens finger muscles, but can increase shoulder stability by having to apply pressure to playdoh while rolling out. When playing playdoh with your child, try making different creations such as a spider or a snowman. Initially, hand over hand assistance might be required to help children motor plan either rolling out a ball or a snake.

Kid-Friendly Exercises #3:

Fasteners. Typically, mastering different fasteners is the last skill obtained as a child becomes more independent with dressing.  Unbuttoning, unzipping, and unbuckling are the skills that are usually mastered first before mastering buttoning, zipping, and buckling.  These skills require fine motor precision and motor planning. You can help encourage these skills by meeting your child at their level, either by encouraging them to unbutton their own clothes, or by playing dress up and having them participate in assisting with the fasteners. These skills often take a lot of repetition and patience in order to master. Taking time out of the day to practice goes a long way.

Kid-Friendly Exercises #4:

Tolerating novel tactile experiences. One of a child’s main areas of occupation as they grow is to explore and learn about the world we live in. However, often times with the kids we work with, we see a lot of rigidity in what they choose to play with. By encouraging your child to try different tactile activities, you can help to broaden their areas of play and promote more exploration with fine motor activities. Try using your hands to make playdoh or slime with your child. Other activities include finger painting, playing with shaving cream, or finding small objects hidden in a bag of rice.