I recently published a post with ideas for engaging your older child in tummy time. Continuing tummy time after your child is able to sit, stand, and walk and even into their preschool and elementary years is important because it helps to maintain and improve their core and upper body strength. It also helps to improve their proximal stability, which they need for handwriting and fine motor control. In addition to tummy time activities, there are several ways to engage your child in play that involves weight-bearing into the upper extremities. Weight-bearing requires the child to support their body weight and activate the muscles in their core and extremities, building strength and endurance and helping to compensate for low muscle tone. Try these activities to encourage weight-bearing at home:
- Obstacle courses requiring your child to crawl over, under, and around obstacles
- Crab soccer
- Yoga
- Simon Says incorporating weight-bearing positions, such as “Simon Says bear walk,” “Simon Says army crawl,” or “Simon Says do downward dog”
- Animal Walk Relay Races, getting down on all fours to imitate their favorite animals
- Wheelbarrow Walk Races – you hold their feet while they walk on their hands
- Ball Exercises – Have your child lie on their stomachs on an exercise ball, you hold their feet and push them forward and have them use their hands to push themselves back. You can also do modified push ups with the ball positioned at their hips or knees for additional support. Or have your child complete a puzzle or play a game while lying face down with the ball at their hips or thighs and placing their hands on the floor to support themselves.
- Follow the Leader incorporating animal walks
- Adapted Bowling – Instead of throwing a ball to knock down the pins, have your child imitate various animals walks to knock them down!
- Animal Tag
As your child becomes stronger you will not only notice a difference in their stamina and gross motor skills but you may also notice a difference in the legibility of their handwriting, the accuracy of their fine motor movements, and an improvement in their posture and tolerance for sitting at the table.
*Try these ideas for animal walks:
1. Bear Walk: Have your little one walk on his hands and feet, while keeping the legs straight
2. Lizard Crawl: Keep your tummy on the ground and pull yourself forward with your arms and legs (as in the army crawl).
3. Crab Walk: Remember to keep that bottom off of the ground!
4. Donkey Walk – Place the hands on the ground and then kick both feet out into the air, alternate between walking forward on your hands and feet and kicking your feet up in the air.
5. Duck Walk: Walk forward while squatting down on the floor
6. Inchworm Walk: Keep your legs straight and place your hands on the floor. Move your hands forward and then walk your feet to your hands, and repeat.
7. Seal Walk – Have your child lie on his stomach and then push his chest off the ground by extending the arms. Walk the arms forward and drag both legs behind.
8. Inured Dog Walk – Place the hands on the floor with the legs extended. Lift one leg behind in the air. Move the hands forward and then hop forward on the one foot. (This one may be too hard for the younger kids.)
What other ideas can you share?
