GROSS-MOTOR ACTIVITIES
Wall Push-ups:
This activity is geared towards improving shoulder strength and stability, which is a biomechanical approach. Biomechanics considers how the body moves and how those movements can be made more efficient. According to LeVeau (2015) ‘Biomechanics is the study of forces and their effect on living organisms’.
Wall push-ups will help your child develop strength when performing gross motor skills, big movements. These actions are transferable to the gym and physical education class. The goal of this activity is to improve shoulder strength and stability for your child.
How to do wall push-ups
This activity is geared towards improving shoulder strength and stability, which is a biomechanical approach. Biomechanics considers how the body moves and how those movements can be made more efficient. According to LeVeau (2015) ‘Biomechanics is the study of forces and their effect on living organisms’.
Wall push-ups will help your child develop strength when performing gross motor skills, big movements. These actions are transferable to the gym and physical education class. The goal of this activity is to improve shoulder strength and stability for your child.
How to do wall push-ups
- Child should stand in front of wall about arm’s length away, feet about shoulder width apart.
- Child should place both hands on the wall about shoulder height, again hands should be shoulder width apart.
- Child will band at the elbows moving their face and chest, towards the wall stopping before touching it.
- They will then push against the wall, straightening their arms, returning to the original position.
- Complete 3 sets of 5 repetitions. This number can be adjusted according to your child's ability
- To make it harder the child can move their feet away from the wall, this means they will be supporting more of their body weight with the arms. They can progress to a modified floor push-up weight bearing on the knees.
- The wall push-up can be made easier by reducing the distance the child moves towards the wall, for example only move half way before pushing back.
Hopscotch:
This is a traditional playground game that has been played for many years. It can be played by anybody. All you need is drawn out numbered squares and a stick, coin, or any other marker. This game involves gross motor or big body movements. Hopscotch fits into the Motor Control frame of reference. Your child will develop their motor skills (strength, balance, coordination) as well as sensory, and cognitive skills (jumping from one foot to another, landing on one foot or both). Your child will also develop their perceptual thinking as they become aware of where their body parts are in space.
What it helps: lack of coordination, balance, muscle tone, and gross-motor control.
How it helps: your child....
This is a traditional playground game that has been played for many years. It can be played by anybody. All you need is drawn out numbered squares and a stick, coin, or any other marker. This game involves gross motor or big body movements. Hopscotch fits into the Motor Control frame of reference. Your child will develop their motor skills (strength, balance, coordination) as well as sensory, and cognitive skills (jumping from one foot to another, landing on one foot or both). Your child will also develop their perceptual thinking as they become aware of where their body parts are in space.
What it helps: lack of coordination, balance, muscle tone, and gross-motor control.
How it helps: your child....
- will have an increase in gross motor control to organize arm movement and leg movement.
- will be able to maintain their balance when switching from two legs to one leg as they jump from square to square.
- will be able to coordinate their legs and arms while jumping, having complete control of them.
- will develop the strength to hold themselves up while a one leg.
- Hopscotch can be played outside on the playground or in the gym, even in your yard at home.
- There needs to be numbered squares marked out, and players will need markers, such as a stick or a coin.
- Players have to throw their marker to the numbers in sequence 1-10, skipping the square their marker is on when they hop out and picking it up on the way back. The foot placement alternates between one foot and two footed jumps.
- Play until both players have gone through 1-10 or until your child gets tired, do not let them play on if they are fatigued.
- Your child can play multiple games, or the number of squares on the grid can be increased.
- Instead of hopping from one foot to two your child can step through the numbered squares.
- The number of squares can be reduced.
Drawing Hopscotch squares:
Your child is beginning to master the game of hopscotch and more importantly enjoying it. So much so that they want to play it all the time, you can show them how to draw out the squares so that they can play whenever they want. Just remind them that it has to be in a safe place. The ground has to be level and away from the street and not blocking any place people may want to walk, even though the side walk may seem to be the perfect spot.
The child's enjoyment of the game will be their motivation, playing is habitual for adolescence as they continue to develop. This uses the Model of Human Occupation Frame of Reference, focusing on the interplay between person (your child) and environment (home, school, outside) is critical to one's source of motivation, pattern's of behavior (what they do), and performance (how they do it), Jacobs, McRae, Sladyk (2014) OT ESSENTIALS FOR CLINICAL COMPETENCE
What it helps: by drawing out the squares your child is continuing to develop their gross motor movements, the goal is focused more on their shoulders and arms working together. Because they will be suing side walk chalk which is chunky it will not have fine motor focus so much.
How it helps your child:
Your child is beginning to master the game of hopscotch and more importantly enjoying it. So much so that they want to play it all the time, you can show them how to draw out the squares so that they can play whenever they want. Just remind them that it has to be in a safe place. The ground has to be level and away from the street and not blocking any place people may want to walk, even though the side walk may seem to be the perfect spot.
The child's enjoyment of the game will be their motivation, playing is habitual for adolescence as they continue to develop. This uses the Model of Human Occupation Frame of Reference, focusing on the interplay between person (your child) and environment (home, school, outside) is critical to one's source of motivation, pattern's of behavior (what they do), and performance (how they do it), Jacobs, McRae, Sladyk (2014) OT ESSENTIALS FOR CLINICAL COMPETENCE
What it helps: by drawing out the squares your child is continuing to develop their gross motor movements, the goal is focused more on their shoulders and arms working together. Because they will be suing side walk chalk which is chunky it will not have fine motor focus so much.
How it helps your child:
- repetitive performance of gross motor movements of the shoulder and arm
- bilateral or two handed coordination, they will have to hold a ruler or straight edge to draw the squares
- organization and planning
- communication skills, they may need the help of a partner and have to speak to them about the process
- Ideally this will be outside, but could be done indoors e.g., in a gym
- Your child will need side walk chalk and a yard stick
- They will need to decide how many squares to draw e.g., 10
- They will use the yard stick to draw the straight lines of the square, they will need to hold the stick with one hand (non-dominant) and draw the line with their dominant hand.
- Remind them that when drawing the two squares side by side they should touch about halfway across the top line of the single square.
- You can help when your child asks, or if they show signs of confusion, frustration, or tiredness.
- After they have drawn the correct number of squares, they need to number them in order 1-10.
- Increase the number of squares your child has to draw,
- or make the squares 3/4 of a yard so they have to measure accurately on the stick.
- Reduce the number of squares your child has to draw.
- Use a 1/2 yard stick so that the size of the squares is also reduced.