Hi there!
The first topic I'd like to address is motor planning. Many of the preschoolers I see have some kind of difficulty with motor planning. Motor planning is the body's ability to plan movements in a coordinated manner. For example, riding a bike requires motor planning. Once the body practices the movements of pedaling, balancing, steering, and braking over and over again, it becomes automatic. That's why people say "it's just like riding a bike..." typically once a movement becomes automatic it no longer takes the cognitive effort for your body to perform the task. One of the simplest forms of motor planning we work on in preschool OT is imitation of actions. This can be as simple as a demand such as "do this" and then I put my body in a position that they have to imitate. Many of our 3 year olds are working on jumping. It would be amazing if you could continue to work with them on jumping at home. This is just a two foot take off and landing. They do not need to jump over anything but just practice bending their knees and then pushing up and landing back on their two feet. Another example would be saying "do this" and then putting both arms in the air, or out to the side, or stand on one foot. Try very simple positions and then if your child masters it, you can move to something more complicated. For four year old preschoolers, most have mastered jumping with two feet. Now they can work on hopping. Hopping is a 2-3 year old skill, but most of our students have gross motor delays. If you're child seems to have mastered jumping with two feet, try asking them to hop - give them an example by doing it yourself. Also they may need hand held assistance at first to get the motor planning aspect of it down before they can concentrate on the balancing piece. If your child struggles, think about breaking down the task to the very first step. For example, balance on one foot, then bend the knee, then jump, etc. Motor planning is involved in gross motor activities but also speech, social, and following any type of direction. It's one category that can be worked on at home without any supplies, yay! Look for future posts and/or videos with more ideas. Thanks for reading! LeAnn
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AuthorLeAnn Wald Archives
May 2020
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