10 Ways to Play With. . . Part 4 of 4

Many of the children we see at our clinics have difficulty with motor planning.  Motor planning is a complex skill which allows a person to generate an idea for a motor action, efficiently time and sequence the movements necessary, grade the force required, and execute the action.  Children who have a hard time with the ideation phase of motor planning may tend to play the same activities over and over or struggle to come up with multiple solutions to a problem.  Open-ended free play is a great way to stretch this ability; however, a child who truly has a motor planning deficit will likely need some guidance and encouragement along the way.   Here are some suggestions to help you look at novel ways to play with toys or items you may already have in your home.   As you’re playing, ask your child questions like “What else could this be?” and praise their efforts to think outside the box.­­­

10 Ways to Play with a Beach Ball

1. Set up a goal to kick the ball into, or for something new, challenge your child to use a different body part, like an elbow, to knock the ball into the goal.
2. Grab a laundry basket and play a target game.
3. Take on a multi-step challenge. The first person picks an action, such as bouncing the ball one time.  The next person bounces the ball one time, and then adds a step, like turning around holding the ball. The game continues, adding on more and more steps.  How many can you remember?
4. Set up an obstacle course to maneuver the ball through.
5. Kangaroo kicks: Have your child lie down on his back and prop up his body on his elbows.  Stand a few feet away (more if you have a child who tends to use too much force) and toss the ball for him to kick with the soles of his feet back to you.
6. Write sensory diet activities recommended by your therapist on different areas of the ball. Toss the ball back and forth a few times, then do the action written on the area facing upward.
7. Stand up some blocks and go bowling.
8. Play the game ”keep it up”. How many times can you tap the ball up before it falls to the ground?
9. Team work relay. Can your child and a friend work together to get the ball across the room by holding the ball between their hips?  Behind their backs?
10. Pool noodle hockey. Have any pool noodles that survived the summer?  Repurpose them into hockey sticks for the beach ball.

10 Ways to Play With. . . Part 3 of 4

Many of the children we see at our clinics have difficulty with motor planning.  Motor planning is a complex skill which allows a person to generate an idea for a motor action, efficiently time and sequence the movements necessary, grade the force required, and execute the action.  Children who have a hard time with the ideation phase of motor planning may tend to play the same activities over and over or struggle to come up with multiple solutions to a problem.  Open-ended free play is a great way to stretch this ability; however, a child who truly has a motor planning deficit will likely need some guidance and encouragement along the way.   Here are some suggestions to help you look at novel ways to play with toys or items you may already have in your home.   As you’re playing, ask your child questions like “What else could this be?” and praise their efforts to think outside the box.­­­

10 Ways to Play with a Jump Rope

1. Remember any jump rope rhymes from your childhood? If not, here’s a list .
2. Wiggle the rope along the ground like a snake. Don’t let it bite you!
3. Tie the rope between two chairs and play limbo.
4. Have one person stand and slowly spin holding the rope so that it drags along the ground in a circle. The other players need to jump over the rope as it comes by.
5. Pretend to be pirates and use the rope to tie up your captives.
6. Pretend to be a cowboy. Learn to tie a lasso here.  Wrangle up some stuffed animals before they escape the ranch.
7. Lay the rope on the ground in a circle and play a target game.
8. Arrange the rope on the floor in different shapes and have the other players guess what the figure is.
9. Stretch the rope out on the ground. Can you walk across the tightrope without falling into the canyon?
10. Have a three legged race.
    

10 Ways to Play With. . . Part 2 of 4

Many of the children we see at our clinics have difficulty with motor planning.  Motor planning is a complex skill which allows a person to generate an idea for a motor action, efficiently time and sequence the movements necessary, grade the force required, and execute the action.  Children who have a hard time with the ideation phase of motor planning may tend to play the same activities over and over or struggle to come up with multiple solutions to a problem.  Open-ended free play is a great way to stretch this ability; however, a child who truly has a motor planning deficit will likely need some guidance and encouragement along the way.   Here are some suggestions to help you look at novel ways to play with toys or items you may already have in your home.   As you’re playing, ask your child questions like “What else could this be?” and praise their efforts to think outside the box.­­­

10 Ways to Play with Pillows

1. Pretend to be frogs and jump lily pad to lily pad.
2. Arrange the pillows as targets and toss crumpled up paper or balled up socks.
3. Make a pillow path on the ground and walk on top of them, making sure you don’t fall off and step in the lava.
4. Have a red light, green light pillow fight. Everyone has to stop when “red light” is called and swing the pillows in slow motion during a “yellow light”.
5. Grab some couch cushions and build a pillow fort.
6. Substitute pillows for chairs and play musical pillows.
7. Make an obstacle course with pillows to jump over, skip around, roll across, etc.
8. Use the pillow case for a potato sack race.
9. Sing the “Wonder Ball” song and substitute a pillow.
10. Have a snowball fight with crumpled newspaper. Defend yourself with a pillow shield.

10 Ways to Play With. . . Part 1 of 4

Many of the children we see at our clinics have difficulty with motor planning.  Motor planning is a complex skill which allows a person to generate an idea for a motor action, efficiently time and sequence the movements necessary, grade the force required, and execute the action.  Children who have a hard time with the ideation phase of motor planning may tend to play the same activities over and over or struggle to come up with multiple solutions to a problem.  Open-ended free play is a great way to stretch this ability; however, a child who truly has a motor planning deficit will likely need some guidance and encouragement along the way.   Here are some suggestions to help you look at novel ways to play with toys or items you may already have in your home.   As you’re playing, ask your child questions like “What else could this be?” and praise their efforts to think outside the box.­­­

10 Ways to Play with a Blanket

1. Make a fort by draping the blanket over a group of chairs.
2. Create a quiet reading tent by draping a large blanket over a table.
3. Use it like a parachute. Place small stuffed animals in the middle and have each person hold a corner and bounce the animals around.
4. Pretend to be the king or queen with a long royal robe.
5. Pretend to be a super hero with a cape.
6. Play a memory game. Spread 3-5 objects on the floor and see how many your child can remember when the blanket covers them up.
7. Go on a magic carpet ride. What do you see as you fly along?
8. Have a tug-of-war battle.
9. Guess the mystery object. Have your child put his hand under the blanket and without him seeing the object, place something small in his hand and ask him to guess what it is.  Cotton balls, coins, buttons, lego pieces, and paper clips are great for this activity.
10. Go for a sled ride. Have your child sit on a blanket and gently drag him through the house.

4 Fun Visual Perceptual Activities

Visual perceptual skills allow the individual to be aware of, interpret and put to use the visual information around them in order to participate in functional and meaningful daily activities.  Here are some quick activities you can do at home today – no special books, apps or equipment needed.

Visual Memory – This is the skill required to retain visual information in memory for later recall. This skill is frequently used in the classroom, such as copying work from the board or copying spelling words from a book.

Activity:  Lay out 3-4 small items, such as a toy, a pencil, a sock, etc. and have your child memorize them.  Then, when your child’s eyes are closed, add one item or take one away and ask your child to be a detective to figure out what has been added or has gone missing.  To increase the challenge start with more items, or have your child try to name all the items from memory.

Visual Closure – This skill allows a person to visually identify an item when part of the object is occluded. For example, being able to identify a shoe that is partly hidden under the bed.  This skill is also involved in reading sight words quickly and accurately.

Activity:  There are endless supplies of dot-to-dot pictures available free online. Search “printable dot-to-dot” in your search engine and you can pick from any number of themes.  Have your child try to guess what the image will be before they complete the activity.

Figure-Ground – Hidden picture activities are a perfect example of figure-ground skills.  This skill involves differentiating between non-essential background information and key forms and objects.  This is closely linked to visual closure and it used for daily skills such as locating a toy in a toybox or finding a pair of shoes among many.

Activity:  Time for a scavenger hunt – use puzzle pieces, board game pieces, non-perishable ingredients needed for a recipe, stuffed animals, etc.  Start by hiding the objects in one room only, or one part of the room and work towards larger areas.  To increase the challenge, look for color similarities, such as  placing a blue game piece on or around a blue pillow.

Visual Tracking – This is an occulomotor skill that allows the individual to fixate on a moving object, such as a ball being thrown, or to fluidly move the eyes across a line of text without losing his place.

Activity:  Play “torch tag”.  Gather two flashlights and sit together in a darkened room.  Have your flashlights play tag.  Start by having your child’s flashlight be “It” and try to tag your light beam on the ceiling or walls.  Switch roles after you have been tagged.