I get asked this all the time by my OT kid's parent(s) and people that find out I'm a Pediatric Occupational Therapist.
There are a few things that I recommend most of which you can get on Amazon, at Walmart, and other major stores. What's great is, some of the things I recommend don't cost too terribly much except for maybe the larger trampolines, if you want to go in that direction and have the room for it.
The first piece of equipment I recommend is some sort of a trampoline. It can be a mini-trampoline or a large one. The reason I recommend this is because it works on a myriad of aspects of development.
-Overall coordination
-Overall strength
-Overall balance
-Spatial awareness by affecting the proprioceptive or joint receptors and the vestibular system, which is the system that lets our brain know where our head is in space
-Visual skills if you have a big trampoline and you have a kids that is doing flips
-Stronger lungs because they will breath heavier
The next piece of equipment I recommend is a crawl tube. These exercises that have the belly down and head up stimulate the vestibular system and being in the crawling position is good overall for sensory development. Those children that didn't crawl skipped a very important aspect of development.
I also recommend a balance piece either on a strip of tape on the floor or balance logs that are pictured above. Balance is an important part of life, obviously and is always good to work on. You can have your child practice walking forwards and backwards for an extra challange.
A swing is my hands down must have for your child and it can either be outdoor or indoor. The swing stimulates the vestibular system, which an important system to keep healthy as it has its hands into vision, balance, spatial awareness, and much more. Swinging and spinning is an excellent way to also help speech development because when the vestibular system is stimulated, it fires off right next to the speech center in the brain.
A scooter board is good for those kids with weak core strength and/or shoulder girdle strength. It can also work on leg muscles when sat upon. In my clinic, I have the kids get down on their belly with legs raised and then crawl around like bugs with their heads up. If you have an incline that they can shoot down, this gives input to the vestibular system as well. If you have your child sit criss-cross applesauce on it, you can anchor a rope on the up of that incline and have them pull themselves up.
A ball on a string hung from the ceiling or a tree is good for eye-hand coordination, visual tracking, eye-foot coordination if you lower it for them to kick at, and position in space.
I also like to recommend puzzles. Kids now a days don't do puzzles much anymore. Puzzles are good for visual perceptual and motor skills, which are essential for school related work.
This is a basic recommendation 'package' if you will but a good start for your kids. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me. I am here to help!!
There are a few things that I recommend most of which you can get on Amazon, at Walmart, and other major stores. What's great is, some of the things I recommend don't cost too terribly much except for maybe the larger trampolines, if you want to go in that direction and have the room for it.
The first piece of equipment I recommend is some sort of a trampoline. It can be a mini-trampoline or a large one. The reason I recommend this is because it works on a myriad of aspects of development.
-Overall coordination
-Overall strength
-Overall balance
-Spatial awareness by affecting the proprioceptive or joint receptors and the vestibular system, which is the system that lets our brain know where our head is in space
-Visual skills if you have a big trampoline and you have a kids that is doing flips
-Stronger lungs because they will breath heavier
The next piece of equipment I recommend is a crawl tube. These exercises that have the belly down and head up stimulate the vestibular system and being in the crawling position is good overall for sensory development. Those children that didn't crawl skipped a very important aspect of development.
I also recommend a balance piece either on a strip of tape on the floor or balance logs that are pictured above. Balance is an important part of life, obviously and is always good to work on. You can have your child practice walking forwards and backwards for an extra challange.
A swing is my hands down must have for your child and it can either be outdoor or indoor. The swing stimulates the vestibular system, which an important system to keep healthy as it has its hands into vision, balance, spatial awareness, and much more. Swinging and spinning is an excellent way to also help speech development because when the vestibular system is stimulated, it fires off right next to the speech center in the brain.
A scooter board is good for those kids with weak core strength and/or shoulder girdle strength. It can also work on leg muscles when sat upon. In my clinic, I have the kids get down on their belly with legs raised and then crawl around like bugs with their heads up. If you have an incline that they can shoot down, this gives input to the vestibular system as well. If you have your child sit criss-cross applesauce on it, you can anchor a rope on the up of that incline and have them pull themselves up.
A ball on a string hung from the ceiling or a tree is good for eye-hand coordination, visual tracking, eye-foot coordination if you lower it for them to kick at, and position in space.
I also like to recommend puzzles. Kids now a days don't do puzzles much anymore. Puzzles are good for visual perceptual and motor skills, which are essential for school related work.
This is a basic recommendation 'package' if you will but a good start for your kids. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me. I am here to help!!
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