Is your child:
- Constantly bumping into others or objects?
- Uncoordinated and clumsy?
- Constantly chewing on a shirt/pencil?
- Having difficulty attending and sitting still?
All of these are signs that they may be in need of additional proprioceptive input to help calm and organize their body. Heavy work activities are also called proprioceptive activities. By working against weight through activities like shoveling snow, playing tug‐of‐war, riding a bike, swimming, pushing a heavy stroller or pulling a loaded wagon, your child is doing “heavy work activities”.
Here are some ideas to do heavy activities when you are stuck inside due to cold weather:
- Massages over your child’s shoulders/back/arms. Deep pressure and slow movements.
- Yoga Poses – see Spring Newsletter for ideas, or Google “Yoga For Kids”
- Wall Pushes – simply let your child try to push the wall away with their hands.
- Rolling a soccer ball up and down the wall.
- Squeezing play dough.
- Cooking – kneading, stirring thick dough.
- Digging in a bin of kinetic sand – Dollar Stores have some inexpensive options.
- Wall Sits – pretend to sit with your back against the wall and your knees bent.