
It's a great one to practice crossing midline and using both sides of the body together (bilateral coordination) as well as motor planning. My mother-in-law used this activity with Ellie one day at her house before she needed her to sit down and focus on an art project (Ellie is a vestibular and proprioception seeker and often fidgets or moves around a lot during seated work). Then as they are bouncing and catching the balls, have them walk the figure 8, starting in the middle and moving towards the left side of the figure 8 pattern first. I used painters tape on our sidewalk outside. If your child catches on with this quickly, you can grade up the activity up by putting a figure 8 on the floor with tape. If timing them makes them feel anxious, just leave the timer out of this activity and see how many they can do in a row without missing a ball or dropping both balls. This is a little involved and so I put the video below so you can see how Ellie is doing this. While it is dropping, they will transfer the other ball to the hand that dropped the first ball and then catch the ball that bounced with the empty hand.

Have your child hold both balls, one in each hand. So it would be ideal for older children who may find the other activities a little boring. This activity is probably the most challenging out of all the ones I have shared.

You will need two to three balls that will bounce and a timer. #GrossMotorChallenge Activity 6 – Crossing Midline Ball Bounce You can also encourage them to keep their elbows in more at the sides instead of sticking out like hers are in the picture. In the second picture she had her hands out a little too far, so I had her pull them in for the next time. This is a good way to make the activity a little harder for older children. You can also put a piece of tape on the wall to mark where to put their hands if they need that cue.Īlso, you can have your child do regular push-ups on the floor instead of the floor if they would rather try that.

If they need a visual for where to stand, put a piece of tape on the floor to give them a visual cue on where to stand. Set the timer for one minute and see how many wall push-ups your child can do before the timer goes off! Have your child line up next to the wall, standing far enough back that their arms can extend straight to the wall. #GrossMotorChallenge Activity 5 – Wall Push-UpsĪnother easy activity where you just need a wall and a timer.
