Alternative seating for fidgety kids

Alternative seating for fidgety kids

Why do some kids struggle to sit still?
Some children have low muscle tone or poor postural control.
This causes instability at the big joint and make these children crave vestibular (movement) input and/or proprioceptive (resistance/deep pressure) input.
These kids will then fidget, change their posture often, get up, slouch and lose concentration.
Unfortunately most teachers will tell these kids to sit still!!! And this is what they can’t and shouldn’t do as they will now spend so much energy and focus on sitting still and upright in their chair that there is not energy and concentration let to focus on the teacher or their work.

So what can we do to help these kids?
Don’t tell them to sit still!!!

These kids need alternative seating that provides the proprioceptive and/or proprioceptive input that their body is craving.
Listed below are a few ideas of items you can use in the classroom to provide this for them:

1. Bouncy bands (www.bouncybands.co.za)
This provides resistance – proprioceptive input.
Alternatively a resistance band used for Pilatus/yoga can also be used (Sportsman’s Warehouse).

2. Balance cushion
This provides deep pressure input, from the pins sticking into the bum and upper legs, and vestibular input as the shapes of the cushion lets the child move the whole time (www.takealot.com/www.satoytrade.co.za)

3. Exercise ball
The child should be allowed to move while sitting on the ball (forward/backwards/sideways) as this provides the movement input the body craves. When moving/hopping on the ball the hips/knees and ankle receives deep pressure input. You can buy this from Mr. Price Sport/Sportsman’s Warehouse.

4. Kneeling while working
This provides deep pressure input on the hips and knees. If the child sways from side to side it also provides vestibular input. Don’t do for more than 15 minutes at a time.

Correct sitting posture
It is very important that the chair and desk is the correct size for the child. His hips, knees and ankles should form a 90 degree angle.
When a child’s feet are not touching the ground (flat foot) it is very difficult for this child to maintain an upright posture and to do fine eye-hand coordination tasks e.g. colouring/writing.
I use a plastic container as the pink one below, turn it over and place it under the child’s feet to ensure the correct sitting posture. In my days we used wooden tomato crate (who can remember those??).

Remember that you have to find the seating that works best for the child. There isn’t a
one–option-fits-all solution!!!