Child development

Outside play – the most important part of the day Ball skills: kick a ball/catch a ball/bounce the ball/play hockey/play golf/throw a ball into a target/throw a ball against the wall and catch it Play on the jungle gym: crawl through the tunnel/climb up the slide/hang upside down/play on the monkey bars Play hide and…

Unfortunately our kids are being ‘forced’ to follow a structured routine from a very young age as required by most schools and preschools. These days most homes are a dual income home and children are therefore placed in pre-school since a very young age. If structure and routine isn’t instilled at home these kids will…

Decision-making and problem-solving goes together. One cannot be done without the other. Thus both skills should be mastered to be effective. Decisions could be something small or have a big impact on our lives especially as kids get older and make choices about their morals/values and career paths. The decision-making process improves with maturity and…

(Developed by Dr. Deborah Sunbeck) What is Infinity Walk? It is a whole body/brain activity that profoundly impacts sensory, motor, perceptual, emotional, cognitive and social performance when done for 10 minutes daily.  You walk in the form of a lazy 8/figure 8;  this provides a model for a continuous flow of clockwise and counter clockwise…

We need a properly working vestibular system for: Movement reactions Motion tolerance Motor control Postural alignment Balance Vision How does the inner ear work? Utricle and saccule – detect gravity and linear movement Semicircular canals – detect rotational head movemen Poor vestibular functioning could lead to: Poor muscle tone: impaired gross motor and fine motor coordination Gravitational insecurity: poor emotional…

These skills are necessary to interpret / analyse / understand seen information. These skills are the building blocks for reading, writing and maths. Foreground-background The ability to focus on 1 letter / number / object while not being confused by the surrounding / background information. *Kids who struggle with this ‘steals’ words / letters from…

Don’t do these exercises for more than 2 minutes at a time as this will cause a headache. Hold an object close to your face (touching your nose) while focusing your eyes on it.  Move the object slowly away, up to arms-length, while you keep eyes focused on it.  Move the object back to your…

That is the ability of both sides of the body to work together to perform a task. Signs/symptoms of a child struggling with bilateral integration Appearing to be uncoordinated when doing tasks Difficulty in performing gross motor tasks Preferring not to cross the imaginary midline of the body Not choosing a dominant hand to write/draw/colour…

Balance is a multi-sensory activity that enables us to know where our bodies are in the environment and to maintain a certain position. Normal balance depends on information from the inner ear (vestibular system), other senses (such as sight and touch) and muscle movement (motor skills and proprioception). Our sense of balance is specifically regulated…