Wheelbarrow Walking

Place a bucket, plastic container, basket, or any other container that could fit a few bean bags in it at the center of the room.

Place bean bags in different corners of the room.

Clear the area for a clear path to all bean bags.

Hold the child’s feet and ask the child to walk on his/her hands (a.k.a wheelbarrow walking).

Help the child to reach the bean bags by wheelbarrow walking towards the bean bags.

When the child reaches a bean bag, ask the child to place the bean bag on the back of the neck (resting between the shoulder blades).

Ask the child to wheelbarrow walk towards the container and drop the bean bag inside.

Repeat these steps until all the bean bags are in the container.

Shoulder Strength Leopard Crawl

Leopard-crawl under table

The leopard crawl is a military type-specific crawl that can increase shoulder strength by using the shoulder muscles to move forward.

Place an empty bucket at one side of the room and give the child a few small size balls (tennis balls, ping pong balls, cotton balls, etc.).

Ask the child to hold one ball in each hand while on his tummy and do a leopard crawl towards the empty bucket. The route to the bucket can go under a table, inside a tunnel, under chairs, or other obstacles for grading.

When the child reaches the bucket, ask the child to put the balls in it and crawl back to the start.

For proper crawl ensure the child is advancing an arm/elbow with the diagonal knee. When an elbow is placed forward, the diagonal knee is also placed forward, and then alternated with the other elbow and knee.

A Day at the Beach Obstacle Course

Obstacle Course

Place towels, sunscreen, hat, ball, bucket, and pail & shovel at one end of the room, or play area.

Place the beach bag/basket on the other end.

Using the tape, mark a trail from the items to the beach bag.

Place the chair, step stool, and pillows (covered with the blanket) along the trail you marked.

Ask the child to transfer one item at a time and place it in the beach bag, following the trail, by crawling under the chair, walking up and down the step-stool (you can also put more than one and have the child go up and down several times), and walking on the blanket-covered pillows.