Skill: Proprioception

Proprioception is how your body knows what position it is in. It is the sense that enables us to know where the different parts of our body are, how they are moving, and how much strength our muscles need to use. Our muscles, joints, and skin all contain sensory receptors that contribute to proprioceptive input.

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.

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.

 

Easter Eggs Match

Cut the construction paper or regular piece of white paper into 6 or more rectangles/cards.

On each card, draw an oval (egg shape) with a line in the middle, to represent the top part of the egg and the bottom part.

Using crayons and marker that match the color of the Easter eggs you are using, color the eggs on the cards, using one color at the top part and a different color at the bottom part.

Present the cards and the “cracked” easter eggs to the child and instruct the child to put the eggs together by matching the colors as shown on the cards.

If using an egg carton, you can ask the child to arrange the matched eggs in the same order the cards are laid on the table.

The Battle of the Bottles

This activity should be done outdoors and is designed for more than one child.

For each child, fill 3 bottles one-half or two-thirds full with water. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil, a couple of drops of paint, and a handful of sequences. Mark a “START” point and place all the bottles at this point.

Mark an “END” line on the opposite side (you can use a rope, a blanket, or some chairs).

Ask the children to line up at the starting point and pick up a bottle.

On your mark, ask the children to walk as fast as they can, without dropping their bottle, to the endpoint.

Once they get to the end point, have them put their bottle down and walk back to get another bottle.

The first child that transfers all his/her bottles from the starting point to the end point, wins!

Over the Rainbow

Steps:

Using different colors of construction paper cut a crescent shape from each color.

Place the pieces at one end of the room.

Ask the child to be in the prone position – position of the body is lying face down on the scooter board.

Ask the child to pick up one piece at a time and pull himself forward to the other end of the room.

Then have the child go back while he is sitting on the scooter board to pick up another piece.

Repeat the activity until the child transferred all the pieces and created a picture of a rainbow.

You can also use a rainbow puzzle for this activity.

The child can also use a rope tied to a pole/table to pull himself forward.