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A Priori / A Posteriori
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When is it good to be a creepy crawly?
By: Renata Bursten, Dragonfly Staff
To help children with low muscle tone or strength learn to creep, try putting them at the top of a gently slanting smooth board. Put an interesting toy like a Skwish, at the bottom and watch them go! A couple of hints for kids who are slow to get it:
Bare feet help.
You can place your palms at the soles of their feet to give them something to push off against.
If needed, flex their legs reciprically to help them learn the movement pattern.
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PLAY Tip
Crystal Drop Ball: Sensory Integration and Balance
Try sitting the child cross-legged on a ball. Hold their hips firmly, and slowly roll the ball from the center out in the forward directions on a gentle angle.
Watch to see how (and if) the child compensates for the new angle of their trunk. We want to see the chin tip back towards level with the floor. This signifies the understanding that "upright" is not always determined by the position of the hips relative to the floor, but rather is cued by the relation of the inner ears to the floor.
Prompt the child to "sit up straight" both with verbal and demonstrative cues. Once the rolling forward is mastered, work on backwards, side-to-side, and in a gentle circular motion. The see-through ball adds extra fun!