Activity of the Week:

Because activity and play is so important in child development, I thought it might be nice to have an Activity of the Week - starting this week!  These activities will try to focus on various skill sets and levels, and will always be something easy to do with your patients or children at home.  

So let's get started!  This week's activity is the CRAB WALK.

Crab Walk:

Directions:

1. Sit on your bottom with your hands and feet on the floor

2. Push through your arms and feet to lift your bottom off the floor.

3. Shift your weight onto your left arm and move your right arm backward.  Shift your weight onto your right leg and move your left leg backward (opposite arm, opposite leg)

4. Continue shifting weight and moving alternate arms and leg to walk BACKWARD across the room.

*challenge: try walking SIDEWAYS

Try playing this as part of a relay race or imaginative play.

Animal walks of any kind are a great and fun way to get kids moving. 

Benefits of CRAB WALK:

- Strengthens and encourages stability of arms and core/trunk; weight bearing through arms and hands and works core/trunk to be able to pick bottom up and maintain position.  

- Good for sensory input

        - tends to be altering, encourages weight shifting, can help prepare hands for writing (weight bear through hands)

Easy, simple, and fun.  

****some of the ideas and pictures I use are from my Super Duper card sets.  THERAPISTS - these are great resources to have for treatment ideas and easy to copy one or two for a home program.  (http://www.superduperinc.com)