4. Week

Carousel

1. Start with the child standing with the eyes closed, wait approx. 10 sec.

2. Now the child opens his/her eyes and turns 360°around with the arms outstretched

3. Directly after he will stand still again and closes his/her eyes. The arms may remain outstretched (this will help to keep the balance). However, if the child is more comfortable, he/she can also put his/her arms down. Wait approx. 10 sec.

4. Now open the eyes again and turns around. But this time in the opposite direction

5. Close the eyes again and waits about 10 seconds.

6. Now let the child puts his head in a forward bend (looking down, chin on the chest) and with his head forward, he/she again turns 360° , then closes his eyes and waits about 10 seconds

7. With head bent forward and eyes open, he turns back 360° and stands again with eyes closed for about 10 seconds

Goal:

• improve balance (that's why the most important part of this exercise is standing with eyes closed)

• Improve proprioception

Note: the most important part of this exercise is standing with the eyes closed. We use turning around only to irritate the balance system. So try to stay standing still with your eyes closed for at least 10 sec (you can count slowly or say a poem while doing this).

Beetle

1. Have the child lie on his back on the floor. Put some small toys or colouring pencils between his toes. If your child’s feet are too sensitive, you can stick something on his/her socks)

2. Have the child raise both legs and both arms in the air and let him pick the toys one by one (you can say: “can you give me something with a yellow colour?”), without rocking side-to-side.

Goal:

• Ability to stay stable on the back, even the arms and legs are lifted (he/she does not fall sideways)

• Strengthen deep trunk muscles

• Inhibit Moro reflex (if persistent)

• Reduce over-sensitivity feet (if there is one)

• Improve the perception of the feet and toes (prevention of flat feet)

Curious puppy

1. Have the child lay on his tummy, legs extended, arms bend next to the body, so the elbows are a little lower than the shoulders, the head is resting on the forehead. Put a picture to look at on eyelevel of the child.

2. Encourage the child to lift his head (in extension of the spine) and look at the picture. He/she should first just lift the head, not the torso.

3. Now the child lifts also the torso as if pushing the head upwards with the chin (the head must remain in extension of the spine), the core is now targeted and so he/she lifts the lower ribs from the floor (if we have a scarf or paper under the abdomen, we should be able to pull it out freely), the pelvis stays on the floor.

4. Now slowly return to its original position

5. Repeat approx. 6 times

Goal:

• Straighten the spine

• Learn to use and strengthen the deep trunk muscles

• Inhibit the Tonic Labyrinth Reflex (if it persists)

Hide and seek toys

Engage in a fun activity with your child by hiding a variety of toys inside a box or beneath a cloth. The toys can range from balloons and pins to cars, animals, and Lego dolls. The child will use their sense of touch to locate each object and can indicate what they have found or locate the object according to a specific task (“please find me the giraffe”). To make the game more challenging, you can gradually increase the difficulty by selecting more similar items such as multiple animals, different types of buttons, or diverse toys from Kinder eggs.

Goal:

• Improve tactile skills, important for fine motor and graphomotor skills (writing)

• Improve attention

Steamroller

1. Have the child lay on his back or on his stomach depending on his mood

2. Slowly push a large ball (or pillow) against the child's feet, hold for a moment in the position and then slowly ease the load on the legs

3. Then roll the ball/pillow a little higher and push again, hold and slowly ease up

4. Massage the whole body except the head

Goal:

• Improve body perception (proprioception). Without appropriate proprioception it is impossible to sit or stand still and concentrate

• Relax

Note: Do this activity calmly! If you do it quickly, you are more likely to irritate the child and it is uncomfortable. Intentionally tell the child to try it on you. If he does it quickly, you will see that you are not comfortable, if he does it slowly, you will calm down beautifully and it will help you to feel your body. It's like a scanner - you don't want to miss any part of the body (except the head), don't pick up the ball, keep contact with the body all the time. The amount of pressure used during the massage should be adjusted according to the child's reaction, as some children may require more pressure to relax, while others may prefer a lighter touch. For instance, a child who is restless and uncomfortable may benefit from a firmer pressure, while other children may prefer a gentler touch.

Of course, we push less on the tummy and chest.

Well done so far. Moving forward, we will be focusing on activities that aim to enhance graphomotor skills. However, we will not be using worksheets initially, as we will start on the ground. I hope you enjoy these activities, and I look forward to seeing you next week!