Motor planning or praxis, is the ability to plan and coordinate your body in order to complete a new movement/motor task. It depends on other processes and skills such as body awareness, sequencing, initiation, visual perception, gross and fine motor skills, sensory integration among others. If a child has difficulty with motor planning they may have difficulty remembering what they need to do and how they do it. A child needs to be able to learn from feedback they get from doing a movement in order to reproduce the action again. Children with motor planning difficulties will benefit from having new movements broken down into smaller steps as well as given a visual demonstration of the movement.
At Home Activities:
- Simon Says
- 4 square
- Jump Rope
- Upside Down Bowling
- Hop-Scotch
- Creating a life-sized maze out of yarn/crepe paper and have child navigate their way through the maze
- Stomp and catch
- Play with balls
- Follow the Leader
- Obstacle courses
- Dancing
- Completing activities with the non-dominant side of the body
- Riding a bike
- Tapping your head while rubbing your belly in a circle
- Charades
- Hand clapping games
- Games such as Hullabaloo or Sturdy Birdie
- “Lazy 8’s” – Figure 8’s drawn horizontally rather than vertical.
- Balloon volleyball while in a “crab walk” position
- Climbing/playing on jungle gym
For More Information: