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Dancing and Movement activities

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Thinking Caps and Positive Points to Calm Anxiety

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Thinking Caps and Positive Points to Calm Anxiety

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BFA coach Amy and her son demonstrate two Brain Gym activities.

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Thinking Caps and Positive Points to calm anxiety

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Try creating some Double Doodle line drawings like this! Remember- your hands should mirror each other when drawing.

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Fine and Gross Motor Activities for Kids

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Fine and Gross Motor Activities for Kids

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Fun movement activities for kids.  Based on themes such as Monster, Ocean, Circus

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Having fine motor and gross motor activities to go along with your theme makes combining learning and motor skills fun and easy. Maybe intesad you are adding a theme to motor skills you are working on makes it relatable to kids. No matter which way you look at it having themes for your motor planning makes it a whole lot more fun.

Be sure to bookmark this page and check back often as more planning themes are added.

Check out the Mega Motor Planning Resource from Pink Oatmeal!

Motor Planning Themes

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Having fine motor and gross motor activities to go along with your theme makes combining learning and motor skills fun and easy. Maybe intesad you are adding a theme to motor skills you are working on makes it relatable to kids.

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Ball and bean bag and visual-motor activities to encourage kids to "cross the midline"

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I use small photos to illustrate the information and activities that I share, and you will have a much better experience on this website if you can view the images.

These fun activities for crossing the midline are easy to implement at home and come with lots of photos to show you how to help your child develop this skill!

Start by having your child kneel or sit cross-legged on the floor as shown alongside.

This will help to stabilize the hips and legs, then the hands and arms can move freely across the midline while doing these activities

Any object could be used, as long as the child passes and receives the object with both hands.

Make sure that they are sitting either cross-legged, or on their knees.

Two kids sit back to back and pass a ball around to each other.

You could do it 5 times in each direction as a warm up for other gross motor activities.

Using "Lazy-8"'s has long been a popular way to help a child to cross the midline.

Vertical surfaces work best - use a blackboard, whiteboard or even an outside wall!

Your child can trace over your loops with multiple different colors of chalks, or drive a toy car around the "racing track".

Very important: Make sure your child is positioned in the centre of the loops, and has one hand on the board/paper for stability.

These long visual motor worksheets were a huge hit with my own kids!

You can make your own, with any pattern and theme - just draw a path for your child to follow, and then have your child trace over the path with crayons (or wipe off markers if you laminate the path).

Keep the path centred in front of your child, and he/she will need to cross the midline to complete it.

You can view a printable version of these worksheets here, if you want to save yourself some time!

Free Midline Crossing Info

Have you read my information page on crossing the midline? It answers questions about how midline crossing develops, why it's important and much, much more.
Read More About Midline Crossing

Work on Bilateral Coordination Skills
View my Bilateral Coordination E-Book

When kids use both hands together in a coordinated way, crossing the midline often happens naturally during the activity. My bilateral coordination e-book can help your child work on this important skill.

By popular request, I have made a Spanish handout of some of the information on my midline crossing pages.

Click here to download your freebie right away - no need to give away your email address or sign up for anything! If the PDF does not open immediately, then check your downloads folder.
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View Stretchy Bands on Amazon

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A few fun back-to-front activities for kids.

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This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Integrated Learning Strategies (ILS) is a learning and academic center. As a reminder, ILS is not a health care provider and none of our materials or services provide a diagnosis or treatment of a specific condition or learning challenge you may see in your child or student. If you seek a diagnosis or treatment for your child or student, please contact a trained professional who can provide an evaluation of the child.

So many parents are surprised when their child is struggling with attention and focus, and more movement is recommended. "The problem is to have my child sit still, not move more," they often say. The truth is, when children are young, their brain development depends on certain types of movement for learning from birth all the way up to the age of 12, and even beyond. Those first few years are critical, and if your child or student demonstrates poor muscle strength or has not developed their gross motor skills, you may start to see gaps in their learning development, behavior, attention, hand-eye coordination, reading and comprehension.

Now, before you send your child out to run around the backyard or play at the park, you will want to consider one thing. Not all movement is equal. While all of these fun outdoor activities are great for kids and they are helpful when it comes to encouraging our children to be more active, many of these activities don't always target the brain in the way we want it to. Certain movement activities are more beneficial than others and they help organize the brain by targeting specific areas we want to "change" for higher learning. Kids need special sensory-motor and visual activities to prepare them for reading, writing, and sitting still in their chair.

Before I lose you, think of it like baking a cake or baking bread. There are many ways to bake a cake or a loaf of bread. Sometimes if you forget one or two ingredients, it's not always a big deal. However, if you forget an ingredient like yeast for your bread, you know it will never rise and won't bake properly. In order for the brain to be properly prepped and ready for learning, we need that miracle "yeast" or special type of movement to help it "rise" and thrive in the classroom.

Attention, Focus and Comprehension

So what types of movement will help my child with attention and focus? You may have already tried the exercises in our previous article, " Why Crossing the Midline Helped this Child Listen to his Teacher," to help the right and left brain work together for retention. In this article, because we want to directly target the parts of the brain used for attention, focus and comprehension, these activities will include back to front exercises helpful for those areas.

Before we get started, just remember attention and focus is the ability to coordinate the back and front areas of the brain. Children who are weak in these areas tend to show signs of attention disorders and may also have trouble comprehending what they read or comprehending instructions that are given to them. When we close the gaps in these areas, it allows children to begin retrieving information (for example, facts from their reading assignment) and expressing the information they receive (for example, writing down what they learned from their reading assignment). The exercises may help free your child from their "fight or flight" mode.

Back to Front Exercises

Here are some of the activities to try at home or with your students. They may seem pretty easy to you, but you will find for some children, they can be quite difficult. These activities can be done indoors as well as outdoors all year long. For best results, repeat exercises 10 times at least three to five times a week.

Wall Crosses

For this activity, you will need to use a wall in your bedroom, living room or therapy center. If you are able to use an agility ladder, like you see , it will help your child or student know where they need to step or you can use the tile on your floor. Have your child put their hands flat on the wall and get into a lunge position, as if they were going to do normal exercise lunges. Use the right leg first and then switch to their left using controlled movements. Don't let them complete the exercise too fast. Help them tap their foot in the rings as they switch legs. Repeat exercise 20 times (10 for each leg).

Scissors

We like to use a small trampoline for this exercise, which is especially good for our sensory seekers, but if you don't have one in your home, you can complete this exercise without one. Help your child stand on the trampoline first with their feet together, hands at their side. They can now begin jumping. While jumping on the trampoline, have your child switch their legs and arms back and forth (front and back) as they scissor in the air. It will almost appear as if they are skiing. If your child struggles with balance, coordination or muscle strengthen, you may notice them wobble and you will have to sturdy them or be there to catch them if they tip over. Repeat exercise 20 times (10 for each leg and arm).

Weighted Bar with Feet

For this activity, you will want to use some type of weighted bar; like you see (it doesn't have to be too heavy.) Some children really like bars that are heavier because they need the sensory input and "heavy work" to help calm their systems. Let them choose the amount of weight most comfortable for them. Have your child stand with their feet together, bar in their hands at a resting position. When they are ready, have them lift the bar behind their head and then bring it forward in front of their head. As they master this activity, add the feet with it. You may need to put a piece of tape on the floor to make a straight line. Help your child walk with one foot in front of the other (heel to toe) while lifting the bar behind their head and in front of their head. If your child cannot do these exercises together, try them separately first. If they struggle with balance and coordination, you may have to steady them as they walk. Repeat exercise 10 times.

Group Overhead Ball Activity

The more people you have for this activity, the better it is for kids, but you can do it with just two people. Line up all the children in a straight line. Hand the child in front of the line a medium-sized ball, like you see . Have the child in front of the line, pass the ball over their head to the child behind them and continue that exercise all the way down to the last child in line. When the ball gets to the back of the line, make sure the last child still puts the ball behind their head and then brings it forward again to pass it to the child in front of them. The ball should then be passed all the way to the front of the line. You can even do this activity in a circle if you want so the game continues without stopping.

Bean Bag Strut

For this activity, you will need two bean bags, one for each hand, like you see . We use sensory bean bags because they have the extra added bonus of providing our students with the tactile sensory stimulation they need. You may need to clear some space in your home or center for this activity. Have your child start at one end of the room and swing one arm in front of them and the other arm behind them as they walk forward (while holding the bean bags). Make sure they are using opposite legs with opposite arms as they walk. They should swing their arms and legs back and forth while walking forward all the way across the room. When they get to the end of the room, instead of turning them around, help them repeat the same exercise only backward. Don't let them swing their arms too fast and ensure they get a full range of motion. Repeat this exercise 10 times.

These are just a few exercises you can do at home with your child to help the front and back sides of the brain. As you help your child, remember consistency is key for the best results.
Integrated Learning Strategies is a Utah-based center dedicated to helping mainstream children and children with learning challenges achieve academic success. Our services provide kids with non-traditional tutoring programs within the Davis County, Kaysville, Layton, Syracuse, Farmington, and Centerville areas. Areas to find Integrated Learning Strategies include: Reading tutors in Kaysville, Math tutors in Kaysville, Common Core Tutors in Kaysville, Tutors in Utah, Utah Tutoring Programs

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BACK TO FRONT Brain Exercises for Comprehension, Sensory-Motor, Behavior, Attention

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Back to Front Brain Exercises Essential for Comprehension, Attention and Behavior This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Integrated Learning Strategies (ILS) is a learning and academic center. As a reminder, ILS is not a health care provider and none of our materials or services provide a diagnosis or treatment of a specific condition or learning challenge you may see in your child or...

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Exercise the vestibular system with this fun activity!

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Another fun exercise to activate the vestibular system!

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Try this easy yoga move that also works both sides of your brain!

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10 Crossing Midline Activities with videos to follow along!

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Crossing the midline refers to one's ability to reach across (with both arms and legs) the invisible line we could draw down the centre of the body. To be able to co-ordinate both sides of our body, we need to be able to cross that invisible line. Activities that encourage a child to cross the midline with his arms and legs encourage communication between the two hemispheres of the brain and develop bilateral co-ordination - or the ability to use both sides of the body together.

Children who have difficulty crossing the midline will work the right side of the body with the right hand, and the left with the left, to avoid crossing that invisible line. This makes development of a dominant hand and academic tasks such as reading and writing very difficult. Playing sports and even playground play will also be trickier. Even the ability to dress and feed oneself requires the ability to cross the midline!

I've collected together 10 YouTube videos that share ideas for developing midline crossing ability. They are perfect for brain breaks, being both short and engaging, just right for refreshing and refocusing student attention while getting the brain and body working together more effortlessly and efficiently!

10 Crossing the Midline Activities for Kids

1. One for younger children, this catchy Jump Up, Turn Around song includes lots of different actions that cross the midline.

2. Learning Station's Brain Breaks song will have the kids crissing and crossing in ways they never even knew they could!

3. Join Cosmic Kids Yoga's Disco with the Washing Machine song.

4. A great first clapping game is this version of Pease Porridge Hot.

5. This version of All Star from Just Dance Kids includes lots of dance moves that get kids crossing their midline.

6. Or get your Mmmbop on!

7. Midline fun with a scarf for each child and a touch of Star Wars!

8. Let your fingers do the walking with this finger exercise routine.

9. For this exercise you will need one ball or beanbag for each pair of children. As demonstrated below, the twisting ball pass can be completed sitting or standing back to back. Don't forget to change dirsctions!

Alternatively, if you have only one ball, sit/stand the group of children in a circle with their backs facing inwards and have them pass the ball around the circle using a similar motion to the one demonstrated above. Make sure they move their arms from side to side, not their whole bodies.

10. Boom Snap Clap is a challenging partner clapping game for older kids. Which partnership can master the tricky hand clapping routine first!??

You might also like;

Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.

Read more of Christie's adventures at https://childhood101.com.

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Brain Breaks Ideas: 10 Crossing Midline Activities for Kids

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Crossing the midline refers to one's ability to reach across (with both arms and legs) the invisible line we could draw down the centre of the body. To be able to co-ordinate both sides of our body, we need to be able to cross that invisible line.

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Try playing a “follow the leader” game with sticks!

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Kinderkinesiologie / Learning through movements

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Work the left and right sides with this fun activity!

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Kinderkinesiologie / Learning through movements