Rolling with facilitation through the hips | Aim: To stimulate rolling over by propelling the legs,
promoting one of the first ways of moving about
Instruction: Place the child lying on their back. Help the
child roll over by bending one leg over the other.
Gradually reduce the amount of assistance until only an
initial stimulus is necessary. Foster the child’s
participation by encouraging the child to reach for a
favourite toy placed nearby. |
Pull to sit from shoulders | Aim: To encourage the child to tuck their chin and gain
control of stronger neck muscles Instruction: Place your hands behind the child’s
shoulders. Make sure the child is making eye contact
with you, while their head is held in the middle. Slowly
lift the child from shoulders to the sitting position.
Precaution: To prevent the child from losing control of
the neck, ensure you put two fingers extending around
the back of the child’s head for standby assistance. |
Child on hands, supported on your legs | Instruction: Sit on the floor with your legs straightened.
Put toys on the floor by the side of your legs and lay the
child face-down on your legs. Place your hands on child’s back to encourage the child to push up on straight arms and reach for the toys. You can also prop colourful
pictures for the child to see.
Precaution: Ensure that the toys are not hard and sharp
objects in the event if the child fatigues and loses control
of pushing on their straight arms. If the child requires
more support, you can place your hands under the child’s
body and support the child’s stomach and hips, giving
the child tactile cues to push upwards on their elbows.
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Moving from lying to sitting position | Aim: To stimulate independence in moving from lying down to sitting positions and promoting weight bearing
and control, using intermediary degrees of arm flexion
and extension. Instructions: Place the child in supine position.
Encourage the child to raise their body and sit. Go
through this sequence of movements with the child: Rotate the trunk, allow the child to support on their
forearms Assist the child to extend their elbows Then use their hands to push into a sitting position.
Older children can try this transfer in bed following the
same sequence of movements and bringing their legs to
the edge of the mattress or bed. |
Child sitting between your thighs, reaching out for toys | Aim: To develop head control, strengthen trunk and back muscles, and improve sitting ability. Instruction: Sit on the floor with your legs straightened with the child supported between your legs. One leg can act as an anchor for the child’s legs while another acts as a cushion behind. Place toys in front of the child to encourage forward reaching. |
Creeping | Aim: To foster creeping in a prone position using the
force and support of the legs. Instructions: Position the child on their tummy and
forearms. Bend one of their legs. Help him support and
push his body forward by encouraging him to kick and
straighten the bent leg. The child can also use his/her
arms to help push their body forward. A family member
can use a favourite toy positioned in front of the child,
may help motivate him to creep forward. Creeping
increases the ways in which the child can explore his
surroundings, facilitates changes in the direction of
movement, and stimulates the reaching for, and
manipulation of objects. |
Side sitting with an arm propped on your leg | Aim: To develop trunk and back muscles, strengthen
shoulder muscles of the arm that supports the body, free one arm to play, allow the child to accept body weight to one side. Instruction: Sit on the floor with your legs slightly wide
opened and support your back against the couch. Side-sit the child on the floor in front of you, between your legs.
Bend the knees of the child and turn both the legs to the opposite side of your leg. Place child’s hands on your lap
to prop up the child. Support the child at the lower trunk and opposite shoulder to shift child’s body weight to the hip near your leg.
Repeat the same on the opposite side to encourage
sitting on the opposite hip. Play ideas: Use stacking toys, blocks or cars to play. Read a story book placed on the floor at the side. |
Child on hands and knees over your leg | Aim: To strengthen trunk and back muscles, develop
coordination, and allow the child to experience weight
onto hands and knees. Instruction: Sit on the floor with your legs slightly wide
opened and support your back against the couch. Place
the child on hands-and-knees position, support child’s
knees with your other hand. Have the child put hands on the floor and push up on straight arms while your leg
supports the child’s body. Play ideas: Place a toy outside your leg to encourage the
child to move over your leg onto hands and knees. You
can also use stacking toys, cars, balls or blocks to play. |
Crawling | Aim: To develop muscles in the shoulder girdle, arms,
hips, back and legs when the child pushes up and moves forward. Also develops balance. Instructions: Place pillows or couch cushions on the floor and put the child on hands and knees next to the pillows. To get the child started, put the child’s hands on one of
the pillows. Help the child move forward by holding and gently pushing the child’s hips forward. Allow the child
to move arms and legs independently as much as
possible. Support the body or hips only when necessary. |
Kneeling | Aim: To develop trunk, pelvis, and back muscles Instruction: Kneel the child in front of a coffee table,
chair, or a couch. Bring the child’s arms forward and place the hands on the table. This will encourage the child to
go into high kneeling and strengthen their hip and trunk muscles. Play ideas: Put toys or snacks on the table, or have the
child pick up toys on the floor and stack up on the higher surface by going into high kneeling. |
Sit to stand | Aim: To foster the child to learn to shift body weight
forward and up or backward and down. To develop
muscles of the body, back and legs, and coordination of
the body and legs. Instructions: Seat the child on your lap, making sure the
child’s hips and knees are at 90 degrees and the feet are
flat on the floor. Support the child’s hips with your hands and encourage the child to reach toward the couch,
table, or stool. Then move the child’s hips forward and up over the child’s feet as the child straightens the legs.
Allow the child to be doing as much of the work as
possible. When the child learns to stand up
independently, you no longer need to support the hip.
You can also help the child learn to sit back down by
bringing the child’s hips back and down toward your lap. |
Weight Shifting sideways to take a step | Aim: To allow the child to experience shifting body
weight on their feet and develop balance control of the
body and legs. Instructions: Stand the child on the floor facing a stable
surface. Bring the child’s arms forward and place the
hands on the table for support. Place your hands on the
child’s hips. Slowly and gently move the child’s hips sideways until the child has body weight mostly on one leg.
Then entice the child to step sideways with the free leg
and allow the child to move hips to bring the body
weight over that leg. Have the child then step sideways with the other leg to bring the legs together again. |
Step up and down to balance | Aim: To further refine development of balance and
coordination Instructions: Encourage the child to try to step up and
down from something that is 1 to 2 inches high, before
trying on higher steps. Hold the child’s hand if support is needed but encourage the child do as much as possible
independently. |
