Upper Body Strength

Most of you may have been a little confused when seeing the title of this blog post. Something I have been learning more about recently is the importance of children putting weight through their upper extremities while they develop. Babies learn to crawl by pushing up onto their arms and strengthening those muscles. Some of our kiddos may have experienced difficulties developing and this is a skill that would benefit them greatly! How do you accomplish this task? There are a few ways that stand out to me that I would like to share. First is an obstacle course! Children can complete movements on their knees and hands (quadruped) to help strengthen their core and upper body. Another option would be to play a game or puzzle in the same position. The fun part about completing activities in this position is that it allows for children with a variety of special needs to be in the same body positions as their peers. I would be very interested to hear if anyone has tried to implement activities like this in their class room before. Best of luck!

-Instructor Ellyn