Heavy work Acitvities That Parents Can Use for their Children

1. Carry heavy items (baskets with cardboard blocks, groceries for Mom, etc.)

2. Mop the floors

3. Allow child to chew gum, eat chewy or crunchy foods, or sip water from a water bottle with a straw while doing homework

4. Push or pull boxes with toys or a few books in it

5. Pillow cases with a few stuffed animals in it for weight, pushing or pulling up a ramp, incline or stairs

6. Take the cushions off the sofas, vacuum under them, then put them back. Can also climb on them, hide under them, jump and "crash" into them, play sandwich games with them

7. Pull other kids around on a sheet or blanket

8. Roller skate uphill

9. Pull a heavy trash can

10. Yard work, including mowing the lawn, raking grass/leaves, pushing wheelbarrow

11. Housework including vacuuming and mopping, carrying buckets of water to clean with or to
water flowers/plants/trees

12. Shovel sand into a wheelbarrow, wheel the wheelbarrow to a spot, dump out sand and use a rake to level it out. (functional for filling in low spots in backyard)

13. Pull a friend or heavy items in a wagon

14. Push a friend in a wheelbarrow

15. Milkshake rewards sipped through a narrow straw

16. Suck applesauce through a straw

17. Scrub rough surfaces with a brush

18. Carrying heavy cushions

19. Pillow fights

20. Playing in sandbox with damp heavy sand

21. Have the child "help" by pushing in chairs to a table or push chairs into table after a meal

22. Push a child's cart filled with cans and then put the cans away on a low shelf where the child needs to be in a weight bearing quadruped (on hands and knees) position

23. After a bath, parents can squeeze child and rub him/her briskly with a towel

24. Use heavy quilts at night and tight flannel pajamas

25. Swimming. Also, have child dive after weighted sticks thrown in pool

26. Dancing

27. Activities such as gymnastics, horseback riding, wrestling, karate

28. Bathe the dog

29. Wash the car

30. Carry the laundry basket

31. Sweep, mop, vacuum the floors

32. Jump or climb in inner tubes

33. Fill up a child's suitcase with heavy items (such as books) and push/pull the suitcase across the room

34. When travelling, let child pull own small suitcase on wheels

35. Go "shopping" with a child's shopping cart filled with items

36. Child can help change the sheets on the bed, then toss the linens down the stairs

37. Go "camping" with a heavy blanket pulled across a few chairs. Child can help set up and take down the blanket

38. Child can help rearrange his/her bedroom furniture

39. Have child put large toys and equipment away

40. Wipe off the table after dinner

41. Help dust the furniture

42. Climbing activities (such as playground equipment)

43. Swing from the trapeze bar

44. Push against a wall

45. Fill up big toy trucks with heavy blocks, push with both hands to knock things down

46. Sports activities involving running and jumping

47. Two adults can swing child in a sheet. Watch child's face carefully to note when child has had enough

48. Have the child color a "rainbow" with large paper on the floor or with sidewalk chalk outside while child is on his/her hands and knees

49. Play "cars" under the kitchen table (or table in classroom) where the child pushes the car with one hand while creeping and weight bearing on the other hand

50. Hot dog" game where child lies across end of a blanket and is rolled (ends up inside the rolled up blanket with head outside)

51. Walk up a ramp or incline

52. Use theraband or tubing attached to a door and pull it then let it snap. Supervision necessary.

53. Wood projects requiring sanding and hammering

54. Play wrestling: pushing game where two people lock hands facing each other and try to see who can push and make the other person step back first. Use other body parts also, but be sure to have rules (no hitting, no biting, no scratching, one person says stop then both stop)

55. Open doors for people

56. Quiet squeeze toys such as the cow, fondly named by everyone as "Moo" . Kids can be taught to squeeze Moo or the likes of him on their laps under their desks so as not to disturb the class

57. Chew on fish tank (aquarium) tubing, theratubing, or refrigerator tubing, if appropriate. One therapist stated that "refrigeration tubing (the kind the water runs through to the ice maker in your freezer) is (FDA?) approved while aquarium tubing is not. I cut the tubing into 2-3 inch strips and put it on the end of the elementary school age child's pencil to be an appropriate 'chewy' when food is not allowed"

58. Chair push ups

59. Fall into a beanbag chair

60. Jumping and rolling games

61. Slowly roll a ball or bolster over the child, applying pressure

62. Bounce on a Hippity Hop ball

63. Sandwich games (child is place between beanbags, sofa cushions,

mattresses and light pressure is applied to top layer)

64. Play catch with a heavy ball. Bounce and roll a heavy ball

65. Push weighted carts or boxes across carpeted floor

66. Animal walks (crab walk, bear walk, army crawl)

67. Play "row, row, row your boat" both sitting on the floor, pushing and pulling each other

68. Rice play, koosh balls, water play, jello play, theraputty

69. Mini trampoline

70. Stack chairs

71. Two children can play "tug of war" with jump rope or heavy theraband. (If you use the theraband, children need supervision so they don't purposely let go of theraband and "snap" the other child)

72. Isometric exercise breaks

Motor Planning and Equilibrium Stimulating Activities

Motor Planning: Child’s ability to organize, plan and then execute new or unpracticed fine motor or gross motor activity

Equilibrium: Child’s ability to maintain balance when shifting positions.

Walking the Line

Have the child walk along a rope place on the tactile path

Have the child walk along a beam, which is placed, on the floor

Have child hopping along the rope on the floor

Have child hop or jump over the rope on the floor

Roll and Bounce that Ball on the Wall

Using a large exercise ball, have the child move the ball along the wall by having the child’s stomach do the moving

Have the child now bounce body against the ball so that the body is bouncing against the ball and wall in a back and forth fashion

Follow the leader walks

Animal walks on the indoor tactile path using alternating legs which ever the leader chooses

Choo Choo walks with the engine leading the train along the path

Pushing the Object Games

Using broom push an heavy object along the indoor tactile path

Use a bat, yardstick, or dowel rod to push beanbags along the path

Use other heavy objects to be pushed along the path

Deep Pressure and Heavy Activities for School Age Children

Another form of sensory modulation is "Deep Pressure" or "Heavy work" activities. These are wonderful for providing children with the input they crave including deep proprioception and joint compression.

Vestibular Stimulating Acitivities

Vestibular: is the child’s perception of movement due to the inner ear being activated and the position of the head being changed. These vestibular stimulating activities must be done with caution and calmly so as to prevent the child from falling or bumping head. Children who are non-verbal may not be able to tell you if they are hurting so be cautious.

Inner Tube activities

Use an old tire inner tube, or get the swimming pool inner tubes and have the child sit on tube and bounce

Having the child sit on the tube, now have child scoot on indoor tactile path to run a race

Have various objects and obstacles placed on the path to have the child tube over

Rolling Games

Play “follow the leader” by rolling over the indoor tactile path

Have child roll along the path faster and faster

Spinner Games

Use the scooter boards to have the child spin

Spin the child on a swing

Spin the child on a sheet on a slick floor

Ball Games

Have child bounce on the ball

Have child rock body on ball either facing down on ball or with back on ball

Whirling Games

Have child pretend being a top and whirl in room

Have child hold hands out and pretend you are tuning the arms like tightening a key on an alarm clock

Trampoline workout

Have a small indoor trampoline on which the child can jump on

Then have child sit on trampoline and bounce on it

Have the child run in place on the trampoline

Tactile Stimulating Acitivites

Indoor Tactile Path

Create a path through your room, house, or classroom

Use duct tape or strong making tape to outline the path

Make sure the path covers carpeted, tile, and wood floors if available

Have the path go through any indoor areas like: sand box, water play pool, trampoline, small balls boxes, indoor cloth tunnels, play houses, etc.

Have certain rest stops on the tactile path which are delivery zones with “post-office” boxes each painted a different color

Use the tactile path for a number of indoor activities

Taking a Dry Swim at Home

Use an imaginary pool to swim in

Use different floor textures to swim on if available

After swimming use a beach towel to dry the child down using deep rubbing down strokes

As you rub each body part name the part or have the child name the part

Follow the leaders on the Path

Animal walk, have the child follow you on the indoor path playing an elephant, horse, alligator, dog, cat etc. walking on all fours as you follow the path and having the child make the sounds of the animal if possible

As you animal walk, now have the animals walk only on three legs rather than the four

Now be snakes and crawl the path hissing as you go

Now become logs which are being rolled along the path

Scooting the Path

Using a scooter board, have the child become the animals while lying forward on the scooter board

Try having the child be the animal lying on back and using the scooter board to get along the path

Have the child be a beetle crawling on scooter board along path

Have the child be a tugboat who is pulled by holding onto a rope you are pulling the child along the path or have the child pull the scooter board with a rope along the path

Large exercise ball activities

Have child lie face forward on ball and roll body on the ball

Have child lie on back on ball and roll body on the ball

Taking a ride on the “sheet slide”

Have child lay face down on the sheet slide and pull the child along the indoor tactile path

Have child lay on back on sheet slide and pull child along the indoor tactile path

Body part erasers

Use carpet squares or carpet samples as a chalk board and using soft chalk (like sidewalk chalk), or oatmeal, sand, aquarium pebbles, write something on the square and then have the child use feet to erase the words written or picture drawn

Do the same thing but this time have the child use hands as an eraser

Do the same thing but this time have the child use elbows as an eraser

Do the same thing but this time have the child use knees as an eraser

Body Chalk Board

Using your hand draw a number, letter, shape, or word on the child’s back and have the child try to guess what it is

Do the same thing but now on the stomach

Do the same thing but now on the bottom of the foot

Do the same thing but now on the palm of the hand

Body Painting

Using a variety of brush types pretend to paint different body parts of the child

Use three, two or one inch house paint brushes

Use large, medium, and small artist brushes

Use pastry, cooking, cleaning brushes

Paint pretend objects on the body, such as freckles on the face, hands, and arms

Paint glasses on the face

Paint various types of clothing on the body

Touch and Feel Box

Cut a hole in a shoe box with a lid on it

Put various types of textures on the floor of the box like carpet, sand paper, tile, wax paper and have the child feel the textures

Put various objects in the box and have the child try to guess what the object is