{"id":24683,"date":"2024-03-08T13:13:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T13:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings-new\/send\/areas-of-need\/sensory-and-or-physical\/visual-impairment\/braille\/gross-motor-skills\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T10:32:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T10:32:59","slug":"gross-motor-skills","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/send\/areas-of-need\/sensory-and-or-physical\/visual-impairment\/braille\/gross-motor-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Gross motor skills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Gross motor skills activities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Messy play (e.g. finger painting, shaving cream foam, water or sand play) using two hands<br>together<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Toys that can be pulled apart with two hands e.g. magnets<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Skipping, wheelbarrow walks<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Stacking games<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Clapping\/tapping games with hands (e.g. pat a cake) or action songs e.g. \u2018The wheels on the<br>bus\u2019<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ball games (kicking, throwing and catching)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Balloon games (e.g. hitting balloon with a soft bat)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cooking activities \u2013 such as using a manual egg whisk or holding a bowl in one hand while<br>beating with the other hand<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Obstacle courses<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jumping or trampolining<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Swimming<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Riding a bicycle<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Car cleaning or window cleaning<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Parachute games<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rolling on mat keeping in a straight line, first with hand by sides then hands above head.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dribble ball \/ move in and out of cones.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Musical statues or bumps.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Move around the room and go to one side when a word is called \u2013 e.g. port \/ starboard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Move around and make a shape with body e.g. mouse, tree, mushroom aeroplane.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Balance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Stand with one foot on box or a ball for a timed activity then progress to playing games.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trampoline, Scooter, Balance boards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use bouncy castle type equipment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Walk on stepping stones \/ uneven ground or a low wall etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Walk along wide line \u2013 then get narrower, next use a bench \u2013 right way then upturned.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rope-bridge in adventure playgrounds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use the \u2018rope planks\u2019 where 2 \/ 3 children hold the rope and step on the plank in unison.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Shoulder stability<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Make 4 \/ 3 and 2 point balances \u2013 e.g. both hands and feet, then raise one hand or foot, then a hand and a foot.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Walking with hands and feet on the ground like a: bear \/ crab etc then progress to waving \/ shaking hands with partner or kicking \/ dribbling a ball.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wheelbarrow with a partner \u2013 keep head facing front and pelvis straight<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bunny hops kicking feet out behind.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Twirl a skipping rope.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Stretch out arms, make circles in the air.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hold bat at arms-length and make circles in the air.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Press ups with knees on the floor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Climb up wall bars; Pull along a bench.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Big arm movements e.g. painting with water on a wall, with paint on wallpaper with thick chalk on a wall etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pushing objects e.g. trolley, pram, small wheelbarrow etc. Light at first, then add weight.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tug of war.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Throwing at a high \/ target far away.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tummy strength<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sit \u2013 ups; Rock backwards and forward in a tucked position.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rock sideways in a tucked position.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lying on back on a mat, curl into a ball and try not to fall over.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be part of a story acting out an animal which curls up e.g. hedgehog, cat, snake, wood louse. Curl up tight don\u2019t let anyone unfold you.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lie on an exercise ball on your back and lift your head up to look around, read something, or watch something.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For more information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>\nView physical skills advice from occupational therapy team using the following link:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/childrenandfamilyhealthdevon.nhs.uk\/occupational-therapy\/school-age-therapies-toolkit\/\" rel=\"noopener\">School Age Therapies Toolkit \u2013 Children and Family Health (childrenandfamilyhealthdevon.nhs.uk)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gross motor skills activities Balance Shoulder stability Tummy strength For more information View physical skills advice from occupational therapy team using the following link:&nbsp;School Age [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2616,"featured_media":0,"parent":24674,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-24683","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-17 18:46:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2616"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24683"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35945,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24683\/revisions\/35945"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}