Balancing Act: All About Postural Control

“Stand tall. Sit upright. Shoulders back, tuck your bottom…”

While your grandparents might want you to be prim and proper, posture is much more involved than just how you look. How we sit, stand, or maintain any upright position without support requires postural control. We do this daily without much thought or effort so that we can use our energy and focus on more complicated tasks. But for some, especially kids, just sitting in a chair without falling is a challenge. It may not seem like a big deal, but almost any activity we do requires sustaining an upright position against gravity.

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Get in (Mid)Line

There are two sides to every story. The same applies to the human body.

Practically any movement we do, big or small, requires the left and right side to work together to stabilize and/or execute a motion. Even reading this post relies on such teamwork. Bilateral coordination (also known as bilateral integration) is the ability to simultaneously use both sides of the body. Like all developmental skills, this ability is gained through our own body awareness, experiences, and practice.

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Motor Planning: Animal Dice

To find this week’s Motor Planning activity, in addition to the activities in Growing an In-Sync Child, I also browsed activities on Pinterest.

Lots of themed yoga, obstacle courses; things designed to get your kid’s body into different shapes. But what to pick when it seems like your kid’s attention span is particularly short?

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Move with Intention: Motor Planning

Remember playing Twister? Contorting your body to keep your hands and feet on specific colors without falling. This classic game utilizes a skill called motor planning – the ability to ideate, sequence, and execute movements to complete a task. Sounds easy, but this skill develops over time with body awareness, observation, and trial-and-error.

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Things We Loved: August

Hello Readers,

Mary and I are introducing a new series to share what’s been going on with us personally, as well as what we’ve been loving as moms, bloggers, and chaos coordinators. Things We Love will also link to our #FoundItOnAmazon Idea Lists.

(Note: We do not get a commission for these. We’re still babies in the influencer world…)

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