Reflex:
– rocking horse, walking, carry ball under chin
– giraffe stretch
– superman
– popcorn
– wall lean

Locomotor:
– dog walk
– bear walk
– nudge ball w/head using dog/bear walk
– lame dog walk, one arm or leg in air, hopping through hoops
– duck walk (user rocker in hands)
– hopscotch
– hop & stop, one foot, holding
– ladder crawl
– ladder & stair practice

Board work & pre-handwriting/fine motor:
– kneeling, draw half circle on floor
– rainbows back & forth
– tornado (spiral in and out, both directions)
– horizontal waves
– spider web grid
– tornado grid
– paint w/water
– butcher paper on table, walk around while writing
– write laying down
– use different tools (chalk, paints, pen, pencils, markers)
– roll clay & shape into letters
– salt box
– hole punch
– scissor skills

Tactile:
– ball pit, crawl & roll
– cocoon crawl (fabric tube)
– swim & dry across floor
– ball buddy roll/massage
– finger ball roll sitting up leg/torso, over head, switch hands, back down
– massage feet & hands

Vestibular:
– spinning board
– rolling arms over head across floor, in and out of blankets
– rock & row with stick, cross legged or legs extended or on yoga ball
– roll on belly on yoga ball, pick up items from box in front/to side
– sit on yoga ball and pick up balls from one side, drop into box on other side
– rock/spin inside large bowl
– pull self across floor using jump rope laying on belly on scooter, hold ball & scoot and drop into container

Proprioceptive:
– count jumps on trampoline
– read or recite alphabet while jumping
– jump rope or hoop, alternate feet, make path to follow
– skip & hop toy
– teeter board
– left/right hand tap onto sheets taped to wall on trampoline

Balance:
– balance beam forward & back, sideways, one foot
– balance beam dropping items into containers
– balance beam w/bags on head and shoulders & arms, elbows
– rope walk forward & back, sideways, one foot, hopping, etc
– half angel balance (arm & leg extended, rotate, hold)
– baton pass on beams passing each other
– hop inside circle 10x, hope forward, switch legs, continue to next hoop, hop

Motor Planning:
– box hopscotch to designate numbers/colors/letter boxes
– hula hoop
– step on dome cones
– kneel & pick up box w/elbows, rotate & set down
– angle hopscotch, must rotate feet to align with line on square
– team shapes using string/rope held
– monkey hop, squatting and hop side to side on squares

Eye, Hand & Foot Coordination:
– flip & catch ball into cup, remind to hold body still & move only arms
– launch board (board & bean bag)
– ball tap on string, dangle over head & lay on back
– ball tap standing, with stick to tap ball
– ball tap on back using feet
– ball tap standing, on teeter board
– hole punch
– wand catch, toss back and forth vertically to self

Ball Work:
– ball in lap, lift pelvis & rest on arms, roll ball to feet
– punch balloon, while walking
– dribble, both hands, while walking, to each side
– dribble with ball inside square while walking around square
– ball crawl, lay on and rotate down length of body and back up, kneel on ball w/hands resting on floor (legs pulled under self)
– bounce ball in hoops arranged in circle
– lay on ball and using feet roll ball up & down wall

Misc:
– silly olympics
– obstacle course
– yoga
– dance
– parachute

If you have any colleges nearby then I think it’s worth asking about student programs they may have. That’s how our children are able to get one-to-one (or two-to-one!) swim lessons all year at the indoor pool on one campus, the greatly discounted graduate student speech therapy services, and the adaptive PE. These are geared towards children with special needs but they also welcome siblings in the swimming & PE programs. We’ve been attending for the last couple years and it’s been a great experience. Here are some photos they shot of our wild ones this session:

It looks fun, huh??

I told you, some of these teachers are enormously big and muscled! 🙂 Which makes me laugh every time E’s instructing her football player sized teachers to skip or play follow the leader and they sweetly comply. (This session she had mostly women and she doesn’t have a preference – she seems happy with anyone that lets her make the rules. We’re working on that!)

E’s solo class, she likes to make them do yoga with her:

Some of our kids are handfuls enough to warrant three or four teachers to themselves. 🙂 If we’re not there, that’s sometimes 8 or more teachers without a kid, so we try to not miss!

We have LOVED the PE program and J is excited to start this summer or fall, depending on teacher to kid ratio. Sometimes there are teachers without a class and they’ve asked if they could have him to play with but mostly he stays with us (and gets almost uninterrupted iPad time, a much coveted treat around here.) But PE has been fun for all of us. If you’re in the area and have a 3 to 12 year old then come join us, email me for details. Special needs children, siblings, and their friends are all invited. There is a summer session this year, starting June 9th.

And if you don’t live nearby, check out your local universities! We learned about these programs all from other parents to children with special needs, so connect with the community network!