Gross Motor Activities to Try in School

Gross Motor Activities to Try in School

This sheet lists activities that will help with a child’s gross motor skills. In particular; weight bearing, upper limb strength, co-ordination and balance.

Animal Walks

BearWalk on all fours with bottom in the air and straight legs

Frog Start in a crouch position, Jump up high and land in a crouch position again

(Can also play leapfrog with the child jumping over an object)

CrabHold body

ElephantCrawl around on all fours with one arm stretched out in front as the trunk.

SnakeLie flat on the floor and use arms to pull around the floor.

Bunny rabbitStart in a crouch position, Place hands in front and do a little jump with both feet off the floor, ensuring hands remain on the floor throughout the jump.

Donkey KickStand on hands and feet. Kick up legs behind you and land again on feet.

Weight bearing through hands

-Place both hands together with fingers pointing towards the ceiling. Push hands together as hard as possible for 5 seconds.

-“Chair push-ups”. Ask The Child to place two hands on the sides of the chair and try pushing up and lifting their bottom off the chair. The Child’s arms should be straight with wrists back and fingers straight. Weight should be taken through straight arms, extended wrists and straight fingers.

-“Wall push-ups”. Ask The Child to place both hands in front of them on a wall with their arms straight, wrists extended and fingers straight. Their arms should be placed shoulder distance apart. Encourage the child to do 10 push-ups to the wall by bending their elbows and moving their face towards the wall until their nose almost touches the wall and then re-straighten their arms to push back to a standing position.

Balance Activities

All balance activities contribute to the development of large muscle control, laterality, body awareness and a feeling of confidence by helping the child co-ordinate left and right sides.

-Running in various directions and stopping on one leg or as a statue, changing direction quickly

-Pretending to dip a toe in a pool or hoop and shake it dry

-Standing on one foot and picking up a bean bag [with bare feet]

-Playing on scooters or cycles

-If you have a therapy ball, there is a variety of activities that can be done starting with bouncing on the ball and trying to stay sat on it (often a lot of fun!)

-Follow The Balancer – Beginning in an all fours position the child then balances on 3 body extremities then on 2 i.e. opposite arm and leg

-Obstacle courses- Set up an obstacle course use boxes, toys, ladders, marching, ropes, crawling, hula hoops, etc.

Jumping Games

-Jump up in the air as fast or slow as possible or as far as possible.

-Jump over some rope on the floor; raise the rope and try to jump at several different heights. Try jumping forwards, backwards, sideways or running and jumping.

-Go under the rope – crawl, slither or snake walk. Throw the rope in the air and try to run underneath it while it is up in the air.

-Try skipping with skipping ropes.

-Hopping activities. Use tape or a rope on the floor to hop over, backwards, forwards, sideways. Try hopping and clapping at the same time.

-Star jumps and scissor jumps. When teaching these skills, break the task into arm and leg components and practice components separately.

Ball and Target Games

-Throw beanbags/balls into a bucket.

-Try knocking down skittles or try to hit a target on the wall, Start in standing and then try in squatting, high kneeling, and ½ kneeling.

-Throw a ball to another person, use a bounce pass or a chest pass. Try kicking the ball or make the ball a hot potato and pass quickly.

-Try to keep a balloon off the floor for as long as possible. Try lying on your back and keeping a balloon/beach ball in air.

Body Awareness

Play a game of Simon Says, head & shoulders, imitating postures or animal walks.