Regulating Indoor Movement Activities for Children

During the winter, it’s hard for children to move their bodies enough during the day. This can result in dysregulation that can manifest as trouble managing emotions, hyperactivity, or difficulties following directions. As a caregiver, this can be frustrating and draining! Read on to learn some fun and interactive indoor movement-based activities recommended by one of our Occupational Therapists. These are a sure way to get those wiggles out in the winter or on rainy days! 

 

Homemade Obstacle Course

Making an obstacle course with household materials is a great way for children to get regulating movement inputs. With obstacle courses, they also work on developing executive functioning skills for planning, organizing, and sequencing! Some of our favorite materials & ideas for obstacle courses that can be found at home are: 

  • Couch cushions
  • Pillows to use as stepping stones
  • Chairs lined up to create a tunnel to crawl through
  • Cans/bottles spaced in a line so that your child can do an animal walk and weave through them
  • Laundry basket and balls (or rolled up socks) to incorporate throwing 
  • Play equipment you might have at home: trampoline, tunnel, ball pit, slide
  • Incorporating animal walks or wheelbarrow walks

 

We also love to incorporate visual motor and fine motor skills by having children draw or write out their plan for the obstacle course!

 

Floor is Lava

Floor is lava is an exciting and interactive game that facilitates regulation through movement! Spread out different household items like pillows, couch cushions, blankets, towels, and more. This is a chance for you and your children to be creative! Some challenges you can incorporate with floor is lava:

  • Rescue stuffed animals from the lava
  • Rescue puzzle pieces and bring them to “home base”, then put the puzzle together 
  • Try to get from one side of the room to another before the timer runs out

 

Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are a great way for children to work on executive functioning, visual scanning, and language skills while also moving their bodies! Some ideas to incorporate into your at-home scavenger hunt are: 

  • Use animal walks while facilitating direction following to find items. For example, you can direct your child by saying, “walk like a bear to find a ball”.
  • Complete a “rainbow” scavenger hunt by finding an object for each color of the rainbow! 
  • Use adjectives to describe the items your child should find. Some examples are: bumpy, smooth, soft, hard, cold, round, big, and small.

 

Animal Walks 

Animal walks are a great way to obtain regulating movement inputs throughout the day and can be naturally incorporated into transitions and daily routines. You can do this throughout the day by directing your child to: 

  • “Walk like a crab to the kitchen for breakfast”
  • “Jump like a frog to the bathroom to brush your teeth”
  • “Bear walk to your room to get your pajamas on”.

 

You and your child can be creative by developing new animal walks, too!

Photo credit to ToolsToGrow

 

Yoga Poses 

Doing yoga can be a great way for children to regulate and wind down intermittently throughout the day or at the end of the day.

  • Try a fun yoga sequence or story with them! You can find guided yoga stories on the Cosmic Kids Yoga channel on Youtube. Cosmic Kids Yoga has fun and engaging yoga stories with themes like Frozen, Encanto, dinosaurs, or holidays!

 

Dance Party

Be silly with your child and have a dance party! Pick some of your favorite songs or their favorites and create some new and fun dance moves! 

  • Are you looking for something that they can engage in independently? GoNoodle on Youtube has guided dance and movement videos! 

 

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Questions about Your Child’s Development?

We would love to set up a free phone screening with you and one of our licensed clinicians! Call us at (203)828-6790 or email us at info@moretosayct.com to schedule!