Every child deserves the best chance at becoming a well-rounded teenager and, later on, adult but if you’re worried that your son or daughter is not developing at the rate that they really should be then you may want to take a look into therapeutic or educational toys and games.
Coming in all shapes and sizes and addressing issues as different in their characteristics as Down’s syndrome, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia and autism spectrum disorders toys, games and activities that address behavioral issues and motor learning and development problems can be immensely helpful.
Toys used for therapy also have the obvious added bonus of not drawing the child’s attention to the issue in hand and they will simply be seen as a fun activity rather than because ‘there is something wrong’. Whether you’re using pencil grips to correct the way your child holds a pencil whilst they’re learning to write or scooter boards to increase muscle tone and posture, good educational toys and games are very far from being boring!
For example, if your child has little upper body control this can have a serious knock-on effect on his or her schoolwork. Posture control is the ability to maintain an upright position without slumping. It is important in developing motor skills and if your child is having difficulty doing so they will tire easily and not be able to concentrate when sitting at a desk. It is also important as having good upper body control means that the hands and wrists are employed correctly – so that tasks such as writing, drawing, cutting out shapes with scissors, gluing and other table based activities are able to be carried out correctly.
So, if you have a child who is showing signs of late development or who already has poor upper body control or bad posture, how can you help correct and improve it? The good news is that the days of walking around the room with a heavy, hard backed book on the head are long gone and the 21st century has thankfully given us some fun ways to help our children develop muscle tone, improve poor posture and increase bilateral coordination.
Take scooter boards for example. These sturdy plastic boards will not only dramatically improve postural issues but they’ll provide kids with hours of fun too. A scooter board is a square with four wheels which is lain across on the stomach. The user then propels him or herself around by their arms – thus increasing upper body and trunk strength and improving coordination.
Scooter boards are also an excellent way of not only helping to improve a child’s core stability but of getting them out into the fresh air and away from the video games too. You can also create obstacle courses with cones for them to navigate their way through and you’ll increase the amount of work the upper body is doing.
If you’re a parent worried about your son or daughter’s posture or upper body development here is your answer: a fun and active toy that your child will love - and no-one except you will be any the wiser that a scooter board is a therapeutic and educational devices.
