Keep On Crawling!
Encouraging our kids to continue crawling – even after they have learned to walk – is important for developing strong shoulders, upper backs, arms and hands. The arches in the palms of our hands, and most of our fine motor coordination skills are all developed by weight bearing on the hands (on hands and knees). Kids develop strength from shoulders to fingers and hips to toes, so as we build strong shoulders, we can improve hand skills. Other than crawling, try wheelbarrow walking with your kids. If your kids are little, or they are struggling with getting into the wheelbarrow position, you can have them start in hands and knees, then hold their waist to get knees off the floor. As they get stronger, the holder can move the support from waist to thighs to knees, then finally to ankles. Gently push forward to encourage the child to walk forward on their hands.
Upper body gross motor activities such as climbing, pushing a peer on the swing, and bear walking (hands and feet) are fun things to do to improve shoulder and core strength. Believe it or not, problems with handwriting can stem from problems with seated posture and shoulder positioning. Strong and stable shoulders allow us to create precise positions with arms, so we can produce small finger and hand isolations for precise handwriting. Good trunk and shoulder stability can improve handwriting grasp, but also helps create an accurate perception of arm and hand position which can contribute to grading (pressing too hard or too lightly while writing) and helps with decreasing fatigue and improve legibility.
Good stability at the shoulder, elbow, forearm, and wrist is important for control of the fingers for writing. This stability can be fostered in numerous ways. Encourage your child to lie on their stomach during play. Preschoolers should use a vertical surface for writing whenever possible, like easels and chalkboards). Incorporate upper body weight bearing tasks into your family playtime this summer!