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The Full Story

We help with Coordination

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Strong coordination & balance skills mean more confident kids. When kids feel like they are masters of their own bodies, they are more able to take on social, physical, mental and other life challenges with greater joy & ease. 

How does OT help

with coordination?

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At Rooted we go into natural spaces to build coordination skills like climbing a tree, balancing on tall logs, stacking heavy sticks for making a fort, walking through a creek to arrive at climbing rocks, lifting rocks and branches to look for signs of wildlife, and more! We make growing and playing in nature fun because we know that's the key to best outcomes and engaging kids.

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Age-appropriate coordination & balance allow a child to be involved in social and physical activities with their peers using fluid body movement for physical skills. They can have effortless fun while playing tag, climbing monkey bars, or kicking a soccer ball. It also helps children control their body movements during tasks more energy efficiently and minimizes fatigue. With solid balance and coordination, there is less likelihood of injury since the child will have appropriate postural responses when needed (e.g. putting hands out to protect themselves when they fall off their bike). The physical components of coordination also allow appropriate posture for tabletop tasks and success with fine motor tasks.

These are the building blocks for developing coordination & balance that can be addressed with OT:
 

  • Muscular strength & endurance: A muscle's ability to exert force against resistance (e.g when climbing a tree to push or pull up) and a muscle's ability to sustain its use.

  • Proprioception/Body Awareness: Understanding the body’s movement in space in relation to other limbs and objects for negotiating the environment.

  • Postural Control: The ability to stabilize the trunk and neck to enable coordination of the limbs for controlled movement.

  • Sensory processing: The accurate processing of stimulation in the environment as well as in our own body for quick and physically appropriate responses to movement: Playing a sport while whistle blowing, yelling of fans, & sweaty body.

  • Self-regulation: The ability to recognize, maintain and change alertness level appropriate for a task or situation to have better attention.

  • Bilateral integration: Using two limbs together with one hand leading: holding a baseball bat with top hand leading the swing.

  • Crossing mid-line: Crossing the imaginary line running from the child’s nose to pelvis that divides the body into left and right sides.

  • Eye-hand coordination: processing information received from the eyes to control, guide, and direct the hands in a given task such as catching a ball.

Climbing a Tree
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