The must have tool in your child’s toolbox

Every occupational therapist has specific tools that they love and use. But which of these should you select for your home? An occupational therapist is a professional who specializes in helping people habilitate or rehabilitate after an injury or illness. A pediatric occupational therapist works with children who have developmental differences. Their focus is on helping the child to achieve developmental milestones in fine motor, visual motor, visual perception, social skills, play, etc. to their highest extent. A pediatric occupational therapist selects tools (or toys in this case) that will help your child achieve these developmental milestones or adapt to their environment in a way that they are able to be more independent on par with their peers. There are so many to choose from. Which tools are the best tools to have at home?

Core Stability Helps to Improve Several Skills

The answer to that depends on the individual child. Overall, when I am selecting a tool to work with a child I’m thinking about their individual differences. 

My favorite go-to toy is a peanut ball. If your child is having challenges with their posture, strength of their core (trunk), difficulty with sitting up at circle time, or tends to play on the floor laying down, I am going to select a toy that will enhance their core stability.

Why is your core so important you ask? Your core is the central stability point in your body. Toys that help with encouraging improved stability are going to help with improving your child’s posture, focus, attention, social skills, confidence, and fine motor skills. It will also help with your child’s visual skills and feeding skills. The core is probably the most important part of the body to strengthen. 

A Good Tool Can Be Used Differently By Each Child

I love a peanut ball. Peanut balls are super versatile! Your child can straddle a peanut ball like a horse and bounce on it. This helps to give the spine some proprioceptive input, it helps to wake up the muscles around the spine, it helps to enhance attention and arousal when bouncing on the ball, and it helps their balance skills.

Here Are Some Ideas of How to Use This Tool

You can have your child reach for objects to the left and the right with their opposite hand. Hold a favorite toy or a puzzle piece to one side and ask your child to rotate their body to that side with the other arm grab the object and then place it into a bucket or a form board (this can be a great way to incorporate movement in learning as well). This helps to work the lateral obliques. It also helps to improve eye-hand coordination, arm strength, and righting reactions.

How about laying over the ball? Have your child lay on their belly over the ball with their arms on the floor. Now your child walks their arms out until the peanut ball is sitting at their hips. If your child’s back is swaying, ask them to back up a little bit until they are able to activate the muscles in their abdomen and back balancing a straight spine, which of course helps with core stability! Now have your child reach for objects. They could play a game in this position. They could do a puzzle in this position. Here they are working on core strength, upper extremity strength, eye-hand coordination, and visual-motor skills.

Try having your child roll back-and-forth on the peanut ball. Your child may enjoy rocking back and forth and sitting on their belly over the peanut ball. Providing a rhythmical song to go along with the rocking will help your child to find an internal sense of rhythm and timing. It can also help them to keep calm and alert.

The peanut ball is a great toy/ tool to have around the house!