Gross Motor skills are a critical component to healthy development in a young child. Here are some wonderful ideas to inspire you to create your own gross motor playground in your garden or home school.  

1. Hammock

To activate the vestibular system while rocking back and forth. Gentle rocking can be used to calm your child.

2. Hula hoops

Jump into hoops as a hop-scotch game, and run in and out to practice dodging skills. If you don’t have hoops, use towels, rope, or fabric to make your own circle shapes on the floor. Hang hoops from a tree to throw balls into as an eye hand coordination activity.

3. Trampette 

 Jumping and bouncing promotes body awareness and balance, and the deep proprioceptive input can be calming and regulating for your child.

4. Target throw

Throw bean bags or balls at a target to promote eye hand coordination, and to practice throwing and catching skills. The larger the target or ball, the easier it is to hit the target. Distance also plays a role, stand further away to make it more difficult or closer to make it easier.

5. Bubbles

Blowing bubbles strengthens oral motor skills. Bubbles are slow moving and can be used to practice visual tracking, visual focus and eye hand coordination.

6. Cardboard boxes

The ultimate toy! Use these for imaginary play by making a house, a car, or as a tunnel to develop body space awareness.

7. Goals 

Make your own soccer goals out of PVC piping and some netting or fabric. Kicking balls into the goals is rewarding and promotes eye foot coordination.

8. Wooden Plank

Purchase a wooden plank, and use it as a ramp or balance beam. Prop it up on a brick or piece of furniture at a low angle for your child to crawl or walk up and down.

9. Balls

For eye hand coordination, and to practice catching and throwing. Think of heavy, light, big, and small. Ping-pong balls, beach balls and tennis balls. Variety is the key to developing rounded skills.

10. Bean bags 

Make your own light, heavy, filled with sand, plastic chips, pebbles, beans, and herbs such as lavender, mint, cinnamon sticks, and rosemary to add a smell to them. Bean bags are great to practice catching and throwing.

11. Beanbag cushion or poof cushion 

What fun to jump into! A deep full body tactile experience.

12. Skittles 

Make your own using plastic bottles partially filled with sand or with water. Roll a ball to see if you can knock them over. Big balls make it easier to knock skittles over, and small balls, such as tennis balls will make bowling more challenging.

13. Inner tyre tubes 

To bounce on, roll inside, crawl through, roll and push.

14. Mattresses, sofa cushions and pillows

Set up pillows and large cushions to climb, roll and crawl over and under. Mattresses can be used to jump and tumble on or to hide under.

15. Ropes

Versatility is the name of the game with ropes. Balance on a straight strip of rope, jump over short pieces of ropes set up in a ladder formation, make patterns, circles or squares, for skipping around or jumping in and out of.

16. Sandpit

For tactile and sensory play, a sandpit is a must. Add coarse salt to sterilise your sandpit.

17. Punch bag

Cut the legs off your old jeans, sew them closed on one end, fill them with fabric and tie the top with rope. Hang from a washing line or tree. Hit, punch and kick the punch bag. Perfect to develop strength, express emotions, bilateral skills, and eye-hand co-ordination

18. Broom handle

Use as a pull-up bar or a hobby horse

19. Mirrors

Move and exercise in front of a mirror to develop body awareness. Dancing to music will add to the fun.

20. Large pieces of cloth or towels

These can be used in your obstacle courses for hideaways, houses or as a tunnel by draping over a table. They can also be used to swing your child in, or to pull your child on along a slippery floor as a `ride’.

21. Milk crates and washing baskets

Use these to climb in and out of, to pull around, to push, for fantasy play as a boat, car or train.

22. Chalk

Can be used to draw footprints, arrows, shapes and numbers.

23. Bricks

Make your own balance beam or stepping stones using bricks. Place them close together, or further apart for different skill levels.

24. Elastic

 Remember the old-fashioned elastics games? Use to jump over and under, or to hang light balls from for children to hit with a bat as the balls bounce unpredictably up and down.

25. Garden and household furniture

Make mini obstacle courses and forts. Movement between, around, across, inside, under and on top of various objects develops gross motor skills and increases body and spatial awareness. Encourage your child to use his body and mind to tackle obstacles, solve problems, and make decisions.

By Karen Hopkins, and Occupational Therapist Liz Senior of Kids Action Songs

STREAM our Kids Action Songs for these activities:

• Boogy woogy – For the mirror dance

• Jog Jump – For the cut up ropes

• Bubble time – for the bubbles

• Got the bouncies – For the trampette