Kim Toomer MOT OTR/L, occupational therapist at Child and Family Development, reviewed a fascinating article about the benefits of kids working on a vertical surface, rather than at a desk and/or looking down at a screen. This is especially true in these days of technology, which is impacting people’s posture and vision.
The author, asserts these advantages:
- shoulder/elbow stability
- bilateral coordination
- midline crossing
- wrist extension/pencil grasp
- visual attention/ hand-eye coordination
- spatial awareness
- sensory
- core strength and posture
They also provided some easy and sample activities to do along a wall in different positions (seated/standing/kneeling):
- play with stickers
- build a Lego wall
- tape a paper and trace/draw
- draw/write on a dry erase board
- draw/write on a mirror
- draw/write on a smart board
Kim incorporates many of these philosophies and tasks into pediatric occupational therapy sessions. In addition to the benefits, she finds that kids really like it, as they get the feeling of being allowed to do something out of the ordinary!
Read full article here.
