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P.E.
Activities for Junior and Senior School
Children
who have Dyspraxia
Michele
Lee Grad.Dip.Phys, MCSP, SRP
Introduction
These activities
and games can be enjoyed in PE lessons, or in clubs and groups.
They have been chosen because they are fun for all children; and are
particularly helpful for those who have co-ordination difficulties. These children
benefit particularly from building self-confidence and self-esteem through
physical exercise. Play should be
pitched at a level where they can succeed, as good esteem ensures that each
child is happy to join in and build on their success. It is important to
remember:
Group activities for warm up
�
Dodge ball (use a soft
ball!) �
Stuck in the mud �
Duck Duck Goose �
Throw or kick balls to
different people while running around a room.
The person throwing could call the other person�s name then throw the
ball to them. �
Run, hop and jump around
the room. To help with shoulder control
Bunny hops:
The child leans forwards and places his hands on the edge of a small
stool. Then ask him to jump from
one side to the other, keeping his hands flat on the stool. Crabs:
Practise the crab position: walking
forwards and backwards and kicking balls with each leg.
The hands should be pointing away from the body.
The whole class can play a crab football game; or a crab relay race, crab
walking around cones. Arms &
hands: Ask the child to put
both his arms out and to flap his hands gently up and down; or make small
circles with his hands ten times. On all fours:
Ask the child to get in the crawling position.
Then ask him to move his face down towards the floor, aiming for a spot
between his hands, then push back up to the crawling position.
His elbow should not touch the floor and his weight should be kept
forward, over the hands. Other Beneficial
Activities:
To help with pelvic control
Bridging:
The child lies on his back with knees bent up and feet on the ground.
Encourage him to lift his bottom slowly off the floor without it swaying,
keeping his knees and feet together. This
can be made into a game by asking the children to lie next to each other.
Lifting their bottoms together, they can pass a small object down the
line underneath the �bridges�. Leg lifting:
Lying on his side, with the top leg straight and the under leg bent,
he lifts the top leg slowly in the air and slowly lowers it again, keeping it
straight. Turn over and repeat on the other side. Kneeling and
catching: Half-kneeling (i.e.
with the bottom raised and one knee raised), practise catching bean bags, koosh
or small balls and throwing them to another person. Knee walking:
Walk forwards and backwards on the knees.
Have races. Jumping:
Jump forwards, backwards and over small objects. Other Beneficial Activities
-
Trampolining -
Walking -
Cycling -
Walking over uneven surfaces (e.g. mats, bean bags on the floor) -
Step ups To help with
eye/hand co-ordination
Throwing &
Catching: Use a ball that
will give the child success, e.g. bean bag, koosh, juggling ball, large ball or
tennis ball. He can practise
throwing and catching the ball with his dominant hand and bouncing the ball to
another person and catching it with his dominant hand.
If he has difficulty, use a hoop to bounce the ball in so that they learn
to position the bounce to reach the other person. They can also
practise throwing bean bags or tennis balls and catching them themselves, with
two hands or with the dominant hand. Then, ask them to touch their head between throwing and
catching. When this becomes easy,
he can progress to touching his tummy before catching; touching his tummy twice;
touching his head and tummy; and touching his head, shoulder and tummy. Bat & ball
games: The aim is for the child to
be able to bat the ball repeatedly. Children
who have great difficulty could have the ball thrown to them first.
A balloon may be easier to bat than a ball.
The child can also bat against the wall, either by himself or to another
person. The ball should bounce on
the floor before the child bats it. Other
beneficial Activities -
Golf -
Rounders -
Tennis -
Basketball -
Netball -
Badminton To help with eye/foot co-ordination
Direct the
ball: The child kicks the
ball into different sized goals and through tunnels. Skittles:
Kicking the ball to knock down skittles can help a child who has great
difficulty with direction. Touch objects:
The child stands on a step, or a spot on the floor and is asked to
touch different objects with their foot. Floor pianos:
Play-mats. Jumping:
The child jumps onto specific spots or points in a room. Instruct to
touch: The child
touches different objects when instructed � for example, different coloured
bean bags. Following
lines: The child walks on
specific lines around a room. Ladders:
the child walks in and out of the spaces between rungs on a ladder,
laid on the floor. To help with visual and verbal short term memory
Following
instructions: The child
carries out activities which they are instructed to do verbally or visually.
Initially, only three to five instructions should be given. Memory songs:
e.g. �When I went Shopping with Grandma�. Chinese Whispers Group
activities: e.g. one group is
asked to make up a story which involves carrying out directions and
instructions. The other group must
act the story out. Twister type games Obstacle
courses: Ask the child to
complete five or six tasks, e.g. walking along the bench, jumping up to the
hoop, jumping in and out of the hoop, doing ten step-ups, throwing a ball in the
air and clapping hands before catching it.
Increase the number of tasks as the child improves, or ask them to do the
tasks in reverse order. To help with planning
Obstacle
courses: e.g. going through
tunnels, under chairs, over furniture. Climbing frames and wall bars Making up
games: and instructing the
other children how to play, what the rules are and who wins. Group games:
Each group makes up and obstacle course of equipment for the other
team to try out. Map reading To help with stamina
Trampolining Crab Football Races Step ups Bicycling Swimming C Michele Lee
(2001) |
