Heavy work exercises

You can use a gym ball, exercise ball, therapy ball or yoga ball. 

How to roll on a ball slowly:

1. Get on your tummy on the ball.
2. Walk forward using your hands as far as possible, without falling off the ball. 
3. Walk backwards using your hands to the starting position.

One your child is feeling confident they can throw bean bags into a bucket in front of them. Then they can walk out on their hands to collect them.

The ball used when bouncing on a ball could be a yoga ball, a therapy ball, a space hopper or a gym ball,

Instructions on bouncing on a ball.

1. Sit on a ball with your feet on the floor.
2. Bounce 10 times, keeping your feet on the floor.

Once your child is comfortable bouncing on the ball, you can add extra activities while bouncing like throwing and catching a beanbag or smaller ball. 

Bouncing on a trampoline is straightforward. This may become too easy for your child or young person. 

You can increase the difficulty by:

• Counting out loud while they jump on trampoline. Try to do 10 to 20 jumps.
• Doing star jumps on the trampoline.
• Counting out loud while they do star jumps on the trampoline. Try to do 10 to 20 star jumps.
• Catching a ball or bean bag while they jump. Try to do this 10 to 20 times. 

How to do a seat walk:

1. Sit on the floor with your legs and arms straight in front of you.
2. Lean to the side, lifting up one side of your bottom and push forwards.
3. Shift and do the same on the other side.
4. Keep moving forwards until you make it to the other side of the room. 

If your child is struggling to move forwards, they may find it easier to move backwards.

You can time how long it takes for your child to move across the room and set goals in the future.  

How to plank:

1. Get on all fours with your hands shoulder width apart.
2. Put one leg behind you and push up onto your toes.
3. Once you are balanced, move your other leg behind you and do the same.
4. Make sure your back and bottom are as flat as possible. 
5. Hold this position and count to 4.
6. Move back onto your knees. 

Repeat this 5 times. 

When your child can hold this position for a count to 4 easily, you can slowly increase how long they hold the position for by counting up to 5. 

Wheelbarrow walks require two people to do the exercise. One person to hold the feet and one person to walk on their hands. Wheelbarrow walks can be done at any age. 

How to wheelbarrow walk:

1. Start with your child or young person on their hands and knees.
2. Hold your child or young person under their hips or knees.
   • When they get stronger, you can move to holding their ankles. 
3. Let them walk forwards on their hands.
4. Encourage your child to go further each time they walk forwards.

You can vary the wheelbarrow walk by getting them to carry something on their back. You could also set up an obstacle course like going over a cushion or around a table. 

There are lots of different terms for wedge cushions (move 'n' sit cushions, seat cushions, or sensory wedges) and wobble cushions (also known as disc cushions, disco cushions or instability cushions). 

The cushion or wedge encourage the person sitting on them to stay stable by using their muscles. Some children and young people fidget and find it hard to sit still. Disco cushions, wedge cushions or wobble cushions can help your child or young person. They can be used at home or in school. They are a cushion or wedge that's placed onto the seat of a chair.  

Wobble cushions often have a textured side and a smooth side. This gives your child or young person the option for what they find most comfortable. They can also use the wobble cushion when sitting on the floor. 

Wedge cushions are most helpful on a chair and are often used with a writing slope to help children's posture when working at a desk.

Massage tools often use deep pressure to help relax people. These tools can also be helpful for calming down sensitive children. There lots of different tools such as head massagers, vibrating massage tools or manual massage tools.

These can be helpful for your child if they find deep pressure calming. You can use them on your child or your child can use them after being shown how to use them.

Scooter boards are a flat plastic board with 4 wheels on the bottom. Sometimes scooter boards can have handles. The board is moved around the room using hands or feet to move it in various different directions. 

They can be used to help children and young people with their balance and stability skills. 

Do not stand on a scooter board. These are made to be used sitting down or lying down on the board. 

Sensory tunnels can help some children and young people by helping them focus on their body in space. It also helps them focus on how fast they are moving and how much pressure they're using when moving around in the tunnel.

Your child or young person can: roll in the tunnel, crawl backwards and forwards, move on their back or crawl through the tunnel with cushions and pillows place on top. 

There are different types of sensory tunnels. 

• Play tunnels - These are the fabric or nylon pop-up tunnels. You can roll your child in the tunnel, encourage them to play in various ways or place cushions and pillows on top of the tunnel to create pressure.
• Beanbag tunnels - These are fabric tunnels that are filled with polystyrene balls (beanbag filling). These can be helpful for children who need constant deep pressure. These are very adaptable and be used like a tunnel or as a beanbag.
• Resistance tunnels - These are long flexible fabric tunnels, similar to a body sock. These can be crawled through. 

Vibrating snake toys can be calming to children and young people. They can be wrapped around different areas of the body like their arms, torso and legs. Vibrating snakes are available in ridged or smooth versions.