E-BOOK NO.

All About
Motor Skills
For children and teens who may have dyspraxia or developmental
coordination disorder, children who may have a
developmental disability, children who simply
struggle with their motor skills or children
who want to improve their motor skills.

BY:
Christel K.A. Seeberger
BSc.O.T., OT(c), OTR, OTReg.(NB)
 Table of contents
03 Introduction
04 Chapter 1 What is Praxis?
06 Chapter 2 Get Your Family Moving
08 Chapter 3 Winter Gross Motor Fun for Kids and Adults
10 Chapter 4 Your Family’s New Best Friend: Heavy Muscle Work in 27 Ways
12 Chapter 5 Playground Skills Every Child Needs to Learn
14 Chapter 6 Just Have a Ball: 6 Ball Skills for Your Child to Develop
16 Chapter 7 Beyond 20/20 vision: Use the Visual System to Help
Your Child Develop Motor Skills
18 Chapter 8 The Best Ways to Teach Your Child to Ride a Bicycle
20 Chapter 9 13 Effective Ways to Help Children with Motor Skills
23 Chapter 10 How to Ensure Computer Ergonomics for Children

Copyright ©2013
Christel K.A. Seeberger Professional
Corporation Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including
scanning, photocopying, or otherwise without the permission of the copyright holder.
2 All About Motor Skills
Introduction
All About Motor Skills

Dear Parents, Educators, Therapists and Caregivers,

With almost 2 decades of experience helping children and teens who have dyspraxia or
developmental coordination, children with a developmental disability and children who just
struggle with their motor skills, I want to share my own best practices and lessons learned.
Children, from toddler to teen, need to spend a lot of time, every day, in fun ways mostly, to
develop and master the ability to move with ease and purpose.

This eBook is designed to help promote your child’s physical abilities and expand the
repertoire of activities your child can have fun with while improving their motor skills.

Each chapter is a stand alone series of exercises and guidelines to help you and your child.
You will find dozens of ideas in the following chapters, each validated in our occupational
therapy practice.

My favorite reminder to myself, my team of occupational therapists along with parents,

educators and caregivers that I mentor: always go for a just right challenge when helping
children. A just right challenge means your child succeeds but learns and works to do so!
That means matching the motor activity that helps your child to learn and practice just a little
bit more than what they are able to do. So avoid physical activities that are boring for your
child. Then again, avoid physical activities that are so hard, your child struggles too much
and doesn’t experience any success at all. Have fun. Be creative. Let your child lead too.
Remember to include your child from start to finish. Get the toys, tools or supplies you will
play with together. Ensure your child helps set them up. And everyone cleans up. Allowing
your child the opportunity to practice their motor skills from start to finish is the best
practice of all.

Sincerely,

Christel
Christel K.A. Seeberger
BSc.O.T., OT(c), OTR, OTReg.(NB),
Occupational Therapist

All About Motor Skills 3

 1
CHAPTER
What is Praxis?

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Let’s talk about praxis. Praxis is the process by which a lesson or skill is started with an idea,
actionned, practised and successfully mastered..

Children with dyspraxia, developmental coordination disorder and developmental delays

struggle to carry out new motor skills, even learned motor skills, but especially non-learned
movements, even though they may have adequate motor and cognitive capacity to do so.

Understanding that praxis is a process by which a lesson or skill is started with an idea,
actioned, practised and successfully mastered will help you and your child in learning new
skills.

Children with praxis challenges, including motor planning difficulties have difficulty organizing
their environment and themselves in that environment. What we take for granted in learning a
routine, generally takes them longer. Multi-step directions may be performed slowly or not at
all. Learning a new skill may require multiple repetitions, and trial and error until the child
develops a motor plan to carry out the activity on their own. It’s not uncommon for these
children to have difficulty organizing their thoughts and language too, in order to express
themselves.

Understanding the importance of praxis will help in being more patient and more aware of the
motor skill challenges your child faces every day.

Fast Praxis Facts

* There is no association between praxis and IQ within the normal range of IQ
* Praxis is not an end product, think of it as how you do what you do
* Praxis involves purposeful actions, you can also think of it as motor activity with a goal in
mind
* Develop praxis by reviewing what just happened…not asking what comes next. I’m re-
minded of this every day when working with children. Review, revise and integrate helps
moving an action forward.

4 All About Motor Skills

* Christel’s five times rule: BUILD MOTOR ENGRAMS. A motor engram is a set of
instructions stored in the brain. When performing a new motor activity, you and your
child may experience that when you repeat it, by the 4th time it starts to get hard and the
movement starts to look poor again. This is because the feed-forward loop in the brain
needs to be jump started. The brain can’t just use the quick access place where it stores
temporary memory of a motor skill. You or your child may be tempted to quit here, when
the brain gets stuck. But please persist, by the 5th time the movement looks better…and
on the 6th it improves even more. PRACTICE NEW MOVEMENTS at least 5 TIMES is a
RULE. It helps your child’s brain build and store motor engrams, the motor repertoire of
the child, and a mental image of the action. That is what makes it easier the next time
and the time after that. And that develops great praxis skills.

The following praxis test is one that occupational therapists use for school aged children or
adults.

Have you child see how many different things s/he can do or make with a pipe cleaner using
just the pipe cleaner and his/her body? If we don’t have a pipe cleaner on hand we substitute
string, wax covered string, etc.

Scoring

0-6: When your child scores between 0 and 6 you might want to ask an occupational
therapist for help.

6-12: With a score of 6 to 12 encourage your child to keep thinking and trying,
Provide help and ideas if s/he is stuck! And maybe see an occupational therapist if
your child has difficulty learning new activities.

12 or more: Your child is a praxis star!

When your child is stuck for ideas, share these helpful hints from your friendly
occupational therapists:

All About Motor Skills 5

 2
CHAPTER
Get your Family Moving

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Do active play and play-time compete with “screen time” in your household? Remember that
screen time includes television, video games, computers, cellular phones and any size screen.
Occupational therapists help increase and improve that all-important primary occupation of
play with children. Occupational therapists look at three things when we help children; the
child’s abilities, their actual occupations or activities and their environment. Here are 15 OT
(occupational therapy) guidelines to help make positive changes in all three areas to get your
child and you family moving.

1. Schedule time each day to participate in physical activity with your child.

2. Engage your child in regular exercise.

3. Be a good role model and get moving. Have your child join you on their bike when you go
for a run or walk.

4. Have your family play together regularly. Five minutes of tag in the backyard counts!

5. A good family goal is to reduce daily screen time by 30 minutes a day and replace it with
30 minutes of physical activity.

6. What are your child’s favorite physical activities? Make room for these activities “in the
schedule”.

7. Ask your child what new physical activities s/he would like to try.

8. Make sure your child can engage in physical play every day.

6 All About Motor Skills

9. Organized sports can be a great part of regular physical activity...but so can a daily walk
or bike ride to the mailbox to collect the mail (a great “job” and responsibility for your
child).

10. Use a pedometer to help your child measure his/her steps each day. Make daily
step-count a family challenge. Establish a prize. The prize could be playing a new
game in the local playground or backyard.

11. Does your child have inside space to move? A space that is safe from breakables?

12. Have toys and games outside and entice your child to play with them. Make sure your
child knows how to play with them.

13. Never remove physical activity as a punishment. For example, instead of saying “You are
too excited, you have to stop playing and go to your room” (where there is lots of screen
time available) try a “movement-out” break like 10 jumping jacks, 10 sit-ups and 10 wall-
push ups before returning to the game.

14. Right after meals is a great time to get moving. A clean-up song with dance, can make
doing the dishes fun.

15. Movement BEFORE homework is also a wonderful way to get ready to work. Set a limit
with a timer, like 10 minutes of physical activity just before homework. Your child will be
more alert, have improved concentration and attention and get homework done faster.

All About Motor Skills 7

 3
Winter Gross Motor Fun
for Kids and Adults
CHAPTER TWEET THIS

These gross motor activities can be done outside in the snow, outside without snow or inside
on a carpet or mat. These winter gross motor fun activities are for any age. They can be done
indoors or outdoors. You do not need snow! They help develop core muscle strength (that
is the muscles at the center of your body, instead of arms and legs) as well as gross motor
coordination.

Christel: An intro is needed. Who are these exercises and play activities targeted at; 3,4,5 year
olds, kids with development problems? Other than fun, are there other benefits. Put yourself in
the readers shoes. There needs to be more detail.

Instructions for Your Child

Snowflake to snowball
Be a snowflake, lie on your back on the floor. Spread arms and legs, push out the hands
and feet to form a snowflake.
Become a snowball; pull arms and legs in and up to curl over your chest. Lift your head
off the floor; try to touch your chin to your chest! Hold your snowball tight. And then go
“splat” back to a snowflake on the floor.

Snowball rock and roll

Lie on the floor. Curl arms, legs and head into chest. Rock back and forth, head to toe,
as far as possible without rolling you the snowball over!

Snowman Balance
Use an appropriate sized therapy or exercise ball with feet to provide extra stability,
choose a therapy ball without feet to make it harder.

8 All About Motor Skills

 Sit on a large therapy or exercise ball. Lift one foot off the ground, then the other, but
keep your balance. See how long the snowman can stay up! It’s much more fun with
snowman accessories like a scarf and hat! Make it harder by holding another small
“snowball” over your head.

Snowball Pass with Feet

Use a weighted ball “the snowball” to increase the challenge.
Lie on floor side by side. Pass the “snowball” back and forth using only the feet!
No hands allowed, the snowball is too cold!
Also, lie on floor feet to feet. Pass the “snowball” back and forth just using the feet!
No hands allowed, the snowball is too cold!

Snowball Pass with Hands

Use a weighted ball “the snowball” to increase the challenge.
Stand back to back with feet apart. Pass the “snowball” back and forth over the head and
then pass it through between the legs.
Stand back to back with feet apart. Pass a “snowball” back and forth side to side in a
continuous circle around your bodies.

Swing Santa’s Sack Use foam blocks

Make sure you have lots of room. Fill an empty pillow case with a few, small, non-
breakable items. Hold the “sack” closed at the top with both hands; rest the bottom on the
floor. Swing Santa’s sack over one shoulder then back to the floor and up again over the
other shoulder. Establish a rhythm. Keep swinging and don’t let go!

Find the North Pole

Label four directions (walls for example) with North, South, East, and West. Sit on a
large pillow on a smooth floor. Choose a leader or take turns calling out directions e.g.
“South”. When that direction is called, everyone has to scoot on the pillow on the floor to
the wall of the correct direction. No hands allowed! No falling off!

All About Motor Skills 9

 4
Your family’s New Best
Friend: Heavy Muscle
CHAPTER
Work in 27 Ways
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Proprioception is one of your 7 senses (yes, there are more than 5). It is the sense of the
relative position of neighbouring body parts. So you always know where your body is in space,
even with your eyes closed. It helps you to know if you are moving and if you are moving with
the right amount of effort.

Occupational therapists know that proprioception is important for gross and fine motor skills
as well as coordination. Most importantly proprioceptive input has a powerful self-regulating
effect on the whole body. Heavy muscle work includes proprioceptive input. Occupational
therapists call it heavy muscle work because it implies moving and muscle activity that is a
little more intense. The activities should always be safe for age and ability. Occupational
therapists use heavy muscle work to give the needed body proprioceptive input. Need to wake
up? Complete some heavy muscle work. Need to calm down? Do some heavy muscle work.
Need to get “in the zone” or feel “just right”? Again it’s heavy muscle work that will help get
you there. Need to feel better after a bad day? Rely on heavy muscle work to change your
mood.

And heavy muscle work isn’t just for kids!

Here are some outdoor heavy muscle work games, activities, jobs and chores for the whole
family to do together.

1. Lift and carry toys out to the backyard or playground for play.
2. Push or pull boxes across the garage.
3. Pull a trash can or compost bin.
4. Wipe off the deck table after eating. Scrub surfaces with a brush.
5. Wipe off the deck chairs with a cloth and wring it out.
6. Carry buckets of water to clean with, or to water flowers, plants, shrubs and trees.
7. Pull a friend or items in a wagon.

10 All About Motor Skills

8. Push a wheelbarrow.
9. Play in sandbox with damp or wet sand.
10. Have your child help by pushing chairs close to the table after a meal. Small casters help
small kids do this exercise.
11. Pretend to bathe the dog. Or bathe a real one.
12. Wash the car. Or pretend to wash a car.
13. Jump or climb in overinflated inner tubes.
14. Go “camping” in your backyard. Setting up a campsite has lots of opportunities for heavy
work.
15. Go to the playground! Climb. Run. Jump. Just Play.
16. Participate in sports. Any sport. Anything that gets your body to move more!
17. Have your child color a “rainbow” outside with sidewalk chalk while child is on hands and
knees. Allow them to decorate your driveway with chalk drawings.
18. Start a project using wood that requires sanding and hammering. For pretend or for real.
19. Open doors for people.
20. Play jumping games, such as hopscotch or jump rope.
21. Play catch with a heavy ball, or bounce and roll a heavy ball.
22. Do animal walks (crab walk, bear walk, army crawl) on the grass.
23. Stack chairs.
24. Push or lift tables or chairs to clean room.
25. Wash windows for real or pretend with dry cloth.
26. Wash walls for real or pretend with dry cloth.
27. “Paint” outside with a paint brush and water.

All About Motor Skills 11

 5
Playground Skills Every
Child Needs to Learn
CHAPTER
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Does your child know how to play safely on playground equipment?

If your child is going to school for the first time or joining a new school, visiting the school’s
playground before school starts is a great introduction to the school environment and may help
with those first day jitters.

1. The playground’s boundaries are important to learn. Many playgrounds are not fenced in.
Walk the boundaries with your child. Add a visual cue like a pylon as an additional marker
to learn where the boundry is.

2. The playground demands many social skills. Does your child know how to take turns?
Wait for his/her turn? Ask for his/her turn?

3. On climbing structures, the best place to hold a child is at their hips; it gives you more
control than hanging on to an arm.

4. A good suggestion is to not allow your child to climb to a place where you cannot help
quickly.

5. Respect your child’s requests to come down; trust is important when learning new skills.

6. Teach your child to climb by demonstrating alternating arm motions and hand grasps

7. Climbing also requires learning how to alternate steps with each foot. Allow time for your
child to master climbing skills.

8. And most importantly: what goes up must come down! Teach climbing down from the
start. Don’t always lift your child off the structure unless it is an emergency; provide
support and directions to go in reverse.

12 All About Motor Skills

9. A note about slides: Schools typically do not allow children to climb up the slides.
Occupational therapists think climbing up slides is a great “against gravity” activity!
You choose!

10. Teeter Totters are good for developing balance. Ensure your child has gained their
balance before lifting them in the air. Teach your child to leave their feet down and ready
(not resting up on the board). Teach your child to hold on with both hands at all times.
Slowly increase the height.

11. Does your child respond to an adult’s request to stop? Or come here? These are
important safety skills to teach your child. You can start teaching this skill in a game
format, like follow the leader, but make sure you transition the skill outside of the game
context for safety.

12. When teaching your child how to use a swing, instruct as follows. Sit down. Hold the rope
or chain tightly. Lean back while moving the legs and feet straight out front. When the
swing moves, lean forward while at the same time pulling the feet in and under the seat.
Lean back again, with the legs stretched out. Repeat until you go higher and higher.
Last but not least, teach your child how to slow down and stop the swing too.

When learning to play on equipment, RESPECT your child’s preferences (and fears);
ENCOURAGE exploration, ENSURE safety, TEACH, MODEL and PRACTICE new skills
and you will all have FUN.

All About Motor Skills 13

 6
Just Have a Ball: 6 Ball
Skills for Your Child to
CHAPTER
Develop
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Ball skills work many different gross and fine motor movements, grasping skills, eye-hand
coordination, motor planning and so many more. And you don’t have to use balls either;
bean-bags, balloons, scarves and plush toys can all be used as a “ball”.

Occupational therapists use the following exercises to develop a child’s gross and fine motor
movements.

These skills are introductory to intermediary; take your pick and have fun.

1. Roll and corral a ball, seated with legs forming a “V”. You can roll and corral a ball
standing up too. CHRISTEL – Explain how. The description below, sounds more like
soccer than corralling a ball.

Can your child kick a ball at a target or between two targets? Start close, and then move
back. Use a target to “knock over”. The greatest laughs will occur if you are the target
that gets knocked over in a dramatic fashion.

2. Large exercise balls are fun to push or roll. No rule says you have to roll the ball forward;
on hands and knees, have your child put his/her head down and roll the ball through
their legs.

Together (you and your child) lie down on your stomachs, backs or sides, several feet
apart and roll or pass or toss or kick a ball to each other. Get your child’s head out of
“upright” to make it harder-but-smarter because that works on balance, eye-hand
coordination and visual tracking.

3. Have your child sit and balance on balls of different sizes from small (or several very
small ones) to large with his/her feet off the ground. Playing humpty-dumpty is always a
hit. Rocking over balls, belly first is sure to get some laughs (safety first: arms out). Have
your child reach over a large ball backwards for a good muscle stretch.

14 All About Motor Skills

4. When teaching to throw and catch a ball, my preferred type of ball is a slightly
underinflated beach ball. It is easier to catch and doesn’t hurt when the aim is poor
and you become the accidental target! Start by standing close together, slowly take a
few steps back. Use a two-handed toss and catch. Under inflation will make the ball
less likely to bounce off hard surfaces. Begin by tossing the ball to your child at chest
height and once skills develop, move off-centre to the right, left, above and below.
Gradually decrease the size of the ball, until your child is able to toss and catch a
hand-sized ball with two hands.

5. Next step is one-handed tossing, throwing and catching. Practice both underhand and
overhead. Be motivated by throwing a ball into or towards a target like a pail, tree or
whatever you can imagine. A hoop can be a whale’s mouth on a blanket that is the ocean!

6. Aim for success in bouncing and then catching a large ball with both hands before moving
to one hand. Under inflation takes a bit more strength to bounce, but is easier to catch.
Over inflation or hard balls are easier to bounce but they can be hard to catch! You can
also “catch” with tools other than your hands: use a racket, material, bucket, etc. to add
variety.

All About Motor Skills 15

 7
Beyond 20/20 vision: Use
the Visual System to Help
CHAPTER
Your Child Develop Motor
Skills
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In this chapter, you’ll be introduced to several ideas to get children to “move”, integrating their
motor skills with visual skills.

As occupational therapists we know that the integration of the visual and vestibular systems is
pretty essential to our survival. But our sedentary lifestyles in front of a 2 dimensional screen
(I don’t think 3D movies count here) has certainly diminished all our abilities to be skilled at
moving our bodies through space, eyes open and ready to respond.

The Vestibular System: What is it?

Our vestibular systems provide us with important information: which way is up? And, where
am I going? One of our constant practices in therapy is to get everyone’s head out of “upright”
to engage that under stimulated vestibular system. And then, we do something that requires
watching, listening and timing other body movements. Yes, all of that can be great fun too!

Here’s how with one great big tool: an air filled camping mattress.

Use an air filled camping mattress or foam mattress and put it in your play area.

1. It is great to roll on, bounce on and do somersaults along.

2. Even better, roll or somersault to knock bowling pins on the mattress over. Just about
anything non-breakable can stand in for the bowling pins.

3. Don’t forget to teach your child to tuck their chin into their chest before doing a
somersault.

4. Then roll or somersault while playing “I spy” for an object on the facing wall.

16 All About Motor Skills

5. Every time you flip over, pick out a new thing on the wall to spy.

6. Do you have a “reacher” or “grabber” or large spoon? Have your child stand in the
middle of the air mattress and pick up small toys placed around it.

7. Now have your child try to stand on one leg and do the same.

8. How many toys can be picked up before falling over?

9. Encourage your child to see how long s/he can stand “still” on two legs on an air
mattress with eyes open. Is it a long time?

10. Now do the exercise again with eyes closed. Hope you get to one second.

11. Ready for some really hard work that is disguised as play? Have your child try standing
on one leg on the air mattress, eyes open and then eyes closed! Don’t forget to balance
things out and try the other leg too.

12. Have your child place their arms out for balance, arms on hips or arms overhead to really
make core muscles work while standing on an uneven and moving surface.

13. These activities can be done on a floor, but it is more fun and challenging to do the
excercises on an unstable surface.

14. Even just a foam underlay is enough to challenge everyone’s core muscles and make that
visual system integrate a little bit.

Doing the above playful exercises on an air or foam mattress are great for the visual, vestibular
and motor systems!

All About Motor Skills 17

 8
The Best Ways to Teach
Your Child to Ride a
CHAPTER Bicycle
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Bicycling is a healthy family activity.

Patience, practice and safety are key.

Most children learn to ride a bicycle between 4 and 7 years.

Many parents wonder how best to teach their child to ride a bicycle, many children struggle to learn
how to ride a bicycle. Riding a bicycle requires balance, coordination, praxis, muscle strength, and
vision to name but a few of the underlying skills. It can be a challenge to the vestibular system you
learned about in the previous chapter. Is does use proprioception too. Be safety conscious. And
use the simple strategies to set your child up for success when learning to ride a bicycle,

Helmets
It’s always safety first. When learning to ride a tricycle, have your child wear a helmet. Bicyclists of all
ages must wear helmets that fit. Discard helmets after one high intensity impact.

Use the moniker “2V1” to guide helmet fit: two (2) fingers width from level helmet to brow; V-shape
straps around both ears and one (1) finger between chin and strap.
Choose a helmet that is government approved.

Small bicycle, no hold

Use a bicycle with a low seat; have your child sit on the bike seat sand adjust if necessary so feet are
flat on the ground. Find a spot with short grass and a gentle downhill slope that flattens. Start part
way up. Have your child put his/her feet on the ground. Let go of the bicycle. Instruct your child
to lift feet a little; then coast. Have your child feel the balance of a moving bicycle. Don’t hold the
bicycle. Your child can put their feet down to stop. Keep coasting until your child doesn’t stop
partway; then add pedalling.

Training wheels
When installing training wheels, do not place both training wheels on the ground, as this eliminates
rear wheel traction. The bicycle should always have a little bit of lean. After your child learns to pedal,
steer and brake, continue to raise the training wheels in small increments until they are no longer
needed.

18 All About Motor Skills

Run with bicycle
Don’t claim to be holding on when you are not! Assure your child you will let go when s/he is
steady. Tell them again BEFORE you let go. Hold your child at the hip as you run. Don’t hold
the handle bars. When you do, your child can’t learn to balance. Don’t hold the seat, your child
won’t realize s/he is leaning.

More skills
Ride in a straight line. Start with one pedal in the two o’clock power position, which gives a
solid pedal stroke to start until the other foot reaches the pedal. Look straight ahead while
pedaling.

Learn to stop. When the bicycle has front and rear brakes, apply both at the same time. Using
just the front can launch the rider over the handlebars. Using just the rear limits braking power
and the bicycle may skid.

Turning is a combination of a little leaning and very little steering. Keep the inside pedal up and
look through the turn. When a novice rider turns his/her head, arms and shoulders follow,
causing a swerve.

BONUS: Ten bicycle safety tips

1. Wear a bicycle helmet that fits
2. Stop and check traffic
3. Ride in day light
4. Obey traffic signs/ signals
5. When riding on the street, ride on the right side of the street with the flow of traffic.
6. Check the brakes before riding
7. Give cars AND pedestrians the right-of-way
8. Wear clothing that can be seen
9. Be extra careful turning left
10. Avoid broken pavement, loose gravel and leaves

All About Motor Skills 19

 CHAPTER
9 13 Effective Ways to Help
Children with Motor Skills
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Is gym class a challenge for your child who isn’t sports minded?

Do you worry about your child’s fine or gross motor skills developing on track?

These occupational therapy strategies work for any child, not just children who are clumsy.

1. Ask don’t tell. This is first because it is hardest. We all tend to “tell” when our child
struggles, be it a motor skill or life skill, don’t we? Ask your child what is s/he is trying to
do? Can your child verbalize that s/he is trying to kick a soccer ball into the right corner
of the goal? Can your child visualize her/himself kicking a soccer ball into the right corner
of the goal? Being able to describe and visualize the goal will help your child develop a
motor plan to accomplish it.

2. Coaching, instead of adjusting. This is second because it is the second hardest! We all
tend to want to step in and help when something goes wrong. But children (read ev-
eryone) learn(s) by doing. So, coach first and step in with your physical help only when
asked or when safety is compromised.

3. One thing at a time. Remember the first time you tried to parallel park? (My adage “back
up until you hit the car behind you, drive forward until you hit the car in front” really
didn’t break it down into enough steps. The strategy was less than successful despite the
beater I learned to drive on, standard at that). Identify and practice the steps required to
learn a new skill . There are a lot of steps to any new motor skill.

4. Make it fun. While competition is a motivating factor for many children, making it fun goes
a long(er) way to capturing interest.

5. Work towards independence. There is a big difference between having fun with your child
and playing for your child. It is easy to get caught up in helping all the way, all the time.
Stand back and let your child learn from their success and failures.

20 All About Motor Skills

6. Make it obvious. OK, so you know that if you child just relaxed their elbows a little bit that
golf ball would fly down the fairway. Help your child discover that, without cracking their
father’s $400 driver in two (been there done that). Show, exaggerate, be silly.

7. Do generalize. When you child masters one skill, use that to help him/her master another.
Hitting a baseball with a bat is different than hitting a birdie with a badminton racquet.
When learning a new skill help your child remember how s/he figured out the last skill
s/he mastered that is similar to what s/he is learning. Did s/he stand differently? Do
something different with the eyes? Do something different with the arms? Do something
different with the feet?

8. STOP-Goal-Plan-Do-Check is the secret to success. For example in learning to play

tennis, this is the STOP-Goal-Plan-Do-Check checklist.

* Stop before your start. That means to stop and think before you move.
* What is the goal?
* Hit the ball over the net, overhand with my tennis racquet in my right hand.
* What is the plan? I am going to stand on the left side of the court; my feet are moving
so I am ready to run towards the ball.
* Do? My partner serves and I volley.
* Check? Did I get the ball over the net? Did I hit overhand? Why or why not? What will
I do differently next time?
9. Be specific. “Catch the” ball is a different direction than “catch the ball with both hands”.
“Catch the ball with both hands, hold them high” is more specific still. Finally, “catch the
ball with both hands, hold them high and chest width apart” provides even greater detail.

10. Use your senses. Where are my eyes looking? What are my ears listening to? What are
my arms doing? Are they moving or still? What are my legs doing? Is my right leg doing
something different than my left leg? Where is my head?

11. Develop a mnemonic or script. Heard this one the other day, in jest, but it serves!
TGIF=toes go in first, for putting shoes on.

12. Use questions to compare and contrast learning situations. The best questions to ask
your child: what do you think? How was that time different? What was the same as
before?

All About Motor Skills 21

 13. Do an experiment. This is my all-time favorite. And trust me; your kids will love it too.
Experiment is a lovely word! It implies trying something just to see what happens. It
allows your child to try all sorts of different ways of accomplishing their motor goals
without the fear of failure. You are going to “experiment” to figure out the best way to
hit a baseball. And when the bat doesn’t make contact with the ball, that is part of the
experiment, to analyze why it didn’t make contact and they try another way.

STOP
GOAL
PLAN
DO
CHECK

22 All About Motor Skills

 10
How to Ensure Computer
Ergonomics For Children
CHAPTER
TWEET THIS

From toddlers to teens, children are spending much more time on computers these days.
Limiting “screen time” is important for child and teen health.

Children are at risk for repetitive strain injuries just like adults. Symptoms, which may include
pain, tingling, numbness of fingers, hands or wrists should be brought to the attention of your
child’s physician. Pre-school and school-aged children alike should not sit in one position for
hours on end.

Teach and model good posture. Have your child frequently change his/her position for seated
computer tasks, writing tasks and other school work.

One problem that is often overlooked by many parent is that most computer desks and
furniture are adult sized.

The solution is to ensure the furniture you use supports your child while using the computer.

When a computer is shared (and this is a recommended strategy to support cyber-safety

and promote good habits for all) it is important to provide younger and smaller children in the
family access to furniture that allows them to sit properly. An adjustable desk chair may meet
the needs of many older children or adults in the family, but include a booster seat for very
young children at a desk, and always ensure feet are supported. Use a foot stool, or our
occupational therapy favourite: stacked phone books held together with multi-coloured duct
tape. REMINDER: Everyone’s feet should be supported in sitting for computing or writing
tasks!

Arms should be “sticky” close to sides with elbows bent at 90 degrees when keyboarding or
using the mouse. Keyboard and mouse should be level with forearms parallel to them and not
require any reach, shoulders should be relaxed and wrists are neutral.

All About Motor Skills 23

KEY to ERGONOMICS: Schedule computer time and set limits. A good rule of thumb is 10 minutes
up and moving for every 50 minutes at the computer. Using a timer helps. Younger children should
spend far less time at the computer!

Focusing on a screen for a long time can highlight or exacerbate vision problems. Watch for your child
rubbing his/her eyes or complaining of headaches. When your child is reading, viewing or watching a
screen look for head tilting, closing one eye, or blocking one eye. These types of problems should be
brought to the attention of your physician, your eye care professional and an occupational therapist.
Head and monitor should be level with eyes at the top of the screen. Avoid glare from windows or
lights and sit at least 18” to 30” away from a computer screen.

Computers are a great tool, use them wisely to promote health rather than impede it.

24 All About Motor Skills

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Total Ability Solutions was created by Occupational Therapist Christel Seeberger to help parents, teachers, health pro-
fessionals and caregivers and the children they love, teach and take care of to develop and grow.

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Parents, teachers, health professionals and caregivers will find these eBooks invaluable to help them understand some
of the challenges children face as they learn and grow.

Each eBook provides detailed activities and thoughtful, easy strategies to help you as a parent, teacher, health profes-
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Follow these eBook strategies and activities and see improvement in your child’s abilities.

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duced to dozens of ways to say just the

BSc.O.T., OT(c), OTR,
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Christel K.A. Seeberger
BSc.O.T., OT(c), OTR,
OTReg.( NB)

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Improve Handwriting and Fine Motor
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The information is not just another “how
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All About Motor Skills
If you could look over the shoulder of
an Occupational Therapist as they work
with children who have gross and fine
motor challenges, you would find that
many of the therapeutic activities and
recommendations given are also
contained in All About Motor Skills. In
this eBook, I’ve distilled my 20 years of
experience as an occupational therapist
to help parents, caregivers and teach-
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E-BOOK NO.3
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be helpful for any parent
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you’ll appreciate knowing the 20 best
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Mother of 3 Children
Occupational Therapy tips and tricks and
how to apply them so your child avoids
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Christel K.A. Seeberger
as a fun activity.
BSc.O.T., OT(c), OTR,
OTReg.(NB)
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eBook#3
E-BOOK NO.4
Therapist working with children with
Enliven Your Child’s
and without disability, author Christel Days with Educational Acti
and Parenting Best Prac
vities
Seeberger, has seen first-hand the chal- tices
lenges you likely face each and every
day as teacher and parent. You will find
Christel’s best solutions, best practices
and guidelines that she uses every day
helping to solve the challenges parents BY:
Christel K.A. Seeberger
BSc.O.T., OT(c), OTR,
OTReg.(
and teachers face raising children.
NB)
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com/enliven-your-childs-days-with-ed-
eBook#4
ucational-activities-and-parenting-best-
practices_ebook/ for more information.
E-BOOK NO.5
All About
I strongly believe that if you follow the Motor Skills
advice in All About Motor Skills, you’ll
For children and teens
developmental coordina
who may have dysprax
may have a developmental
tion disorder, children
disability, children
ia or
who
who simply struggle with
see your child’s motor ability improve.
their motor skills
or children who want to
improve their
motor skills
And with the improvement you’ll see an
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esteem and happiness.
Christel K.A. Seeberger
BSc.O.T., OT(c), OTR,
OTReg.(
BY:
NB)
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Sensory and Behavior Strategies
For parents and siblings who have a
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Book, Sensory and Behavior Strategies
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Sensory and Behavior Strategies pro-
vides the guidance, strategies and solu-
Help for Learning Disabilities
Has your child been diagnosed as having
a learning disability? Are you worried
that your child has symptoms of a
learning disability like Attention Deficit
Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) or
symptoms of Attention Deficit Disor-
der (ADD)? Does your child have an
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maybe a Non-Verbal Learning Disabil-
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The Best Ways to Teach Self-Care
Skills
Teaching self-care skills, when they are
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cal development. Coming up with self-
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your child is usually time-consuming and
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the struggles that parents face daily.
There is an easier path.
E-BOOK NO.6
tions you may have been searching for. Sensory and Behavior
Whether your loved one faces challenges Strategies
of oversensitivity, under sensitivity and/
or motor clumsiness you’ll find dozens
of strategies throughout the eBook. Each
of the 11 chapters zeros in on a specific
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Christel K.A. Seeberger
BSc.O.T., OT(c), OTR,
OTReg.(NB)
BY:
yourself in.
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com/sensory_processing_sensory_in-
tegration_and_behavior_strategies/ for
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E-BOOK NO.7
In my new eBook, Help for Learning Help
for Learning Disabilities
Disabilities, I share my best strategies
from my past 20 years as an Occupa-
tional Therapist with solutions and tips
to help those who have or help a child
with a learning disability. You’ll find the
strategies and guidance in each of the Christel K.A. Seeberger
BSc.O.T., OT(c), OTR,
OTReg.(
BY:
NB)
nine chapters provided in a step-by-step
format.
Visit http://www.totalabilitysolutions.
com/help_for_learning_disabilities/ for
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E-BOOK NO.8
The Best Ways
to Teach Self-Care Skills
In The Best Ways to Teach Self Care
Skills, I share my experience and best
practices based on two decades of
working with parents and their chil-
dren. Each of the chapters provides
key insights and strategies to help you Christel K.A. Seeberger
BSc.O.T., OT(c), OTR,
OTReg.(
BY:
NB)
and your child overcome the challenges
presented by teaching and learning daily
living skills.
Visit http://www.totalabilitysolutions.
com/the_best_ways_to_teach_self_
care_skills/ for more information.
eBook#8
Applied Behavioral Analysis
Programs Strategies-An
Occupational Therapy Approach
Has your child been diagnosed with an au-
tism spectrum disorder (ASD)?
Have the words Autism, Asperger’s, Perva-
sive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise
Specified been said to you? Are you now
looking for help?
Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is one of
the best approaches to teach appropriate
communication, social, academic, motor, and
behavioural skills to children and adolescents
with an autism spectrum disorder.
In Applied Behavioral Analysis Programs
Strategies you’ll find specific programs,
E-BOOK NO.9
activities and charts that allow you to Occupational Therapy
Applied Behavioral Ana
teach skills and track progress for fine mo- Programs Strategies
lysis
tor skills; gross motor skills; praxis, motor
coordination and motor planning; self-care
and self-help skills; sensory processing
skills and visual perceptual skills.
This combined ABA-Occupational Therapy Christel K.A. Seeberger
BY:
BSc.O.T., OT(c), OTR,
OTReg.(NB)
approach helps autistic children learn
the skills they need to succeed at home,
school and in life.
Visit http://www.totalabilitysolutions.com/
applied-behavioral-analysis-programs-
strategies/ for more information. eBook#9
About the Author: Christel K.A. Seeberger

As founder and president of TOTAL ABILITY™, Christel leads

her team of occupational therapists to provide MOBILE occupa-
tional therapy treatment in Saint John (children, adults, seniors),
Fredericton (children) and Moncton (children), New Brunswick,
Canada.

Christel’s personal mission is to bring occupational therapy to the

world and so she launched TOTAL ABILITY Solutions™ to share
downloadable occupational therapy eBooks and advice, for any-
one who wants do-it-yourself-help.

Christel K. A. Seeberger, BSc.O.T., OT(c), OTR, OTReg(NB) has

practiced Occupational Therapy in Québec, Maine, Florida and
New Brunswick with clients of all ages in all settings: home,
school, work, clinic, hospital, daycare, summer camp, special care
home and nursing home.

Christel is registered to practice occupational therapy in New

Brunswick and certified to practice in the United States.

All About Motor Skills 29

This document is for informational purposes only.
It does not replace the advice of a health care professional.
© 2013 Christel K.A. Seeberger Professional Corporation Inc. doing business as Total Ability™
www.totalabilitysolutions.com