~ Twister~

3 ways to Foster Development of Motor Planning, Body Awareness, Strength and Coordination

We all know the classic game that makes you move like a pretzel! This game is a fantastic tool for teaching color identification, right/left discrimination, motor planning, body and spatial awareness, and working on strength all while having a fun time! Here are a few ways to work on skills with this kid favorite!

1. Regular Gameplay: Twister is the ideal game for working on a lot of our goals as therapists. Kids have to listen to instructions, visually scan to find an open colored dot, identify which foot or hand to place there, and then figure out how to move their body in a way that gets them to the dot without losing balance. This game play helps work on strengthening core muscles and overall balance skills. Multi-tasking throughout the game helps build higher levels of coordination and motor planning required for kids to grow and learn how to play with their peers.

• Fun tip: if your child has trouble identifying right and left, you can mark one side with a sticker and have them remember ‘sticker side is right’ or you can mark with ‘L’ and ‘R’ on their hands!

2. Add a fun Speech Challenge: You can put words, pictures, or even speech sounds on cards on each color dot so when your child puts their hand on that one, they have to say the word, label the picture, or repeat the speech sound to work on strengthening and speech at the same time!

3.  Add a fun Sch0ol-related Challenge: If your child becomes frustrated with certain subjects, make it into a game with math problems, telling time, spelling words, etc. The sky is the limit! Not only will this be more fun than regular studying, but it will also help engage your child in play which helps with memory and retention!

 

If you’re interested in more of our Toys that Teach series, keep an eye out for new posts by following us on our Facebook page and checking out the Blog!