Two foot balance in standing

Occupational therapy

﻿Hi. I'm really looking forward to our lesson today. I hope you are too. Before we get started, this is just a little reminder. We're here to support any approaches you might already be using and any work you might have already been set. We know that this lesson is going to be going out to so many different children and families. So if you're not sure about anything or have any questions, then please do contact your usual therapy team. Hi there. Today, we are going to work on our balancing ninja skills by standing on both our feet and being really, really strong. Let's have some fun. Why do we need to practise balancing on both our feet? Well, if you think about it, we spend most of our day on both our feet. We do all sorts of activities and games that use our balance when we're standing. And this means that it helps keep us up and stops us from falling over too easily or too often. There are loads of games and activities that we can use to practise our balance with. For today's lesson, you're going to need a nice area to stand that's clear, some tape that you can put on the floor, like some masking tape. If you have something wobbly or unsteady to stand on, that would be great, like a wobble cushion or just a normal cushion. And also a simple game that you can do on the floor. Restart the video once you've got everything ready. Our first activity is simply standing with our feet together and our ankles together. How long do you think you can balance with your eyes shut? Okay, next, we're going to try putting an object at our feet and bending over, touching the object, and seeing how well you can do to not fall over or to move your feet. Let's watch the video.

Next we're going to work on balancing on both feet, same time, while we're quite still. Okay, do this as a little test. How long can you stand on both feet with your eyes shut? Yeah? If you find yourself a little wobbly, open your eyes. Okay, what we want to do now, standing on our feet, side by side, we're going to work at moving down. If you're feeling a little bit worried, try not to move as low, okay? So where you're finding your toys, you're going to reach down and pick them up. Okay. You can throw it in, into your toy boxes, or into the shoe box. When you are feeling more confident, you can bend down, and you can say, pick up some balls, or pick up the from the dirty clothes on your floor, pick up the wet towel after your bath. Then you can hang it up. Okay? So balancing.

Now pause the video, and have a go at doing that. Another really good activity for working on balancing on both feet is doing a pretend tightrope walk. So for this activity, you're going to need the tape, you're going to put some on the floor, make sure that you've checked with your parent or carer that it's fine for you to put the tape on the floor. And you're going to stand with one foot in front of the other with the toes of one foot touching the heel of your other foot. Okay, how long can you hold this balance for? Now try it with closing your eyes. How long can you do it for now? Excellent. Let's watch the video.

One front of the other, and you just need to stand there, one foot in front of the other. Try and see how you stand like that and challenge yourself. And we're going to go one foot in front of the other, heels touch your toes, and we're going to close our eyes and see if we can do this and how long we can do it for, before we need to open our eyes and . Okay.

Pause the video and have a go. For this activity, it's called tightrope balance and Simon Says, or says. I want you to stand at a wall or a door and stand on your tightrope, so the tape that you put down. Ask your adults or your carer to give you instructions such as touch the red spot with your left hand or... Reach down low. Make sure that the area around you is clear and see if you can stay steady while doing this task. Pause to have a go. Now we're going to try standing on a really wobbly surface. Okay. So let's watch the video and see what's next.

I love using this little wobble cushions. And you may have seen them in your class. Little cushion. And a really good test of your core strength is to stand on both feet, so get on first, put one foot all the way down, and then, you're going to balance, okay? You may just practise balancing until you feel stronger. As you get stronger, you can start bending down, picking up some toys. Whoa, and then slowly coming back up. Okay? So again, bending down, and again you can throw some balls. There, okay. I'll show you that again. Standing on the wobble cushion, get your balance, core nice and strong. As you get more confident, bend down, pick up the toy, and yoo hoo, Buster, catch. Bend down, maybe this time a twist at your side. Pick it up. Oh, catch yourself and, ready, where am I going to throw it? Don't throw too hard, 'cause that will really unbalance you. Okay. So know how far, practise, practise practise. So which way does he think I'm going to throw it? Little throw, whoop. . Okay. Bend down, pick up two at once, whoa, get your balance, and... Throw. And again... Throw. Okay? Really good exercise to strengthen your core.

Pause while you try that. There are loads of things that we can do to make this activity easier or harder. So you can try and throw and catch while you're standing in this position. When you're on a wobbly surface, try and bend down to reach for something and then stand up and throw it. Or if you're playing a game, put the activities on either side of you, so you have to reach left and right, okay. Another good activity for this is magnetic fishing. And remember, if you were finding it quite tricky, ask the adults or the carer with you if they can just hold your hand, or once you're getting better at that, and you're still a bit nervous, ask them to just stay close by. So you know that if you did wobble or stumble, they'll be there to help you. Remember, do the best for you. Practise, practise, practise. And make sure the games you choose are fun so that you work for longer and get better quicker. Thanks for listening. As always, if you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your efforts at standing on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

Two foot balance in standing

Two foot balance in standing

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