Do you want to make your occupational therapy (OT) sessions not only more fun, but also extremely helpful to students? With the use of a yoga ball, your kiddos will be totally engaged while developing a ton of skills! Our therapy department has a few in our sensory rooms to use during OT sessions. These are relatively inexpensive and last for quite a while! I find them to be a great investment. Here are five simple ideas for OT activities that use a yoga ball!
1. Yoga Balls in a Sensory Routine
Yoga balls can provide vestibular and proprioceptive input for students simultaneously. Students who are sensory seekers may benefit from yoga ball activities during their sensory breaks. I often have students lay on therapy balls on their stomachs and do “walk outs” to include an element of heavy work to support regulation. Some students enjoy rolling the ball up a wall to see if they can lift it above their heads! If you are looking for something to help organize sensory breaks or diets, the Sensory Self Regulation Toolkit visuals are great! I wrote another blog about how I use this resource as a sensory menu. Check it out!
If you are interested in more information about “sensory diets” in general, check out another one of my blogs on the topic! I often include yoga ball activities are part of my students’ sensory routines. Are you planning to use a yoga ball in your calm down corner? Get a FREE calm down center checklist HERE!
2. Fine Motor or Visual Perceptual Activities
When people think of OT, they often immediately associate it with fine motor skills. While many school-based goals may be related to these skills, before a student can develop dexterity, they must have good “proximal stability”. This includes skills like shoulder and core support/strength which can easily be address with yoga ball activities! I tend to do activities prone [on their stomach] on a yoga ball as a gross motor “warm up” or throughout a fine motor session.
I think one of the most under-rated intervention tools is a puzzle! They work on so many skills [a conversation for another post!], and children are less and less exposed to puzzles nowadays. I often have students lay over a peanut ball [like the one pictured above] and they “roll out” to pick up each puzzle piece! This is also great for core and upper body strength!
3. Yoga Ball Activities for Crossing Midline
Do you have students who lack hand dominance or have difficulty crossing midline? This is an important developmental skill that may not have been mastered in all of your school-aged OT students. One of my favorite ways to target this is by playing games seated on a yoga ball [also great for trunk rotation and core strength!]. As you can see in the activity set up below, I sometimes have students sit on a yoga ball and twist/reach with one hand to the opposite side to pick up or put in [in this case] squigs or other manipulative. The squigs have an added bonus of hand strength practice!
Check out my blog for more tips on supporting crossing midline. That blog includes ideas that use tools other than yoga balls and squigs!
4. Classroom Seating Options
OTs love to address seating accommodations and positioning in the school setting. Some students require more movement or core activation to be alert and ready to learn. Yoga balls in a base can be an option for seating for some students. I would caution against using this type of “chair” for students with limited core strength, impulse control or balance, however!
Simply Special Ed has quite a few blogs on flexible seating [HERE] that you can check out for other ideas!
5. Obstacle Courses
If you have read any of my other blogs, you likely are aware that obstacle courses are one of my favorite OT interventions! You can do SO many thing that specifically incorporate each students’ unique goals with these types of activities! One idea of a sensory tool to use in an obstacle course is a yoga ball! Have the student bounce a certain number of times before moving to the next activity. Hoppy balls [like that shown above] are a great way to get kids moving in a race or obstacle course context! We have already discussed core exercises like ball walk outs, and with close supervision, you can have students reach for things behind them while laying on their backs over a yoga ball! The possibilities are endless!
To continue reading about how to build skills using obstacle courses, take a look at my blog on the topic!
There are so many ways to use yoga balls in OT sessions! I’d love for your to share ideas you have in the comments! These few suggestions have hopefully gotten your wheels turning so that you can utilize yoga balls in your upcoming sessions!
