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Kids need good sensory processing skills in order to learn and behave well. This easy to read article from children’s occupational therapists in Sydney’s northern beaches is a helpful guide for parents and
Call us : (02) 9938 5419
Kids need good sensory processing skills in order to learn and behave well. This easy to read article from children’s occupational therapists in Sydney’s northern beaches is a helpful guide for parents and teachers.
Your child’s body is like a car engine, sometimes it runs on high, sometimes it runs on low, and sometimes it runs ‘just right’
There is a state of alertness that can be considered optimal for your child’s learning. In this state, your child is alert and attentive, their muscles are not droopy, and they can concentrate with little effort.
Ideally, this is the state you want your child to be in most of the time, especially when he or she is required to learn at preschool or school.
By learning about self-regulation, you and your child’s teachers and carers can work together to keep your child’s ‘engine’ running well and so support their learning and behaviour.
Getting kids bodies ‘just right’ so that they can learn
For most of us, it’s impossible to attain a ‘just right’ level and stay there all day long. ‘Just right’ is a range in which our brains and bodies function best for different tasks.
You can be ‘just right’ for reading quietly, but you may need to adjust your level of alertness to be ‘just right’ for a football game. ‘Just right’ can be thought of as ‘just right for the task at hand.’
To learn and behave well, your child’s body needs to be in this ‘just right’ zone, and that’s what we, as Occupational Therapists who support children’s sensory needs, teach kids how to do. We help them learn to adjust their ‘engine’ levels so that they can reach their academic, social and emotional potential.
Your child’s brain needs stimulation in order to concentrate and perform well. The old adage, “sit still and pay attention!” is not physiologically possible.
Our bodies can sit still OR pay attention, but it’s rare that they can do both at the same time…and this is particularly the case with children!
How can you set your child’s brain up for success?
The bottom part of the brain (brainstem), the back part of the brain (cerebellum) and many other parts of the brain are stimulated through ‘heavy work’ to the muscles and joints. Typically, heavy work activities that pushing, pulling, lifting, hanging, climbing, tugging or towing.
When your child’s ‘engine’ is in high gear and participating in heavy work, a message is sent to the rest of their brain and body that says “Chill out…calm down…I am not in danger here. I can relax and focus.”
When your child’s engine is in low gear and he or she participates in heavy work, a message is sent to the rest of the brain and body that says, “Be alert! Wake up! I need to get going and focus!”
Why is heavy work important?
When your child’s muscles and joints participate in the right kind of activities that involve pushing, pulling, lifting, hanging, climbing, tugging or towing they are better able to manage their ‘engine’.
So, if your child’s engine runs faster in the presence of distractions like noise, movement, tastes or even feelings like frustration, excitement or disappointment, heavy work can give a ‘chill out, it’s okay’ message to their brain so that they can re-focus on what they need to be doing and also keep their emotions in check.
In the same way, if your child’s body is under-reacting to situations and just can’t get it together to perform everyday tasks, heavy work can help them to achieve a balance between high or low states so that their body and brain can ‘wake up’, think, react and behave in a calm and organised manner.
Activities that can support your child’s sensory processing
A movement break, including heavy work, is often the most effective way to help your child alter their engine level when it is in ‘high’ or ‘low’ gear.
Heavy work can be offered to the whole body, or just parts of it.
As occupational therapists, we frequently support children whose engines need a ‘tune up’ and often recommend activities like tug of war games or fidgeting with putty to stimulate the muscles in kids’ hands and arms. This can send a calming message to their brain and help your child to function better.
Chewing gum, eating crunchy foods or slurping thick drinks through a straw are also very effective ways to give heavy work to the muscles in your child’s jaw. These are particularly helpful if your child is at preschool and school and