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6 Fun Animal Poses To Improve Your Child’s Gross Motor Skills

Animal poses/walks are a fun and interactive way to get your child to move, improve gross motor milestones, and work on strengthening, motor planning, flexibility and endurance.

Here are some fun animal walks/poses to try with your child:

To make it more interactive or to target speech encourage your child to make the animal noises when completing the activity.

Flamingo stand

This is a fun way to work on single leg balance. Have your child stand on one foot for 5-10 seconds. Make sure to do both sides. If this is challenging for your child you can use a chair or counter for balance. If your child is able to stand on 1 leg for 30 seconds or more, try challenging them by having them jump forward on 1 leg and landing on the same leg.

Bear crawl

Have your child walk on all fours like a bear. Try to have them keep their arms and legs relatively straight. Bear crawl is a good way to work on core and leg strengthening.

Crab walk

Have your child start on their bottom and push up on to arms and legs. Lift your bottom off the ground and walk forward or backwards on your hands. This can be a fun way to work on arm and leg strengthening and improving wrist flexibility.

Bunny hop

Have your child place both feet together and jump forward. If the bunny hop is too easy for your child, you can have them jump over obstacles or in an out of a hula hoop. The bunny hop can help improve your child’s leg strength and improve their jumping ability.

Frog Jump

Have your child go into a deep squat and place their hands on the ground. Have your child push through hands and feet and jump forward. It can even be fun to incorporate a leap frog game.

Inchworms

Inchworms are a fun way to work on hip strengthening with your kid. Have the child go into a squat position. While in the squat position, have the child slowly move 1 leg and then step with their other leg. To challenge the child more add a resistance band around their ankle.

-Alexa Bachmann, Physical Therapist

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My 9 year old just completed about 9 months of weekly speech sessions (due to his stuttering) with Matt Hagge at LLA and we are thrilled with the experience and results. What I thought might be a negative (what kid really wants to go to speech class?) was made very positive by Matt, and my son never hesitated or complained when we talked about class. He really enjoyed it and really took what Matt taught him to heart. His speech has been greatly improved and we definitely recommend LLA. Thank you so much!

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I cannot say enough good things about LLA Therapy. My daughter was a client of Teal Simmons’ for approximately 2 years and was just released from speech therapy! She was diagnosed with Apraxia in 2015 and worked with Teal twice a week. Through Teal’s application of PROMPT therapy, my daughter had age-appropriate speech after one year. All of the staff we interacted with at LLA were absolutely wonderful. They really care about what they do and making sure your child achieves their goals.

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LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for my son as well as my family! My son always asks, "When can I go see Ms. Jeannine again, is it Monday??" He has also made huge gains in only 5 months! I would highly recommend LLA and have already shared my experience with friends looking for services!

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We are so grateful for our Speech Therapist Ms.Teal. We have seen a great improvement with our sons confidence and communication abilities since we have started "Prompt" therapy. What we love the most about LLA and Ms. Teal is that Kohl feels comfortable and relaxed which has played a critical role in his progress. Thank you Ms. Teal for all you have done.

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They have helped in numerous ways. Speech, OT and behavioral. I've had numerous compliments on my son's progress thanks in very large part to LLA. I would recommend LLA before I recommend our local children's hospitals, though they are good, they don't have the staff that LLA does.

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We had a great experience with Matt Hagge at LLA! Our Middle School age son was becoming very conscious of his voice, which is nasal due to a cleft palate. Matt helped him to better form his sounds and project his voice in a way that makes the unavoidable nasality less noticeable.Our son is more confident and outgoing & even took on a speaking role in the church play. Matt has the perfect personality to relate with our son, and we would recommend him to anyone needing speech therapy services!

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