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9 Activities That Promote Body Awareness

Body Awareness, or proprioception, is the sense of self-movement and knowing where one’s body is in space. It is important for motor planning and coordination, and helps in moving through space and navigating around objects or people in the environment.

Children with poor body awareness may:

  • Have difficulty learning or imitating new movements
  • Have difficulty with gross motor skills
  • Be overly clumsy
  • Use extreme force (such as with toys, stomps feet, colors with a lot of pressure)
  • Prefer to be in smaller rooms as opposed to wide open spaces
  • Enjoy and/or give bear hugs
  • Not tolerate being in the dark or do not like closing their eyes 

Try these activities to improve body awareness!

1. Simon Says: When playing this game have them imitate movements or poses, and/or point to body parts. For example: “Simon Says touch your nose,” or “Simon says jump like a frog.”

2. Twister: This game helps them understand left from right, and identify their feet from their hands (best for ages 6+)

3. Sing and move along to songs such as “Hokey Pokey” or “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”

4. Practice building a person out of different materials such as playdough, or practice drawing a person, and then have them identify body parts.

5. Mr. Potato Head: Not only do they have to identify body parts, but you can also work on spatial concepts by describing where they go. For example: “His eyes go above his nose,” or “His hat goes on top of his head.”

6. Imitate animal movements such as “crawl like a bear,” “jump like a frog,” “walk like a crab,” etc.

7. Do cut and paste activities, sticker activities, or puzzles that label body parts.

8. Focus on “heavy work” (activities that provide proprioceptive input). This includes activities such as animal walks (donkey kicks, bear crawls, crab walks), deep squeezes/bear hugs, kneading playdough, and wall push ups. Incorporate activities that involve pushing/pulling/carrying heavier objects such as taking out the trash or pushing/pulling a wagon or cart with toys in it.

9. Do an obstacle course and incorporate spatial concepts when explaining the course. For example: Crawl under the table, jump over the pillow, walk between the cones, hop on your right foot.                  

-Marla Griswold, OTR/L

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Crystal Scheibe

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Great place, glad we found them. Been going to Medina over 2 months now and he loves Lauryn and Kyler. Wish they had more ABA therapy places available... live in Wooster and long drive everyday.

Karrie Swan LaRock

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My 11 year old son has dyslexia and has made noticeable gains in working At LLA THERAPY. Katie is strong in her approach toward him and also keeps him comfortable enough to perform well. We will continue visiting both the Fairlawn and Hudson offices and recommend them highly.

Ron Monroe

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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!

Heather Dougherty-Pantoja

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My son’s Occupational Therapist, Jess, is an amazing OT! She gives practical tips on working with my son at home and school!

Terri Apgar

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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.

Kelli Geisler Davisson

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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!

Victoria Hansford-Price

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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.

Laura Lee Hogsett

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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.

Amy Furukawa

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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!

Jessica Havalotti

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LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for our daughter. I would highly recommend LLA. Miss Grace was so amazing and I can't believe how quickly our daughter showed improvement. Thank you!
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