My 4yo is a very clumsy mover... anyone encountered similar?

[Aranea]

4yo dd1 is fine (I mean fab) in all respects but her gross motor skills are poor.

She looks quite funny running, takes ages to stand up from sitting on the floor, has only just learnt to jump with both feet from a low step, and gets frightened on trampolines if there are other people bouncing.

She is making progress but it is very slow, and her nursery have raised it as a concern as she will be starting school in September.

She's always been scared of physical stuff like swings and roundabouts, so I think confidence has a lot to do with it. But it's presumably not the only thing, or she wouldn't have trouble standing up from sitting on the floor I think.

Does anyone have any experience of anything like this? Or any suggestions as to how I can help her? I am worried that she will be overwhelmed in a playground with big active kids, and concerned that at some point children will start to notice and tease her.

I would advise that you get a referral from your GP for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy. It does sound like there might be some issues with her gross motor skills development, and it would really help her to get in the system asap.

The good news is that with a programme of physio and OT she will really progress.

Basically is sounds like her core body strength is underdeveloped, and she might have poor muscle tone. Games like wheelbarrows and bear walks, jumping in and out of hoops on the floor, plus throwing and catching game, swimming are all great things you can do with her in the meantime to develop her core strength.

I am not a health professional, but looked after a child with CP and worked on exactly these things with him, so I do know that they work with practice.

Its also important to work on it because it might impact on her fine motor skills such as writing.

Brain Gym or Primary Movement exercises might help her, they helped my DD.

Chocol, braingym is great, i used their stuff with my little charge, ie, figures of eight etc. But OP really needs expert diagnosis of help with this. Early intervention is key. My Ds also had probs in a variety of areas, and is a bit of a poster boy for early intervention. Get it early, sort it out.

thank you both. I have been to see GP this week who has referred her for an assessment, but it'll probably take about 3 months to get that assessment appointment apparently. So I am concerned that there won't be any time to help her before she starts school (assuming there are specific things I ought to be doing with her).

I do take her swimming. Not sure how much difference it makes tbh - she isn't brave so I don't know how physically challenging it is for her as she just floats tranquilly around!

I will try the games you suggest salome, good idea. I was thinking today that she was complaining of 'tired legs' after a relatively unchallenging walk, and wondering about her muscles.

I don't know what brain gym or primary movement are - will google.

Assuming NHS stuff is all very slow, do you think there is any point in trying to pay to have someone look at her faster, so she might get off to a better start in September? What would I do? Take her to a paediatrician as a first port of call?

I would wait for the NHS asessment. Don't worry about the other children - they are very unlikely to notice.

My Dd has NF1 a condition that means she has poor co-ordination, there was a lot of tripping up . She has poor muscle tone in her thighs, swimming helped. Do you have your own trampoline? it really helped DD. She also goes to a cranial oestopath, the difference this made when she was younger was remarkable.

have a look at her toes. Does the little one curl under the others or are they all straight?
Look up hypermobility (a condition that can be corrected with special inserts in your shoes) to eliminate it .

Hi Arenea, as the others have said an assessment is the best place to start. It may be something totally innocent, were either you or her Dad like this as a child, because things like hypermobility & low muscle tone are often hereditary but the impact as a child grows can have little impact on adult life.

Swimming is the bes texcercise possible, my ds2 has Cerebral palsy, generalised lowd muscle tone & Autism, his Physio always recommends swimming.
Also excercise should be little but often, inducing pain can be counterproductive so allow her to walk in short bursts also cycling is fantastic, even if its a trike with a big handle thingy, if she is doing some of the work it will all help.

A physio will assess things like how she moves from sitting to standing & give you ideas on how to improve things.

I know wiht my ds2 moving from sitting to standing was/is a problem & we do lots of pelvic/core stability muscle strengthening type stuff.
Do you have a gymn ball at home, if so sitting her on the top of the ball - you can help support her balance to start with but encouraging her to balance on top is great for core stability & fun too.

Even things like tiggling & playfighting on the bed ar good little workouts for their tummy muscles as they will struggle to escape the tiggles they are having to use all different muscles.
What is she like moving from laying to sitting, does she find it difficult.

I'm in no way an expert (so please get expert advice) but have tried lots of things over the last 6 years with ds2, if its fun & she is enjoying it you aren't really going to do any harm.

Tickles not tiggles
Sorry about all the typos & rubbish spelling in a hurry to go & sort out ds2 (neglectful mother)

My ds is 4, and has an ususual gait. But since his father does too, I wasn't worried about it. Also has very developed calf muscles as his father did as a child.
It was actually his teacher who had concerns and asked me, indirectly, to have the gp check him over and get a referral.

He also trips up all the time and has problems jumping and hopping and complains of his legs hurting after short walks.

I'm waiting for a referral, but want to let you know that he hasn't encountered any problems with his classmates about this, and his teacher has been very supportive. Also the GP wasn't too worried about it either but made the referral to follow the concerns through to a proper resolution.

hi dd went to a specalist about it and in girls it is quite common for them to be clumsy, apparently something to do with their hips i think. dd was a late walker but has always been scared of the wobbly bridge at the park and has only just wanted to scooter and go on bikes. doctor said very common something they will grow out of

She definitely doesn't have hypermobility - if anything she is a bit on the stiff side. And neither me nor her dad were like this as children afaik. Certainly not me, anyway. Though neither of us are exactly sporty

I've been humming and hawing about getting a trampoline - I think it would really help her if she would actually bounce on it and not end up pretending it was a castle or something, which seems likely knowing her. And we have a v small garden and it would take up all the lawn!

She doesn't much like being tickled, she gets cross and tells me to stop!

She is so proud of how fast she can run, and how high she can jump, I can't bear the thought of her being crushed from a great height by children who actually can run fast and jump high!

Aranea its just a matter of finding what works for you & your dd. If you feel excercise will help then build on the things she likes doing.
Don't invest ££££ on something that you don't think she will enjoy.
As angie said it may just be completely harmless & nothing at all to worry about.

The thing ds2's paed & OT always stress is the importance of excercise & therapy not not feeling like therapy & just being built in to the normal daily stuff.
water (even the bath) is very good for stiffness I always do ds2 leg stretches in the bath as I'm attempting to wash his feet!

Thanks for all the advice. I will try to summon up some reserves of imagination. Am not great at this, especially in the face of lack of enthusiasm from dd!

Brain Gym and Primary Movement look interesting but I can't see any obviously helpful books of exercises. Any recommendations?

Aranea

I've copied this below about Gym trail, They run something similar in my ds's school but in his school it isn't only those identified with sn that take part. They include children that could maybe just do with a little help with motor skills or confidence.

Sorry about the length .. but I can't do links.

The objective
To improve the performance of a group of pupils with special educational needs so that they could take part confidently in a lunchtime gym trail.

The starting point
The school identified pupils in years 1 to 4 with special needs ranging from behavioural difficulties and attention deficit disorder to dyspraxia and muscular dystrophy. All were on individual education plans and some were statemented. Their self-esteem was low and many felt that they weren?t good at anything. In PE and school sport activities their control, balance and spatial awareness were poor and they did not think about what they were doing. They took up to 15 minutes to get changed for PE and in many cases needed help with buttons and shoes. Their lack of coordination and concentration carried over into other lessons and their handwriting and drawing skills were particularly poor.

we decided to focus on increasing the pupils? confidence and skills by encouraging them to take part in a lunchtime gym trail.

Each of the pupils was assessed by the special needs coordinator using 12 indicators taken from the county?s gym trail pack: balance (walking along a curved wall); basic movement (eg running with a relaxed posture); coordination (catching, throwing and kicking a ball); fine motor skills (eg pencil control, threading); mid-line crossover (eg doing up buttons and laces); self-esteem; spatial awareness; symmetrical activity (eg star jumping); visual discrimination (eg spot the difference); visual sequencing (eg copying patterns); visual tracking (eg reading from left to right without jumping); handwriting. They were also asked to draw a picture of a person.

The pupils then began to use the gym trail four lunchtimes a week for 20 minutes. Working in groups of three or four, they were told what time to be there and were expected to arrive with their PE kit and on time. Getting changed was an important part of the trail: they were given a hoop in which to undress and were expected to get changed by themselves (although some needed help at first).

A circuit of about six activities was laid out, which changed every two weeks. Activities were designed to slow pupils down and force them to concentrate on precision, coordination and control. The first circuit, for example, included throwing a beanbag in a box, walking along a rope, bouncing and catching a tennis ball, pegging clothes pegs on a line, moving a leg front to back and crossing it over left to right, and walking backwards toe to heel. The teaching assistant marked down whether each pupil could perform each activity at the start of week one and again at the end of week two. Each fortnight she met with the PE and special needs coordinators to discuss any areas that the pupils were finding particularly difficult. Together they modified the trail to accommodate these needs, making the new activities more or less challenging.

Before the gym trail work, the pupils? lack of coordination carried over into their handwriting and drawing: when asked to draw a person, some of the pictures had a head but no body, others a body but no head, most had no facial details and one pupil drew a hedgehog. By the end of the term, there was a vast improvement in pupils? pictures, which showed more pencil control and greater awareness of the human body. Teachers particularly noticed that the pupils? drawings were much bigger, which they felt reflected their increased confidence about themselves and their bodies. The people they drew were far more defined and had a body with arms and legs and a head with a face.

Many teachers have commented on how the pupils? confidence, willingness to join in and concentration have improved in class. One parent wrote to the school to thank the teachers for increasing her son?s confidence, as a result of which he is much more willing to take part in activities outside school.

Wow, anon, that sounds amazing.

sounds a lot like my little boy who has dyspraxia - also has problems with swings and roundabouts, our occupational therapist has an explanation about it, something about the fact that he doesn't respond to movement in the normal way and balance isn't right. We do sensory integration therapy. Why don't you go to a child development specialist to check. Can pay to go privately and get there much quicker, though you will probably eventually want to be in the NHS system if there is a problem. I think its definitely worth doing though. We go to a great person in London if that's your area and you want details.

I am super hypermobile and i fall over a fair bit.
DS is really clumsy, today he managed to fall over a chair that was nowhere near him, he kind of veers off into things when walking, he is covered in cuts and bruises from where he falls over so often.
He is also scared of alot of physical things like swings and slides ect.
Im not to worried about it he is fine with everything else.