Scooter Boards are generally a plastic or wooden board with wheels and sometimes a handle. They are probably one of the top pieces of equipment chosen by children in OT, as they are seen as fun (motivating!). Scooter boards are used in OT to meet a number of goals and target specific skills.
Gross Motor Skills Development
Strengthening Different Muscle Groups:
Children can lie on their stomachs and use their arms to propel themselves, which helps strengthen their upper body and core muscles.
Children can kneel on the board and maintain core strength to self-propel with arms - even harder with scooter board paddles (see photo below)
Children can hold on with arms, and propel with feet, strengthening lower limb/ankle muscles.
Using a scooterboard on different surfaces can support different levels of muscle strengthening (i.e. carpet is far harder to propel on than smooth flooring).
Bilateral Coordination:
Activities involving scooter boards can enhance coordination as children learn to use their hands and feet in a synchronised manner. this can increase skills required for swimming and bike riding or scooting.
Using ropes or therabands, children can push or pull themselves or each other, strengthening different muscle groups and promoting bilateral coordination.
Fine Motor Skills
Hand-Eye Coordination: Maneuvering around obstacles and collecting items can improve hand-eye coordination.
Grip and Manipulation:
Games that involve reaching for objects while moving on the scooter board can improve grasp and manipulation.
Activities that require children to hold onto the edges of the scooter board can enhance grip strength and fine motor control.
Sensory Integration
Vestibular Input: Rolling on a scooter board provides vestibular input, which is crucial for balance and spatial orientation.
Proprioception: Using a scooter board helps children understand the position of their body in space, which is essential for developing proprioceptive sense.
Calming Effect: The rhythmic motion and deep pressure input of moving oneself on a scooter board can have a calming effect, which is beneficial for those with sensory processing disorders.
Cognitive Skills
Problem-Solving: Navigating an obstacle course with a scooter board encourages problem-solving and planning.
Following Directions: Scooter board activities often involve following multi-step instructions, which helps with sequencing and memory.
Social Skills
Tag Games: Modify traditional tag games to include scooter boards, encouraging fast reflexes and strategic thinking.
Relay Races: Team-based relay races can foster cooperation and teamwork.
Turn-Taking and Sharing: Group activities with scooter boards can promote turn-taking, sharing, and cooperative play.
Communication: Engaging in scooter board games often requires communication, helping children practice verbal and non-verbal communication skills.
Emotional Regulation
Practicing something that is fun, but still difficult can help to increase resilience and self-confidence.
During coorperative or competitive games, Children can practice winning and losing, and managing related feelings like excitement, jealousy or disappointment.
Somet important safety pointers for Scooter Board use:
Supervision: Always supervise children to prevent accidents.
Protective Gear: Use helmets and pads if necessary to protect against falls.
Appropriate Environment: Ensure the play area is free of hazards and has a smooth, non-slip surface.
We hope this series helps you understand how the use of certain resources in occupational therapy!
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