GM.A.21 ON TUMMY, WEIGHT ON FOREARMS, REACHES FOR A TOY

This is a balance skill, necessary before the child can play efficiently on her tummy.

As the child reaches forward for a toy, the side she takes her weight on becomes slightly longer. Get down on the floor and try this for yourself! Itis important to recognise this muscle lengthening, as it applies to all our movement and is a vital part or balancing. What happens is that your spine bends sideways, with the side you are leaning on becomes the long side. If this does not happen, proper balance cannot develop, movement looks ungainly and excessive caution about movement may develop.

How to Assess

Method: Place your child on her tummy on a firm surface with attractive toys placed 15 cm away from her head. Score plus if your child transfers her weight to one side, leaning on one elbow, and reaches out to grasp a toy with the other hand.

How to Teach

At first you may need to help your child to balance on the supporting elbow, so that she does not become too frustrated in her attempts.

Place your child on her tummy, resting on her elbows, with an interesting toy placed slightly in front and to the side of her head. From behind (you may find it easiest to kneel, straddling the child) lean her weight over onto the supporting elbow, by placing your hand under her reaching arm almost in the armpit. Ensure that the weight-bearing side remains ‘long’, while the reaching side is very slightly concave. Support the elbow she is leaning on by gripping her upper arm. Then change sides.

Repeat this often, so that your child becomes familiar with the movement.

Next, start to stretch out the reaching hand to touch the toy, after you have transferred her weight to the supporting elbow. Gradually lessen your support and assistance to the reaching hand but maintain your support of the elbow on which she is leaning. Try to make sure that her efforts to touch the toy don’t become so enthusiastic that she leans too far onto her elbow and overbalances, thus progressing to the next skill – rolling onto her back.

An excellent toy to use for this skill is a weighted toy that chimes or rattles when touched and swings back again to the upright position. Such toys are very rewarding as they only need to be touched slightly to create an effect and they will not roll away.

Positioning, Carrying and Playing

Once again, the ‘side lying, crisscross ankles, knee to the sky’ is an excellent background position for this skill. It teaches the child to balance while taking weight on one side of the body and at the same time reaching out with her other arm. (Note that this position also encourages the side taking the weight to be ‘longer’.)

Continue to pick up, put down and carry as for GM.A.20 and to sit her on your lap as explained in GM.A.17.