DYNAMIC MOVEMENT-BASED THERAPY DURING THE PANDEMIC
As occupational therapists, we know professionally and personally the power of movement to calm, to alert and to soothe anxious spirits. In the time of COVID-19, with the additional stressors of at-home learning, a new and unfamiliar routine and ever-changing world events, we felt compelled to provide the most effective regulating strategies for the children we serve, and their families. At the same time, virtual learning limits our own senses: we cannot fully see the children, cannot give them tactile cues to help them adjust their bodies to effectively motor plan, and the sensory equipment we are so accustomed to is not readily available.
How could we meet the need for movement, promote regulation, build underlying skills and efficient motor patterns, given the specific limitations of virtual learning? This represented a challenge to creatively problem solve! We found, after experimentation, consulting with each other, and doing many hours of research and on-the-job learning, that the following techniques were most successful in creating fun, dynamic, movement-based sessions: Reading stories which incorporate movement. Books such as We’re Going on a Bear Walk, The Listening Walk, and OT Zoo use rhythmic and engaging language, catchy yet simple storylines, and easy to-follow movements which could be easily leveled to meet the children’s needs. Presenting movement in a game format, like this. When the children gave their own ideas for the movement spinner choices, they tended to engage more readily. When they “taught” their peers and the therapists how to do the specific movements, they were more likely to participate, to be precise in their movement patterns and to feel confident and uplifted by their own lesson planning!
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