Babies often spend much time on sofas, being fed and cuddled, but by placing them on their tummies over one arm, their spines can lengthen and recalibrate. Toes may wiggle and heads lift for eyes to look around.
As they become stronger and more mobile, babies can move easily from sitting to standing on the seat cushions, placing hands on one arm and bobbing up and down. Soft materials really challenge balance ability, and ensure falling over is a positive experience.
All suggested activities are best enjoyed barefoot, in comfy clothes.
LOWER BODY
- Invite children to lie on their backs on the seat cushions. Place legs long up the back of the sofa. Now drum heels very fast.
- Staying in this position, ask children to hold one foot and see if they can get it to touch their nose. Then change feet.
- Suggest children bounce on their knees on the seat cushions, then flop onto tummies. Repeat.
- Suggest they stand unsupported on the cushions and try to walk from one end of the sofa to the other without falling down.
- Ask the children to jump on the cushions with and without support.
UPPER BODY
- Invite children to pull themselves onto the sofa, then slide off on their tummies by taking weight on their hands. Repeat.
- Pull off all the cushions, then replace. Repeat at speed.
- Try to push the sofa a few centimetres from behind, then from each side.
- Encourage children to stretch up and ‘post’ objects, e.g. teddies, over the back to land on the cushions. Use both arms.
- Suggest children stand on the floor and place both hands on the cushions. Practise: pressing/rubbing/scratching/tapping/patting/poking/kneading with all their fingers.
AS CHILDREN GROW AND DEVELOP
Safety can become an issue so always ensure appropriate supervision and discuss any rules or ‘no-nos’ together. This could be ‘only one child at a time may jump/tumble/climb’.
Here are some ideas for supporting gross and fine motor skills:
GROSS MOTOR
Encourage children to do the following:
- Explore getting on and off the sofa in different ways, e.g. leaping on and rolling off.
- Try and pull their whole body over the back of the sofa to land on the seat cushions. Turn around and carefully climb back over and repeat.
- Climb over one arm of the sofa to land on the cushions. Crawl across the cushions to the other arm then climb over and down to the floor.
FINE MOTOR
Encourage children to:
- Form a precise line of small objects, e.g. cars, along the back and each arm of the sofa
- Hide and find small objects under/beside/on top/in corners of the sofa
- Roll or push small objects underneath the sofa – move around to catch them as they appear.
TAKING IT FORWARDS
Sofas present excellent opportunities to explore concepts such as area, space and volume. They encourage skills such as estimating and measuring and promote interesting use of prepositional language.
- Invite children to cover the seat cushions with different resources. Be very accurate.
- Using masking tape, try covering the sofa with different coloured fabrics to make a sculpture.
- Choose a very soft resource, invite children to throw them back and forth over the back.
- Drape a double sheet or duvet cover over the sofa to make a cosy den. Play soothing music, read and relax
PD FOR ADULTS
- Stand behind the sofa and place both hands on the back. Wiggle hips, bend and stretch your legs, lift and lower heels.
- Lie on your back on the floor. Place lower legs on the cushions and arms wide to the side. Gently move head, wiggle ankles and breathe deeply.
- Sit and stand without holding on or using hands to push up.
NB: around £155 million is lost down the backs of our sofas each year – so be mindful of any loose change!
Dr Lala Manners is a physical development trainer and director of Active Matters
