WHY we encourage doing
JUMPING and BALL SKILLS
Jumping require our body and mind to make neural muscular adjustments to imbalances created from the continuos jumping.
- Helps in the development of the left and right brain hemipsheres.
- Enhance spatial awareness, improve reading skills, memory and allowing it to become an automatic response pattern or habit.
- Improve between left and right brain coordination resulting in improved dynamic balance and coordination, reflexes, bone density as well as the muscular endurance.
Ball skills which include but are not limited to throwing and catching, dribbling, kicking, and aiming for a target prepares children for physical class at school or extracurricular activities.
It helps to develop :-
bilateral skills; hand-eye coordination; timing and sequencing; motor planning; attention.
Jumping skill
Vestibular stimulation – will help child to stay alert and also gives calming effect. This also will improve the balancing system the child.
Body awareness– helps child to know their body position as well as reducing the need to use their vision to see their body position in space such as standing, bending and sitting.
Spatial judgement – help to reduce bumping over things, estimate the spacing during writing as well as copying geometric figure from the blackboard.
Skills required for both jumping and ball skills
Regulation muscle tone and strength – stronger muscle will improve body stability as well as normalizing the muscle tone. This will increase the child’s endurance in performing activity without become tired quickly.
Eye hand coordination – helps to improve copying words from the board.
Balancing and stability – improved balancing will help child to sit still inside the classroom and appear less clumsy in doing their task.
Response Speed – improve ability to react within the environment.
Left right body coordination – this will practice in the ability to coordinate both sides of the body at the same time in a controlled and organized manner; for example, stabilizing paper with one hand while writing/ cutting with the other.
Impulse control – this will help on how the child is able to control his emotions or behaviors.
Ball skills
Tactile input – provide input about what the child is touching, as well as helping them to estimate the force need to use; for example, gripping a pencil, using an eraser to erase on the book.
Visual input and eye contact – help child to focus more and improve attention. Also allow eyes to track words easily while reading.
Fine motor skills – enable child to perform tasks like buttoning, tying shoelaces easily and also helps in producing a good handwriting.
