The proprioceptive system is located in our muscles and joints and provides us with a sense of body awareness, whilst also controlling force and pressure. Proprioceptive activities involve providing intensive input to the muscles and joints.
In simple terms, it is our body’s ability to sense where we are in relationship to our surroundings. Games like twister, Simon says, or even hop-scotch, require us to use our body’s sense of awareness to interpret the world around us and movements like pushing, pulling, stomping, squeezing, jumping, bending all rely on body position and our awareness of it. A functioning proprioceptive system allows children to move, play, and explore in a smoothly coordinated and efficient way – not too gently, not too rough.
Most children develop a strong proprioceptive sense simply through engaging in everyday play activities that allow for exploration and movement. However, there are many activities that can help promote the development of a healthy proprioceptive system that you can do at home:
These include:
- Visit your local playground and hit the monkey bars
- Jump on a trampoline
- Skip with a rope
- Wheelbarrow races
- Crab walks
- Wall pushes