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Activities Encouraging Kids to Work on Vertical Spaces
This article provides activity recommendations that get kids working on vertical spaces. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Integrated Learning Strategies (ILS) is a learning and academic center. As a reminder, ILS is not a health care provider and none of our materials or services provide a diagnosis or treatment of a specific condition or learning challenge you may see in your child or student. If you seek a diagnosis or treatment for your child or student, please contact a trained professional who can provide an evaluation of the child.
Activities that encourage kids to work on vertical spaces are important for supporting their learning readiness in the classroom.
These types of activities are helpful for parents, therapists and teachers when trying to improve or foster delayed foundational areas needed for higher learning in school. Use these activity ideas below to activate the child or student’s motor skills and engage the body in exercises that require greater stability and focus.
Importance of using Vertical Spaces
Vertical spaces that encourage writing, drawing, painting and other creative outlets can improve the child’s:
- Shoulder, arm, elbow, hand and wrist stability for handwriting and pencil grip.
- Visual motor skills for tracking words on the page.
- Sequencing for math skills.
- Spatial awareness for letter directionality and spacing letters and numbers on the page.
- Core strength for better posture so the child can copy notes from the chalkboard.
- Attention and focus in the classroom so the child can listen to the teacher for longer periods of time.
Other benefits of using vertical spaces to improve a child’s learning are found here.
Working on Vertical Surfaces
When working on vertical surfaces, there are a few things to keep in mind. Activities don’t have to be complicated and you don’t have to use a lot of equipment. Here are a few tips to get you started.
Position and Seating
The child can perform the activities standing or sitting upright. To improve the child’s core even more, provide them with an unstable surface when doing the activity using items like bosu balls, therapy balls, wobble stools or balance boards. Ensure the child is not too far away from the vertical surface, but a good distance from the work area to encourage arm extension.
Surfaces
Feel free to be creative with the vertical surface of your choice. The child can draw on windows, paint using an easel, color on walls or even grab objects from shelves. As long as the child has an opportunity to work on their core and posture, any type of vertical surface will work.
Equipment
Use a variety of tools and equipment when performing activities using vertical spaces. Equipment can be found in your home or classroom and used to adapt any of the activities below. Items used should be safe and challenging so the child continues to improve their skills as they become stronger and more mobile.
Time and Frequency
Kids can participate in these activities for as long or as short as you they like. If you are working on specific skills, we encourage students to frequently participate in activities 3 to 5 times a week for 10 to 20 minutes. Working on vertical spaces is often fun and playful and doesn’t require much prodding. However, if your child or students tire easily while building their muscle strength, start with a few minutes at a time and gradually work up to longer measures of time.
Vertical Spaces Activities
There are many fun activities and toys that get kids working on vertical spaces. Here are a few fun suggestions below. For a full list of activities, complete the form at the bottom of this article and download the activity page.
Chalk markers on Windows with Wobble Stool
Kids can color and draw on windows or mirrors using chalk markers to encourage working on vertical spaces. This activity also allows kids to have a wide surface so they can utilize their whole arm when drawing. In addition, adding a wobble chair when doing this activity also activates the child’s core stability and balance system.
Equipment:
Bunmo bath toys in Shower or Bathroom
This activity is perfect for bath tub play and also gets kids working on a vertical surface. Use these sticky suction toys to build mazes or wall art on the tiles of your bathroom wall.
Equipment:
Use the Write Right Stylus on Electronic Devices
Anytime your child or students use their electronic devices, prop them up to create a vertical surface. To enhance the child’s experience when working on vertical spaces, use a writing stylus while playing games on devices to help strengthen the hands and prepare kids for pencil grip. The Write Right Stylus is the perfect tool because it has a loop to help kids position their hands and fingers correctly in the tripod grip. It also works for all types of electronic devices. As a reminder, kids screen time should remain limited to ensure they experience more 3D and tactile learning within their environment.
Equipment:
Magnetic Tiles on Garage Door
This is one of the most fun activities for kids and it also provides the ideal vertical surface. Grab a set of magnetic tiles and let your kids create something fun on your garage door. Kids stay busy for hours with this activity and they can even use the magnetic tiles to create 3D shapes and structures.
Equipment:
Balance Board figure 8s on wall
This activity is packed with all sorts of learning elements. First, we are most importantly getting kids working on a vertical surface that also requires a lot of strength, core stability and balance. All these areas are important for posture, attention and focus, and handwriting support. Have your child or student stand on a balance board like this one below and hand them a bean bag or folded-up towel. Place two dots on the wall and have the child trace a figure 8 on the wall looping through the dots while balancing on the balance board. Adding figure 8 tracing also helps a child cross the midline and strengthens visual tracking skills.
Equipment:
Wall sticker Playhouse
This wall sticker playhouse is great for vertical spaces without having to scrape stickers off the wall. If you have sticker that are easy to remove, you can try them on a window or wall in your home or therapy center. If you don’t want to remove stickers from any of these vertical spaces, the sticker playhouse is a great alternative option.
Equipment:
Spirograph Wall Drawing
For this activity, tape drawing paper on your walls or windows and provide them with a spirograph kit to use on the vertical surface of your choice. Help them use their supporting hand to hold the device while the dominant hand moves the pen around on the paper to create spirals and fun drawings on the wall paper.
Equipment:
Dart Boards
There are several kid-friendly dart boards you can use with Velcro to get kids using vertical spaces while also improving their hand-eye coordination. This will help the child develop their proprioception as they determine how hard or how soft to throw the ball to make the target. Watch to see if the child’s arms, hands or fingers get tired during this activity, which could also be a sign of weak hand and arm strength needed for handwriting development.
Equipment:
To get a list of 50 ideas to do with kids using vertical spaces, fill out the form below and check your inbox for the free download.
Integrated Learning Strategies is a Utah-based center dedicated to helping mainstream children and children with learning challenges achieve academic success. Our services provide kids with non-traditional tutoring programs within the Davis County, Kaysville, Layton, Syracuse, Farmington, and Centerville areas. Areas to find Integrated Learning Strategies include: Reading tutors in Kaysville, Math tutors in Kaysville, Common Core Tutors in Kaysville, Tutors in Utah, Utah Tutoring Programs
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