Psychomotricity is a type of therapy that works with individuals of all ages, but especially children and adolescents, with games and exercises to achieve therapeutic purposes.
Psychomotricity is a very useful tool to treat individuals with neurological diseases such as Cerebral Palsy, Schizophrenia, Rett Syndrome, premature babies, children with learning difficulties such as dyslexia, with developmental delays, physically disabled and individuals with mental problems, for example example.
This type of therapy lasts about 1 hour and can be performed once or twice a week, contributing to children's development and learning.
Objectives of Psychomotricity
The goals of psychomotricity are to improve body movements, the notion of the space where you are, motor coordination, balance and also rhythm.
These goals are achieved through games such as running, playing with balls, dolls and games, for example. Through play, the psychomotor therapist, who may be the physical therapist or occupational therapist, observes the emotional and motor functioning of the individual and uses other games to correct changes at the mental, emotional or physical level, according to the needs of each one.
Psychomotor Activities for Child Development
In psychomotricity there are some elements that must be worked on such as posture tone, rest and support, in addition to balance, laterality, body image, motor coordination, and structuring in time and space.
Some examples of psychomotor activities that can be used to achieve these goals are:
- Hopscotch game: it is good for training balance on one foot and motor coordination; Walking on a straight line drawn on the floor: works on balance, motor coordination and body identification; Look for a marble inside a shoe box full of crumpled paper: it works laterality, fine and global motor coordination and body identification; Stacking cups: it is good for improving fine and global motor coordination and body identification; Draw yourself with pens and gouache: works fine and global motor coordination, body identification, laterality, social skills. Game - head, shoulder, knees and feet: it is good for working on body identification, attention and focus; Game - Job's slaves: works the orientation in time and space; Statue game: very good for spatial orientation, body scheme and balance; Sack race game with or without obstacles: works with spatial orientation, body scheme and balance; Skipping rope: it is great for working orientation in time and space, in addition to balance, and body identification.
These games are excellent to help child development and can be performed at home, at school, playgrounds and as a form of therapy, when indicated by the therapist. Normally each activity should be related to the child's age, because babies and children under 2 years will not be able to jump rope, for example.
Certain activities can be performed with just 1 child or in a group, and group activities are good for helping with social interaction that is also important for motor and cognitive development in childhood.
