WHOA
Stopping to
carryover the benefits of Hippotherapy
After your session ends you may discover that your child:
- Is
calmer and more focused
- Has more normal muscle tone
- Has increased speech and improved articulation
- Has greater body awareness, head control or improved motor
planning
- Is more willing to touch objects and engage in hand activities
Let’s take advantage
of this by doing activities with your child before you drive away!
Here are a few
suggestions:
- After coming off the horse spend 1-2
minutes giving a big, tight hug. This will help with sensory
organization.
- Encourage your child to assist in
putting away the helmet and dressing for outdoors.
- Help your child to walk to the car (or
even part way if possible)
- If possible walk around the facility
asking your child to point, sign or repeat related words such as
“pony”, “barn”, “nay” and other animal names and sounds at the farm.
- Toss a ball or (better yet a plastic
bag filled with foam) back and forth. (The bag won’t roll away and you
can put bells or a vibrating toy inside for fun).
- Sit in the car or nearby with an
animal book. Help your child to point to named animals, say animal
names and make their sounds.
- Provide a sheet with different animal
pictures. Help your child to circle only the pictures of horses. This
will develop pencil control, scanning and visual discrimination.
- Go to a playground if there isn’t a
gross motor play area at the farm.
- Sing songs on the way home. Encourage
your child to say last word in a song line such as Old Mcdonald. When
saying EIEO, child can finish with the O sound.
Suggested
sensory toys
to play with in the car:
- Squeeze toys that squish or make
sounds. Puffer balls are fun.
- Toys with parts to push such as Mr.
Potato Head, Duplos blocks, snap blocks.
- Pull apart or twist toys such as large
pop-it-beads, Tangle, Inside Out balls, stretch strings and Rapper
Snappers.
- Visual toys such as tornado tubes,
glitter tubes and rain sticks.
This list is compiled by Barbara
Smith, M.S., OTR/L
Visit HORSEOT.COM
for more horse themed activity ideas.
This list may be reproduced and distributed to educate
families