Challenge Me! Mobility Activity Cards
Julie Hughes
The Challenge Me! Mobility Activity Cards address mobility, balance coordination, spatial awareness, trunk control, transferring skills, gross motor skills, flexibility, adaptability, safety awareness, and independence.
Hughes J. Challenge Me! Mobility Activity Cards. Down Syndrome Research and Practice. 2007;12(1);43-43.
doi:10.3104/resources.2023
I'm always on the look-out for useful, practical activities
that can be worked into everyday games – and that is just what I found in these
cards.
The Challenge
Me! Mobility Activity Cards address mobility, balance
coordination, spatial awareness, trunk control, transferring skills, gross motor
skills, flexibility, adaptability, safety awareness, and independence.
Practising these skills can also have a knock-on effect on self-esteem and
confidence.
It's very important to read the instruction booklet that
comes with the cards, as safety information and more detailed information about
each exercise is found in the booklet. The introduction about how to use the
cards gives clear instructions that are easy to follow. The cards are divided
into seven types of challenges:
- sitting challenges
- standing challenges
- walking challenges
- floor ladder challenges
- stair challenges
- jumping challenges
- rolling challenges
There are also cards that provide 'extra challenges' for more
advanced skills and there are free cards, so that children can choose their own
challenges.
The guidance for working with the cards provides many useful
ideas to help to maintain interest and motivation. There is also a list of
useful equipment and resources. In reading all the cards, it was obvious that
activities can be adapted to accommodate different types of equipment (e.g. not
all homes/schools will have parallel bars, but parents/teachers can use other
means to support a child physically). There is also a reminder about
facilitation – making sure the child understands the task and expectations
either through demonstration, verbal instructions, breaking things down, etc.
Facilitation can also require you to look at the environment, the group
dynamics, the equipment, and the motivators.
The booklet provides precise instructions for each card. Each
activity has a level 1 and a level 2. Level 1 gives examples of how to break a
task down and practice the steps. Level 2 gives ways of making the challenge
more complex for those who are able to achieve level 1. The pictures on the card
are very useful and make the instructions more clear and all the cards are
colour coded, which helps in your organisation of activities.
Further information
Written by Amanda Elliott (2006)
Illustrated by David Kemp
Published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London
E-mail: post@kjp.com
Web: www.jkp.com
ISBN: 978 1 84310 497 1
Parents and professionals will get lots of ideas for games
and activities that help promote mobility skills from these activity cards. They
also highlighted for me that all your normal, everyday physical activities, such
as sitting, standing, walking, moving between activities, etc., are exercise and
practice for promoting the development of physical mobility.
There is a clear warning on the cards for activities that
require extra caution, particularly for the sensitive head and neck areas. For
activities that require forward and backward rolls and hand stands, I would
suggest getting advice from an appropriate professional as children with Down
syndrome may be at risk for atlanto-axial instability, or difficulties in the
top part of the spinal column.
The Challenge
Me! Mobility Activity Cards provide easy and fun ways
to practice physical skills. They would be particularly good for parents to use
at home and for children to use at lunch and play times at school. They could
help facilitate social games as the activities are accessible at a variety of
levels. The age-range stated on the cards is 3-12 years, however, this lower
limit may need to be raised for some children with Down syndrome as they may not
be ready to access the beginning activities until they are a bit older. The
first activity requires the child to sit and be able to balance an egg (or ball)
on a spoon. The activities get progressively harder from there.
Julie Hughes is at Down Syndrome Education International,
Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK.