We share a lot of creative ways to encourage calming strategies, attention building techniques, and creative sensory play ideas. These proprioception sensory activities are heavy work activities that can be used to help kids address sensory needs and challenge their proprioceptive system.
Check out all of the proprioception sensory play activities that are found on this site. Be sure to stop back often to find more.
For now, pin this page to save it for a day when your child needs a little heavy work!
Proprioception Sensory Activities for Kids
The proprioceptive system receives input from the muscles and joints about body position, weight, pressure, stretch, movement and changes in position in space.
Our bodies are able to grade and coordinate movements based on the way muscles move, stretch, and contract.
Proprioception allows us to apply more or less pressure and force in a task. Instinctively, we know that lifting a feather requires very little pressure and effort, while moving a large backpack requires more work. We are able to coordinate our movements effectively to manage our day’s activities with the proprioceptive system. The brain also must coordinate input about gravity, movement, and balance involving the vestibular system.
Kids who are showing signs of proprioceptive dysfunction might do some of these things:
- Appear clumsy
- Fidget when asked to sit quietly.
- Show an increased activity level or arousal level.
- Seek intense proprioceptive input by “crashing and bashing” into anything.
- Slap their feet when walking.
- Flap hands.
- Use too much or too little force on pencils, scissors, objects, and people.
- “No fear” when jumping or walking down stairs.
- Or, are overly fearful of walking down steps/jumping.
- Look at their body parts (hands/feet) when completing simple tasks.
- Sit down too hard or miss chairs when sitting.
- Fall out of their seat.
- Fluctuates between over-reacting and under-reacting in response to stimulation.
- Constantly on the move.
- Slow to get moving and then fatigue easily.
Proprioception activities like these are a good way to calm and organize your child.
This activity would be a great addition to a Sensory Diet or a Sensory Lifestyle:
Proprioception in everyday functional tasks
In the book, Sensory Lifestyle Handbook, you’ll discover simple ways to incorporate calming heavy work through the proprioceptive sensory system, using everyday functional tasks. Think about all of the ways that you can offer heavy work input in calming and regulating manners. These strategies can be incorporated right into daily tasks.
The book further covers meaningful and motivating ways to use the child’s interests as creative sensory input so that kids carryover sensory diet strategies. Check out The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook, and start adding sensory input into everyday lifestyles.
