Motor coordination difficulties often accompany other childhood diagnoses, including learning disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and congenital problems. Some children and adolescents have difficulty with fine motor and gross motor coordination without other learning or cognitive issues. Coordination exercises can help improve your child's skills, confidence and behavior.
Developmental Coordination Disorder
Developmental coordination disorder, or DCD, is an impairment in motor coordination, according to the American Psychiatric Association. Kids with developmental coordination disorder may have difficulty with fine or gross motor skills and may struggle to plan movements, execute them or both. Poor coordination may cause low self-esteem and academic difficulties. Adolescents and children will not outgrow DCD and it will not remedy itself without therapy and exercises.
Fine Motor Exercises
Improve fine motor skills, such as eating, writing and dressing, with a variety of exercises appropriate for home or the classroom. Lacing and tying, tracing and cutting, screwing and unscrewing screws and buttoning and unbuttoning buttons all practice fine motor skills. Adapt these movements to your child's interest. Try cutting and pasting collages, stringing jewelry or stacking small, finicky blocks to practice these skills. While additional practice and coordination exercises in daily life are important, these should accompany occupational therapy.
Gross Motor Exercises
Gross or large motor skills impact running, climbing, throwing and catching. Parents and teachers can offer children a variety of activities to improve large motor coordination with time. Balancing exercises, like walking on the knees or on a balance beam and hopping on one foot, can improve strength and balance. Catching and throwing, rolling, kicking and pushing and pulling, as in tug-of-war, can all help improve gross motor skills. As with fine motor difficulties, you should use these activities and exercises as a part of an overall treatment plan with your therapist or health care provider.
Bilateral Coordination
Bilateral coordination is the ability to use both sides of the body to perform a single motion or multiple activities at the same time. Crawling and variations on crawling, like a belly crawl, gorilla crawl and bear crawl work both sides of the body. Musical instruments, including drums or bongos, and many craft activities, such as stringing jewelry or tracing stencils, require both sides of the body.
