Benefits of Heavy Work Activities
Emily Barber, MS, OTR/L
With the craziness and busyness of summer and schedule changes, our bodies can often become disorganized, we can become more anxious and stressed due to ever-changing schedules, and lose focus and attention easier. A child experiencing this may accidentally breaks things often, appear clumsy and uncoordinated, and may have a lot of energy with the excessive need to crash and bump into objects, walls and/or people. Children seeking these movements may be seeking input to calm and organize their bodies. Heavy work activities, which are simply any type of action that pushes or pulls against the body, can help provide the deep pressure input they are craving and allow them to move their bodies in a safe way.
Heavy work activities provide proprioceptive input to the joints and muscles. Proprioception is about knowing where your body is in space. Problems within our proprioceptive system occur when the messages that tell a child where he is, how to move, and how much effort to exert aren’t as strong. Proprioceptive input, or deep pressure input, can be very calming, organizing, and regulating to the body and can decrease stress and anxiety through heavy work activities. Heavy work can also increase body awareness, focus and attention.
Heavy work activities might include:
• Animal walks
• Jumping on the trampoline
• Swimming
• Playing with play dough (kneading, pulling, squeezing)
• Climbing on the jungle gym
• Doing the monkey bars
• Blowing bubbles
• Jumping jacks
• Push-Ups
• Riding a Bike
• Creating an obstacle course
• Doing Yoga
• Pulling a heavy wagon
• A pillow fight
• Running through the sprinkler
• Tug of War
• Carrying beanbags or weights around the house
• Rock climbing
• Hop-Scotch
When your child appears to be craving proprioceptive input and “bouncing off the walls,” provide them with some heavy work activities! Ask your occupational therapists at No Limits Pediatric Therapies for additional suggestions or about heavy work benefits for your child!
