Last year at some point I found a limbo game on sale at Target and bought it. It kind of sat around for a while but it recently got brought back out and into the rotation and I’m amazed at all the uses for it our therapists have found. Now you don’t have to have the game to do these things and you can make your own modified limbo game but some of the kids do enjoy the music and effects that go along with this one (I personally prefer the sound off but its not me we’re trying to motivate!). Here are a few of the uses we have found for the traditional limbo game:
- Obviously we can play limbo although we find a lot of the kids have a hard time with walking under without bumping it in the traditional limbo manner so while we are working up to that we have them just try to get from one side to the next without knocking the bar off. It is a great way to work on body awareness and is a step down from the masking tape maze we tried a while ago, however the kids will get more feedback into their body when they bump into this limbo bar. Kids will try to walk under, crawl under, be a snake going under, or any other combination of ways to move. As it gets lower some kids will have no idea how to motor plan getting their body under the bar. Its great to see what their point A is and then you get to work on ways to help them plan how to move through smaller spaces.
- We make it into an animal parade. If we keep the bar up higher its a great motivation to get kids to do different animal walks underneath the bar. Kids who don’t like to crab walk will all of a sudden think its a ton of fun to be an animal while going under the bar. Its a great way to work on motor planning and core and they love the idea of not knocking the bar off.
- It makes a great goal post. We’ve used it to provide visuals for kids that we are working on throwing with. We have some soft sports balls we found in the dollar section at target that look like small baseballs, basketballs and footballs and we let the kids pretend they are throwing a football goal! They don’t need to know you are actually supposed to kick it through the uprights! This way we can start close and they have a 3 sided framework to visually aim for. As they improve we can move it further and further away. In terms of kicking if we put it on the ground it makes a great goal for trying to kick a ball through. You could even get a little ‘crazy’ and work on aim by having the kids try to throw or kick the ball to knock the bar off.
- We have also used it as a hurdle. We are working on getting more push off from the feet with certain kids to help them with more efficient running or jumping by having them do leaping. Some kids have a hard time motor planning the leap and this provides a visual for them to go over. It also works for walking over for kids to pay attention to what is in front of them as well as to work on foot clearance. By having them step over an obstacle they also increase their single leg stance time and improve their balance.
What other ideas do you have for using the limbo?