Need ideas for muscles
By Kimberley
@mom210 (9036)
United States
September 26, 2016 7:34am CST
Good morning, I hope you all are having a wonderful day. I have been a a little quest the last few days. We have noticed over the last few months that Tiny's fine motor skills are not where they should be. So I have been gathering ideas to help him build them up. I was thinking there are former teachers, current teachers parents and home schoolers on here. So maybe some of you have ideas to help us develop those muscles. Things you have done, seen done or just know about.
His back story is, Tiny is the twin that has had a long road. He was born with a heart condition and for the first 7 months of his life, his focus was on breathing, that was his job and all he could do until his open heart surgery at 7 months. He also has had three brain surgeries. All this added in together, plus the recovery times puts him about a year behind his twin on physical and some mental things. But even taking a year away he is still not where he should be on his small muscles. He has had a lot of struggles in his young life. So I want to make things as easy for him as possible. I am thinking of things he will enjoy doing to help build those skills up.
We stopped by the hardware store and grabbed him many screws of different sizes with washers and nuts. He paints a little, coloring is not a favorite thing for him, but it wasn't for many of my boys. The girls loved it, not the boys. He draws a little, again, not sure if it is because of the struggle it takes for him to do it, but he is not a fan.
So any ideas? Have a very beautiful day!
Photo is of my twins, Tiny is the one with the feeding tube. The other twin is giving me a muscle shot.
33 people like this
32 responses
@sofssu (23662)
•
28 Sep 16
Stress balls, play dough, buttoning clothes, dropping and picking up small objects from round holes/pockets in wooden boards are all activities that could help. He probably needs all these activities to be made into funny games and maybe requires more encouragement than others.
9 people like this
@GardenGerty (157551)
• United States
7 Oct 16
@mom210 Okay, those were called Dressy Bessie and Dapper Dan. That or a "busy book" would be great. My first MIL bought one at a church bazaar and my kids carried it to church. Fabric pages with velcro and tying and snapping and zipping. They might interest him.
3 people like this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
8 Oct 16
@GardenGerty Just looked those up, guess they are considered vintage and over $100 yikes. But there is a knock off I think I will get him. Thank you so much, I think he will like this Plus it will him his start to dress himself.
@celticeagle (159058)
• Boise, Idaho
26 Sep 16
Trying different things like jungle jim's and such so he is using all of his muscles as apposed to just a few. Some kids are more into things where they are moving around instead of sitting doing art.
7 people like this
@celticeagle (159058)
• Boise, Idaho
6 Oct 16
@mom210 .....Sounds like a normal kid to me.
2 people like this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
7 Oct 16
@celticeagle especially boys are very energetic, my girls could sit and color forever, none of my boys could.
2 people like this
@Hate2Iron (15730)
• Canada
28 Sep 16
Yes, doctors might have ideas for you to try. My granddaughter was a slow developer when it came to talking. Her parents found someone that came once a week and there was homework for her to do... she hated it lol but it worked!
7 people like this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
28 Sep 16
I have no idea but have you talked to your doctor. There is probably therapy there for him (of course I live in Canada where medical is free) but if you have insurance... as I look below there are some good ideas, i hope those ideas can help him. Good luck.
7 people like this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
17 Oct 16
@PainsOnSlate Thank you, I will post this week. I do need to get better about posting. I always feel like I need quiet and to be able to collect my thoughts first, shows you how quiet it is at my house
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
16 Oct 16
I hope things are getting better for you. I just tried to find a post of yours that I haven't commented on and there is none. I hope you post again soon. @mom210 I
1 person likes this
@DianneN (246859)
• United States
28 Sep 16
I would certainly consult a specialist to get him occupational and physical therapy. In the meantime, I would give him large pencils and markers to use, draw thick lines on paper and have him cut them with a scissors, build with blocks, Legos, fold paper, Playdough, squeeze balls, etc. It sounds to me as if the poor kid needs to develop his fine and gross motor skills. The sooner, the better. Btw, no charge! Lol!
7 people like this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
4 Oct 16
He is pretty good on the big muscles, I have him in soccer and we have a trampoline he plays on. But those fine motor are really giving him a hassle. I have him doing some dot to dots and tracing. He likes play dough, but lacks the imagination to use it. I am thinking of getting him some cookie cutters to help him out with that.
2 people like this
@marsha32 (6631)
• United States
30 Sep 16
Sounds like you have good ideas with the screws and washers. @GardenGerty is telling me things but I will let her comment :)
4 people like this
@1hopefulman (45123)
• Canada
26 Sep 16
I am not knowledgeable enough to be able to offer any suggestions but I hope you get some ideas that will help. Have the doctors offered any ideas?
5 people like this
@1hopefulman (45123)
• Canada
5 Oct 16
@mom210 Are we talking about physical muscles? If we are, then he may need a tailored daily exercise program. He may need a personal trainer, a one on one instructor and program.
3 people like this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
6 Oct 16
@1hopefulman Fine motor skills like, holding pencils, he is 5 and only recently learned to open doors. His hands tire easily, he tends to change hands because they tire quickly. I need to build up those muscles with him
3 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
30 Sep 16
I know this may sound crazy but with my elderly mother, we had her polishing the silver, not only is it useful but it kept her hands moving. I am sure most younger families don't necessarily have silver but look for a another little job that requires fine movement. My kids loved a change sorter, we would give them piles of change and we had a sorter were you put the correct coin in the slot and it gets counted. I have to admit the first thing I thought of was a skate board since it requires so many muscles to keep balance. Sorry none of these may help at all but I am trying!!
5 people like this
@GardenGerty (157551)
• United States
7 Oct 16
I have worked in developmental pre schools and worked with the OT people there. OT is what he would need for this and you are correct to be concerned. I have put in a few things as I have read here in comments. I LOVE the idea of sorting coins by hand as that is "real work" to a child and not just busy work. I may just start a discussion with some more information if I think it could help other moms.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157551)
• United States
7 Oct 16
@mom210 Make "snakes" by rolling the dough into ropes. It does not take imagination. Then go for making bugs, cause that is easy as well. You can make homemade playdoh that is food safe if he is into tasting it, but also what OT people do that kids like is "therapy putty" and hide those glass flattened marbles or coins in them for the kids to discover. You can also add different textures and even scents to homemade doughs.
3 people like this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
8 Oct 16
@GardenGerty I have not made the home made play dough, I do have a recipe, he would probably like helping me make it too. I never thought about adding textures or putting things into it those are both good ideas. thank you.
1 person likes this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
6 Oct 16
He does love play dough but does not seem to have a lot of imagination. He ends up handing it to me to do for him. I try to get him to do it with me at the same time by showing him, look like this. I have bought him some cookie cutters and rollers that has helped a bit.
2 people like this
@ridingbet (66857)
• Philippines
1 Oct 16
the toy LEGO, i hope it will give him more muscles and more skills in creating new ideas.
4 people like this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
4 Oct 16
I have been giving him the small Lego's, We have the medium size and giant ones as well. They are a little over his head, he has some trouble coming up with ideas. The good thing is, when I get them out, I end up with a crowd there so he watches the other kids for ideas and tries them.
3 people like this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
6 Oct 16
@ridingbet I have been looking for a catalog or book he could look at pictures of and get ideas as well. Since he is young I have to be careful not to get something to old. I need to take a cruse through the toys r us here and see what they have for him
2 people like this
@ridingbet (66857)
• Philippines
5 Oct 16
@mom210 LEGO also stimulated his brains into doing new things. i hope he will do well with it.
2 people like this
@divalounger (5849)
• United States
1 Oct 16
hand/eye coordination is the name of the game I think-so nuts and bolts and a screwdriver sound great--and along that line, you might think about letting him take things apart and put them back together--just about anything mechanical would work I would think
3 people like this
@divalounger (5849)
• United States
5 Oct 16
@mom210 I hope that works out well for both of you!
2 people like this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
4 Oct 16
He is a hard worker and a fighter, so I think he will get past it all. Dr's gave up on him when I was pregnant, said if he were to be born he would be a vegetable (their words). He is a long way from a vegetable, they said he would never talk, he does, never walk, he does. He seems to get through it all. Sometimes, I am just lost on how to help him.
3 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38657)
• Midland, Michigan
30 Sep 16
I think asking the medical professionals for their ideas is a start like others have said. Therapy would also be a possibility if you have insurance that will cover it and if you get assistance then it should be a possibility for sure.
4 people like this
@HebrewGreekStudies (1646)
• Canada
7 Oct 16
When I was fairly young I was into weights, swimming, archery, and karate. Archery is good because it develops muscle tone, as well as concentration-that however might not be suitable for such a young age, but there are light draw bows for kids with blunted or soft arrows. I was 5 when I started karate, and for me, it was very healthy to be in, in terms of developing flexibility, muscle tone, as well as concentration...and well, it was also, just kinda fun as well. Um none of those might be suitable for him, but some of those things have the added benefit of being able to be done in a club or group, which can help give him a sense of greater community, belonging and identity with additional positive role models.
2 people like this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
7 Oct 16
Oh yes, martial arts are fantastic for young kids. My older 4 are all black belts. I have tried to convince them to work with the younger kids, even offered to pay them to run a little class for them. No dice. We have no martial arts in this area, the closest is about an hour away and cost $100 a month per kid, so it is not in the cards right now. Maybe I can try again with one of the older boys to teach them.
2 people like this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
8 Oct 16
He still has a lot of work to do. This morning he concerned me because he could not open the door, a task he did only learn a few months ago. Maybe some days are better than others. I do try to rotate the things we do, everything with him takes a good while for him to get. I am always open to new ideas with him.
1 person likes this
