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five activities for crossing the midline (and why it’s important)

home / Activities / foundations / five activities for crossing the midline (and why it’s important)
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The following guest post is written by the amazing Devany LeDrew. Devany is a former Kindergarten who now shares adventures with her children–most often playing, learning, and remembering–on her blog Still Playing School. Check it out.

———————————

6 activiies for crossing the midline

Our 10 month old son has been crawling for a few months so he’s already accomplished a pivotal achievement in learning to read and write.

Wait, what? A milestone in infancy is vital for literacy development?  Yes, because crawling is one of the first ways that babies practice crossing their midline!

Five Activities for Crossing the Midline (and Why It’s Important)

Let’s imagine an invisible line running down the human body separating the left side from the right called the midline.  When my baby crawls, he uses opposite sides of his body simultaneously. When my preschooler physically uses her body to cross that divide (by using her right hand to reach something on the left side of her body, for example) she is crossing her midline.

In both of these scenarios my children are using movements which cause their brains to communicate across their corpus callosum.  This thick cable of nerves allows their two brain hemispheres to communicate.  The practice is vital for higher level skills like reading and writing.  By moving in new ways, we build and strengthen new pathways in the brain.

Most children will naturally learn to cross their midline as they grow, but some need occupational therapy to work on this task.  There are creative, fun, and intentional ways to play while practicing crossing the midline!

Here are five to get you started!

1.  Crawl, crawl, crawl

I encourage my preschooler to crawl with her baby brother by getting down on the floor to crawl myself!  We build obstacle courses with pillows and soft toys to navigate while crawling.

Five Activities for Crossing the Midline (and Why It’s Important)

2.  Baby Cross Crawls

While you sing songs to your baby or child, intentionally touch his left foot to his right hand and vice versa.  You can tap to the rhythm of the music or teach body part names in this way.

You can challenge your older child to touch her left knee with her right elbow and vice versa.  This is trickier than it looks!

Five Activities for Crossing the Midline (and Why It’s Important)

3.  Wash Large Objects

My preschooler loves to help wash windows or our cars with special wipes or a sponge.  I ask her to hold the tool with both hands wiping back and forth in large motions as she cleans so that she is crossing her midline frequently.

4.  Dance, Sway, and Play with Ribbon Wands

You can create your own ribbon wands with a paint stirrer (or just hold a scarf in one hand for the same effect).  Model how to cross the midline while dancing for your child by making figure eights and rainbow arcs with the ribbon. A great song to practice moving and grooving with is Shake Your Reader Ribbons by Pam Schiller

Five Activities for Crossing the Midline (and Why It’s Important)

5.  Play Passing Games

Challenge children to pass a ball from a friend on the left to a friend on the right by moving their arms but not turning their whole bodies.  Friends may sit in a line or in a circle for this activity.  For two children, have them sit back to back and pass the ball from the left side across their bellies and back over to the right.

 

still playing school

For more from Devany LeDrew, please visit Still Playing School where she uses her background in early childhood to create a home based playful learning environment for her children. She is a former Kindergarten teacher who followed her passions to specialize in Educational Psychology & Literacy Education.  She is the mother of three, grieving the loss of one. Follow Still Playing School on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Devany, for sharing!  I learned SO much from this piece!

 

Looking for more activities to promote fine and gross motor in your little loves?

Stop by and follow these great educational Pinterest boards, filled with indoor fun ideas to engage children in fun activities to promote the development of these foundational skills:

  • Sensory Activities  |  D @ Still Playing School
  • Preschool Activities  |  D @ Still Playing School
  • Handprint Projects  |  D @ Still Playing School
  • foundations  |  teachmama
  • movin’ and groovin’  |  teachmama

 

Check out a few other posts that may help you develop strong and healthy habits for your family:

  • wait time
  • my day, your day
  • frozen peas
  • kids who rock the kitchen
  • kids who rock the laundry
  • rest time
  • gem jars
  • arm circles
  • noticing kids
  • homework routine

 

Cheers, and happy reading during this incredibly exciting journey!

A few more literacy-related posts worth reading. . . (click on image to read!)
what to say when kids make reading mistakes teachmama.com.png
5 things to never say to emerging reader
literacy terms every parent must know
talk to kids about books
how to help kids choose just right books
Want a little more help with all things literacy?  
Follow amy mascott @teachmama’s board literacy on Pinterest.

fyi: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Forever and always I recommend only products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”  For more information, please see teachmama media, llc. disclosure policy. 

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro · http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

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I’m really excited about this. It’s taken a long, long time to create, and the only thing I ask is that you, once viewing it all, could take 2 minutes to give me some feedback. There will be a google form on the last of the slides, at the end of the series. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I look forward to learning along with you.

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Hi and thank you for your interest in watching my ‘de-mystifying dyslexia’ series. 

My name is Amy Mascott, and I’m a reading specialist and former high school English teacher. I’m also the creator of teachmama.com  where since 2008, I’ve helped families make meaningful connections with their kids and build bridges between home and school. 

As an educator, I’m always trying to share important information—bc I really think that when we know better, we do better. This series is part of my final project for a course I’m taking through Advancement Courses called ‘understanding dyslexia’. 

And as a reading teacher, I need to know all I can about this condition. What I realized is that I had a lot to learn—maybe you, as a parent or teacher yourself, can also stand to learn a little bit. 

Maybe, like me, you’ve grown up thinking that dyslexia was a condition where people read letters backwards—b for d or p for g? Maybe you thought, like I did, that if a person was dyslexic, they saw all of the letters jumbled together on the page? I’m here to tell you that both of those things are untrue. 

So if you would like to learn a little about dyslexia—if you would like for me to ‘de-mystify dyslexia’ for you, then follow along! 

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Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

#readingteacher #raiseareader #kidlit #bestbooks #linkinbio
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How can people with dyslexia learn to read? 🤔

Here are the 3️⃣ elements that reading instruction should contain in order to be most effective for students with dyslexia—

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #readingteacher #teachreading #dyslexiaawareness
View
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Lately when I find four leaf clovers, I’ve been leaving them. 🍀🤷🏼‍♀️

So if you’re in Maryland, and you happen upon a lonely, little 4-leafer with very little grass, weeds, or leaves around it, I don’t know WHO tried to set you up for success.

#yougotthis #keepyoureyesopen #itsthelittlethings #kilpattyluck
View
Open
Okay—how do we know if someone has dyslexia? 

Which professionas are able to make that important determination? 

▶️ Watch to find out. 

Hit me with the questions you still have about dyslexia—and know we have a few more posts to go!

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #teachreading #readingteachersofig
View
Open
What are some of the common signs of dyslexia?

Watch to learn and find out!

#demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading #dyslexia
View
Open
True ✅ or false ❌?

#demystifyingdyslexia #dyslexiaeducation #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading
View
Open
What do you know about dyslexia? 

What questions do you have about dyslexia? 

For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called “De-Mystifying Dyslexia” and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia
View
Open
(Part 2) 

The series will be shared on IG stories, on tiktok, on the teachmama facebook page, and in the Take 5 newsletter. 

Look for the logo on social, and if you want to receive the whole thing via email, then sign up for Take5 on the link below. 

I’m really excited about this. It’s taken a long, long time to create, and the only thing I ask is that you, once viewing it all, could take 2 minutes to give me some feedback. There will be a google form on the last of the slides, at the end of the series. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I look forward to learning along with you.

Join the Take 5 list if you want this series to land in your inbox: 
https://take5.teachmama.com/

#raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher teachersofIG dyslexia teachreading
View
Open
Hi and thank you for your interest in watching my ‘de-mystifying dyslexia’ series. 

My name is Amy Mascott, and I’m a reading specialist and former high school English teacher. I’m also the creator of teachmama.com  where since 2008, I’ve helped families make meaningful connections with their kids and build bridges between home and school. 

As an educator, I’m always trying to share important information—bc I really think that when we know better, we do better. This series is part of my final project for a course I’m taking through Advancement Courses called ‘understanding dyslexia’. 

And as a reading teacher, I need to know all I can about this condition. What I realized is that I had a lot to learn—maybe you, as a parent or teacher yourself, can also stand to learn a little bit. 

Maybe, like me, you’ve grown up thinking that dyslexia was a condition where people read letters backwards—b for d or p for g? Maybe you thought, like I did, that if a person was dyslexic, they saw all of the letters jumbled together on the page? I’m here to tell you that both of those things are untrue. 

So if you would like to learn a little about dyslexia—if you would like for me to ‘de-mystify dyslexia’ for you, then follow along! 

(Continued on next VIDEO)

#readingteacher #teachersofIG #demystifyingdyslexia

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