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Motor
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Therapy & support
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Therapy & support
As a therapist, what techniques help a child develop balance?
Balance is trained by progressively grading postural challenge — static to dynamic, wide to narrow base, supported to reactive — while manipulating visual, vestibular and proprioceptive inputs within the child's just-right zone, using task-specific high-repetition play. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTechniques to develop balance & hopping
Balance and hopping develop through graded motor practice — building static balance, single-leg strength, anticipatory postural control and a staged progression from two-foot jumps to consecutive hops, using motor-learning principles and play. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy Techniques to Develop Balance Control in Children
Balance control is developed through graded sensorimotor techniques targeting the vestibular, visual and proprioceptive systems — building core stability first, then progressing from static to dynamic tasks, perturbation training and dual-tasking, all through motivating play. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerAs a therapist, what techniques help a child develop ball catching?
Ball catching is developed by decomposing it into visual tracking, anticipatory timing, hand positioning and force grading, then scaffolding each through graded, high-repetition play — rolling before bouncing before tossing, and large slow stimuli before small fast ones. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapist techniques for developing bead threading
Bead threading is developed by grading the task and materials, backward-chaining the threading sequence, and isolating prerequisites such as pincer grasp, bilateral coordination, proximal stability and visual tracking, then fading prompts as control matures. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTechniques to develop block stacking
Block stacking is developed through graded, play-based practice of grasp, controlled release and visual-motor accuracy — stabilising the child's posture, sizing blocks to the hand, modelling and backward-chaining towers, and fading support as precision grows. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy Techniques to Develop Catching Skills
Catching skills are developed through graded, predictable practice — starting with slow, large, high-contrast objects and scaffolding the ready position, then systematically reducing speed and unpredictability while building postural stability, bilateral coordination and visual-motor timing. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy techniques to help a child develop climbing
Climbing ability is built through graded motor learning: developing core and grip strength, scaffolding limb coordination by task analysis and backward chaining, layering vertical challenge from low to high, and using vestibular-proprioceptive input within safe, motivating play. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy techniques to build colouring skills
Colouring skills are developed through a graded, bottom-up approach — establishing postural and shoulder stability, refining grasp with broken crayons and vertical surfaces, building proximal-to-distal control, and layering visual-motor and boundary awareness through play. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy Techniques to Develop a Child's Coordination
Coordination (ICF d4) is built through graded, play-based motor practice that integrates vision, vestibular and proprioceptive input with bilateral, crossing-midline and motor-planning tasks, using variable repetition at a just-right challenge level. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy techniques to develop fine motor skills
Fine motor development (ICF d4) is supported through graded, play-embedded therapy following a proximal-to-distal sequence — building trunk and shoulder stability first, then grasp progression, in-hand manipulation, bilateral integration and task-specific functional practice with just-right challenge. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy techniques to build a child's foot control
Foot control is developed through task-specific, graded motor practice targeting ankle and intrinsic foot strength, proprioception, balance and weight-shift, using high-repetition, motivating functional play and faded support. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapist techniques to develop gross motor skills
Gross motor skills (ICF d4) develop through graded, task-specific, play-based practice targeting postural control, balance, strength and motor planning — pitched just beyond current ability, with support faded over time and embedded in daily routines for carryover. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTechniques to develop a child's gymnastic skill
Gymnastic skill is supported through task-specific, graded motor practice that builds postural control, dynamic balance, bilateral coordination and motor planning, underpinned by vestibular and proprioceptive input and motor-learning principles. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy Techniques to Develop Head Control
Head control is built through graded antigravity work across prone, supine, supported sitting and held postures — using positioning, weight-shifts, righting-reaction facilitation, and vestibular-visual cueing to recruit symmetric cervical control, embedded in play and daily handling. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTechniques to develop hopping balance
Hopping balance is built by grading single-leg loading, postural control and dynamic stability through play-based progressions — single-leg stance, eccentric strength, reactive balance, then forward-chaining two-foot jumps to controlled single-leg hops with rhythm and dual-task demands. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTechniques to Help a Child Develop Hopping Skills
Hopping skills are built therapeutically by grading the task from two-foot jumps to single-leg stance to brief hops, layering strength, vestibular and proprioceptive work into play, and applying motor-learning principles. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTechniques to Develop Jump Rope Coordination
Jump rope coordination is developed by decomposing the skill into bilateral jumping, rhythmic timing, isolated wrist rotation and postural endurance, grading each component, then integrating them — rope last. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy techniques to help a child develop jumping
Jumping is built through a developmental progression that first establishes lower-limb strength, ankle stability and trunk control, then grades the task from supported bouncing and stepping down to two-foot take-off, forward jumping and coached landing — all embedded in play and motivation. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTechniques to Develop a Child's Jumping Skills
Jumping skills develop through graded, play-based strength, balance and motor-planning work — building lower-limb power and postural control, then progressing from a two-foot bounce to forward jumps and single-leg hops with faded support and safe-landing practice. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy techniques for lateral movement
Lateral movement is developed by grading frontal-plane challenges — weight-shift facilitation, cruising and side-stepping, side-sitting and side-lying transitions, reactive balance work and midline-crossing play — progressing from supported and stable to unsupported and reactive. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy techniques to develop line tracing
Line tracing is developed through a bottom-up sequence: proximal shoulder and trunk stability, functional grasp, then graded visual-motor and motor-planning practice using multisensory surfaces, faded cues and high-interest play, moving from vertical gross-motor work to fine tabletop tracing. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy Techniques to Develop Manual Dexterity
Manual dexterity develops through graded, task-specific therapy: build proximal stability first, then progress through grasp patterns, in-hand manipulation, bilateral coordination and finger strength using motivating, age-appropriate activities with the just-right challenge. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapy Techniques to Develop a Child's Mobility
Mobility (ICF d4) develops through task-specific, high-repetition motor practice that strengthens postural control, balance and functional transitions, paired with strength training, gait practice, and environmental adaptation graded just above the child's current ability. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
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