Painter’s tape is an easy, affordable tool that can be used to practice many of your child’s physical therapy activities. Balance, coordination, and strengthening activities can all be performed with a simple roll of painter’s tape. See below for some ideas!
Balance Beam
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- Use one or two long strips of painters tape to create a balance beam that your child can walk along, with one foot in front of the other. Try placing puzzle pieces at one end, and the puzzle board at the other, to encourage multiple repetitions of walking forward, sideways, and backward across the “beam!”
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Single Leg Balance + Make Art
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- While your child is standing, place a piece of tape on their foot or shoe. Hold their hand if needed, and have them lift their foot and practice balancing to remove the tape. They can then place the tape on paper or the wall, decorating as they choose! Use different colors of tape for a more interesting result. This activity can also be performed using stickers!
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String tape between to chairs, to make “hurdles”
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- Have your child practice stepping (single leg balance!), or jumping over tape suspended between two objects. The higher the tape, the bigger the challenge! Consider creating a few hurdles in a row, for a trickier obstacle course!
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Make squares or a grid on the floor and practice jumping!
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- Having a target to jump into can be very helpful for children who are working on jumping coordination. At physical therapy, we often jump into rings on the floor, but you can make your own targets at home using tape! If jumping with two feet, make sure to remind your child to jump with feet together when they take off and land! You can even make an indoor hopscotch grid with tape, on a rainy day!
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Heel raises for foot and ankle strength
- Use tape to suspend puzzle pieces or toys high on a wall or other vertical surface. Then, have your child stand on tip toes to remove the toys, one piece at a time. The wall prevents your child from leaning or pushing with their arms while raising onto their toes, increasing the work that their calf and foot muscles have to do! Sometimes, the tape on the wall is motivation enough, and you don’t even need to attach a toy!
Stair climbing and bilateral coordination
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- Tape is an easy tool that can be used as a visual cue for children as they are learning to use both sides of their body. Using two colors of tape, mark your stairs with alternating colors. Then, place matching tape on each of your child’s shoes. Have your child match their feet to the colors, working on alternating feet while climbing up and down!
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Single leg balance while playing tic-tac-toe
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- Make a tic tac toe grid on the floor using tape. Next, use two different colored bean bags, pool rings, or other lightweight toys to act as your “x’s” and “o’s.” Have your child stand on one foot and lift their toes while you place a beanbag on their lifted foot. Have them continue to balance, while they propel the beanbag onto the tic-tac-toe grid, using their foot! This strengthens the muscles on the front of the shin, while working on balance!
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Spider’s web obstacle course
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- For a special challenge, string painter’s tape in different directions in a hallway: high, low, and everywhere in between to create a “spider’s web” or “laser beam” obstacle course that your child has to squat under, step over, and army crawl under. Place some toys on one end, and have your child navigate the mobility challenge in order to retrieve them!
Can you think of other fun ways to incorporate playful activities into helping your child achieve their PT goals?