Keep the Ball on the Wall: Trunk Control & Body Awareness | Exercise Ball Activities #27 🟣🧠

👧🏼🟣 Exercise Ball on the Wall: Trunk Control & Body Awareness | Leia (Age 10) | Pediatric Physical Therapy In this video, my co-instructor Leia (age 10) and I work through a ball gymnastics activity using an exercise ball trapped between the body and the wall to build core strength, trunk control, postural stability, and body awareness 🟣🧘🏼‍♀️ The goal of this activity is to maintain constant pressure on the ball while moving the body side-to-side along the wall. If pressure is lost, the ball drops — making this a powerful way to work on graded force, midline control, and coordination in a very concrete, motivating way. We explore several variations, including: • Rolling the ball side-to-side at chest height • Rolling side-to-side with the ball positioned lower on the body • Using the knees or thighs while moving left and right • Changing direction while maintaining consistent pressure This activity requires the child to coordinate their body relative to an external object, which is a key component of motor planning and functional movement. Throughout the activity, we work on: • Trunk control and postural stability • Sustained core activation • Body awareness and spatial orientation • Graded pressure and force control • Coordination during lateral movement Because the ball provides immediate feedback, children can feel when they lose control and self-correct in real time — without verbal cueing. 👧🏿 This activity may be helpful for children who: 🧒🏾 Need improved body awareness 👧🏻 Struggle with postural control 👦🏽 Have difficulty grading force or pressure 🧑🏿‍🦱 Benefit from movement tied to external feedback 👩🏾‍🦰 Lose focus with static core exercises 🧠 A clinical takeaway I often share with families: When a child must control their body in relation to something else, the nervous system is doing much more work. Activities like this build strength, coordination, and awareness all at once — without it feeling like “exercise” 💪🏽🟣 👉🏾 This activity is part of my Ball Gymnastics Playlist, where therapy balls are used to support strengthening, coordination, balance, and motor planning. Watch the full playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAkJbMrHyKjPlhWjeNnIY3PWbHwrSUtgN 📚 My Books for Kids & Therapists Children’s Books "P is for Poop and Pee Accidents" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BLSRJ483 "A is for Anxiety" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09LXQ3W6V "A is for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QH9H5HR "C is for Cerebral Palsy" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088TSJCYP "D is for Down Syndrome" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079P8HH49 "A is for Autism" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071F4FFTB Professional Books "Pediatric Physical Therapy Strengthening Exercises for the Hips" https://www.amazon.com/dp/0998156736 "Pediatric Physical Therapy Strengthening Exercises for the Knees" https://www.amazon.com/dp/0998156760 "Pediatric Physical Therapy Strengthening Exercises for the Ankles" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TX2ZCFD 🌍 Captions Help Everyone 🌍 I carefully review captions so more people can follow along, even if English isn’t your first language 🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻👩🏾‍🤝‍👨🏼👩🏽‍🤝‍👩🏻 To turn on captions: Click CC To change the language: Settings (⚙️) → Subtitles/CC → Auto-translate 🌐 ⏱️ Video Chapters 0:00 Intro & meet Leia (age 10) 0:11 Ball gymnastics overview 0:18 Trapping the ball against the wall 0:30 Maintaining pressure during side-to-side movement 0:43 Direction changes & control 0:55 Ball positioned lower on the body 1:15 Using knees or thighs for added challenge 1:35 Why this is harder than it looks 1:58 Clinical carryover 2:13 Closing message & sign-off ⚠️ Important note: Sensory and motor responses vary widely between children. What is effective or motivating for one child may not be appropriate for another 👶🏿↔️👧🏻 (Please note: I cannot provide treatment recommendations for a child I have not personally evaluated.) 👩🏽‍⚕️📌