• Stand 2 steps in front of a wall and with your back facing the wall

• Lean against the wall and slide down till your bottom is at the same level as your knees (like you are sitting on an imaginary chair)

• Hold the position for as long as you can

• Start by standing

• Lift up the heels of your foot and go on your tippy toes

• Hold for 3 seconds

• Put your heels back down and stand normally

• Repeat 10 times

• Start by kneeling on the floor nice and tall 

• Lift up one leg and place your foot on the ground. You should now have 1 knee and 1 foot on the ground

• Grip the floor with both feet and push them into the ground as you rise up into standing

Provide your students with a small bench or other sturdy object that can be stepped on. Start with an object that is 4-6 inches tall and progress to slightly taller as the student improves.

• Stand behind the object you are going to step onto

• Place 1 foot fully on the object

• Push into the object with that foot as you rise up and put your other foot on the object.

• Step down with 1 foot and then the other foot

• Repeat 10 times. Do not use your surroundings for support unless absolutely needed. Progress towards not using any extra support. Make sure to watch your feet so that you do not trip

• Start by standing with lots of space in front of you

• Take a big step forward with one leg

• Bend the knee that is in front and lower yourself as much as possible

• Hold for 3 seconds

• Push your front foot into the ground and stand back up

• Repeat by switching legs

• Repeat 10 times

Alternative: If you really have a lot of space, you can walk forward with the lunges:

• As you stand up from the lunge, bring your back leg to the same line as your front leg 

• Then take a big step with that leg and repeat the whole process

Learning to ride a scooter can be tricky and scary for children and can take multiple tries. 

Be sure to have patience during this process and do your best to reassure the child that they are safe and you will catch them if they fall. 

Demonstrate with yourself how to use it as many times as needed. 

Use clear, simple verbal cues that the child understands before they are on the scooter so they are not distracted by figuring out what you are telling them while they are riding it.

• Stand with the scooter on your weaker side and hold on to the handles with both hands

• Place your weaker foot on the front half of the scooter 

• With your stronger foot, push the ground behind you like you are kicking dust

• As you roll forward, put your stronger leg on the back half of the scooter and try to stay balanced

Tips:

• Make sure you have lots of space to practice going forward at first so that you don't have to worry about steering

• If it feels more comfortable, once you push off you can let your stronger leg hover above the ground so you can easily step down to stop

• In the beginning, try switching between which foot is pushing the scooter to see which set up feels the safest and most comfortable for you

Place a wide but low container in front of a chair. 

Place some small pom poms on the floor in front of their feet. Ensure the child can see the pom poms by using contrasting colors with the floor or carpet. Start with bigger pom poms (as long as they can still fit between the child's toes), then decrease their size

• Sit in the chair

• Try to pick up a pom pom using your big toe and the toe beside it like you would do with your thumb and pointer finger

• Lift your foot up and hover over the container

• Let go of the pom pom and let it fall into the container

• Bring your foot back to the floor and repeat 10 times

• Repeat with the other foot

• Stand in front of something sturdy like a wall or a heavy desk

• Place your toes against the wall with your heel still on the floor.

• Lean forward till you feel something in your leg. It should feel like the back of your leg is being stretched. 

• Stay leaning forward for 30 seconds

• Put your foot back down fully and then repeat with the other foot. 

• Repeat with both feet

If you ever feel pain stop doing the stretch. If you do not feel anything in the back of your leg, lean forward more or place your toes higher up on the wall with your heel still on the floor.