September is National Learning & Development Month
Crossing the Midline Activities for Young Kids
Crossing the midline is a key building block in developing pre-writing and pre-reading skills and is an important aspect of child development. The midline referred to is an imaginary line that goes vertically down the center of the body.
Why is the midline important and why exactly is it crucial to be able to cross it successfully?
Firstly, it helps them to be more independent and to interact more with the environment. For example, a young child who has plenty of practice crossing the midline is more likely to be able to dress themselves, pour a drink of water and feed themselves using a knife and fork.
Midline Crossing Activities
Sorting Activities
Sorting activities are a great way of working on early maths but sorting objects into 2 or more piles also encourages crossing the midline to place objects into the correct pile.
Art on Vertical Surfaces
Painting on easels, or drawings on walls with chalk, has huge benefits to the development of crossing the midline. This is an activity where children are likely to start using one hand to reach up and across to create shapes and lines. These large-scale movements help to develop muscles that will later be needed for pen or pencil control.
Obstacle Courses
Obstacle courses build a whole host of pre-writing skills including spatial awareness, core strength and crossing the midline. Positioning obstacles so that your child has to cross their leg over the other leg in order to reach the next one is a very simple, but effective way to get them crossing the midline and building up some balance at the same time.
Show us your activities!
Post your Family Fun activities on Facebook and/or Instagram with the hashtag #fundfamilyfun & we will share your photos to our page every Friday. Make sure to like & follow our pages for the most up to date benefit information & for more fun activities for the whole family! 
For more activities & information visit: empoweredparents.co/crossing-the-midline
