Body awareness (proprioception)

Proprioception is how the body senses itself.

It helps us understand where our body parts are in relation to each other without looking. It also helps us figure out how much force to use in different activities such as picking up a fragile object or going to lift what we know to be a heavy item.

Proprioception is the information we receive from our muscles and joints.

How this can look different

Children who struggle with body awareness could:

find it hard to coordinate their body or hands and fingers
keep moving or fidgeting to help them understand the position of their body
be heavy-handed in play with peers
constantly push against or bump into things or people on purpose
write or draw with too much or too little force
jump, run or always be on the go
struggle to stand in line or stay in their spot at circle time

How to help

There are motor activities such as:

pushing and pulling activities where there is pressure put through the muscles and joints (for example, carrying shopping bags or pulling a small cabin bag with objects in it)
playing catch with a heavy ball
active activities such as biking, hiking, running
jumping on a trampoline or using a skipping rope
tug of war or playing row the boat
deep squeeze hugs or massages
squeezing clay, playdough or therapy putty