Motor Planning 101

Motor planning skills directly impact the quality of our lives on a daily basis, but they don’t quite get the publicity they deserve. Without these skills we would struggle to do everything – and we’re not being dramatic! Motor planning skills help us know how to walk the dog, bathe, prepare food, and so much more. In this post we are going to shine the light on these skills & provide guidance on how to support your child if you believe they are struggling with their motor planning skills.

What Is Motor Planning & Why Is It Important?

Motor planning, in its most basic form encompasses all of the small (but important) steps it takes to complete tasks. These stages include..

Ideation: Come up with a concept, idea, or task

Planning & Organization: Figure out what to do first, second, third, etc. (the plan)

Execution: Initiate & carry out the plan

Feedback & Adjustment: Evaluate how the plan worked & make changes to create a better plan

Some examples of tasks that require motor planning skills include walking, tying shoes, driving to school/work, playing sports, household chores like picking up the playroom or unloading the dishwasher, and completing morning or evening routines. 

It’s important to have good motor planning skills because our lives are made up of tasks. From simple to complex, tasks rule our everyday lives! With enough repetition these skills become subconscious. For example, when we were little it took a lot of concentration & energy to brush our teeth. 

Now as adults, brushing our teeth is so automatic that we don’t really have to focus on what we are doing & can probably do other things at the same time (like think about our running to-do list). Over time, more & more skills will become automatic, which opens up more bandwidth for our brain to learn even more tasks. 

Motor planning is also about learning new patterns, skills, or tasks without great effort. This doesn’t mean that if we have good motor planning we won’t struggle to learn something new – the struggle is part of the process! We learn from our mistakes and eventually, we will be really good at the skill/task.  If we are unable to see our mistakes & make adjustments after repeated exposure, that could be a sign of motor planning challenges.

Common Signs of Motor Planning Difficulties

Keep in mind that these skills are used everyday (mostly spontaneous) & requires a lot of repetition and practice to obtain. Motor planning is a learned skill. 

Here are a few common signs that your child might be struggling with motor planning –

• Clumsyness, always dropping things
• Procrastination
• Trouble with dressing & grooming
• Challenges with written expression (getting thoughts down on paper, coming up with an idea, writing a paragraph)
• Trouble following directions
• Trouble problem solving when there’s a problem
• Off task behavior
• Frequently jumping around from idea/toy to idea/toy
• Lack of persistence & resilience (easy to give up)
• Trouble with transitions
• Easily frustrated
• Trouble learning new skills (especially sports)
• Could present with a low attention span or frazzled approach
• Frequent elopement (‘I don’t want to do that’)

Another thing to keep any eye out for is the amount of time & effort it takes your child to acquire a new skill/pattern. As mentioned, building these skills takes a lot of practice, but if your child still struggles after continued exposure, it may be time to reach out to an OT for support.

Occupational Therapy for Motor Planning Challenges

If you suspect your child is experiencing motor planning challenges, an occupational therapist can be an excellent resource for you. First your child will need to go through an OT evaluation. During the evaluation the occupational therapist will assess your child’s motor planning skills through a series of motor activities, in addition to clinical observations throughout the entirety of the evaluation. 

Next the therapist will take what they found in the evaluation, and analyze where there are opportunities for improvement in the motor planning loop to identify areas of support. Do they need help with initiation? Do they need help with adjusting the plan? The therapist will pinpoint exactly where they need support.

From there the occupational therapist will carry out regular OT sessions that incorporate sensory integration with lots of repetition in a play format to build your child’s motor planning skills. While your child is receiving OT to improve their skills, there are fun activities you can do at home to help them increase their skills as well.

Motor Planning Activities To Do With Your Child

The more opportunities your child has to practice their motor planning skills the better! Here are a few fun ways you can help them in their learning –

• Obstacle Courses
  • Start simple (2 steps to start, then add more steps as your child’s skills evolve)
  • Ex: Throw items into a basket from different spots (jump to spots in between shots)
  • Ex: Jump over pillow/animal, crawl under a table, then put together a short puzzle
  • Ex: Jump in/out five times, hold a plank for 5 – 10 seconds, then throw at a target
  • Check out this video for more simple obstacle ideas
• Play Simon Says
• Play Rock Paper Scissors
• Hopskotch
• Line Dance (rhythm is helpful)
• Cross Crawl (tap hand to opposite knee)
• Animal Walks
• Balancing Activities
  • Stand on one foot
  • Walk on a line
  • Walk on a balance beam
  • Walk on your tippy toes
• Ball Activities
  • Use a big ball to start
  • Start with bouncing or rolling before catching the ball in the air
  • Sit & kick the ball, or hold your child’s hand and place the ball right in front of them
• March/Dance to Music
• Muscle work (prioritize these kinds of activities daily!)
  • Crawl
  • Climb
  • Push/Pull
  • Carry heavy objects
  • Wrestle

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By now I’m sure you can agree that motor planning skills are incredibly important. If you think your child is struggling with motor planning & you’re located in Sandy Springs, Georgia we’d love to help your family in person at our clinic! The best way to reach out to us is through our contact form. If you are not in the area, we’d love to support you online through parent coaching (reach out to us via our contact page) or our free resources in our resource library.