When it comes to understanding at what age a resource is beneficial to a child, we wanted to make sure that we interviewed a professional to give evidence-based recommendations.
We relied on an Occupational Therapist with specialties in Sensory Integration and Processing for this insight!
Beam with Carved Waves- 2.5 years old
Curved Beam - 3-3.5 years old, depending on the child
Beam with Additional Holes- 3 years old
Narrowing Beam- 2.5-3 years old, depending on the child
Plain Beam with Rubber Add-On - 2.5 years old
Plain Beam- 2.5 years old
Beam with Stepping Stones- 3.5 years old
Beam with Rungs- 3.5 years old
Extra-Long Beam- 2.5-3, depending on the child
Encouraging things like risky or challenging play helps to push a child’s abilities. You can meet children where they are, and then push the limits just enough to encourage growth without causing them to become frustrated or disengaged.
A good amount of future executive functioning ability happens when we allow children to take risks and do things that are challenging. It can feel difficult, but when we allow children to struggle (within reason), we are promoting cognitive growth and development. This type of play gives them a safe space to look at things from different angles, start multi-causal thinking, and begin to develop basic problem-solving skills where they learn to adapt and change.
When a child is able to accomplish their desired result (as independently as their current age and development permits) the amount of pride and joy they feel will increase the likelihood of them continuing to push themselves in the future. It’s not just play but an absolutely invaluable experience that can help them grow in countless ways moving forward.
Beam with Carved Waves- This allows for tactile sensory development in young children as they explore the varied textures with their feet.
Curved Beam- This can help children navigate directional changes of their feet and develop skills such as motor planning, cognitive demand, finer movement, and learning to control their momentum. With very fine precise motor planning, there is a greater cognitive demand where children need to plan finer movement of the legs and the ankles to stay on the beam. When movement and vision have to occur at the same time, it teaches the movement sense and the eyes to work together.
Beam with Additional Holes- This beam requires more foundational skills as a child’s balance is challenged by the additional holes, and may be better suited for older children. It can be used in conjunction with other beams to create an ambulatory motor plan where each beam lets a child practice a different skill, such as walking with flat feet or on tiptoes.
Narrowing Beam- The recommended age for this beam will depend on the child, however, it may be helpful for ages 3 and up. Developmentally, 3-year-olds have purposeful functional patterns, and this beam can help teach children to slow their bodies down as they navigate the narrowing beam. They can learn to turn their bodies sideways and sidestep, which can support vestibular development.
Plain Beam with Rubber Add-On- A common intervention in Occupational Therapy is to provide children with touch-based experiences through things other than their hands. Hands have so many nerve endings that cause them to be hyper-sensitive, which can activate the fight or flight response and cause a child to feel averse to new experiences. Introducing a new touch experience through their feet can become a safe way that bypasses the fight or flight response. Additionally, the grippy nature can help make balancing a little easier than standing on a smooth beam as children increase their muscle tone and learn to recruit extra muscles to keep themselves upright.
Plain Beam- This can be an excellent beam to introduce when children are just beginning to walk on narrow surfaces. It can support balance practice, and develop visual motor skills, as well as hand-eye and foot-eye coordination. This is done by teaching their eyes to work together as a team to help stabilize the body. These skills lay the foundation for supporting later reading, writing, and fine motor coordination.
Beam with Stepping Stones- With raised stones that are close together, a child must learn how to walk on an incomplete surface or aim for a specific target on the beam. This can support problem-solving skills as they learn to move their body and feet at the same time.
Beam with Rungs- Once a child is able to walk on a narrow surface, this beam can provide them with a greater challenge. They learn how to check their balance and learn dynamic standing balance, which helps with postural control, building core strength, and reaching outside their base of support. The more that a child can balance while there is a movement component present, the greater their core is able to stabilize. Introducing a surface like this can help children calibrate with movement so that they can control their momentum better.
Extra Long Beam- Although this beam is flat, it adds an extra challenge because the child must learn to maintain their balance across a longer beam. This challenge comes through expanding a child’s attention, and can be a great incremental stepping stone from the original Plain Beam.
One of the features of the Wooden Balance Beam is that the bases can stack, creating a taller balance beam. If you're wondering if there is a developmental benefit to them being stack, there is!
In terms of natural child development, a child progresses from easier to harder, larger to smaller, and that progression occurs in terms of height as well. The ability to sense and move their body against gravity is a skill that unifies the entire neural processing in a child’s brain. The movement sense, which is called the vestibular system, is housed in the inner ear and has a very functional connection to the eyes and vision. When the movement sense and vision work together, it allows a child to gain greater confidence in movement and a greater ability to process movement.
We're building balance and it's fun, but it does so much more than that! By having the opportunity to increase the grade and pick those challenges, you're helping a child be able to build the skills necessary to move their body in a functional way to navigate their environment on an everyday basis.
