We want to our children and grandchildren to be successful, right? What if simple daily activities could better assist us to achieve this goal? This is exactly what we find when we do midline crossing activities.
Midline crossing is simply moving a part of one’s body to the other side of the body; such as reaching with your right hand to help put on your left sock. This act of crossing the center of your body helps to INTEGRATE our right and left brains, the logical with the emotional. Midline crossing allows us to manage emotions, process information, perform tasks, and develop self-regulation. We need to be able to take our facts and decision-making abilities and connect them with our feelings and relationships. This allows us to more fully interact with people and our environment.
When does Midline crossing begin and what does it look like?
- 3 Months: babies begin visually tracking across midline
- 6 Months: babies begin to reach one arm across midline
- 8 Months: babies begin to use both arms to reach across midline to grasp an object
Because midline crossing assists in several developmental skills such as creating a dominate hand leading to better fine motor skills and learning to read, let’s be more intentional about including these in our daily routines.
For infants, shake a rattle or move a toy slowly from one side of their face to the other, practice putting toys to both sides as they do their tummy time or when sitting, and offer them a toy to reach and grasp for during diaper changes.
Crawling is a crucial for midline crossing and overall development. For toddlers, begin ball play with throwing gently into their hands then move to tossing it slightly to one side then the other. Have them trace a figure 8 with their fingers or with a race car. Dancing with scarves, popping bubbles, putting a sticker on one arm and have the child pull it off with the opposite hand, and water “painting” big strokes on the side of the house or fence are other fun ways to work on this skill.
If you want more ideas of midline crossing activities for all ages, check out this activity list from Growing Hands On Kids: https://www.growinghandsonkids.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/20-Crossing-Midline-Activities-Printable-UpdatedAug2019.jpg.
If you have questions as to whether your child may have challenges with this skill, contact an Occupational Therapist for further information or evaluation.
Crossing Midline to improve coordination of learning and movement is important for all. Let’s get moving!
By Kathy Van Zelfden, LMSW – Mental Health Specialist
