Posture Exercises for Kids at School or Home
Students are sitting more and more especially at a younger age to work on academic skills. Not to mention all the time they spend hunched over their screens or phones. There are many benefits to completing simple posture exercises for kids at school or home.
This set of 5 postural exercises for your students can be performed right in their chair during class or working at home. The hand out for these exercises is included in the 25 Tip Sheets for School Based Therapists hand out packet and you can download it for FREE at the bottom of the post.
When we were growing up, we probably all had a posture that was criticized by our teachers, parents, or dance instructors. Although we might not have been able to correct it at that time, we can ensure the next generation of children have good postural habits from the get-go!
Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, teachers, and parents need to help children learn how to maintain healthy postures early on, and it all begins with the education and practice. These Posture Exercises for Kids is a great way to increase awareness of proper positioning and stretching in the classroom.
They can all be done right at the student’s desk!
5 Easy Ways to Improve Posture
These 5 posture exercises for kids are super easy to teach to your students. Encourage them to complete these posture activities in the classroom and at home. They are great to complete even during long bouts of screen time.
Stretch and Relax Posture Exercises for Kids
How to Do This Posture Exercise for Kids – Stretch and Relax.
Sit up tall in the chair with your feet on the floor. Slowly raise both arms overhead, clasp hands and gently look up at your hands.
Hold for 5 seconds with your arms overhead and focus your eyes on your hands. Take deep breaths.
Slowly lower arms back to side, relax shoulders down and elongate neck holding for 5 seconds. Repeat 3 times.
Need More Ideas?
Overhead Stretch
For these posture exercises for kids, start the students off by encouraging them to sit up tall in the chair with their feet on the floor. They may need to move forward on the edge of the seat.
Raise your left arm overhead. Reach up with your right hand and grab your left wrist. Gently pull your left arm and bend your trunk slightly to your right.
Hold for 10 seconds. Taking deep breaths in and out as your stretch to the side.
Lower your hands and repeat with the right arm overhead, grabbing with the left hand, bending to the left and holding for 10 seconds. Again, taking deep breaths.
When done, lower both hands back down to your side.
Dragonfly Stretch
This stretch is awesome to prevent getting a hunched over upper back. To complete the Dragonfly Postural Exercises for Kids start with your students sitting up straight in the chair with their feet on the floor. You will definitely have to move your bottom to the front of the seat for this postural training exercise.
Explain to the students, that you are going to move your arms like a dragonfly does. Their wings are out to the side and flutter back and forth.
Lift your arms up to shoulder height palms facing to the rear. Start with the motion of pinching and squeezing your shoulder blades together pushing your arms backwards with elbows straight.
Hold for 3 seconds. Return your arms to starting position at shoulders. Push back again holding for 3 seconds. Repeat 10 times.
You can also repeat this exercise with a slow beat, gently moving your arms like a dragonfly wings would. Want to make it even harder? Turn on a metronome, can you move your “dragonfly wing” arms to the beat? This take this exercise from stretching the chest muscles and strengthening the upper back muscles. All in a classroom chair!
Reach and Grab Posture Exercises for Kids
For this Reach and Grab posture exercise for kids again start sitting up tall in the chair with your feet flat on the floor. Move your bottom forward in the seat so you are sitting right on the edge.
Reach left hand up and behind the back (palm facing your back). Reach the right arm down and around to the back (palm facing out). Try to clasp your fingers together and hold for 5 seconds. Relax arms and switch lifting right arm up and back and left arm down and back. Repeat 2 times.
This is a great exercise to stretch the chest and shoulder muscles. It is difficult thought. If you can not clasp the fingers together just reach the hands together.
Seated Twists
This is a wonderful exercise to stretch the back but to also just wake up the body. Turning of the head helps to energize our vestibular systems.
How to do the Twist Postural Training Exercise: Sit in the chair with your feet flat on the floor to complete these posture exercises for kids.
Look over your right shoulder, reach your right hand behind the chair and your left hand to the right side of the chair. Hold this position for 10 seconds. Take deep breaths and focus your gaze on a point in the distance.
Repeat to the left side and hold for 10 seconds. Return to regular sitting and be ready to work!
Get a FREE Handout of these Posture Exercises for Kids for the Classroom or Home
Remember this handout is part of the complete 25 Tip Sheets for School Based Therapists packet.
Sign up to receive the weekly email newsletters and other announcements from Your Therapy Source. You will be redirected to the download of the free handout.
Classroom Activity Posters is a collection of 16 exercise activities, 4 large posters and a brief, simple video demonstration of each exercise.The posters are divided into four groups: posture, alerting, ready to work and focus/balance. All of the exercises are performed in standing. Try these activities prior to starting fine motor activities, for posture breaks, to refocus students attention and for vestibular/ proprioceptive input in the classroom.
