Carla Grobler
Arbeidsterapeut
Occupational Therapist
Pr No. 0660000080136
Elturion Christian School
256 Tipperary road
Hennopspark
Centurion
084 581 0644
carla.grobler@vodamail.co.za
www.carlagrobler.co.za
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Midline-crossing
There is an imaginary line dividing the body into 2 halves. Reaching across this vertical line is called midlinecrossing.
How to recognize when your child is avoiding crossing the midline
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He will swop hands when approaching the midline e.g. transfer an object / crayon from one hand to
the other
Will turn the page more than 45 degrees (usually more) when colouring / drawing / writing
She will turn her body / lean to the side when writing / drawing
He will move the page to the dominant side when writing / drawing
He will use his left hand on the left side of his body and his right hand on right side of his body
She will kicks a ball with the foot closest to the ball – not with 1 preferred foot
She will struggle to catch a ball when thrown off-center as she doesn’t want to cross the midline of
the body with her hand / arm
Etc.
Games / activities to facilitate midline-crossing
Play a game on the carpet where he is required to cross the
midline, if the child is avoiding to do so gently hold his left hand
down so that he reaches with his right hand across his midline.
With an older child, prompt him to keep his assisting hand resting
on the side of the table as this will facilitate bilateral integration
(supporting the paper with 1 hand while writing with the other
hand)
…Draw a lazy 8 on the blackboard. Your child must be
positioned directly in the centre of the shape to be drawn, and
the assistant hand must be on the board as shown or the child
must use both hands to draw the shape.
If your child is doing a worksheet or drawing activity, watch out
for the subtle shifting of the page to the “dominant hand” side. If
necessary paste the paper to the table using prestik, ensure
that the child doesn’t now move the seat to avoid crossing the
midline or shifting his body.
Have the thrower move slightly to the side, so the child (sitting)
must turn the upper body to catch and throw the ball. Do this on
both sides, and gradually increase the angle at from which the
ball is thrown, to increase the amount of midline crossing.
Use any object to pass from 1 child to the other, ensure using
both hands. Make sure that they are sitting either cross-legged,
or on their knees to make sure their hips stay stable while their
shoulders turn.
In this game, the child is seated, and throws across the midline
to a target with the dominant hand. We used wadded up
newspaper. Ensure that the hips are stabilized.
In this ball passing game, two kids sit back to back and pass the
ball around to each other. You could do it 5 times in each
direction as a warm up for other gross motor activities or as a
break from desk tasks.
*With all the activities it is important to stabilize your child’s hips to ensure that he crosses the midline. Use
hands bilaterally (together) and his dominant hand to perform each activity*
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Paste masking tape on the floor – with twists and turns – use cars to drive on the line
Draw a path on a blackboard – use cars to drive on the line
Paint on a large piece of paper
Paint a wall / garage door / steps using a big brush and water
Ball skills
Throw to different targets on either side of the body
Give each hand a chance to throw the balls / beanbags / crunched-up paper
Catch a ball that is thrown off-centre to both side of the body
Use a racket / bat to hit balls
Hold a racket / dell-stick / bat bilaterally (with both hands). Throw the ball off-centre to both sides of
the body
Place coins / pegs / buttons / on 1 side of the child’s body. Let her pick up the object with 1 hand,
transfer it across her midline to the other side of her body, and place it in a container. To work on
fine eye-hand coordination and hand function use smaller objects / diverse shapes / different sizes /
tweezers / different fingers to grasp the objects
Place an empty container 1 one side of the body and a container filled with maize / rice / beans /
small pebbles on the other side of his body. Use a laundry scoop / small shovel / spoon to transfer
the contents from 1 container to the other. Hands may be used 1-1 or bilaterally (together)
Use tongs / braai tongs / salad tongs to transfer balls / beanbags / marbles / cotton balls / pebbles /
blocks from 1 side of the body to the other
Let the child lie on her tummy. Place the different pieces of a puzzle / pegs / blocks on 1 side of her
body and let her build the puzzle / pegs / construction on the other side.
Mom blows bubbles and she has to burst them – blow the bubbles off-centre to both side of her
body
References
www.therapystreetforkids.com
www.make-the-grade-ot.com
www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com