Perceptual Motor Learning Laboratory
PERCEPTUAL MOTOR LAB
A perceptual motor laboratory offers students the opportunity to strengthen their skills for
school success.

Our goal, as physical educators, is to promote learning through appropriate
movement activity.
Researchers are only now beginning to understand the complex relationship between
physical and intellectual development, but it is widely recognized that there is a
relationship between the two. A child that is exposed to a balanced and appropriate
variety of sensory- motor stimulation is more receptive to education and communication.
Movement and exercise can play an important role in the learning process of each child
from a perceptual and academic perspective as well as psychologically and socially.
What is perceptual motor development?
Perceptual motor development refers to one’s ability to receive, interpret and respond
successfully to sensory information. “Perceptual” is the receiving or input’ system, while
“motor” refers to output, or responsive movement. All conscious and controlled
movement depends on your ability to interpret sensory information.
Why is perceptual motor development important?
A lot of basic school readiness depends on many muscles working together as a team. All
communication skills… reading, writing, speech and gesturing are motor-based abilities.
Children, who are deprived of a wide variety of movement experiences, run the risk of
perceptual and motor impairment. The preschool and kindergarten child needs perceptual
motor experiences to build a strong base on which to build future academic learning since
early intervention is crucial.
Movement experiences have become a vital part of the normal development for all
children. We cannot afford to leave motor development to chance.
Contact Information for questions and/or workshops:
Jill Johnstone: jaj134@aol.com
Molly Ramon: edmo@5mac.com
Darci Magee: darcimagee@yahoo.com
Perceptual Motor Learning Laboratory
PERCEPTUAL LEARNING MOTOR LABORATORY
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Why do we need a perceptual learning motor laboratory and how does it benefit our
students?
Children rely on perceptual-motor development to receive, interpret, and respond
successfully to sensory information.
Young students with adequate perceptual-motor skills have improved coordination,
increased body awareness, stronger intellectual skills and a more positive self-image. In
contrast, students lacking these skills often struggle with coordination, have poor body
awareness, and are often less confidant. Additionally, research shows that perceptualmotor development is critical to the development of brain pathways that cross the right
and left hemisphere. Because of this, students with poor perceptual-motor development
often have difficulty learning to read and write when they are in the primary grades.
To develop to their full potential, it is important that we look at the whole child and
address their physical, mental, and emotional needs. There are many programs at
elementary schools that focus on academic and emotional needs. Only the physical
education motor laboratory addresses physical growth and it is designed to target
individual development of motor skills for young students who are lagging behind in this
critical area of development.
Participation in and sequential perceptual motor activities will enable our students to
attain higher levels of body control and encourage higher levels of effort in all areas of
the school curriculum. We have developed a program that consists of bilateral, unilateral,
and cross lateral stations in eight-activity format that has weekly lessons.
At the end of the program, participating students will demonstrate positive gains in
perceptual-motor development. Targeted areas will include locomotor skills (walking,
running, jumping, hopping, galloping, skipping, leaping, and sliding), manipulative skills
(bouncing and catching various items, ball dribbling, kicking a stationary object to a
target, jumping a rope, and balance), and balance. As a result of these gains, we these
young students will have an improved self-image and will achieve higher levels of
academic success due to improved brain pathways fostered by their perceptual-motor
growth. We determine these gains by cross-referencing gross motor development
(TGMD-2 Test) with academic development (TPRI Test of Reading Readiness). The
results from our motor lab and our control group demonstrate the success of our lab.
Our lab was motored and supported by Dr. Beyer of The University of Texas at San
Antonio and her Motor Development Class.
Perceptual Motor Learning Laboratory
Tips on how to have students get the most benefit from your
motor lab program:
1. Place your students in groups of approximately four children, being certain to take
their ability and personality into consideration. You may need to make several
changes before the right combination is achieved.
2. Add more stations if your group is larger. We usually have eight stations.
3. Have enough equipment at each station so that students are engaged most of the
time. Students should not wait in line or for equipment.
4. Have students report to the same station number in approximately the same
location each time they come to your lab to avoid a slow start.
5. You should use station music that already has tracks of music. We use two or
three-minute tracks with twenty to thirty second break time for student rotation.
6. The first day in the week (ours is Tuesday) that you have your lab, guide your
students through the stations, even if they have done them in the past. It is
necessary to remind them of safety issues each time they enter the gym.
7. Become familiar with the stations and special directions before presenting them to
the students.
8. Be flexible and make changes that may be necessary in accordance with student
needs.
9. Make certain that you monitor all stations that have students off the floor.
Examples of this are the jump box or floor balance beam.
10. Plan your stations according to the number of adults that you have available to
monitor where students will need help.
11. Let students be successful by having them do the same station the entire week.
Immediate success is not certain but practice will make a big difference.
12. You may need to watch different stations each day so that you can give individual
help when needed.
13. Repeat stations the following week if it is evident that extra time is needed.
14. Delete any stations that appear to be too difficult for most participants. You can
always try again later.
15. Give lots of support and praise.
16. HAVE LOTS OF FUN!
Contact Information for questions and/or workshops:
Email: Jill Johnstone: jaj134@aol.com
Molly Ramon: edmo@5mac.com
Darci Magee: darcimagee@yahoo.com
Perceptual Motor Learning Laboratory
SAMPLE STATIONS
For Perceptual Motor Learning Laboratory
1. Bilateral
Students jump, with both feet simultaneously, into hula-hoops while saying the
color of the hoop.
2. Bilateral
Students kneel on the scooter board and use both hands simultaneously to propel
themselves forward following the path of cones.
3. Cross lateral
Students say the color of the beanbag when picking it up and when tossing it.
 Students pick up a red beanbag with their right hand and toss it into the
red bucket on their left side without changing hands.
 Students pick up a blue beanbag with their left hand and toss it into the
blue bucket on their right side without changing hands.
 Students pick up a green beanbag with their right hand and toss it into the
green bucket on their left side without changing hands.
 Students pick up a yellow beanbag with their left hand and toss it into the
yellow bucket on right side without changing hands.
At first, students will try change the beanbag to the hand closest to the bucket.
4. Cross lateral
Students crawl on a mat while counting to ten
5. Unilateral
Students stomp on the board with their right foot and catch the beanbag with their
right hand. Repeat with the left.
This takes lots of practice.
6. Unilateral
Students hop with one foot through the agility ladder.
Definitions:
Cross Lateral – crossing the midline
Bilateral – both sides of the body doing an equal amount
Unilateral – Only one side of the body
Jill Johnstone: jaj134@aol.com
Molly Ramon: edmo@5mac.com
Darci Magee: darcimagee@yahoo.com