It is no secret that one of my favourite working positions is the vertical surface. I have always said that if you wanted to take one thing out of my occupational therapy practice, you could have my tables. I just needed the walls! So let's look at why kids should work on a vertical surface and go on to explore some vertical surface activities.
Why kids should work on a vertical surface
As soon as you lift your hand to work on the vertical surface, your wrist will assume an extended or "lifted" position. The wrist doesn’t “fall” into the extended position through gravity or some other lucky cosmic event. The muscles which are responsible for holding it in that position are working to hold it there. By working in that position for a period, the muscles have to hold a sustained contraction which is going to make them stronger. It is going to get your child’s hand ready for pencil grip and handwriting. But is that all we are trying to target with vertical surface activities?
We have to analyse if we are targeting the muscles or movements we set out to
We can meet so many different goals with the same activity. It can be tempting to get swept up in the moment about how working on the vertical is targeting the shoulder girdle; we can get in a bit of midline crossing; oh, and wrist extension – we can get wrist extension too! I believe we need to be clear about our primary goal and the rest can come along for the ride. The positioning for targeting each of these aspects is slightly different. We need to decide where we want to place our primary focus and ensure we do that to the best of our ability. If we want to spend a short time on all of the different aspects, that is fine, but we must be sure we are targeting each of them and not broadly casting the net and scooping in whatever happens to get caught up in it and then claiming we addressed it. It has to be intentional.
If it is the wrist position for handwriting – then position for that. If it is midline, structure it for that. If it is the shoulder girdle, analyse exactly what height you need to position the activity to target those muscles and structure for that. Today we are going to look at positioning for developing wrist position and stability.
What is so special about the vertical surface?
Why is it that this position is so particularly special for developing the muscles that support the stability of the wrist? Is it just because working on the vertical inherently targets the position? Well that certainly is a bonus, but there is more to it. Let's look more deeply at why kids should work on a vertical surface.
Why kids should work on a vertical surface for developing wrist position and stability
If you aren't really interested in how muscles are strengthened, skip to the section on the correct height for developing them – it is really important! If you like the muscle stuff, please read on!
Writing or drawing in the vertical position requires the wrist to be held in its fully extended position. When a muscle is placed in its shortened position, which is the case of the wrist extensor muscles in this position, the muscle is required to work maximally. So, we are turning the muscles on and making them work really hard. But that is not all. We are also requiring the muscles to hold the wrist in a static position. Holding the wrist in a static position tires the muscle. The combined effects of the muscle being shortened, along with being held in a static position, results in a “double” load. This makes the task difficult, demanding and fatiguing. You are making the muscle work twice as hard. This position is a gift to handwriting development we cannot pass up!
Height of the vertical surface for wrist development for handwriting
If we don’t get the height right then we have missed the boat. If we position the activity above the child’s head we are targeting the shoulder girdle muscles that hold the arms above the head. There's nothing wrong with that. But we aren’t in the optimal position for developing the wrist muscles we set out to target. As soon as the arm moves too high above the head the wrist assumes a more neutral position and we are not targeting the wrist extensor muscles in the same way.
The optimal position to target the wrist extensor muscles is to position the middle of the activity at the child's shoulder height. When the child moves their hand a little higher they will still be targeting the correct muscles and the same will be true when they work lower. However, if they move their hand high above their head, it is likely that their wrist will no longer be extended. And then we are not targeting the wrist muscles optimally.
Wrist extension position and stability
We have spoken before about the critical importance of the positioning of the wrist in handwriting. If the wrist is in a neutral straight position, or even bent, your child is not going to be able to achieve the discrete, isolated finger movements necessary for legibility, fluidity and quality of handwriting. The anatomical structure of the muscles will not allow the finger movements to happen when the wrist is bent. It simply can’t happen. So the wrist in an extended, or “lifted” position is of critical importance for handwriting.
Vertical surface activities
Now that we have taken a look at the theory of why kids should work on a vertical surface, let's get stuck in and explore some activities that work!
The old favourites of working on an easel and a chalkboard are perfect. But if you are looking for some variety, these are three of my favourites.
Wax Rubbings
I will start with wax rubbings because they have been one of my go-to activities for as long as I can remember. We stick the rubbing plates on the wall at the child’s shoulder height. Place a piece of paper on top of them, and off we go.
One of my favourites was to do this with white crayons and then spray dye over them to reveal the pictures. You can read about the unique wonders of the spray bottle for handwriting here.
Lego boards
More recently I have seen the most amazing Lego boards where the base plates are attached to the wall and the building happens on the vertical. This is sheer brilliance and, in my opinion, every place where children hang out needs one of these! The children play and they have no idea they are achieving the exact muscle development we are looking for.
This is the ultimate win when it comes to selecting activities to meet our goals. If our goal is inherently met through unstructured participation in the activity then we have scored a home run!
Sunset picture
- Position your page on the vertical and don’t forget the Crocodile Mouth®!
- Just because you are positioning the activity on the vertical doesn’t mean we can forget about the crocodile mouth. The biomechanics of the body don't change because we are working in the upright position. Our arms still move towards and away from our body like windscreen wipers. They do not move in a 90° manner like a robot. If you have a vertical surface like a chalkboard, you don’t need to worry about this as your child will naturally move in this plane of movement. But if you are working on a smaller piece of paper like we are going to show in the sunset activity, the page has to be appropriately angled for the left or right hander. Crocodile Mouth® all the way.
- Colour the background, using side to side movements. No special skill is needed to achieve a stunning background.
- Cut out the silhouette. I have found the children find cutting out a shadow more tricky than an object with a line, so they may need more support. You can get your rhino download at the end of this post.
- Paste your rhino onto the background.
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Vertical Surface Activity for Older Kids
This activity has been inspired by Deepak's Art. I just love the potential for placing this on the vertical! I have put together a download inspired by this that you can use with your older children.
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Margaret from Your Therapy Source has put together some quick and easy vertical surface activities.
In closing about why kids should work on a vertical surface
The vertical surface is a real gift to those of us who are looking to develop handwriting foundations. However, we need to be careful with the positioning of these activities to optimally achieve our goals. If wrist extension is your goal, be sure to keep the height of the activity around the child's shoulder height. Go too high and you will not target the muscles optimally. But apart from that, get your children doing vertical surface activities!
©Bunty McDougall
Occupational Therapist
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