10 Easy and Effective Balance Activities For Kids With Autism, APD or ADHD

Balance is crucial for your child’s function, independence and quality of life. It helps us do things like walking, running, and playing. It also helps us stay safe and avoid falling. To keep your body balanced, you need to use your eyes, ears, muscles, and joints together.

This FREE guide will tell you all you need to know about balance and how it often differs in children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and auditory processing disorder (APD). We’ve chosen 10 of the very best balance activities for kids with clear instructions and links to videos.

If you’re looking for equipment to enhance your activities, then try the unique Soundsory® headset with its multi-sensory music and movement program.

Why Balance Activities Are Essential for Kids

The Importance of Balance in Child Development

Balance is a crucial aspect of child development, as it plays a vital role in physical coordination, sensory processing, and overall well-being. Engaging in balance activities can help children improve their:

Safety: By improving your child’s balance, you’re reducing their risk of falling and helping to keep them safe from harm.

Quality of life: Balance skills contribute to a child’s confidence, self-esteem, and social interaction.

Physical coordination: Balance helps children develop better body control, posture, and muscle strength.

Sensory processing: Balance activities can enhance a child’s ability to process sensory information, such as sight, hearing, and touch, which is essential for overall development.

• Cognitive processing: Physical activities such as balance or coordination exercises have been proven to support improved cognitive functioning [1] in the long term.

How Balance Activities Benefit Children with Autism and APD

For children with ASD, balance exercises can help improve:

• • Sensory processing: Balance activities can enhance sensory integration, which is often challenging for children with autism [2].

• • Motor skills: Balance exercises can improve gross motor skills, such as walking, running, and jumping.

For children with APD, balance activities can:

• • Improve auditory processing: Balance often involves visual and auditory cues, which can help strengthen auditory processing skills.

• • Enhance spatial awareness: Balance exercises can improve a child’s understanding of their surroundings and their body in space.

“Children with autism or ADHD may experience balance impairments more frequently than neurotypical children. These differences can arise due to variations in motor coordination, sensory processing, and muscle tone. This can lead to balance issues that can significantly impact a child’s quality of life, leading to challenges in physical activities, social interactions, and overall confidence.

To help improve balance… parents should seek tailored interventions such as occupational therapy and physical activities that promote core strength and sensory integration exercises. Consistent practice and support from caregivers and therapists can lead to gradual improvements and enhanced quality of life.”

Ozan Toy MD, MPH, Psychiatrist, Telapsychiatry

Understanding the Main Types of Balance: Static and Dynamic

Balance is separated into two main skill areas, each of which are essential to a child’s development and function:

• Still balance (known as Static balance): This is when you stay steady without moving. For example, standing still, sitting upright, standing on one leg, or assuming any other position where your body and limbs are still and fixed in one spot. A child uses their static balance skills while sitting at the table waiting for dinner, standing in line during gym class, and keeping their body still at the sink as they wash their hands.

• Moving balance (Known as Dynamic balance): This is when you stay steady while you’re moving. For example, walking, hopping, running, jumping, or riding a bicycle. A child uses their dynamic balance skills while dodging balls during gym class, dancing, bouncing on a trampoline, and going through obstacle courses.

We need a range of different body functions to maintain balance. Our three most important ‘balance systems’ are: 

• • Visual – How we see our position in space and the objects around us.

• • Vestibular – our inner ear detects when we are upright or not.

• • Proprioceptive – millions of sensors throughout our body which senses our feeling of position and movement. 

We provide a guide to the benefits of each exercise as well as information on how to complete it. The videos offer a great visual guide.

10 Fun and Easy Balance Activities for Kids 

Visual Balance Exercises for Kids

Visual scanning activity

Sit or stand and hold two objects on either side of your child at eye level.  Keep the objects roughly 2 feet away from each other and around this same distance from your child’s head. Encourage your child to keep their head still as they move their eye gaze from one object to the other. Moving your eyes from one object to the other and back to the first object is considered one repetition. Have your child do 10 repetitions before taking a rest. 

Visual tracking activity

Sit or stand and hold an object in front of your child at eye level. Ask your child to keep looking at the object as they slowly turn their head from side to side. You can also try having your child assume the same posture (sitting or standing) while locking eyes with one object. You can move the object to various places in the room – side to side in front of them, far away and up close, in the corner of the room, etc. Have your child maintain eye contact with the object while keeping their body still. Try doing this for 30-45 seconds before taking a rest break.

Try playing I-spy or “keep it up” with a balloon for fun variations on scanning & tracking. 

The ability to integrate sensory cues during tracking are reduced in children with autism [4]. Make these exercises a must-have part of your activities list. For a more in-depth read on visual exercises, try our article on ocular motor activities for your child.

Vestibular balance activities for kids

Sky-Earth Stretches

Ask your child to stand up tall with arms above their head and stretched up to the ceiling. Next, ask them to bend forward at the waist, stretch their arms straight down so their hands touch their feet. Go through these steps slowly, with thoughtful and controlled movements. Going from standing to bending over and touching your feet counts as one repetition. Try to do 10 of this full sequence before taking a break.

Balance Activities for Sensory Integration

Standing to Kneeling to Standing
Begin with your feet shoulder-width apart, standing tall with your core engaged. Step one foot back and slowly lower that knee to the ground. Once you are stable, bring your front-facing knee down so that you’re now kneeling on both knees that are lined up next to one another. Push through your legs to bring one foot forward and plant it firmly on the ground. Do the same with the other foot, which will leave you in a standing position. This is one repetition of the exercise. Complete 9 more of these exercises. For each repetition you go through, alternate legs. For example, do the first repetition by starting with your left foot, the second repetition by starting with your right foot, and so on.

ATNR (asymmetrical tonic neck reflex) Walk
Position yourself with your arms extended straight in front of you, fingers spread out. Keep your arms fixed in this position as you turn your head to the left. While maintaining this posture, march in place for 10 steps. Briefly pause, then repeat the exercise the same way except by turning your head to the right this time. This is considered one repetition of this exercise. Complete another 9 repetitions the same way – by turning your head to the left for the first part and to the right for the second part.

Proprioceptive activities

Arm-leg stretch

Begin with your child in the crawling position. This involves getting on the ground on all fours – the front of their body should be propped up by straight arms with their palms flat on the floor and the back of their body should be supported by bent legs with their knees on the floor. While maintaining this position ask your child to move one leg so that it’s straight out in back of them and move the opposite arm so that it’s straight out in front of them. After holding this position for 5 seconds, bring the arm and leg back down to the original crawling position. Then repeat with the opposite arm and opposite leg. This is one repetition of the exercise. Repeat these steps to do 9 more alternating motions like this.

Lazy 8’s

Stand up and face a wall. Ask your child to use the pointer finger on their right hand to trace the shape of an 8 on the wall. They should slide their hand across the wall slowly and with minimal pressure. Keep going until they have created a total of 10 lazy 8s with their right hand. Repeat the same movement 10 times using the pointer finger on their left hand. For an added challenge, your child can complete these 10 repetitions with the right and left hand at the same time. If you choose this option, be sure your arms are spread apart so there is sufficient room on the wall for each “drawing.” See the video for more guidance on this.

For more information, check out our blog on proprioceptive activities for kids.

Full-Body Movement and Balance

Jumping shapes

Standing with 2 feet together, consecutively jump out shapes by making your body into the lines that make that shape. Start with a square. The first line in that is a vertical line, so place your arms straight above your head with your palms facing one another. Keep your feet together and make one jump for one vertical line. The vertical lines in a square connect with a horizontal line, so that will be the next line to create. Bring both arms out to the side. Once you are in position, jump! This will be followed by another vertical line “jump” and another horizontal line “jump.” Try to go through these same steps as you jump to create more complicated shapes like a triangle, a diamond, and a hexagon.

Pediatric Occupational therapist Kara Tavolacci offers this great piece of advice:

“To help improve motor skills, balance, and vestibular I am going to recommend Soundsory®.  But I would also recommend activities that challenge your balance/equilibrium/posture.”

 The unique Soundsory® headset and program can accompany all the exercises included in this list to optimize your child’s balance activities.

We also provide a comprehensive guide to occupational therapy activities for children.

Balance Activities for Toddlers

Balance activities are also suitable for toddlers, as balance is a formative skill that begins developing early in life. Some simpler, but equally beneficial, activities are recommended for children in this age range. Try some of these with your toddler and do your best to make each as fun as possible! 

1 – Walk the Line. Get some painter’s tape and measure out a 12” piece. Find a flat spot on the ground and place the piece there. Show your toddler how to walk on top of the line so that one foot is always touching the tape. They should continue walking until they get to the end of the tape, then turn around and do the same as they go back to the beginning. For an added challenge, line the tape up so that it goes the opposite direction as floorboards.

2 – Walk the Line (Sidestep). Get some painter’s tape and measure out a 12” piece. Find a flat spot on the ground and place the piece there. Show your toddler how to walk down the tape line using sidesteps and making sure each foot stays on the tape as they go along. They should continue walking until they get to the end of the tape, then turn around and do the same as they go back to the beginning.

3 – Ball Bounce. Get a medium-sized exercise ball that has a handle on top. Show your toddler how to sit on it while holding the handle with two hands and bouncing on the ball while using their feet to push off the ground. Have your toddler bounce from one side of the room to the other. For an added challenge, have them bounce in a straight line (you can use tape as you did in the previous activity for this part) or a big circle around the edge of the room.

4 – Animal Walks. Imitate various animals using the upper body and the lower body. Start with a dinosaur and make big, wide steps with the legs and bring the arms close to the body while making your fingers into claws. Next, move to an elephant, horse, snake, and cat. Be sure that each animal walk uses the lower body and upper body, as this will particularly target balance skills. For an added challenge, have your child do this on a straight line of tape like we used in the first two activities.

FAQs: Best Balance Activities for Kids with Autism, APD, or ADHD

What are the activities for balance?

Here’s a summary of our recommended balance exercises for kids.

What causes poor balance in children?

 Poor balance in children can be caused by a variety of factors, including:

Developmental delays: Some children may have developmental delays that affect their balance, such as motor delays or sensory processing disorders.

Neurological conditions: Conditions like cerebral palsy, stroke, or brain injuries can impair balance.

Musculoskeletal issues: Problems with muscles, joints, or bones can also contribute to poor balance.

Inner ear problems: The inner ear plays a crucial role in balance. Issues like ear infections or vestibular disorders can affect balance.

Vision problems: Poor eyesight can make it difficult to maintain balance.

Medications: Certain medications can have side effects that affect balance.

Lack of physical activity: Insufficient exercise can lead to weak muscles and poor coordination, affecting balance.

If you’re concerned about your child’s balance, it’s important to consult with a healthcare professional for a proper evaluation and diagnosis.

What is the best activity to improve balance?

There is no one activity that is best for balance. All of the activities mentioned in this article can assist in improving your child’s balance. Other exercises include tai chi, yoga, gymnastics, and dance. Each of these provides your child with continued and regular practice with various motor skills and balance.

How do you explain balance to children?

When explaining what balance is to your child, it’s important to keep it simple and use examples that they understand. You can say that balance keeps you upright when you need to be upright and also helps you stay upright while you’re moving. You can tell your child that balance helps them from tripping. (“Remember that time you were moving fast and the dog got in your way, but you readjusted and your body kept you from falling? You had good balance so you stayed safe!”)

When should I see a doctor for my child’s balance?

It might be a good idea to ask your child’s doctor if you notice they fall down a lot and report dizziness or lightheadedness. These can be signs of health conditions and are important to address.

References

Ziereis, S., & Jansen, P. (2015). Effects of physical activity on executive function and motor performance in children with ADHD. Research in developmental disabilities, 38, 181–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2014.12.005

Kashefimehr, B., Kayihan, H., & Huri, M. (2018). The Effect of Sensory Integration Therapy on Occupational Performance in Children With Autism. OTJR : occupation, participation and health, 38(2), 75–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/1539449217743456

Yogman, M., Garner, A., Hutchinson, J., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., COMMITTEE ON PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF CHILD AND FAMILY HEALTH, & COUNCIL ON COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA (2018). The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children. Pediatrics, 142(3), e20182058. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-2058

Hughes, L., Kargas, N., Wilhelm, M., Meyerhoff, H. S., & Föcker, J. (2023). The Impact of Audio-Visual, Visual and Auditory Cues on Multiple Object Tracking Performance in Children with Autism. Perceptual and motor skills, 130(5), 2047–2068. https://doi.org/10.1177/00315125231187984