Crossing the Midline

Crossing the midline is an important concept in child development. It is an indicator of bilateral coordination and is critical in skills such as crawling, walking, climbing stairs, riding a bike, and even reading.
Imagine there is a line that extends from the crown of your head straight down to the floor. Any time you move across this line it is considered crossing the midline.
Take a moment to touch your left shoulder with your right hand. As adults we think that this is an easy task. For young children, this proves to be quite difficult. Just like we would provide children opportunities to strengthen their fine and gross motor skills, we need to utilize activities and exercises to improve a child's ability to cross the midline.

Here are some poses that will help students strengthen their bilateral coordination by crossing the midline.
These poses can be done individually or included as part of a longer sequence.