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Instead of being a distraction, Tristan’s 9-year-old body is met with a chorus of other movers and shakers, free to release pent-up energy while still focusing in class. The bodies may be moving, but the heads are fixed toward the front.
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Students sit on exercise balls during Cheri Tuxen’s third-grade class at Jefferson Elementary School in Winona. Tuxen replaced their chairs with the balls about a month ago to give the kids a fun way to burn energy and also improve posture and stability.
(Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News) |
That’s because Tristan and his classmates in Tuxen’s class have ditched their standard chairs for stability balls in an effort to satisfy the restless energy characteristic of young children. After a two-week trial period, the class voted to keep the balls permanently, and a loud and boisterous “NO!” emanates from their mouths when asked if they ever want to go back to chairs. A sly smile creeps up on the corners of Tuxen’s mouth when she hears that answer.
“The kids are in much more control now,” said Tuxen, who has joined in on the fun and taken to using an exercise ball herself.
‘Such a wiggle worm’
The idea for the stability balls came about through a visit from the Winona school district’s occupational therapist, Patricia Beckman. Tuxen was concerned about two students who refused to sit down and constantly squirmed when they finally took a seat. Beckman said she sees that kind of thing often in young students, who have so much energy that sitting down all day inhibits their natural need to move. Beckman felt finding a way to let the students release some of that energy could help them concentrate.
“One of the kids was such a wiggle worm,” said Beckman, “but he was so bright that I felt like if we can meet his sensory needs he would do great.”
Beckman recommended the students use exercise balls instead of chairs, and after Tuxen read up on their use in other classrooms, she decided to try it out with the whole class.
Beckman said she was surprised not only that Tuxen tried it with the whole class, but that the students haven’t gotten sick of them yet. While Beckman said the balls have been shown to help some students concentrate longer in class, she thought the kids would see it as a novelty. She has brought up the idea with other teachers before, she said, but no one has taken up the offer, until now.
The balls serve multiple purposes. They improve posture and stability, release energy, strengthen core muscles, and force students to be constantly aware to maintain balance.
Students make the rules
Tuxen worked with the district to get a grant for the stability balls, and has been using them for about a month. The teacher headed off any concerns she might have had that her students would take advantage of something that could easily be confused for a toy by putting the responsibility on the students. A set of rules were created — by the students — and anyone who doesn’t follow them is punished, ironically enough, by having to sit in their old chair.
The rules are straightforward enough: No high bouncing, put your ball under your desk when you aren’t using it and “bumpers” only on the ball. The children also are reminded not to lean back on the balls, as one of the main advantages of using them over chairs is that they force children to sit up straight, or else.
“I can’t bend back without falling,” said Hunter Bronk, 8.
The focus factor
A visit to Tuxen’s class would likely alleviate any parent’s concern that their child is simply part of a raucous mess, bouncing out of control and substituting history and science class with an impromptu gym class.
Though the subtle squeak of “bumpers” on rubber balls permeated the class while third-grade heads bounced up and down, students were actively engaged in a discussion of American history the morning of April 9. They learned about the history of the White House, whose faces are on Mount Rushmore and other facts about presidents while they used up energy that before could have built into a distraction. When asked about why they like using the stability balls, it seemed everyone had an answer.
“You get to do exercise on them, and we get to bounce,” said McKenzie Radawitz, 9.
“They help our posture,” added Elly Olsen, 9.
Though Tuxen’s students said they want to keep their chair substitutes a secret, they do get rented out for physical education classes, and some district special education classes use them as well, along with Community Education.
Beckman said she has used the balls in many schools, to a variety of results, and sees them as just another tool to meet the physical and sensory requirements of students.
“It’s just another way to meet these kids’ needs,” said Beckman.
