CHANDELLE: THE EASY ONE
Chandelle is actually a regular aircraft control maneuver, required for many commercial flight certificates.
Grab the GriPlane and make a 180 degrees turn keeping the arm steady as you move it, and slightly tilt the plane. Easy, huh?
Trains: arm, wrist, grip, middle-line crossing, hand-eye coordination
TAILSLIDE: THE GRAVITY HELPS
Ready for another flight?
This one looks pretty awesome in real life: the plane that goes straight up loses the speed pretty fast and seems like it starts to fall - and that is when it turns back straight to keep on flying.
Start flying straight up and slow down until the plane stops. At that point you let it slide back, to the tail, and then fly forward, as if nothing ever happened. So cool!
Trains: arm, wrist, grip, middle-line crossing, hand-eye coordination
THE LOOP: MORE WORK FOR THE FINGERS
It must be the craziest feeling ever to fly head down. For a GriPlane pilot though the challenge is to focus on the fingers: at one point you have to change the way you grab the plane while continuing to move whole arm and wrist. The description starts on your right, but you can fly it with left hand from your left of course!
Catch the GriPlane by the tail and start flying with your dominant hand from the level of your waist of the same side, at first forward (crossing the middle line), than going up turning back (making a loop). Once you cross the middle line again, walk your fingers on the plane to place it back in the correct flying position.
Trains: arm, wrist, grip, fingers, middle-line crossing, hand-eye coordination
HAMMERHEAD: STALL TURN
Looks similar to the tailslide but differs in details when it comes to changing the direction. Hammerhead (Stall Turn) goes forward all the time and turns as if overcoming a very steep hill. Ready?
Grab the GriPlane in the middle and move straight up with whole arm, than engage the wrist once you get to the top and finally engage the elbow. This one definitely looks easier than it is!
Trains: arm, elbow, wrist, grip, middle-line crossing, hand-eye coordination
WHAT IS THERE TO TRAIN?
The writing skills need both mental and physical readiness. We (parents, teachers, caregivers) tend to focus on the goal (isn’t that cool when your child can write the shopping list?) but sometimes forget to give enough attention to the previous steps. And it does matter if we focus on fine motor skills before or after the muscles in arms and elbows are ready. Here is how we can help:
Start with the stronger (larger) muscles: we train arms before the elbows, wrists before the fingers. We need the arm to take over most of the work, and end up with little effort in the most delicate muscles and joints: the fingers. Reversing this will put unnecessary tension in the kids' hands, and make them tired. Remember to train whole body and whole hand rather than just its palm. This is why it matters that our kids play outside, play ball, climb, play with cars or put together large elements of ToddleRoad. To move whole arm, and not just the wrist. We do need the wrist training: which happens when they play with smaller blocks, clay or sand, but it should not be the only focus.
To help the brain react correctly we need the hand-eye coordination and middle-line crossing (whenever the right hand ends up on the left side of your body - and other way round). When it comes to writing, it helps your child not to confuse letters that are mirror-like ("b" vs. "d" or "p").