Sensory Input – We had a kiddo the other week who was loving the stomp rocket. If you have them retrieve the rocket as well, it helps if they know where it has landed! Because its fun to watch and the kids are motivated they will pretty quickly start to figure out (with some help from you) that they need to also pay attention to where the rocket is flying through the air. A lot of times they miss the actual rocket flying through the air. Visual Tracking – When kids first start to use the stomp rocket they often can’t attend to what they are doing and then watch the rocket go into the air. Some kids have no problem with this, however, some kids will take tentative steps or allow gravity to pull their foot down which doesn’t allow the proper pressure to generate for shooting the rocket off! A trick to give them some success in the beginning is to only put the rocket part way down so that less force is required to propel it into the air. Because they have to pick the foot up a little higher to clear the ‘stomp’ part its harder for them to do a partial weight shift.įorce Production/Regulation – Whether they are using the stomp rocket with their hands or their feet, they need to generate enough force (in a timely manner) to propel the rocket off the end of the stand. Weight Shifting – Again, in order to pick their foot up to stomp on the toy, the kiddo needs to shift their weight onto their standing leg. Because they have to pick it up higher than they would for taking a step during walking, they leave their foot in the air for a little longer, also allowing them to get a better stomp! Once our kids master the ‘stomp’ part we will have them hold it for a count of (pick a time) so that they have to start balancing on one foot. Single Leg Stance – In order to step on the stomp rocket the kiddo will ideally have to pick up one of their feet while the other one stays on the ground. Initially we started using it to encourage standing on one leg, but over the years we have come up with a plethora of ways to create therapy uses for it! Some of them are listed below: Our kids were also inclined to rip the fins off the rockets, but we found that they were still able to fly high up in the air despite their missing parts.The stomp rocket is one of my favorite toys to use in therapy. Although the manufacturer notes that the toy is good for indoor and outdoor play, we really only recommend the latter, as we had a few close calls with our TV and other objects. The foam rockets are very soft, so they won’t do much damage if they hit anyone below the neck. You’ll want to make sure there’s plenty of clearance if the toy will be used by older kids, as the lightweight rockets can easily get stuck in a tree or on a roof with the slightest breeze. Once we figured out the base issue, our two kids (ages 21 months and 3.5 years old) had a blast hopping on the bright magenta “pillow.” Though the manufacturer claims that the rockets can fly “up to 100 feet,” our 3-year-old (who’s a bit on the petite side) managed to launch it about 50 feet high with a good jump. Our DIY hack? Regular household tape, which kept the base pieces together. There are three separate pieces that need to be attached together to form the base, and we found that they couldn’t stay put long enough to last even one stomp. Glow Rocket includes a bellow-like plastic “blast pad” launcher with a 38-inch vinyl air hose that’s screwed onto to a standing base, and herein lies the toy’s major design flaw. The Spruce / Danielle Directo-Meston Design: One issue The Spruce Home Improvement Review Board.
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