Gonge River Landscape

Skills Developed Using Gonge Products

PHYSICAL

Gonge inspires and motivates children to be physically active. Our products encourage children to start balancing, climbing, crawling, jumping, bouncing, spinning, walking on tip-toe, dancing and moving in as many ways as their imaginations and bodies will allow.

Gonge products can be used for anything from free play to specific therapy and structured training. Children will develop physical strength and motor skills – including weight transfer, familiarity with heights, physical coordination and agility – as well as sensorimotor abilities, such as awareness of posture, sense of touch and balance.

We aim to motivate and challenge children at any functional level to develop their confidence and physical abilities.

COGNITIVE

Body and mind cannot be regarded as separate. When playing with Gonge products, physical activities and sensations do not go without a cognitive element, helping children to improve their intellectual orientation.

Basic cognitive functions, such as memory, concentration, problem solving and spatial orientation, are all vital for many of the physical activities inspired by Gonge. This can be anything from estimating the distance before a jump to developing new language skills when naming or sorting physical activities. Creativity is stimulated by activities demanding imagination and curiosity, such as performing or story telling.

Integrating physical activity with teaching has also been recognized as a learning tool with a considerable motivational potential. Sensory motor training improves learning through stimulation of the brain.

SOCIAL

Physical activity often involves social interaction. Gonge invites children to engage in games that combine physical and social abilities. Children compete, race, role play and perform using our products.

Group play will help to teach them cooperation and coordination based on physical interaction.

They will then learn by imitating the actions of others – probably our most basic way of learning.

At Gonge, we are happy whenever we see our products being used in social activities, because we believe children develop best – physically, emotionally and cognitively – in response to others.

Primary Senses Stimulated by Gonge Products

THE VESTIBULAR SENSE

The vestibular system is a sensory system attached to the inner ear. It registers movement and head position in relation to space and the body. This is where balance is controlled, and where acceleration and changes of direction and movement are registered. Stimulation of the vestibular sense, in combination with other senses (primarily sight, touch and proprioception), is important for a child to become good at keeping their balance while still or moving

THE PROPRIOCEPTIVE SENSE

Proprioceptive sensors are located in skeletal striated muscles and joints, providing information about the relative position of neighboring parts of the body and the strength of effort employed in movement. Proprioception is what allows someone to learn to walk in complete darkness without losing balance. To learn any new skill, sport or art, it is usually necessary to become familiar with some proprioceptive tasks specific to that activity.

THE TACTILE SENSE

The sense of touch recognizes contact, pressure or traction exerted on the skin, as well as in some internal organs. Receptors on our skin relay information about the temperature, texture, shape, size, number and pressure of stimuli. When working efficiently, the tactile senses help a child to do everything from buttoning a shirt without looking, to enjoying a hug from a parent.