Starfish Therapies

A pediatric therapy company operating in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. We provide physical, occupational, speech and aquatic therapy services in the most beneficial and convenient setting for you and your child, including our clinic, currently located in Burlingame, your home, school or daycare.

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Motor Smart Toys and Tips

September 21, 2010 by Stacy Menz

Ball Pit: One of the greatest ideas we have received, from a parent, is how to make a sturdy ball pit.  If you have a pack and play that you are no longer using or you are still using but you want to spice it up a little, get a bunch of balls and put them in the pack and play.  It is a great way for your child to work on body awareness, core muscle strength, motor planning and having fun!  You can even hide stuffed animals or bean bags in there and have them find them.

Crash Pad: This is a great tool for kids of all ages.  Take a duvet cover and fill it with high density foam scraps.  If you have a foam shop near you, call them for their scraps (this is a less expensive route) or you could go to a store and buy high density foam (this is more expensive and time consuming) and cut it into smaller pieces.  Other options are getting old cushions from couches and cutting them up.  Fill the duvet cover with the foam and then let your kids have fun.  They can ‘crash’ on it, or crawl over it, or walk over it, or make up new games.  The crashing is great for those kids who seek proprioceptive input and the crawling is great for core strengthening.  Walking works on balance and coordination.  All in all, the kids get to have fun – its kind of fun for adults too!

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Filed Under: Developmental Milestones Tagged With: balance, climbing, coordination, crawling, education, exercise, gross motor development, kids, motor planning, Motor Smart Kids, physical therapy, playing, sensory exploration, Starfish Therapies, strengthening, walking

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Our family moved to the bay area 6 years ago, and Starfish Therapies have been a part of our family ever since. Everyone at the clinic is caring and warm. The owner always looks for ways to improve the clinic and the services provided. The therapists are patient, enthusiastic, and know how to motivate the kids to do their best. Even after moving more than an hour away from the clinic, we kept going back to Starfish for intensive therapy sessions every summer! We cannot thank Starfish Therapies enough for helping my daughter to get stronger and to become more independent over the years!”

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Locations

  BURLINGAME / MAIN CLINIC
  1541 Old Bayshore Highway
  Burlingame, CA 94010


  SAN FRANCISCO
  (located in KidSpace)
  3401 Mission St.
  San Francisco, CA 94110


  PALO ALTO
  (located in Agile Physical Therapy)
  3825 El Camino Real
  Palo Alto, CA 94306


HALF MOON BAY
  (located at Sensitive Solutions)
  30 Avenue Portola, Suite 200 C & D
  Half Moon Bay, CA 94018

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