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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Core Workout: Hungry Hippos meets Wreck it Ralph

October 29, 2017 by Stacy Menz

I happened to walk by another one of my therapists using a really fun and creative way to work on core strength with kids. I know I have done my share of walkouts over a ball or peanut with a kiddo but this was so much more fun. In addition to working on the core, it also works on upper extremity strength, shoulder stability, and motor planning.

She helped to stabilize his feet on the ground while both of his hands were on a scooter board. There were several bowling pins set to the front and to an angle from the kiddo. He had to hold his core tight while pushing the scooter board out to knock over the bowling pin and then bring the scooter board back. The goal was to see how many he could knock over at a time. They had a target number and he ‘won’ that round if he hit the target number. You can always tell when a game is fun when they want to do more rounds even though they say on one break ‘this is hard.’ I’m pretty sure I would have trouble doing even one repetition!

Here is a brief video of the activity.

Has anyone else tried any other variations of this? We’d love to hear about them.

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Filed Under: Blog, Developmental Milestones Tagged With: core, gross motor development, kids, Motor Smart Kids, physical therapy, play, strengthening

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“My child has been diagnosed with hypotonia, we brought him to Starfish Physical Therapy since he was 8 months, he started from not moving at all, to crawling, to a little walker, he is now 3 years old running around everywhere with confidence and happiness. We can see his obvious improvement , that just tears us up sometimes! Every exercise he did in each session and everything the therapist thought he was applying into his daily life. Moreover, Starfish therapists are so nice and loving, the session is not just a therapy activity anymore, it becomes a part of our family life, the most important exciting activity for my son every week. Starfish is our family!! We feel so lucky to have Starfish helping our son, the endless effort you provided to him, changed his life. As a parent, nothing is more grateful than this.”

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


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  San Francisco, CA 94110


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  Palo Alto, CA 94306


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  30 Avenue Portola, Suite 200 C & D
  Half Moon Bay, CA 94018

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