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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Favorite Toys: Infant Gym

October 1, 2018 by Stacy Menz

It’s been a while since we’ve done one of our favorite toys! I wanted to talk about the infant gym. Here are some of the traditional ways I have used this toy:

  • Encouraging tummy time
  • Propping on forearms while in tummy time – reaching for toys
    • Works on weight shifting and trunk control
  • Reaching while lying on the back
  • Kicking legs while lying on the back
  • Encouraging sidelying and reaching
  • Sitting balance
    • Encouraging reaching in all directions

One of the uses I discovered by accident was to practice standing balance and balance reactions! I was working with a child on standing and her sister wanted to be involved too. When her sister stood up at the infant gym, the little girl I was with was more than eager to copy so she stood holding on to the bars. Well since it’s not a very stable surface, there was a lot of sway. I stayed close by but she was able to use her core muscles to come back to center most of the time. I kept my hands on her or the bars to provide some stability and maintain safety but I let her fully explore her balance reactions and finding center. It was fun to watch her refine her movment as she went. She started with waiting until she was really far outside her base of support before attempting to correct and then over correcting and needing to correct back again. However, as she played with the movement she refined it so the sway was within a much smaller arc of motion.

How else have you used the infant gym?

Related

Filed Under: Blog, Developmental Milestones Tagged With: balance, gross motor development, kids, motor planning, physical therapy, Starfish Therapies, toys

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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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BURLINGAME
  1541 Old Bayshore Highway
  Burlingame, CA 94010

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