Building Toys Building toys are great for hand-eye coordination, imagination, visual motor skills, perceptual skills, grasping strength, manipulating shape orientation, sorting colors/shapes and gross motor movements to name a few. You can scatter the pieces around the room so your child has to move around for them. If they are walking they can practice squatting […]
What do you do when you suspect gross motor delay?
Becoming a parent can be one of the most exciting times in your life but it can also be one of the most confusing and uncertain times as well, especially if you are a first time parent! For those on their second or third child you at least have some idea of what to expect, […]
Animals Galore!
So, to go along with my post from last week I was looking at other imaginative ways to encourage play and gross motor skills (oral motor as well if you throw in the animal sounds!). Well, one of my favorite is to pretend to be animals. You can do animal parades, animal races, animal […]
Imagination Play
Do you ever feel like you are in a rut or play the same things over and over with your kids? Or maybe you start to run out of ideas of things to do to help them stay active. Well one solution is to let them come up with ideas. I am always amazed at […]
Motor Smart Toys and Tips
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 […]
Let’s Play
Here is the latest installment of exercises/games from the Let’s Play class we have been running. Simon Says What you need: Imagination What you do: You can play this with one child or several children. Depending on their age will depend on the complexity. This is a great way to encourage imagination and creativity as […]
Holiday Gift Guide
With the holidays upon us I thought I would offer some ideas for gifts for your little ones. I will be referring to some old posts throughout that may have touched on some toy/gift ideas! The first two posts are the Motor Smart Toys and Tips. Both the first and the second one offered great […]
Early Intervention and Budget Cuts in California
This is a topic that is near and dear to me at the moment because it is affecting a significant number of the families that we work with here in California. I am not sure if early intervention has been affected in other states but I know that here in California state funding has forced […]
What Goes Up, Must Come Down
I’ve talked about the importance of climbing in ‘Climbing: The Catch-22‘ but this is something I get asked about as well and I always forget about it until I’m asked again. Many parents will ask what the trick is for getting their child to come back down the stairs. Going up is easy to teach […]