After my last post on fun songs to use in therapy my coworkers suddenly started remembering songs that they frequently use in therapy so I thought I’d share some more ideas. If You’re Happy and You Know It This is a great song because you get to insert your own action. You could pick skills […]
Autism and Gross Motor Skills
In the most recent issue of Pediatric Physical Therapy there are three articles regarding autism/autism spectrum disorder and gross motor skills. I was actually really excited to see this because I sometimes feel that gross motor skills get put on the lower end of the priority scale for kids who are diagnosed with autism, autism […]
Motor Tips for Parents – Part 1
Over the last few years many of my friends and relatives have had kids of their own. As a result I often get questions from them regarding what their baby or child should be doing. I understand that advice and opinions can be taken with a grain of salt and everybody does things differently but […]
Top 10 Blog Posts of 2011
I love Top 10 lists! Here is this years list of Top 10 Blog Posts: 10. Core Muscles: Building a Solid Foundation 9. No Kid Left Inside – Benefits of Outdoor Play 8. Having a Ball With Core Muscle Strength 7. Gross Motor Development vs. Fine Motor Development 6. Standing Straight and Tall 5. A […]
Motor Smart Toys and Tips
Melissa and Doug Pizza Party Play Food Set from Mercantila.com Food Cutting – There are some great toys out there by Melissa and Doug (and probably others) that let kids have a pizza party or a birthday party with pretend food and practice cutting it as well as putting it back together. It involves velcro […]
Dance Party!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJKCcmo_nuY&w=420&h=315] [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heeDIvCtVvc&w=420&h=315] When you work with kids sometimes you get to be a kid! Please enjoy our kid moments in these videos. When working with kids over a long period of time I often have to figure out ways to make therapy interesting while still working on the skills that they need. We […]
Swaddling
Swaddling is a practice many parents use to help their children sleep better. It involves wrapping your baby in a blanket with their arms and legs tucked in. From what I understand there is a specific technique although I have not mastered this technique (generally because I am working […]
Running
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMkkUhfhOc0&w=420&h=315] I’ve been working with several kids on running skills and since I’m training for a marathon I’ve had ample mileage to really look at and analyze some of the components of running! When a child goes from walking to running it usually starts as a fast walk. Its officially termed running when they […]
W-Sitting Revisited
I have decided to post again regarding one of my more controversial topics: w-sitting. W-sitting is a very natural form of floor sitting just like tailor (crisscross cross applesauce) sitting, ring sitting, side sitting, long sitting, and kneeling. All of these positions can be assumed and transitioned out of. In fact I discussed the beauty […]