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 San Mateo, your home, school or daycare.

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The Ins and Outs of Pencil Grips

April 3, 2014 by Stacy Menz

A pencil grip can be a quick and easy fix for an awkward grasp. There is such a huge variety of them out there, but how do you know what ones to choose. Here’s some quick tips on how to choose a pencil grasp for your child. The Simpler the Better: If your child needs […]

Filed Under: Developmental Milestones Tagged With: education, exercise, fine motor development, handwriting, kids, occupational therapy

Letter Sorting Activity – Small/Tall/Fall

January 15, 2014 by Stacy Menz

This great activity came from one of our OT’s! This activity involves sorting letters into 3 categories:  Small, Tall and Fall. It can help kids not only work on specific letter recognition but also: visual discrimination between different kinds of letters which can help to improve their handwriting legibility spatial awareness as they learn and […]

Filed Under: Developmental Milestones Tagged With: fine motor development, handwriting, kids, occupational therapy, Starfish Therapies

OT Month Handouts

April 9, 2013 by Stacy Menz

In honor of OT month we decided to create a few handouts for the school districts we work with.  I made them into photo format so that I could share them here but please let me know if you would like the PDF format and I will send them to you.  Happy OT Month!   […]

Filed Under: Developmental Milestones Tagged With: fine motor development, handwriting, kids, occupational therapy, sensory exploration, Starfish Therapies

Development of Writing Utensil Grip

October 15, 2012 by Stacy Menz

Another article by one of our OT’s. As children are getting back to school, we often hear questions about children’s writing utensil grasps. Teachers may point out the way a child holds a crayon or pencil, or parents may take notice when one child doesn’t follow the same pattern as older siblings. But why is […]

Filed Under: Developmental Milestones Tagged With: fine motor development, handwriting, mature grasp, occupational therapy

The Eight Key Components to Good Handwriting

October 11, 2012 by Stacy Menz

This article was written for our newsletter and discusses the key components to successful handwriting and what to do if you suspect difficulties related to these components.  Many handwriting problems can be avoided or solved by teaching good strategies.  Also, consider consulting with an occupational therapist or other professional trained in handwriting assessment and remediation. […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: fine motor development, handwriting, kids, occupational therapy

Tactile Letters

October 5, 2012 by Stacy Menz

      One of our recent projects at work was to make tactile letters.  Our therapists used various tactile surfaces such as duct tape, felt, cardboard, bumpy paper, glitter paper, denim and any other paper/material we could find that would provide different tactile input.  This allows the child to trace letters and get different tactile […]

Filed Under: Developmental Milestones Tagged With: fine motor development, handwriting, sensory exploration, tactile, visual perceptual

Taking the visual out of handwriting practice

September 26, 2012 by Stacy Menz

I love having students in our practice.  Not only do they challenge us as therapists to be deliberate and think about why we do what we do, but they also bring an influx of ideas in and add to our overall toolbox.  Our most recent OT student shared this idea with us that she did […]

Filed Under: Developmental Milestones Tagged With: body awareness, coordination, fine motor development, handwriting, occupational therapy, visual motor

Color by Number

September 19, 2012 by Stacy Menz

Who remembers color by number?  I loved them.  Such a simple idea and yet it can help kids work on several things (while creating artwork for the refrigerator)! The coloring itself will work on hand strength and endurance especially when they  have to color the larger areas.  It will also allow you to work on […]

Filed Under: Developmental Milestones Tagged With: fine motor development, handwriting, occupational therapy, Starfish Therapies, strengthening

Handwriting Stencils

August 24, 2012 by Stacy Menz

   I saw a blog post the other day on using handwriting stencils for pre-writing and I immediately sent it to our OT’s because I thought it was a great idea.  One of our OT’s used it the next day and expanded on the idea.  She had several kids that she was working on writing […]

Filed Under: Developmental Milestones Tagged With: fine motor development, handwriting, motor planning, occupational therapy, Starfish Therapies

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Primary Programs

  • Motor Smart Kids
    • Developmental Playgroups: Pre-Crawlers
    • Developmental Playgroups: Pre/New-Walkers
    • Developmental Playgroups: Toddlers
    • Kids Action Hour
    • Yoga for Kids of All Abilities
    • Functional Movement Screen
    • Video Running Analysis
    • Youth Sports Injury Prevention
    • Concussion Screening and Management
  • Continuing Education
    • PNF 1: Introduction to PNF
    • PNF 2: Accessing the Trunk
    • Strength Training in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder
  • Resources
    • Informational Handouts
    • Useful Websites
    • Recommended Readings
    • Helpful Products
    • Blogs to Follow
    • Favorite Therapy Products at amazon.com

What Clients Are Saying

I could see the progress being made in my son’s communication...

I could see the progress being made in my son’s communication and overall disposition. Not only were the classes fun, but he also became a lot less frustrated when trying to communicate with others.”

Jason’s Mom
...my four year-old has made incredible progress...

We have been working with Starfish Therapies over the last year, and my four year-old has made incredible progress in her gross motor development. Stacy has an amazing ability to work with children. She uses her energy, humor and creativity to make children laugh and play, and at the same time work very hard.”

Caroline H.

Recent Blog Posts

  • Grading Muscle Control
  • Let’s Get Moving – Exercise Ideas and Tips to Get Your Little Moving!
  • Tips for Torticollis Stretching
  • What is Muscle Tone?
  • Positional Preferences and Movement Asymmetries

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  (650) 638-9142
  (650) 638-9141
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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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