Now that nice weather is upon us its time to get outside and play with the kids! Parks are a great place for kids to effectively ‘burn off’ their energy while working on gross motor skills and socialization. Here are some of the great things about parks: There are other kids around to play with. […]
Prone Swing
Ok, so I was stuck for an idea for a blog post so I asked one of our regular kiddos what his favorite activity was to do here. After he listed all the apps he likes to play (as motivation) he said flying was his favorite activity. By flying he means the prone swing. When […]
Water Balloon Fun!
image retrieved from syllybillywaterballoons.com It has been so nice here that yesterday for group we decided to take the kids outside to do a water balloon toss. They loved it! Water balloons are a great way to add a fun and motivating twist on other skills that you are working on. In addition water play […]
Maximizing How Kids Learn Movement
While at the AOTA conference I sat in on a great talk on CIMT (constraint induced movement therapy). While the talk was great, what I loved is that they talked about it in terms of motor control and motor learning and how to maximize what a kiddo is learning in terms of movement. […]
Getting into Sitting
Babies these days are getting really good at sitting. The invention of the Bumbo seat has definitely helped with this (although it is a great tool for kids who need extra help with sitting to develop other skills). Its also a lot easier to pick your baby up and sit them down. What I am […]
Easter Egg Hunt for Motor Skills
Ok, now don’t judge, but the original inspiration for this idea came from a ski trip I took with some college friends (a year or two after graduation) over Easter weekend. Two of our friends arranged an ‘adult’ easter egg hunt with jello (of the adult variety) in each Easter egg. Well we were […]
When You Are on the Path With No Cheese
image from: www.lanzarotecaliente.com There are some days, or weeks even that I think all of the kids got together behind my back to figure out ways to outsmart me. They are already two steps ahead of me even when I think I am being creative or fun. Those are the days that I have to […]
Marble Play (with your toes)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDOVYolLYI4&w=560&h=315] I have frequently used picking up marbles with your toes as a tool to strengthen a kiddo’s intrinsic foot muscles to help with their arches however, when I was using this activity with a kiddo recently I realized some other areas it can help in. Coordination/Motor Planning – As the […]
Stomp Rocket – Oh the Possibilities!
The stomp rocket is one of my favorite toys to use in therapy. Initially we started using it to encourage standing on one leg, but over the years we have come up with a plethora of ways to create therapy uses for it! Some of them are listed below: Single Leg Stance – In order […]