Occupational Therapy blog with tips and tricks for those who care for children
Haircuts are not always fun for young kids, but for kids with sensory sensitivities, they can feel like downright torture. Today I am teaming up with the “Functional Skills for Kids” bloggers to share tips with you on the topic of self-care. My topic? Haircuts! This post contains affiliate links for your convenience (see full disclosure here)….
Parenting a new baby comes with so many questions: How do I play with a newborn? When will he sleep through the night? How do I know whether her development is on-track? Is his temperament ‘normal’ or should I be concerned? Today, Occupational Therapist Jennie Shafer is here to help you identify developmental red flags in…
If your child is getting ready to start clinic-based pediatric occupational therapy, you more than likely have a bunch of questions. Like, Is there anything I need to do in order to prepare? Or, What’s it going to be like? Or, What should I bring? After having spent several years working in clinic-based pediatric occupational…
From preschool through high school, the school setting is filled with sensory experiences and demands. Many students are able to successfully navigate the sensory aspects of the school environment without significant difficulty. But for students with sensory challenges, school can become an overwhelming, confusing, or frustrating place. Today I am teaming up with the “Functional Skills for…
Today pediatric physical therapist Laurie Gombash is here to tell you about her ABC’s of Movement® activity cards and CD that helps kids learn letters and letter sounds through movement and music! . . . . . Hi, I’m Laurie! I’m a pediatric physical therapist who also has a Master’s degree in Education. I have a…
Tummy time is time a baby spends awake and supervised on his or her tummy. Tummy time is important because the skills learned while on the tummy are essential for later development. Think about it, most of the big milestones in the first year of life involve the prone position in one form or another (e.g., lifting…
When kids play with tongs, tweezers, and chopsticks, they exercise the small hand muscles needed for developing skills like cutting with scissors and writing with pencils. I’ve shared a DIY tutorial before on how to make kiddie chopsticks, and I mentioned that the ability to use tongs is a pre-scissor skill, and the ability to use scissors…
As a pediatric Occupational Therapist, I feel scissor skills are an undervalued area of development for which many parents and educators are underprepared. Proficient scissor use requires foundational components such as postural stability, hand strength and dexterity, hand-eye coordination, bilateral integration, sensory integration, sequencing, rhythm, and attention. These are skills that are also needed for success in play and…
Conquering the task of shoe tying is one of those childhood milestones that truly sets kids apart as the “big kid”. But shoe tying is not necessarily easy to learn or teach, especially for kids with special needs. Today I wanted to share a video of a little OT trick to help you in your shoe tying…
If you’re looking for awesome summer activities for kids that are both fun AND beneficial, you’ve come to the right place! Here are a bunch of ideas to keep your kids moving, exploring, developing, and having fun all summer long! This post contains affiliate links for your convenience (read my full disclosure here). 10 AWESOME SUMMER ACTIVITIES…
Caring for a newborn baby is hard work, isn’t it? Who knew that a tiny human who sleeps 18-20 hours a day could make life so exhausting?! THE FIRST THREE MONTHS The first three months of a baby’s life truly are all about survival — survival for the baby and, even more so, survival for the…
“Play” is one of those things that gets talked about a lot in child development circles and on social media. You might hear about the benefits of play-based learning, or how giving kids more recess will improve their school behavior and learning abilities, or how there are sensory benefits to encouraging kids to play in and…
If you have ever prepared for the birth of a little one, or know someone who has, then you know how stressful and confusing it can be. There is so much information out there that tries to persuade you one way or the other, and for every perspective on issues related to pregnancy, birth, and…
Have you been looking for a resource packed with ideas for how to help kids play and have fun, while also learning along the way? Then I hope you are just as EXCITED as me about my new book! I have teamed up with 94 incredible kid bloggers and therapists (yes, NINETY-FOUR!) to create the ultimate…
Learning the skill of putting on and taking off socks is a right of passage in early childhood. When you can tell your kiddo to go put on their shoes and socks…and then they can actually do it?…that’s a whole new level of independence for them and freedom for you! This post contains affiliate links for your convenience…
Demonstrating the gross motor skills needed for conquering the playground is often seen as a right of passage for kids. The first time they sit in a bucket swing as a baby while mommy or daddy ooooo and ahhhhh over them and say what a “big kid” they are. The first time they walk up and down…
Fine motor, self-help, and pre-literacy skills are all HUGE components of early childhood development. They prepare toddlers and preschoolers for success with classroom participation, independence, and overall learning. So why not use ONE activity to address all three skills at the same time?! That’s what I’ve done with this “Very Hungry Caterpillar” fine motor buttoning activity! This buttoning…
Today’s post comes to you from Pediatric Occupational Therapist Angela Hanscom, who recently released a book called Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children. Angela wanted to share about how outdoor play can help build social-emotional and cognitive skills in children! . . . . . Your child’s mind…
One of my favorite things to do as a pediatric occupational therapist is to find ways to help parents and teachers carry over therapy recommendations to support developmental progress. So any time I learn about tools or tricks to help with this, I get really excited and I want to share them with everyone I…
“Buddy! You CANNOT leave the house without pants, so…PLEEEEASE…put your pants on so we can go!” “Sweetie, hurry up, get your coat on and zip it up, we’re running late, it’s time to GOOOOOO!” “Ugh, you put your shoes on the wrong feet AGAIN? Let’s hurry up and fix them so we can get moving, you…
Please welcome guest blogger Kim Syers — an early intervention occupational therapist, blogger, and mama! She is here to share tips for how to improve self-regulation skills in toddlers and young children. . . . . . WHAT IS SELF-REGULATION? Self-regulation is the ability to adjust one’s own emotions, attention and behavior depending on the situation at…
For kids who are developing their scissor skills and need help learning to turn the paper while cutting along a curve (and who can read numbers), try this little trick…I came up with it on-the-spot during a recent therapy session when working with a child who hasn’t been able to figure out how to turn the…
If your child qualifies for Special Education or is in the process of being evaluated for Special Education, you may be confused about all the different terms and acronyms used within the system. Today I want to highlight some common Special Education terminology you may hear in the United States, in order to help you…
As a pediatric occupational therapist, I often receive questions from concerned parents and teachers about whether their child is on track with their handwriting development. So today I wanted to share with you about the developmental progression of handwriting skills so you can keep these milestones in mind when tracking your child’s handwriting development! DEVELOPMENTAL…
Today I am exited to have pediatric occupational therapist Jaime Spencer here to share all about the benefits of yoga for kids as we continue our series on the therapeutic benefits of recreational activities! . . . . . THE BENEFITS OF YOGA FOR RECREATION The use of yoga as a recreational activity for children and adults can be…
The school year is well underway, your three- to six-year-old is doing a lot of coloring or writing at school, and you might be wondering what kind of stocking stuffer or small gift you can get to help with their pencil grasp this holiday season. Well, I’ve got some ideas for you! First, before you go…
You sit down with 3-year-old Sophia to spend some time coloring in her favorite princess coloring book. She grabs a blue crayon, holds it with her whole hand as her pointer finger points toward the tip and her forearm turns down toward the paper, and begins to transform Princess Elsa’s dress into a scribbled blue. Should…
Stacking blocks and working on hand strengthening can sometimes be boring or non-preferred for kids, especially those who struggle with fine motor skills. If this is the case for the kid(s) in your life, try this little fine motor activity. It involves not only grasping and hand-eye coordination, but also sneaks in some hand strengthening and…
Play dough mats are pictures or drawings that can be laminated or placed in a page protector, and they encourage a child to interact with the pictures through the use of play dough. This provides them a great opportunity to work on their fine motor, problem solving, pretend play, pre-writing, pre-reading, and pre-math skills, all…
Play dough is a fun and easy material to use with preschoolers for play, learning, and development! As an occupational therapist, play dough is one of my go-to resources I use pretty much every day with kids who have a variety of needs. And as a mom, play dough has become a consistent part of my…
Last week, I had the privilege of attending the 2016 American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) annual conference in Chicago for three days with over 10,000 enthusiastic occupational therapy professionals. After three days of non-stop learning, connecting, and living off of hotel coffee, my brain was filled to the brim with all sorts of new facts,…
In my last post I explained how to make these amazing giant bubbles that are fun for all ages, yet so easy a toddler can play with them! Today I want to dig a little deeper and take some time to talk about the therapeutic benefits of playing with giant bubbles, as well as six different ways…
Giant bubbles are easy to make and can provide hours of entertainment for kids and grown-ups alike! I was recently given the responsibility of leading a sensory enrichment group for a variety of summer school classes in my district, which included students with and without disabilities. Since I know there are tons of developmental benefits…
Today I am thrilled to have TimberNook founder Angela Hanscom here to share her occupational therapy perspective about the therapeutic benefits of exploring nature! . . . . . Imagine pulling off your socks and shoes, stepping onto a mossy covered log, and walking in your bare feet. You experience sensations of dry, rough, warm…
Picking out good toys for toddlers can be challenging. They are in that funny in-between stage where they have outgrown the baby toys but they aren’t quite ready for the “big kid” toys that require more developed motor and problem solving skills. Plus many of them still put everything in their mouth! Have you experienced this…
As a pediatric occupational therapist, it breaks my heart when I hear parents say something like, “I took my child to the pediatrician and I tried to tell them about all my sensory concerns, but they just brushed me off and told me my kid is just ‘being a kid’ and will grow out of…
Ever since I started MamaOT.com in 2012, I have consistently received emails from people who have discovered the field of occupational therapy and want to learn more about pursuing a career in OT. They either tend to be really excited, or really stressed out. And they want my help. They want to know what it’s like to…
Have you ever been around kids who seem to chew on everything? This post and its related giveaway are sponsored by Chewigem USA. Some kids chew on their shirt collar, their hair, their fingers and toes, the end of their sleeve, or the string on their sweatshirt. Other kids are drawn to items that are more…
