Finding activities to keep toddlers and preschoolers engaged for more than a few minutes can be challenging. Fall leaves are a perfect sensory-friendly tool to spark a love of nature while building essential skills! Using the colorful leaves around us, you can help your little one explore the outdoors, develop sensory awareness, and enjoy hands-on...
As parents, caregivers, or therapists, we all want to give babies the best start in life. Play is a powerful tool that supports their development in countless ways. In pediatric occupational therapy, play is more than just fun; it’s a crucial part of helping babies develop motor skills, sensory processing, and social-emotional abilities. Here’s how...
Being purely right handed is the “norm”. Being left handed is less the norm, but often comes with "laterality dominance". “Pure” ambidexterity is even less common. Either way you look at it, being left handed lends to certain challenges. Here are some tricks to help!
Many kids with a diagnosis of Motor-Based Dysgraphia struggle with the fine motor aspect of writing. This condition often causes their hands to hurt when they write or leads to an unusual pencil grasp. Their fingers may lack the fine muscle movements needed to form smooth, fluid letters, which in turn slows down the writing...
Summer is a great time for children to engage in fun activities that both entertain and work on important skills needed for development. Fine motor skills in particular are an important part of everyday life and can be worked on through a variety of fun activities. Fine motor skills involve the coordination of small muscles...
Developmental, Individual-differences, and Relationship Based (DIR) model DIR is the Developmental, Individual-differences, and Relationship Based (DIR) model. This evidenced based model is used to help autistic people and others with developmental challenges. Developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan, DIR considers the critical role of social emotional development starting at birth and continuing through a lifetime. The model...
An important early fine motor milestone that children develop is the ability to feed themselves with utensils. Toddlers typically start using a spoon for eating between the ages of 10-12 months (CDC). A child will continue to develop towards increasingly effective use of a wide variety of eating utensils for self feeding as they get...
Fall is here! When providing your child with developmentally appropriate activities, utilizing the natural materials around you is a great way to foster a love of nature and keep costs down. Fall leaves you find in your neighborhood are a great material with a variety of different uses. Here are some fun ideas for using...
Babies are amazing creatures. I know . I have 2. They grow up fast! As with everywhere else in the United states, moms in Mountain View, CA are smart. We know that babies need to meet certain developmental milestones as described by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). But it’s so confusing! We go to...
I love toys! I’m not sure if when I was a kid I just didn’t have enough or if I just have an inner child that needs extra attention. But I love toys. My sadness occurs when I go to big box stores such as Target or Walmart. I literally don’t understand how the toy...
