Try these fun tips for teaching kids how to catch a ball! If you have ever watched a toddler try desperately to toss a ball into the air and catch it, you know that it can be a frustrating phase of development. Then, that one day, when they finally figure it out, their smile will be priceless and the photo opportunity can’t be missed. As toddlers grow into preschoolers, their hand-eye coordination improves along with their reflexes and ball skills [Continue Reading]
Springtime Writing Activities and Prompts for Kids
If you’re looking for fun springtime writing activities for kids, these free printable writing prompts are for you! There are so many kids who struggle with handwriting skills and most of those kids aren’t thrilled when you ask them to sit down and practice skills like letter formation, sizing, spacing, and alignment. Whether they struggle with hand strength, visual motor skills, visual perception, or some other aspect of handwriting, kids often aren’t interested in practicing these skills when they present [Continue Reading]
A New Approach: Telehealth Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy
Looking for ideas for telehealth physical therapy and occupational therapy? We’re all in this together! Check out our favorite activity ideas! It’s crazy how quickly things can change. One week, it’s business as usual: -last minute notifications about the IEP meeting (tomorrow) -that one kid who had to go to the bathroom 3 X during our 30 minute treatment session -oodles of paperwork that will seemingly never get done You know the drill. A week later and BOOM. We are practicing [Continue Reading]
How to Survive IEP Season as a School-Based Therapist
Looking for tips and strategies to avoid burnout this IEP season? We’ve got you covered! We made it! The first half of the school year is complete and we are well on our way into the race to June. For most of us school-based therapists, that means that we are focused on the countdown to spring break which marks the last breath before the impending IEP season! Do you have a spring “IEP season” in your school district? Or are [Continue Reading]
How to Use a Balance Board for Kids
Looking for an awesome balance board for kids? We’ve got you covered with some of our favorites, along with some great ideas for how to use one! Ask any physical therapist in the pediatric or sports realm what their favorite piece of equipment is and you might get this answer: A Balance Board! This versatile piece of equipment is usually made of wood or heavy duty plastic and can come in shapes ranging from rectangle to round. Some have interchangeable [Continue Reading]
The Best Games for Kids in Wheelchairs
These are some of our favorite games for kids in wheelchairs! Perfect for promoting activity and engagement! *This post contains affiliate links. Read more. One of the most important goals for any child progressing through the stages of development is mastery of mobility skills. Functional movement, at any age, allows for independence. A baby learns to roll to his favorite toy. A child learns to walk to get her favorite snack. A young athlete learns to run to avoid being [Continue Reading]
Games to Strengthen Core Muscles
These are the perfect games to use in therapy sessions or in the classroom to strengthen core muscles in kids! *This post contains affiliate links. Read more. I am willing to bet that at least half of you reading this post have a goal to improve your core strength? So, let me ask you this…would you rather do 100 reps of the dreaded bicycle crunch or play a game of UNO? I am pretty sure I know the answer. [Continue Reading]
Snowy Day Movement Story for Kids
This Snowy Day Movement Story is great for working on motor planning, balance, coordination, problem solving, concentration, self-regulation, core strength and body awareness while having tons of fun! Creative movement ideas have become a specialty of ours not only at The Inspired Treehouse but also at our non-profit location, The Treehouse. As a team, we can turn just about any theme into a movement-packed, developmental skill building activity! Last winter, we came up with this cute Snowy Day Movement Story [Continue Reading]
Gingerbread Game for Kids
This Gingerbread Game for Kids is a great way to work on core strength, coordination, motor planning, social skills and more! Perfect for the holiday season! One of our favorite activities that we’ve ever created for the Inspired Treehouse was Body Bridges. It was such a simple activity, but we loved it because of how effective it was at building core strength and upper body strength and because it was created by the kids themselves! We knew we already loved [Continue Reading]