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The Inspired Treehouse

Growing healthy bodies and minds through play!

Crazy Legs Movement Game

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This fun movement game is a great way to keep kids active and engaged during waiting times or other down times throughout the day!  At The Treehouse, we’re always looking for fun ways to get kids moving and for ways to keep kids occupied and engaged during waiting times or down times. We don’t like to waste a single minute, so in addition to being fun, we like these games to address motor skills too!  One day, during our pickup time, one of our little preschoolers and I invented this fun game called Crazy Legs! This movement game is great for working on coordination, motor planning, ... Read More about Crazy Legs Movement Game

How to Find the Best Shoes for Orthotics

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Learn how to find the best shoes for orthotics for kids - and find some of our recommendations for the best shoe brands! Pediatric physical therapists are often get asked “what are the best shoes for orthotics?” I was just asked this questions by a parent today so I thought I would take the time to answer it here! And, as with anything, it’s always great to find a handout on the subject to pass along the information to others.  We’ve included a free printable below.  WHY DO KIDS WEAR ORTHOTICS? Orthotics provide a stability and supportive foundation for a child’s developing feet.  Up ... Read More about How to Find the Best Shoes for Orthotics

Cutting Activities for Preschoolers: Make Friendship Bracelets With Straws!

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Looking for ways to make cutting activities for preschoolers fun and interesting? Try making your own DIY friendship bracelets using straws!  If you're looking for fun cutting activities for preschoolers - and a super cool way to help kids get to know each other better and make friends - this is the activity for you! Lately, we’ve noticed that many of our preschoolers are struggling with scissor skills during our therapy sessions and play groups at The Treehouse. There are several different issues that can come up for kids as they’re learning to cut with scissors.  It’s a challenge for ... Read More about Cutting Activities for Preschoolers: Make Friendship Bracelets With Straws!

Name Writing Practice Ideas for Kids

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These name writing practice ideas are easy to work into the classroom or therapy room for daily practice! When should Kids learn to write their name? During the preschool years, kids move through a progression of prewriting and early writing skills, including tracing and imitating lines and shapes.  As they become more independent and accurate with these prewriting skills, they begin to learn how to trace, imitate, and copy the letters of their name. When they move into kindergarten, kids should become proficient with writing their names independently.  We see this skill repeated again ... Read More about Name Writing Practice Ideas for Kids

Physical Therapy Supplies: Your PT To-Go Kit

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Use these basic physical therapy supplies to create your own Physical Therapy To-Go Kit! This post contains affiliate links. Read more. Have you ever thought about what the staple pieces of physical therapy equipment in your therapist tool-kit really are?   I have spent years with a trunk full of physical therapy products and gear and have only recently started scaling it back to a few key items that I seem to use all the time.  As I transitioned into virtual therapy, I realized that if my students had just a few simple items at home with them, we could address a ton of developmental ... Read More about Physical Therapy Supplies: Your PT To-Go Kit

Printable Valentines for Visual Skills

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These printable valentines are perfect for teachers to give out in their classroom or therapists to give to kids to celebrate the season of love while promoting visual skills! This post contains affiliate links.  Read more. For pediatric therapists, a holiday like Valentine’s Day is always great inspiration for fun new activities!  We can’t seem to help ourselves when it comes to creating engaging activities with a holiday theme.  Valentine’s Day definitely seems to be one of our favorites! Over the years, we’ve used our therapist brains to come up with all kinds of fine motor, gross ... Read More about Printable Valentines for Visual Skills

Valentines Games: Balance Game for Kids

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Looking for some new Valentines Games that will get kids moving and working on balance and core strength?  Check out this fun idea! This post contains affiliate links.  Read more. It’s that cold and snowy time of year again, and that means that it’s almost time to celebrate one of our favorite holidays…Valentine’s Day! For us, Valentine’s Day ranks right up there with Christmas and Halloween when it comes to fun activities for kids.  There are just so many great Valentine’s day games, crafts, and other activities, (including printable games that make life easy!).  Here are a few of our ... Read More about Valentines Games: Balance Game for Kids

Free Printable Valentine Cards for Fine Motor Skills

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Looking for a fun Valentine idea for your classroom or therapy practice?  These free printable Valentine cards are for you! These days, so many kids are struggling with the grasping skills and visual motor skills needed for coloring, drawing, prewriting, and handwriting.  Due to the Covid pandemic, many kids have transitioned to primarily virtual or digital learning platforms that don’t allow for the same regular opportunities to practice these skills. But, as child development professionals, we know how crucial these early experiences with crayons, pencils, pens, and markers are for ... Read More about Free Printable Valentine Cards for Fine Motor Skills

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