What can you do about kids who chew on everything? How can you use the oral sensory system to help promote calm behavior or to help increase alertness? What does oral sensory even mean? What does oral sensory mean? We’ve described how the ears, the skin, the eyes, and the muscles and joints channel information about kids’ surroundings to their brains where it can be processed and understood. But what about the mouth? The sensory receptors in our mouths allow us to perceive temperature, texture (e.g. smooth like yogurt, hard like a potato chip, or a mixture of textures ... Read More about The Oral Sensory System
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Child Development Quick Tip: Kicking a Ball
The coordination involved in kicking a ball is HUGE! As a physical therapist, when I watch a child kicking a ball, I like to see reciprocal arm and leg movement (meaning if the right leg is kicking, the left arm swings forward), the ability to kick with good force, and the control to be able to guide the ball in a certain direction. Learning to kick a ball is an important milestone for kids. It is a skill that forms the foundation for many sports, social, and recreational activities. Whether it's soccer, football, or just a fun game in the neighborhood, the process of learning to kick a ... Read More about Child Development Quick Tip: Kicking a Ball
Try These 6 Basic Swimming Tips to Boost Confidence
If you're looking for a few basic swimming tips to boost your child's confidence in the water...this post is for you! An Adaptive Aquatic Specialist gives us the scoop on her favorite strategies... Yay! Hot summer days are finally here and there is no better place to spend them than in the pool! As an Adaptive Aquatic Specialist I truly believe that swimming is one of the best recreational activities for child development, and really the whole family! It provides endless social, emotional, and physical therapeutic benefits. Children can enjoy hours of fun while strengthening their ... Read More about Try These 6 Basic Swimming Tips to Boost Confidence
The Auditory System
Learn more about the auditory system and how the sense of hearing impacts healthy childhood development! What is the Auditory Sensory System? When we hear a sound, it travels to our brains to be analyzed in order for us to generate a response. What should we do next? What is going on around us? Is the sound alerting us to something dangerous or important, like a fire alarm or a honking car horn? Is the sound quiet and calming, like classical music or the whirring of a fan?The inner ear has two important organs that, as partners, have big jobs. In general, the cochlea translates and ... Read More about The Auditory System
What is Proprioception?
Learn more about proprioception and how it is relates to healthy childhood development. *This post contains affiliate links. Read more. What is proprioception? At The Inspired Treehouse, we write about sensory processing from our point of view as pediatric occupational therapists, using our training and experience to break information down into terms everyone can understand. Today, we’ll talk about the proprioception sense, proprioception examples, and how it’s related to child development. Parents, teachers, and professionals will all feel more confident when they can define ... Read More about What is Proprioception?
The Vestibular System
Learn more about the vestibular system - what is it, why is it important to growth and development, and what can you do to support it in your child? What is the Vestibular System? The vestibular system has to do with balance and movement and is centered in the inner ear. Each of us has vestibular organs located deep inside our ears. When we move our heads, the fluid in these organs moves and shifts, constantly providing us with information about the position of our heads and bodies in space (spatial awareness).This sense allows us to maintain our balance and to experience ... Read More about The Vestibular System
MOVEMENT MONDAY: PLAYFUL GROSS MOTOR ACTIVITIES
Playful Indoor Gross Motor Games Thank you to everyone that contributed to our first “Monday Movement” share day on our Facebook page! We loved all of your ideas for playful ways to work on gross motor skills and have been sharing and pinning them throughout our social media pages this past week. Here is a round-up of our favorites from Monday, January 27th. Next Comes L -- Snowball Toss We love how Dyan incorporated an Olympic theme, color recognition, and throwing practice into this fun activity! It would be perfect for any age and so many academic skills could be incorporated. ... Read More about MOVEMENT MONDAY: PLAYFUL GROSS MOTOR ACTIVITIES
RHYMING REINDEER LANGUAGE ACTIVITY
We might be occupational and physical therapists, but we can spot a great language activity from a mile away! We’re very lucky to work with some incredible speech language pathologists who amaze us by working speech, communication, social, and cognitive skills into unique, creative activities for kids every day. Today’s activity was created by one of our dear friends, speech language pathologist Julianne Wolf. She came up with this cute speech therapy rhyming activity called The Rhyming Reindeer game as one of her speech therapy activities for the holidays. WHAT YOU’LL NEED: Clothespins, ... Read More about RHYMING REINDEER LANGUAGE ACTIVITY