If you’re worried about your picky eater’s nutrition, want to make mealtimes less stressful and need some insider tricks to get your picky eaters eating then grab our Picky Eater Meal Ideas Free Printable!
It’s so frustrating when your child has frequent meltdowns, never stops moving, or doesn’t listen. These are all signs of sensory "issues" but there are more. Learn more with our 21 Sensory Red Flags You Might Be Missing.
It’s alarming when your baby refuses or has trouble chewing their food. They may spit it out, gag, or refuse to even try. You need a plan! How about 10 simple steps to teach your baby how to eat table foods.
Get do-able but powerful fine motor skills activities for toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary aged kids from an occupational therapist and mom.
Obstacle course ideas for all ages, indoors or outdoors with little to no prep. Plus learn obstacle course benefits and get a list of activities to make your own! Climbing, crashing, swinging, crawling… There’s a reason most kids love movements like these from a young age and will actively seek them out. You can combine all these activities by setting up an easy, low prep obstacle course! As an occupational therapist and mom it is one of...
How to support your school aged child to help them print easier, neater, faster and with less frustrations and freak-outs! When it takes an hour for your child to write one or two sentences, and you’ve used all your energy encouraging, and even bribing , and they still refuse to write! When your child has written a sentence and it is so messy and the letters are all over and completely disorganized it can be frustrating and discouraging. You and your child...
Help kid’s pencil grasp and handwriting with the 7 best pencil grips that are perfect for school and home. Learn which pencil grip is the best one for your kid! Affiliate links used below. See our full disclosure. When I started working with kids as an occupational therapist around 2004, pencil grips weren’t being used as often as they were needed. They were hard to come by, having to order them out of specialty therapy...
Occupational therapists can help preschoolers with 7 different areas of development. Find out the 20 signs that your child might need OT in the preschool years… How are things going at preschool? Do you have a 3, 4 or 5 year-old at home? Do you know if your child is ready for kindergarten? The preschool years are an especially exciting time for your child to develop many new and wonderful abilities. The years between toddler...
Core exercises help kids gain strength for fine motor activities. Core strength starts to develop in babies! The strength and stability continues to develop as a child grows through toddler, preschool, and school-age years. Many times as an occupational therapist, I’d have a new child assigned to my caseload for fine motor skills. They might be having a hard time using scissors, feeding themselves, coloring, or writing with letters or shapes. ...
Wonder if your kid is a righty or lefty? Learn when your child should have clear hand dominance and why it matters. Plus, easy activities to help your child establish hand dominance. Affiliate links used below. See our full disclosure. I met my little friend Adam* when he had just turned 6. He was in kindergarten and his family and teachers were worried about his cutting, handwriting, and eating. The problem was that Adam switched hands every...
Get your kids ready to go back to school with these fun fine motor activities that will have your child’s hands ready for writing and cutting! Affiliate links used below. See our full disclosure. Summer is a great time to experience new things. But it’s also a great time to “sneak” in activities that will help your kids develop the fine motor skills they’ll need for the school year. Today, my friend and fellow OT...
Kids can easily fly under the radar with all sorts of hidden struggles they face in the classroom. Learn 7 often unseen ways your child might struggle in the classroom and how you can help them work through it! Does your kid seem uninterested in school? Or, maybe they dread it? Do you get bad reports on their behavior and school work from the teacher on the daily? Or, maybe since online learning you’ve noticed that your child doesn’t...
Whether your child has a fine motor delay or not, these three tricks are perfect for improving fine motor skills in your child. They don’t require any special set up, just some small adjustments to the activities they’re already participating in. Last year, at my youngest son’s preschool parent teacher conference, it was suggested that I consider occupational therapy to improve my son’s fine motor skills. As a pediatric occupational...
Each child is born with a set of critical primitive reflexes to help them develop and keep them safe, but it’s important these reflexes disappear. Learn why and if reflex integration therapy is right for your child. *Affiliate links used below*. So much happens beyond what we can see as our children grow and develop. It’s pretty extraordinary. But sometimes, seemingly hidden parts of our kids development can go awry. The result is all sorts of...
Get inspired, plan your meals, or just copy the done for you meal ideas with this awesome printable for toddlers and babies!