Oral Health Made Fun! By Amanda Mazerall, OTR/L Kids Place Pediatric Occupational Therapist Kids often have a hard time tolerating tasks that deal with their teeth. Brushing teeth, going to the dentist, and removing loose teeth are just some of the challenges parents face while children grow. Fortunately, there are fun, preparatory activities to help…
Summer Activities for Children to Prevent Skills Lapse By Sarah Koppenhoefer-Little, OTR/L Kids Place West Pediatric Occupational Therapist With summer fast approaching, it is natural for parents to be concerned their child will lose hard-gained skills from the school year. To prevent this, here are fun, creative ideas to slow or stop the loss, but still not…
Activities to Assist Your Child with Buttoning by Sarah Koppenhoefer-Little, OTR/L Kids Place West Pediatric Occupational Therapist The ability to button and manipulate clothing fasteners is a significant self-care skill most parents want their child to learn. This is an important task children need to have independence with dressing. The typical child will learn to…
Which Hand Will My Child Use? by Kids Place Occupational Therapists Are you a righty or a lefty? 9 out of 10 of you will be right handed while one of you is either left handed or ambidextrous. Your dominant hand is determined in utero, but it takes several years of motor learning and experience…
Hand Strength: 5 Fun Activities for Children by Emma Clark, Student OT Childhood is a critical time for the development of intrinsic hand muscles. Without the proper development of these muscles, children will have delayed fine motor skills or fatigue during fine motor activities. Building hand strength in children leads to the development of skills like…
Could Your Child Have Tactile Defensiveness? By Jenn Gile, OTR/L Kids Place West Pediatric Occupational Therapist Our sense of touch: Our sense of touch is registered through various receptors in our skin making up the tactile system. The tactile system provides us with information about touch sensations: pressure, vibration, movement, temperature and pain. Within this…
Child Development of Self-Care Skills By Jessica Holyoke, OTR-L Kids Place Pediatric Occupational Therapist Activities of daily living (ADLs) are a necessary part of our day and include various tasks such as getting dressed, bathing, brushing our teeth or hair, and feeding ourselves. Most of us place very little thought or effort when carrying out…
Sensory or Behavioral? How Do I Know? By Emily Pierson, OTR/L Kids Place West Pediatric Occupational Therapist Sensory processing refers to a person’s ability to take information from the environment using their seven senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, movement, and position) and interpret that information to make sense of the world. When any part…
The Benefits of Co-Treating By Amanda Bruce, MS, OTR/L and Stacy Taylor, MS, CCC-SLP Kids Place Pediatric Therapists Many parents new to pediatric therapy are unfamiliar with the term “co-treat.” Short for co-treatment, this refers to two different therapy disciplines working with one child at the same time. For example, your child may receive treatment…
