Searching for holiday gift ideas that will promote fine motor, gross motor or sensory motor skills? Are you a professional working with families that are wanting recommendations for gifts that will help promote their child’s development? Want toys that will stand the test of time and get played with for longer than 5 minutes? As a pediatric Occupational Therapist here are my top brain-boosting toy pics for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. The best part…just click the Amazon link below the image and you’ll be done with your holiday shopping in a jiffy!

Kids love water! Whether it’s hot outside and you want to cool down or cold outside and want to warm up, playing with water is a favorite activity for most kids. Read on to find some new water activities to use at home or during your teletherapy coaching sessions.

Are you a new pediatric OT, SLP or PT and you’re struggling to explain sensory processing to your families? Or have you been practicing for a while but still struggle to explain sensory or see progress with your clients? Read about some pitfalls that may be preventing your clients and families from achieving their full potential!

Summer is here! Are you prepared to keep the kids occupied at home? Read on to get ideas for backyard activities to keep the kids busy and actively learning through play all summer. They will build important foundational skills for their body and brain all while having fun! Don’t forget to grab the free checklist printable to post on the refrigerator!

Find simple fine motor, gross motor, and sensory-motor activities to pair with some fun books for toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged kids. Perfect for several themes in March including St. Patrick’s Day, Read Across America Day, and Spring. Save prep time while working on a variety of developmental skills. Perfect for teletherapy, virtual learning, face-to-face therapy sessions, or while homeschooling.

Maybe you’re not ready to start doing Thanksgiving activities for your therapy sessions…and who really wants to talk about Election Day? So here are some fun activities to celebrate World Kindness Day with the children in your life! Everyday should be kindness day! Whether you doing teletherapy, in-person or schooling your own children at home, I hope you find an activity that inspires you!

Children love to move! Children NEED to move! Learning through play is so much fun when toys naturally encourage movement and allow children to use their creativity and build so many brain development skills. Pick your child’s favorite transportation toy (cars, boats, planes) and try some of these fun activities. These are also great activities to select for in-person or teletherapy sessions.

The best toys are ones that can be played with over and over again and can be used in a variety of ways! Learning through play is easy when you have simple toys that can be adapted for children of all ages. Read on to find some fun ball activities to try at home or during in-person or teletherapy sessions.

The best toys are the ones that can be used many ways by children at different ages and stages of development. Read on to find a list of ways to play to learn using blocks. Great for in-person OT sessions or coaching during teletherapy sessions too!

Learning to talk is a complicated process! As Early Intervention therapists, it’s important that we understand the steps that lead up to this huge milestone so we know how to support the families and children we serve.

Learn more about the signs of vision impairment in babies and toddlers, professionals that support babies and toddlers with vision impairment and how to get Early Intervention supports whether you’re a parent or professional.

Are you looking for some new ideas this holiday season to keep your OT, PT or speech teletherapy sessions fun? Or maybe you’re a teacher or parent and need some new ideas for virtual learning and homeschooling. Check out these holiday themed lesson plans inspired by some favorite holiday books perfect for toddlers and preschoolers that pair a fine motor, sensory motor and gross motor activity to pack in some developmental learning too!

Now that some schools are back to in-person learning, there are some new challenges to overcome. Finding ways to allow our children ample time to move and interact with their peers while maintaining social distance precautions can be difficult. Read below to find 12 movement games that are perfect for outdoor recess time for a variety of school-aged children. Share the FREE PRINTABLE game cards with all the teachers in your world.

Books are not just for reading! They can develop many other developmental skills that children need for learning. Read this post to find ways to promote sensory motor, gross motor and fine motor skills with young children through books. Don’t miss the additional resources that are shared to help therapists, teachers and parents use books to develop children’s motor skills.

Sometimes it’s difficult to keep young children engaged for OT teletherapy (or face-to-face) sessions. Young children have short attention spans and they NEED to learn through play. Having a variety of “go-to” sensory motor songs that get them moving can be a lifesaver. Read on to add these 20 movement songs to your OT teletherapy toolbox.

Many special education related service therapists have been thrust into providing online telehealth sessions for special education students but that doesn’t mean that it’s best practice. If you are a special education related service professional it may seem overwhelming to navigate how to deliver services at home. Hopefully, this post leaves you feeling organized with an appropriate game plan to meet your families needs.

Young children don’t need worksheets to learn. In fact, using these 7 principles is proven to boost your child’s brain development in more ways than a worksheet ever could.

Healthy child brain development starts with these 5 foundations. 

A list of tips, tricks and activities for encouraging your toddler to play independently so you can get some work done at home during Coronavirus Social Distancing.