The Skills 4 Life Blog
Holiday Messy Play & Feeding Fun
With Thanksgiving arriving this month, what better time to talk about all things FOOD. It’s the time of year to celebrate the season and holidays by preparing food, eating food, and then preparing even more food! It’s a happy time for some, but being around new foods, sights, and smells may be stressful for others. We’ve compiled a list from some of our past blogs and social media posts with information on feeding challenges as well as fun ideas to engage with food to increase your child’s tolerance of foods.
Is your child a picky eater or problem feeder?
Did your child used to eat anything you served them as a baby, but now as a toddler, they’ll only eat a handful of foods? Read more to learn whether your child is a picky eater or a problem feeder and how Skills 4 Life can help.
Our Favorite Ways to Practice Handwriting
With the majority of students completing at least part of this past school year online, we have heard from a large number of students they have hardly had to write anything with a pencil this year. As a result, students are struggling to maintain their handwriting skills. Incorporating a few handwriting activities each week into your child’s routine could have a huge payoff when it comes time to return to school this fall. Get some inspiration from our list of favorites!
Song Play & Early Development
Whether you’re more of a “5 Little Monkeys” or “Wheels on the Bus” kind of person, music and song play have so many benefits for our little ones’ development! Read our top FOUR reasons for using song play with our babies, toddlers, and kiddos!
Games to Use for Handwriting Practice
Who says that practicing handwriting has to be boring?! Read more to learn how to combine family game night with handwriting practice!
Playdough Activities for Kids
There are SO many fun ways that kids of ALL ages can use Playdough! It’s also a great sensory activity! Playdough provides an engaging tactile, visual, and proprioceptive experience. Children get to squeeze and squish it in their hands and see the various bright colors and designs. They also get that calming, deep input through their joints from the rolling and squishing. Check out our list of Playdough activities & the skills they address.
Use Messy Play to Foster Early Development
Does the word “messy” make you think of baby wipes, cleaning up, and maybe make you cringe a bit? We understand how great it can feel to be clean and organized, but allowing your child to get messy can benefit their development in many ways! Read more to learn about what messy play is, why it’s important for development, and ways to incorporate it into your daily routines.
Occupational Therapy Tips for Tooth Brushing
Brushing teeth is an essential task for everyone to complete at least two times each day. However, it may be the least favorite part of the day for many children. If your child shows strong reactions to brushing teeth, like gagging, try some of these tips to make it a more tolerable experience!
Get CO Exposure Notifications to Fight COVID
We're proud to share that Skills 4 Life Pediatric Occupational Therapy is endorsing a new tool to fight COVID: CO Exposure Notifications. Join the Statewide Exposure Notification System In partnership with Google and Apple, Colorado is launching its statewide exposure...
Eight Tips for Writing Academic Papers
November is National Academic Writing Month. Writing a paper is a complex task that involves many executive function skills such as planning, organization, time management, and metacognition. When a student has challenges with these executive function skills, writing...
