Winter Activities for All Ages!

Posted on January 15, 2024January 12, 2024

What are Some Winter Activities When the Weather is too Cold Outside?

Ever wonder what you can do to keep your Kiddo occupied and safe while providing the necessary sensory input when it’s too cold to play outside? It is recommended to take indoor breaks every 20-30 minutes when the temperature outside is between 13-30 degrees; however, some kiddos tolerate cold weather better than others. Here are some tips for activities that can be done indoors when it’s just too cold to go outside this winter!

A Fun Winter Activity: Play Board Games

This is dependent on your child’s age and skill set. If you have some board games tucked in the closet, break them out and have family fun! This will work on building your child’s reciprocal play skills, following multistep direction skills, coping skills, and emotional regulation. Check out our Amazon storefront for some of our recommended board games!

Build a Pillow/Blanket Fort

Who didn’t love making a fort under the kitchen table as a kid? Build a fort in the kitchen and living room, then place some of their favorite books, toys, and stuffed animals inside. This can be a fun way to get your kids into critical thinking mode and build their visual perceptual and motor skills!

Scavenger Hunt

Another fun winter activity is to hide some items in your house and have your kiddos find them! This can be graded according to skill level and age. For example, for a younger kiddo, have them locate items they would typically use. For older kiddos, give hints to the item they are looking for. “Find two things mom uses to stir within the kitchen (utensils)” or “Find something round and blue in your bedroom (ball).” This will work on their figure ground skills and get their body moving!

Bake/Cook

Have your kiddos help you bake/cook your favorite snack or dessert in the kitchen. Have your kiddos follow the directions given or help with the messy tasks. This can be great for our sensory-seeking kiddos and those resistant to messy play!

Dance Off!

GET MOVING with a fun dance-off! Put off some of your favorite music and have a contest to see who dances best to the song! This is a great way to work on gross motor skills, coordination, and auditory processing, and it’s just plain fun!

Watch your Favorite Movie and Act Out the Scenes.

Many kids like to watch movies; however, do you ever notice that they get bored halfway through and are on to the next thing? Get them involved with the movie. Have that pause button ready and have them act out a scene to see if they can recall what happened!

Indoor “Snowball” Fight

Do you have some extra tissue paper lying around after wrapping those Christmas presents? Make snowballs and toss them at each other! This is a great way to get kiddos moving without fear of knocking things off tables/counters and breaking things!

Keepie-uppie with Balloons

Everyone knows this one! Can we keep the balloon off of the ground? Try it! It is so much fun, works on your kiddo’s hand-eye coordination, and has less risk of damaging something in your home!

How can Carolina Therapy Help?

With winter in full swing, ask your therapist about tips/tricks to have fun indoors with adaptations specifically for your child’s sensory-related needs. A therapist at Carolina Therapy Connection can help adapt the activities listed above and give more ideas for your specific child! Also, check out our link for Amazon storefront to find fun toys/activities to make the indoors fun! Many great toy ideas and sensory-related tools can be used when your child needs to get some energy out!

I hope these tips have helped build some fun ideas for you and your family for this winter season! Stay happy, healthy, and warm!

By: Shelby Godwin, COTA/L, AC

Is My Child Ready For Potty Training?

Posted on October 3, 2023October 4, 2023

Is My Child Ready For Potty Training?

Many parents ask the question, “Is my child ready for potty training?” Making the transition out of diapers is an important developmental milestone but it can also be a topic that causes frustration and anxiety for both children and their caregivers. Questions about when to start and how to promote a child’s success with potty training can feel overwhelming. If you are a caregiver that can relate to any of those feelings, this blog post is for you!

When Should I Start Potty Training?

This is a question that many caregivers ask themselves. A variety of factors must be considered before initiating the toilet training process. A child must be physically, emotionally, cognitively, and physiologically ready prior to starting the process. Here are some tips to identify whether your child may be ready:

Emotional readiness – Can your child tolerate sitting on the toilet or potty training seat? Are they excited about wearing “big kid” underwear?

Cognitive readiness: Can your child follow 1-2 step directions? Can they communicate their need to use the restroom?

Physiological readiness: Are they able to stay dry up to two hours at a time or wake up from a nap with a clean pull-up?

Physical readiness: Is your child able to sit on a toilet or potty training seat without assistance? Can they get on and off the toilet with little to no assistance? Can they assist with managing their clothing during toileting tasks?

If you have said yes to the majority of the above questions, then your child may be ready to begin potty training!

At what age can I expect my child to start potty training?

The following list includes general guidelines to help establish a baseline of where a child might be on their journey towards potty training. However, each child has a different timeline in which they are emotionally, physically, cognitively, and physiologically ready for potty training. It is vital that you never push a child towards progressing through the developmental sequence. If you see meltdowns or signs of regression, it may be best to take a break and try again at a later time.

Developmental Sequence for Toileting:

1 year – Children indicate that they are wet/soiled through non-verbal signs of distress

2 years – Child begins to tolerate sitting on the toilet

30 months – Child communicates that they need to use the bathroom and will likely require assistance with managing their clothing and wiping

3 years – Children will initiate using the toilet independently. They may attempt to wipe but continue to require assistance for thoroughness.

4-4.5 years – Children may have a few accidents. They are able to manage their clothing independently.

5 years – Child is able to complete a full toilet routine independently, including washing and drying their hands.

5-7 years – Children are consistently able to stay dry throughout the night.

Tips to Help Progress Through the Potty Training Process

Make potty training FUN!

Whether it is the sound of the toilet flushing or the new environment, some children may have a fear of sitting on the toilet. If a child is anxious, they may be hesitant to sit on the toilet or may not even tolerate sitting on it. One method to help ease this transition is to allow the child to play with their favorite toys while sitting fully clothed on the toilet. Another method to make potty training fun is to invite the child into the process. You can do this by allowing the child to pick out their underwear and ask them to choose their potty seat. This helps address their newfound need for autonomy and allows them to take pride in the potty training process.

Consistency is key.

Establishing a consistent routine will help minimize a child’s accidents and increase their likelihood of using the toilet successfully. A general guideline is to prompt the child to sit on the toilet as soon as they wake up, after naps, and in two hour intervals throughout the day. Encourage your child to sit on the toilet for a few minutes at a time. It can be helpful to read a story to them while on the toilet or provide them with a preferred toy to make this time fun and engaging.

Know the signs.

If a child is squatting, holding their genital area, or fidgeting, they may need to use the bathroom. Prompt the child to sit on the toilet when these signs occur. This can help the child become familiar with these signals to increase their ability to identify these signs as well.

Celebrate the small victories.

It is important that parents and caregivers build up a child’s confidence and self-efficacy during the potty training process. Caregivers can do this by providing their child with positive praise and celebrating the small victories! Some examples of this include praising their child for sitting on the toilet, communicating that they need to use the bathroom, successfully using the toilet, and completing all other steps in the toileting sequence (ex. Pulling up their pants, flushing the toilet, washing their hands). Sticker charts can also help motivate children to use the bathroom by providing them with a tangible reward to work towards!

Know there will be accidents.

In combination with Point 4 above, it is important to know that accidents will happen and how to respond when they do. Never punish a child for soiling their clothing. Instead, always be prepared with an extra set of underwear or clothing, especially when going out in the community.

You can find more tips on the potty training process here!

How can Carolina Therapy Connection Help?

If your kiddo struggles with self-regulation, completing their daily activities, or meeting developmental milestones, call our clinic at (252) 341-9944! Your child may benefit from an occupational therapy screening or formal evaluation!

Blog By: Emily Britt, OT

Teaching Kids Independence With Life Skills

Posted on July 6, 2023October 4, 2023

Chores or Life Skills?

Kiddos may ask themselves this question: Why do I have to do these chores? Here at CTC, we call chores “Life Skills” because that is simply what they are. Although not always the most preferred thing for your child to do, washing dishes, washing clothes, making the bed, vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, grocery shopping, cooking, and many more are essential life skills that are necessary when becoming an independent adult. Not only are they necessary, they are also very helpful for the development of time management skills, executive functioning, sensory regulation, and even emotional regulation.

You may be wondering how you can gauge what skills are appropriate for your child. Below is a short list of age appropriate chores to get you started based on your child’s age:

Life Skills for 2-3 years old

Picking up toys
Wiping up a mess (wiping off the counter after eating or messy play)
Putting laundry in the hamper after taking off dirty clothes

Life Skills for 4-5 years old

Making the bed (even if it is assisting you with the task!)
Starting simple meal preparation (putting thing into bowls, stirring, etc.)
Helping wash/rinse dishes

Life Skills for 6-8 years old

Feeding pets
Vacuuming, sweeping, mopping
Folding laundry/putting away own clothes

Life Skills for 9-12 years old

Prepare simple meals (heating up a hot pocket, TV dinner or oven pizza)
Taking out garbage
Cleaning areas of the home other than own bedroom (bathroom, living room, outdoor areas)
Helping make a shopping list and helping to find items in the grocery store

13-18 years – Include all listed above with increased to total independence!

So your child may be age appropriate for the tasks at hand, but what if you wonder whether they are developmentally, emotionally, physically or cognitively appropriate for the task at this age? Recently CTC held a Life Skills camp with 4 days of fun while completing tasks that increase independence within the home environment. The kiddos in this group worked on grocery shopping, meal preparation, cleaning up after themselves, household life skills, taking care of pets and plants, team work and communication. During the camp, each child was asked to review their skills and determine the toughest part of doing “chores”. The #1 answer was time management and feelings of overwhelm when presented with multiple tasks to complete. We all worked to develop either written or visual (picture) schedules for each kiddo to take home to aid in these concerns, making getting these life skills done easier and less frustrating!

Talk to your child’s occupational therapist to see if these could be options to help your child regulate their emotions, plan their time with greater efficiency and learn new skills after mastering current ones! If your kiddo struggles to complete their daily activities, call our clinic at (252) 341-9944! Your child may benefit from an occupational therapy screening or formal evaluation!

Here is 2 recipes of foods that were made during the camp:

Rice Kripsy Treats – The Original Rice Krispies Treats™ Recipe | Rice Krispies®
Soup (written by a kiddo in the camp)

Ingredients

3-4 boneless chicken thighs
1 medium onion
3 carrots, sliced
2 chicken stock boxes
1 small rice pack (boil in a bag)
1 can black beans

Add a pinch of…

Pink Himalayan Salt
Chili powder
Seasoned Salt
Black pepper
Red pepper flakes

MIX TOGETHER IN A SMALL BOWL

Steps:

Make the rice according to directions on the rice bag
As the rice is cooking, cut chicken into 1 inch cubes
Sprinkle seasoning onto chicken
Cut carrots and onion into preferred size and cook until preferred texture
Cook the chicken until done in saucepan
Once all ingredients are finished, combine with stock in a pot and boil for 2-5 minutes
Simmer for 10-15 minutes

Written By: Shelby Godwin, COTA/L, AC

Helping Children Develop Self-Care Skills

Posted on November 2, 2021October 4, 2023

What are types of self-care skills?

As children learn and grow, they have a drive to be independent and do things on their own. One area that an occupational therapist address in childhood development are their activities of daily living (ADLs), also known as self-care skills. Self-care skills are skills that are required to manage a person’s basic needs including:

Brushing teeth
Dressing (upper/lower body dressing, zippers, belts, shoe tying)
Bathing
Grooming (brushing/styling hair, nail cutting)
Self-feeding
Toileting

What are the building blocks necessary for self-care skills?

Executive functioning skills (i.e. attention, sequencing, initiation of task)
Fine motor skills (hand & finger strength, object manipulation)
Receptive & expressive language (comprehension and alternative forms of communication to communicate wants, needs, thoughts and ideas)
Sensory processing (tolerating sensory stimulation in the environment, such as grooming or dressing tasks for tactile processing)
Coordination & motor planning (moving body through space in a functional way)

What age should my child be able to engage in self-care tasks?

It is important to understand that all children develop at their own pace and that is okay! Remember — there is no penalty for being cautious about your growing child, and if there is a problem acting early can make all the difference. Self care skills are the every day practice of the foundations skills for academic performance and not just life skills. According to the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics, below are a few of the developmental milestones pertaining to self-care skills in early childhood development.

6-12 months

Drinking from a cup
Holding a bottle or cup independently
Using tongue to move food around mouth
Feeding self small crackers or other small pieces of food

1-2 years

Settling themselves to sleep at night or during the day
Attempting to brush teeth
Removing own socks
Cooperating with dressing by extending an arm or leg

2-3 years

Using toilet with assistance and having daytime control
Attempting to manipulate large buttons
Distinguishing between urination and bowel movements, and names them correctly
Using a napkin to wipe face and hands
Feeding self simple meals using a fork or spoon
Taking socks and shoes off

3-4 years

Unbuttoning and buttoning large buttons
Feeding self without difficulty
Tolerating different clothing textures, seams, tags etc
Toileting independently
Brushing teeth independently or with supervision only
Dressing and undressing self (only requiring assistance with laces, buttons, and other fasteners in awkward places)

4-5 years

Choosing weather appropriate clothes
Dressing self independently
Attempting to bathe and groom with supervision only

5-6 years

Dressing independently
Able to manage morning and night time routine with supervision only
Settling independently for sleep
Able to manipulate more difficult fasteners and tie shoes

6-7 years

Showering or taking a bath independently
Independently toileting during the day and at night
Preparing simple meals (i.e. cereal)
Independent grooming (combing hair, brushing teeth, flossing)

7-8 years

Showering independently
Taking on more responsibilities (i.e. chores)
Preparing simple meals and helping with more complex meals (i.e. making a sandwich, using the microwave, spreading condiments, pouring from a larger container into a cup)
Interest in taking on more complex grooming tasks – nail cutting, tolerating hair cuts, styling hair

How can an occupational therapist help address self-care difficulties?

Create a routine: Developing a consistent routine with a child can help them know what is expected of them and when to complete their self-care tasks throughout the day. Creating a routine may require a visual schedule or reward chart, something that an occupational therapist can help your child and family plan, develop, and implement in the home!

Improve fine motor skills: Almost all self-care skills require adequate fine motor skills, such as brushing teeth, using utensils, buttons, zippers, tying shoes, and more! An occupational therapist can help improve your child’s fine motor skills to increase independence of their self-care tasks.

Sensory integration: some children may have difficulty tolerating grooming or dressing tasks which can indicate a challenge with tactile processing. They may also have difficulty with tolerating hair cuts, nail cutting, or teeth brushing. Seeing an OT to address these sensory processing concerns can help your child to improve their ability to register and tolerate tactile input to improve their ability to complete these self-care tasks using a variety of treatment strategies.

Adaptation & modification of tools and the environment: An occupational therapist can recommend different types of adaptive equipment (i.e. button hook, weighted utensils, shoe horn, etc.) to help increase independence in self-care skills. They may also get creative by providing tips for adapting the environment to promote independence in the home.

Executive functioning skills & attention to task: If your child has difficulty with their higher level cognitive skills then self-care may be difficult. Seeing an OT could be helpful by implementing and utilizing a variety of treatment strategies for increasing attention, initiation of tasks, sequencing steps of an activity and more!

Caregiver/parent training: An occupational therapist may be able to provide tips and strategies to parents in the home for carryover of self-care skills into daily routine.

How can Carolina Therapy Connection help?

Through demonstrated excellence in clinical, school, and home-based practice, Carolina Therapy Connection’s occupational therapists provide screening, assessment, consultation, and treatment to children having difficulty with a wide variety of needs, including difficulty with self-care skills. We believe it is critical to make therapy as fun and motivating as possible by celebrating the small victories as well as major achievements. We have a strong focus on helping your child develop the skills appropriate to their age and current stage of development. We also use a holistic approach and evidence-based practices to help your child develop and grow to their greatest potential. If your child is having difficulty with any of the skills discussed above, call our clinic today at 252-341-9944 for a FREE occupational therapy screening! We currently provide occupational therapy services in Greenville, Goldsboro and New Bern, NC!

References

Holland, B. (2017, February 14). Top 10 ways occupational therapy can help children with self-care. Chicago Occupational Therapy. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://chicagooccupationaltherapy.com/articles/top-10-ways-occupational-therapy-can-help-children-with-self-care/.

Admin, K. S. W. (2016, November 27). Self care skills. Kid Sense Child Development. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://childdevelopment.com.au/areas-of-concern/self-care/self-care-skills/.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, January 22). CDC’s Developmental Milestones. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/index.html.