Little Steps Pediatric Therapy News
September 2018
Announcments
Hope everyone is adjusting to Back to School schedules!
We are excited to be a sponsor for the upcoming OLPHun Run 5K on 9/30/2018 at 8:00am in Glenview, IL.
To Register: https://olphunrun.org/
Little Steps will be volunteering on Friday, October 5,2018 at The Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival 2018.
https://www.highwoodpumpkinfest.com/
Come out and decorate pumkpins for a fun evening with the kiddos.
Check out the flyer below - Top Soccer
FREE soccer for children of ALL ages with special needs in Northfield
New Team Members!!!
Jordan Verdi, PT, DPT
Kristy Getty MOT, OTR/L
Flerida Chung, MS, OTR/L
Hannah Smookler, MS, OTR/L
Lauren Siragusa, CF-SLP
Jenny Van Konynenburg, CF-SLP
National Family Health & Fitness Day
By Shannon Murphy PT, DPT
National Family Health & Fitness Day occurs annually on the last Saturday in September. It takes place on Saturday, September 29 this year!
National Family Health & Fitness Day promotes family involvement in physical activity in support of one of the goals of the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health. 30 minutes of exercise is recommended per day. In children, physical activity can improve bone health, cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, body composition, and mental health.[1] One of the easiest and most rewarding ways to stay active is to make it a family affair. Try one of these ideas to get outside, be active, and enjoy time with your loved ones!
Family Fitness ideas:
1. Pool Noodle Obstacle Course- create an obstacle course utilizing pool noodles as hurdles, agility ladders, and target station (see attached PDF)
2. Go on a treasure hunt- Hide a special treat and put together a map for discovering where it is hidden. Make sure everyone gets a turn. Add a little challenge by coming up with rules to follow while hunting. For example, everyone has to skip or walk with high knees from location to location.
3. Wash the car
4. Go for a walk. When the weather is nice, head outside for a family walk. Set a goal of how many miles a week you will walk as a family and record your efforts. Choose a family-fun destination that is 50 miles away, or more, on a map and see if your family can log enough miles over the course of a season to reach the spot. Perhaps, treat the family to a trip there when you reach your goal.
5. Play a game of hopscotch- not only is it fun, but the movements involve muscle strength, body control, balance, and spatial awareness!
6. Rainbow Ribbon Run- Set up different colored ribbons on the grass, hanging from trees, under outdoor furniture so that children have to run, crawl, jump to retrieve their assigned color, and return to the finish line first. This will promote fitness, motor planning, and help with brain development! (inspired by apinchofperfection.com)
7. Play a game of soccer- This is a great way to promote teamwork, strengthening, and endurance
8. Have a dance party!
[1] Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee. Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report, 2008.Washington, DC: U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services; 2008.
Play-based Speech therapy: Why is it important?
By Shelby Coren, MS, CCC-SLP
Therapy in the pediatric population is often play-based to ensure the child is learning appropriate skills. Therapists typically meet a child at his or her developmental level through selecting toys and developing play schemes that will allow the child to grow and learn. Play can help children develop a variety of skills such as cognition, language, and creativity. Speech therapists often choose specific toys and games that will target the child’s specific goals and gain interest of the child. Please see below for some examples of toys and activities that can improve your child’s speech and language skills.
-Early social language: This can be targeted through reciprocal play games, such as peek-a-boo, or pushing a car/ball back and forth. Reciprocal play can teach children about interaction and social communication skills.
-Receptive language: To improve comprehension, you can choose a game that requires the child to follow directions, such as Mr. Potato Head! After placing a body part on the potato, ask the child to identify their body parts. For example, “show me your nose!”
-Speech sound disorder: This can be targeted through an activity that involves many words containing a specific speech sound. For example, the /ch/ sound can be targeted through a cookie game! The targeted words can include: chocolate, chip, chop, chomp, and chew.