Enjoy Halloween Candy with a Challenge

Enjoy Halloween Candy with a Challenge

By the Kids Place Pediatric Speech Therapists

What’s a parent to do when your child has a three-pound bag of candy after trick-or-treating?  While some families allow candy consumption in moderation, here are some other ideas for limiting your child’s candy intake:

1. Agree in advance on a set number of candies your child will be able to choose from their bag/bucket
2. For older children, agree on a percentage of their total number of candies
3. Agree on special activities/items for which your child may “trade-in” their candy (books, videos, games, etc.)
4. Use candy for arts and crafts

For the candies your children do eat, consider the following ideas to help develop speech and language skills:

1. Use words to describe the qualities of your candy (sweet, sour, crunchy, soft, sticky)
2. Have your child imitate oral-motor movements while enjoying their candy (For example, holding a lollipop, have your child protrude tongue forward then to the right/left to touch it. You can also practice holding the lollipop with lips only)
3. Encourage longer sentences by offering your child choices of candy that differ only by one quality (“Do you want the big square chocolate or the small square chocolate?”)
4. For nonverbal children, model signs for “eat,” “more” or “candy” and encourage imitation before reinforcing.
5. Have your child follow directions incorporating the candy (“First, get the red one, then, get the blue one”).

It is especially important to be aware of choking risks.  According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 15% of choking episodes in children under 14 are caused by hard candy.  An additional 12.8% is caused by other candies.  This amounts to nearly 30% of choking incidents from candy.

Halloween foods that have the highest choking risk include:

• Gum
• Peanuts
• Hard candies
• Jelly beans
• Gum drops
• Gummy bears
• Licorice
• Fruit snacks
• Raisins
• Pumpkin seeds
• Popcorn 
• Caramel
• Candy corn
• Taffy
• Marshmallows

Lastly, be cautious of non-food items that have a high potential risk for choking.  Especially small toys or balls/marbles which a diameter of less than 1 and 1/3 inches.

This Halloween, allow your children to enjoy some of the candies from trick-or-treating, but challenge them to do more than just simply eating the candies! 

Happy Halloween!

The Halloween Conundrum – What to do with Extra Candy

The Halloween Conundrum – What to do with Extra Candy

By the Kids Place Pediatric Occupational Therapists

Many parents struggle with what to do with all the leftover candy their kids have from trick-or-treating.  Candy can be used in many fun activities that do not involve actually eating it, but rather promote the development of fine motor skills, visual processing skills, cognitive processing skills, and sensory development. 

First, try sorting the candy by color, size, shape, first letter of the name, the type of candy, or any other way you prefer.  To improve your child’s fine motor skills, encourage the kids to use only their index finger and thumb or only the index and middle finger with the thu

mb.  Sorting this way will help children develop isolated finger movements necessary while using writing utensils.  Also, by using the index and middle finger with the thumb, you are promoting the correct positioning your child should use writing with their pencil. 

Furthermore, you can have your children sort their candies using clothespins.  With the index finger and thumb, or index and middle fingers with their thumb, children can pinch the clothespin to grip and move the candies.  The resistance of the clothespin will help strengthen your kids’ fingers and improve their endurance during writing tasks.  Tweezers and chopsticks are other tools that encourage isolated finger movements.

Secondly, making crafts with candy can also be a fun way to use the extra.  You can draw pictures and have your kids glue candies on the lines.  You can also have your children draw their own picture and explain what each candy represents at the conclusion.  Candies, such as lifesavers, can be strung to make bracelets or necklaces.  This activity promotes bilateral integration, or using two hands together.  If a candy does not have a hole, your child can use a toothpick to push through the candy, also helping to strengthen the fingers. 

Additionally, candy can be used to create a gingerbread house.  You can either freeze the extra candy until it is closer to Christmas time, or make a Halloween/Fall themed house.  Using frosting as the glue, place the candies on graham cracker walls for decorations.

Extra candy can also be used for finger painting.  Place one color of hard-shelled candy (Skittles, M&M’s, etc.) in a class of water and watch the coating dissolve and become colored water.  Children can then dip their fingers in the water and “paint” paper towels.  For more concentrated colors, use just enough water to cover the candies.  

These crafts are fun for all ages, but they are especially beneficial if your child has difficulties with messy play (does not like to get food on their fingers, does not like to play in sand boxes, or does not like to play with finger paints, etc.).  Your child will most likely get frosting on themselves in small amounts while placing the candy, and will need to dip their fingers in water to get color on them.  These experiences will provide them with tactile input (or feeling it on their skin).  Working with small amounts of tactile input and increasing it over time can help your child become less hesitant towards messy play. 

We hope some of these suggestions will help your family enjoy Halloween candy in new ways that promote positive development in your child.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Themed Outdoor Activities for Children

Halloween Themed Outdoor Activities for Children

By the Kids Place Pediatric Physical Therapists

As snow and cold weather sweeps through many parts of the country, this time of year is a perfect reminder to why we live in Arizona.  The beautiful weather outdoors plays host to many possibilities of games and activities.  In the spirit of Halloween, we want to introduce you to some themed games that are sure to be fun for your children, but also beneficial to their development.

Spider Web Maze

With a piece of chalk, draw a large spider web on the ground.  Using paper, plastic, or extra candy, place the “spiders” along the lines of the web.  Have your child walk the lines of the spider web, keeping both feet on the line, and count how many “spiders” they can grab in one minute without stepping off the lines.  This game is beneficial in that it improves coordination and balance.

Candy Grab

Dump a bucket of candy on the floor.  Using only their toes, see how quickly your child can pick up the candy and place it in a bucket.  This will work your child’s ankle strength and balance.

Candy Hopscotch

Draw hopscotch on the ground.  Throw the candy on the ground to skip that step.  All you will need is chalk and your Halloween candy.  This game will benefit your child’s jumping, coordination, and balance.

Spider Web Catch

This game can be enjoyed both indoors and outdoors.  Using painter’s tape, build a spider web in an open hallway or tree.  Crumble up some newspaper into various sized balls, and count how many your child can throw and stick in the spider web.  Throwing is a gross motor task that can be improved with items typically found in your house!

This Halloween, we are challenging families to use their candies in ways other than eating.  There are many additional games and activities that can be played for Halloween or any time of the year.  These ideas do not have to involve a lot of equipment or work.  The most important thing is to get up and play outdoors with your children.  Performing these activities with your children provides the proper foundation to encourage consistent exercise and activity!

We would like to hear from you.  What types of outdoor activities do you play with your children during Halloween?

Celebrate National Physical Therapy Month with Activity

Celebrate National Physical Therapy Month with Activity

By Erik Bassett, DPT
AZOPT Physical Therapist

This October, we celebrate National Physical Therapy Month (NPTM)!  NPTM is an awareness celebration held each October by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) to recognize the important roles physical therapists play in restoring and improving motion in people’s lives.  Nobody understands this more than the “Active Adult” community.  Also known as Baby Boomers, the active adult community is one of the largest and most powerful generations in the United States. They have redefined aging and are more educated, wealthy, and tech savvy than their parents or any generation preceding them.

However, a Harvard study has found that too many boomers are overweight or obese, increasing the risk for chronic health conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.  Further, as we age we may lose flexibility, strength, and balance, which makes staying fit after 50 challenging for even the most determined baby boomers.

Working with a physical therapist can help boomers address these challenges, maintain fitness, and avoid injury – in many cases without expensive surgery or long-term use of prescription medications.  Physical therapy is no longer simply just about rehabilitation.  Physical therapists can help restore and improve motion to achieve long-term quality of life.  Physical therapists significantly improve mobility, and ability to perform daily activities. 

Physical activity may be the closest thing we have to the ‘fountain of youth.’  Yet it’s a fact of life that health and mobility concerns often arise as we grow older. The good news is that we can keep many of these concerns at bay through regular physical activity.

Being active plays a crucial role in improving and preserving health and quality of life.  Regular physical activity can improve bone density, posture, heart and lung function, muscle strength, joint function, sleep, and memory, among many other benefits.  By sticking with a physical activity plan, Baby Boomers can lower their risk of health conditions such as fractures, falls, depression, certain cancers, stroke, hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes.

As experts in restoring and improving motion in people’s lives, physical therapists define physical fitness as having good aerobic capacity, muscle strength and endurance, and flexibility. We encourage adults to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of the 2, each week. In addition, we recommend working all major muscle groups — arms, shoulders, chest, abdomen, hips, back, and legs at least 2 times per week and incorporate flexibility activities such as stretching, dancing, and yoga, into a physical activity regimen.

Physical therapists are uniquely qualified to help boomers stay fit and mobile.  To learn more about how we can help you at AZOPT, please call us at 623.242.6908 or email fitafter50@azopt.net.

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is an individual membership professional organization representing more than 85,000 member physical therapists. APTA seeks to improve the health and quality of life of individuals in society by advancing physical therapist practice, education, and research, and by increasing the awareness and understanding of physical therapy's role in the nation's health care system.

Messy Play is Okay!

Messy Play is Okay!

By Jessica Holyoke, OTR/L

Kids Place Pediatric Occupational Therapist

In early development, a child begins to piece together information about their world using their seven senses: vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, proprioception (position sense), and vestibular (movement sense). Children use their sensory experiences to make sense of their environment.  As a child grows, the information they gain from their environment through their sensory systems shape their development. Cognitive skills are developed through curiosity and exploration.  Physical skills are developed through a desire to move to objects or areas of interest.  Finally, social skills are developed through interaction with objects and people in their environment.  So, how can you facilitate this growth through sensory experience? The answer is simple - MESSY PLAY!!!

Messy play is an excellent way for your child to use all of their sensory systems.  It encourages curiosity, exploration, and creativity.  Because there is no wrong way to messy play, the child gains confidence as they are successful in their activities.  Messy play can be used to learn letters and numbers, to interact with peers, and to develop fine motor skills. Here are some messy ideas to get you started:

Spaghetti

Image courtesy of The Imagination Tree

• Cook some spaghetti noodles, strain and place in a large bowl (or on a high chair tray or play table). You can add food coloring if you choose. You can hide small toys in the noodles for your child to find or use the noodles to form shapes, letters or numbers.

Corn starch and water

• Mix corn starch and water in a large container (flatter surfaces work better, i.e. casserole dish). This should appear to be a fairly solid mixture.  Pick up a handful and watch it melt in your hands! 

Puffy paint

Image courtesy of Learning4Kids.net

• Mix equal parts Elmer’s glue and shaving cream. Add your desired color (food coloring or paint work well).  Paint onto paper of your choice with your fingers (or paint brush if you must) and let it dry into a puffy masterpiece. 

Gak

• Gak is a gooey, slimy, glob of fun.  Making it with your child can teach sequencing skills, following a recipe, measuring, and attention.  The finished product can be stored in a plastic bag to play with again and again. 
• For a simple Gak recipe, click here!

Play-dough

• Similar to Gak, following any recipe is a great way to teach kids valuable skills such as counting, sequencing, following directions, attention and social skills. 
• For a simple, uncooked Play-dough recipe, click here

Finger Paint/Shaving cream

• Great way to get messy while practicing writing letters, or just drawing using a pointer finger. 

Rice/Beans

• A dry alternative to other messy play options, but still a great way to gain the desired sensory experiences.  Fill a small bucket or large bowl with rice or beans (uncooked).  You can hide small toys inside for a treasure hunt.  Make two or more bowls to make it a race or work together to find all the treasures.

I would like to hear from you.  What other forms of messy play have you experienced with your child?  Did your child and you enjoy any of these ideas?  Please leave me a comment in the section below.

Keeping Your Child Safe in their Car Seat

Keeping Your Child Safe in their Car Seat

By Josh MacDonald, OTR/L

Kids Place Clinic Director

Pediatric Occupational Therapist

At Kids Place, our therapists see a lot of children coming into the clinic in their infant carriers.  Unfortunately, too many of them are fastened into the car seat incorrectly.  While every car seat is different, there are a few standard rules about how to fasten them into infant carriers and forward facing seats.

First, the plastic retainer clip (the plastic clip across the chest) should be slid up to the level of the armpits.  This may seem high and appear to put pressure between the straps and the child's neck.  But, if the clip is not high enough, it will not hold the belt in place, and the child will slide between the straps and out of the seat in an accident.

Second, the seat belt should be tight enough that you cannot pinch any excess at their shoulder.  This is relatively snug.  When applied taught against the body, the seat belt assists in riding out the deceleration slowly.  If the strap is too loose, then the child will 'collide' with the seat belt in an accident, resulting in further injury.

Lastly, no additional pieces of aftermarket items should be added to the car seat.  These pieces are often not fire retardant, and could catch fire quickly.  Any padding on the seat belt strap to protect the neck will only create space between the child and the strap.  Remember, this needs to be a tight fit.  Space is bad.  Items hanging from the handle or on the seat of the vehicle will come loose in the accident and potentially strike the child.  These items are marketed well to convince us of their necessity or cuteness, but they are not crash tested and will be dangerous in an accident.

These are only a few of the rules and guidelines about car seats.  Your local fire department is able to assist you installing your car seat, and will teach you how to properly use the car seat.  This may seem like a hassle, but 90% of car seats are installed incorrectly and will not protect a child during an accident.  Make your child's safety a priority.