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Skills

The Emotional Continuum

exploreandsoar · 16 January 2024 · Leave a Comment

THE EMOTIONAL CONTINUUM

Emotions; the one thing that many people find hard to acknowledge, understand and express freely. 

Yet they are the one thing that binds us together. They are a constant in out lives, changing as we navigate through day to day life. Our emotions live on a continuum and on any given day we eb and flow between them. 

At Explore and Soar, we describe this by using the terms optimal band of arousal and window of tolerance. Each allow us as humans to function optimally on any given day, to be able to maintain a home and  hold down a steady job as adults. For our children, being able to participate in everyday self-care activities, maintain engagement at school for learning and be flexible and dynamic in their thinking and feelings when socialising and playing with peers, is obtained when their optimal band of arousal is reached. 

There are many everyday functions and aspects of our lives that are relying on us to live in our optimal band of arousal, in order to attend and achieve these expectations. However, this is not always achievable and on any given day, our body and minds experience a range of emotions from our internal and external environments. When this happens, our ability to remain in an optimal band of arousal is not always achievable. Instead, we start moving on the emotional continuum either into a high arousal state of survival with responses of fight, flight, fright or freeze where an array of emotions and behaviours can become apparent or alternatively into a low arousal state where fatigue, tiredness or sickness can become apparent. 

Our ability to move consistently on the emotional continuum is guided by natural and unique instincts. 

By doing so, our body is expressing how we are feeling in the moment by telling our mind and body to respond in a particular way. As an example, if we are beginning to feel overwhelmed and stressed, moving into a heightened state, we are required to slow down to allow our body to rest. We can all become unstuck in this state from time to time, when we have difficulty regulating our emotions appropriately and being able to respond to our internal and external environment in an appropriate way, such as size of problem vs reaction. This is where the foundational emotional regulation skills of co-regulation from a young age and the development of self-regulation capacities is fundamental in supporting our children, but also enhances our adaptability and flexibility in all situations when we are older.

Take a look at our previous blog on co-regulation and self-regulation strategies >

In everyday life, if a child is expressing themselves with an action or emotion, that is their way of asking for help. As social beings we do not like expressing ourselves in a way that is perceived to be out of the norm, yet when things are not going ok for young children, their way of and asking for help is through emotive behaviour. As adults it is our job to be role models, provide support and teach them how to express their emotions appropriately. We must offer support to them as they move through these feelings, whilst trying to understand the situation at hand. That’s not always easy. Sometimes we as adults alone are unable to figure it out. This is where we as occupational therapists working within emotional regulation and sensory processing capacities can come in and help, to further breakdown what is going on, determine what is impacting our children and to determine the best strategy to support them in their daily experiences, on their own individual emotional continuum.

As occupational therapists there are a range of strategies and intervention options that we can do to support your whole family in better understanding each other’s emotional continuum. 

Our ultimate goal is to work successfully through everyday activities and allow you and your children to live your life to the fullest.  

Regulation strategies: As occupational therapists we can determine where each individual’s band of arousal sits on the emotional continuum. Once identified, we develop goals and implement strategies to support increased time in optimal throughout the day. Goals and strategies are targeting the development of co-regulation strategies with parents/caregivers and loved ones, self-regulation strategies and increasing the independence in identifying how your body is feeling and reacting, then completing strategies to calm, additionally reducing the time frame and recovery time if their emotions heighten. These are all powerful approaches to supporting our children in order to be successful in everyday activities. 

Take a look at our previous blog on co-regulation and self-regulation strategies >

Sensory processing activities: Utilising our individual sensory needs helps facilitate and develop regulation and achievement in maintaining an optimal band of arousal. Well known strategies such as heavy work, respiration and roughhousing strategies can be quick sensory activities in your everyday life in order to facilitate this. Over the years we have written about the benefits of all these strategies and you’ll see them regularly in our social media posts. This is because the benefits are paramount. This is also why you will see us in sessions working with our children with things like whistles, utilising oral motor strategies to support the development of skills, and individualised heavy work strategies (movement with resistance such as push, pull, lift, carry) to help achieve these outcomes. 

TRE (Trauma Release Exercises): Known as trauma release exercises are a simple yet innovative series of exercises that assist in the body in releasing deep muscular patterns of stress, tension and trauma. TRE can be implemented through an active way of exercises that activate the natural reflex mechanism of shaking or vibrating that releases muscular tension, required for calming down the nervous system. I have been utilising this strategy as a self-regulation and self-care tool for myself consistently since 2013. Due to the extreme benefits of TRE and my own love of it I then studied his intervention approach and have completed my qualification in 2018-2019 to become a trained trainer. Since then, I have been implementing these strategies within our sessions with our children where needed through a passive, non-invasive and safe way. This strategy has been successfully implemented with adults and children in altering their band of optimal arousal and increasing their control and confidence in sitting in the emotional continuum. Do not hesitate to seek further knowledge and information from us on this method.

Cognitive emotional strategies: When working on the emotional continuum, sometimes using sensory processing and bottom up strategies are effective, but can be complimentary providing top down cognitive strategies to assist in the refinement of knowledge and applying these skills in social situations or transfer these skills in everyday environments, including home, school (classroom and playground), and the community. Some strategies you will see us utilising in sessions are concepts of ‘Zones of Regulation’, ‘Size of Problem vs Reaction’, ‘The Alert Program’, ‘The Incredible Flexible You Series’ and ‘The Social Thinking Detectives’. These strategies for us are generally used once the development of the above mentioned skills have been supporting each individual’s emotional continuum and then building these skills on top of. 

As a team we are always building our knowledge and exploring further strategies and intervention approaches to enhance our children’s emotional capacities and independence. Ultimately we are all learning to understand and identify their emotions on a daily basis. The emotional continuum is so important to us as it allows our children to build their confidence, self-worth, self-awareness and to develop strong foundational blocks in order to achieve success in their life. Don’t hesitate to chat to us further about how we can support you and your children with their emotional regulation capacities. 

Until next time,
Jess

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MARCH 3, 2021

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Biological Rhythms

exploreandsoar · 16 January 2024 · Leave a Comment

BIOLOGICAL THYTHMS

This year we are placing a strong emphasis on both physical and mental health. As a team, we are focused on a core goal of wellness for both our ourselves and our clients. 

The place to start understanding wellness and why we react or act the way we do is by delving into biological rhythms. 

Biological rhythms are the homeostasis and natural cycle of change in our body’s chemical and organ functions. 

These functions are paramount to self-awareness and motor development but most importantly they contribute to our emotional and social development through childhood.  

No one person’s body rhythm is the same. We all move to the beat of our own internal rhythm and in turn, no 24 hour cycle within our bodies is the same. This means that each day, our body’s internal structure functions independently, adjusting and adapting to the external environment around us, with external factors having the ability to impact and alter our internal biological rhythms daily. 

Take my biological rhythms for example. I am well aware that my body’s internal rhythms differ depending on each day. They can be affected by things such as how I have slept, what my to do list looks like, deadlines, family or general decisions I have made throughout the day. Additionally, different external factors have the ability to alter these biological rhythms for me; the weather and other decisions that employees or friends make, all can have an impact on how my biological rhythms respond. If I were then to have difficulty identifying what my own internal rhythms were, and how they adapt to various situations, this would greatly impact my ability to co-regulate or self-regulate, therefore affecting my emotional well-being. 

Over the years, with practice and by heightening my self awareness, I have developed the skill to identify how my body responds daily to various factors. In having a sense of awareness, I can consciously make the effort to shift my biological rhythms back to their own internal flow, in order to live my life in the healthiest way for me. I am not perfect, and some days the strategies that employ are ineffective and that’s ok. It’s all about building your awareness, your own self-regulating strategies and ways of supporting your own internal rhythms to live your happiest life and ultimately fulfil your purpose each day. 

So what specifically are biological rhythms and how can they impact your life? Let’s dive in!

Your Sleep Schedule: your sleep/wake cycle is paramount. And in my eyes, one of the most important aspects of our unique rhythms. I enjoy chatting to people about their sleep/wake cycles and how different they all are. When we are younger we require 12 or more hours of sleep to integrate a full day of learning, to get adequate rest and to continue to develop. As get older, we start to adjust to our own needs and the hours required to function. I usually require between 6 to 8 hours of sleep per night, ultimately functioning at my best each day after a full 8 hours of sleep. Other people only require 5 to 6 hours of sleep per night to function at the highest level. What’s even more interesting the difference between night owls and early risers, and how their rhythms then indicate optimal function capacity. 

So what is your sleep/wake rhythm? Do you have a set time to go to sleep or a best time to wake up in the morning? Experiment with this. If you feel like you haven’t perfected your sleep / wake cycle, choose a time to go to bed and try it for a week. Make that commitment and determine what times work best for you. Understand how optimal or lack of sleep makes you feel. Pause, take notice and also observe your children. What do their best nights look like? What do their best mornings look like? How do they then get through the day on the cycle they currently function on? The million dollar question then set in, how do we identify and maintain this rhythm for our child in order to achieve optimal rest? Well, this is where we come in. We can individualise a sleep/wake cycle plan or strategies for your child / family to get the most out of this biological rhythm and trust me… if you get this right for your whole family, it will change all of your lives for the better! 

Your Appetite: hunger, thirst and awareness of when you are full are all part of the biological rhythm that is your appetite. Do you ever get hangry?? This is my biggest tell tail. I have an incredibly fast metabolism and I eat quite frequently. However, if I haven’t eaten or drank enough water, I start to notice my internal rhythms beginning to shift, along with my behaviour and emotions. Acknowledging my appetite is a vital rhythm that supports the nourishment of my body, in order to fuel my energy for the day. This biological rhythm involves noticing your metabolism, understanding how it works, which foods best fuel you, as well as which foods make you feel slow, tired or lethargic. Appropriate management of our appetite on a day to day basis is a major contributor to our mood and achievements in our daily life. So start taking notice of where your body best responds to food. Additionally, start to notice varied reactions to different foods, how they affect your daily functions. Consuming the right foods for your body and understanding the importance of a balanced diet is the second biggest contributor to performance and behaviour, ultimately determining how we respond to sensory information from our external environments. 

Your Bodily functions: such as digestion and going to the toilet are other biological rhythms that impact our wellbeing. When working with our families, in developing independence in self-care we often address toilet habits. Working with a child in order to bring awareness and being able to identify when you need to use the bathroom, toilet training and developing day/night dryness are all a part of working with an OT within the realms of this important biological rhythm. For some children, their independence varies for multiple reasons, identifying these factors and working through strategies to address this goal is paramount in supporting digestive issues and exercising bladder control.

Your Reaction Times: Pain registration, which is one’s ability to identify when they have hurt themselves, is a safety mechanism built into the body to ensure our survival. Everybody’s pain registration differs and is on a continuum from low registration to sensitive and a high registration. Being able to identify your child’s registration of pain allows us to determine when they are not ok, but also supports them in understanding safety boundaries. Everyone’s pain tolerance is different, so it’s all about bringing awareness to and connecting with your child in order to speak up and identify when something is in fact wrong.

Your Body Temperature: and our ability to identify when we are hot or cold, allows us to develop internal regulation in relation to the external environment. This facilities the planning and ability to stay at optimal temperature in varied environments. Chat to us about how we can facilitate the body temperature identification and interaction for your children. 

Your Heart Rate: Our heart rate is the main contributor to our emotional regulation. If our body internally responds to the external environment, the first thing that alters is our breath. If our heart rate increases or we hold our breath, this increases our stress levels, which has the capacity to shift our biological rhythms. When our breath changes, so does our regulation. If you have strong self-regulation capacities, you are aware of this and alter your heart rate and emotions in the moment to adapt to the current situation and environment. However, very few of us can in fact do this. By supporting and bringing awareness to the breath through internal body rhythms, sensory processing capacities and self-regulation strategies we are building the foundations to self-awareness and independence in our everyday lives. This brings about resilience, self confidence, flexibility and adaptability to cope with any situation life may throw at you or your child.

So how do we best start to develop biological rhythms with our kids? 

There are a few main interventions we use throughout our sessions. Rhythm through song and voice, and respiration and breathing strategies are perhaps the most important. 

As OT’s identifying and supporting an individual’s biological rhythms is paramount to their overall health, well-being and quality of life. We will chat through some strategies in our socials this month so keep an eye out! If you’re interested in tailored and individualized strategies that address your child’s or your families concerns, reach out to us and we can help attain optimal success for your biological rhythms.  

Until next time,
Jess

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 3, 2021

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Team Culture

exploreandsoar · 16 January 2024 · Leave a Comment

TEAM CULTURE

Over the last few months we have had the privilege of sharing the way in which we as a team can provide support to our clients and families; through a multidisciplinary team approach, therapeutic assistant support and the way in which OT’s share their skills through our own unique lense. 

To be a part of a great team and work alongside some amazing health professionals is a privilege. 

Our desire to offer support, bring joy and give back to our communities through effective collaboration, is the driving force of everything we do.

The Explore and Soar team love working together in our regular meetings. I always encourage creativity and the freedom to express ideas, recommendations and thoughts with one another. Often our greatest ideas stem from our team catch ups. We spend the time bouncing off one another’s energy, brainstorming and providing support or encouragement when needed. As we are a mobile business, it’s vital for us to put aside the time regularly to maintain a positive and productive team culture.

Team culture at Explore and Soar revolves around building strength and unity together, where open communication and connection is paramount. Ensuring that these things remain a core focus, allows us to collectively feel empowered whilst working independently but also allows us to work efficiently and cohesively as a team. Without this integral core value, our quality of service, knowledge and connection with our clients and families would not be present. It is what sets us apart; our connection and relationships. 

Maintaining connection within our team is also encouraged through staff development and training days. These are vital for the continued development of knowledge, skills and support. We also share time together through staff retreats and team days where we can reconnect with each other in order to sustain our culture as a team. This has been paramount over the last few months as we have now doubled our team! To ensure our quality of service remains the same, we must maintain a cohesive work flow and communication. It’s important that we bring our best individual qualities together, placing value on our individual strengths, further allowing us to expand our knowledge as a team. 

Our connectedness as a team allows us to offer adaptive, creative and flexible support options to our clients. In addition, our ability to build relationships and connections with your whole family, whilst collaborating with other services, means that we are able to attain the best results for your unique and desired goals.

As we are a mobile business, our way of connecting can sometimes be different within our own team. That’s why it’s so important for us to maintain our regular coffee debriefs, training days and phone calls in amongst our busy schedules. We offer each other support and advice throughout our weeks and sessions with clients – ensuring that the whole team is there to support our communities and one another.

As we finish one year and get ready to step forward into another, we are truly excited to be expanding our team further in order to support our families. We plan to end the year on a positive note, with excitement for the future and by continuing to offer the highest level of support to our clients. 

Keep an eye out on our socials for some new team members in the coming weeks! We look forward to introducing some new faces to you all!

Until next time,
Jess

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 4, 2020

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Multidisciplinary Approach

exploreandsoar · 16 January 2024 · Leave a Comment

MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

Building a multidisciplinary team involves a range of professionals from different disciplines, working in harmony to provide care. 

At Explore and Soar, a multidisciplinary approach is about building a strong team around our families, in order to provide high quality, best evidence intervention, coaching and strategies to reach the desired outcomes of each individual and family. 

This process can be somewhat overwhelming but incredibly powerful and rewarding.  

So let’s start by talking about the definition of multidisciplinary care, in order to give you a little more detail on what’s involved.

The following definition outlines the objectives as well as some of the challenges involved in the provision of multidisciplinary team care:

Multidisciplinary care – when professionals from a range of disciplines work together to deliver comprehensive care that addresses as many of the patient’s needs as possible. This can be delivered by a range of professionals functioning as a team under one organisational umbrella or by professionals from a range of organisations, including private practice, brought together as a unique team. As a patient’s condition changes over time, the composition of the team may change to reflect the changing clinical and psychosocial needs of the patient.

Mitchell G.K., Tieman, J.J., and Shelby-James T.M. (2008), Multidisciplinary care planning and teamwork in primary care, Medical Journal of Australia, Vol. 188, No. 8, p.S63.

So now that we know what it involves, how do you find the right team?

Trying to navigate the world of health professionals and creating a seamless connection between each discipline can become somewhat arduous. Deciding on the right individuals that best suit your family and that work well together as a team can take years to build. Having a strong connection and trust with each member of your team is essential. 

It’s important to remember that nothing worth having, ever comes easily. Building the right team can take time and may mean that you will be seeing multiple different professionals until you find the right ones for you. 

But here is the key to successfully building a great multidisciplinary team – it all starts with just one connection and finding that first perfect fit.

Whether you are just starting your journey in the allied health world or you have been working with different professionals for years, exercise patience and keep searching for that first perfect fit. Once you find one professional that you trust, everything will change for the better. This will have a flow on effect with the rest of the required team members. Often if you find a great fit with your OT, they can then recommend a wonderful speech pathologist or physiotherapist that would be the best fit for your family. 

Personally, I too am building my own allied health team after my recent accident.

A team that I can trust, connect to and one that fits seamlessly with my values and goals. One that will support me as I continue to embark on my journey back to full health. In doing so, I have learnt the complexities behind my own injuries, long term implications and affects I will be working through and on, for the years to come. My own team is now quickly building around me in order to personally help me through these challenges, and this is what I hope and wish for you. A strong team to build you up, to inform, educate and support you in the decisions you make for you, your child and your family. 

Professionally speaking, working as a part of a multidisciplinary team brings me so much joy! I have been working alongside some fabulous and highly qualified clinicians for the last decade and have witnessed the benefits of multiple disciplines coming together first hand. 

As occupational therapists we work closely with a range of allied health professionals; speech pathologists, physiotherapists, psychologists and chiropractors, just to name a few. The real power of collaboration lies in open communication and the transference of strategies across our therapy intervention sessions. 

Our love for working within multidisciplinary teams to build support around our clients, families and communities continues to be one of our greatest strengths and passions at Explore and Soar. We are always looking at exploring the best ways to support our families. 

At Explore and Soar we are always listening to the needs of our clients. We pride ourselves on being able to assist you in building a high quality allied health team that achieves your desired goals. So please never hesitate to reach out and ask us any questions that you may have! We want nothing but the best for you, your child and your family – and we won’t stop until that is delivered with a team that you trust.

Over the next month you will see some posts on our social media detailing how occupational therapists work with other allied health professionals to achieve our clients goals. Follow us on Instagram or Facebook (links below) and learn about the ways in which a multidisciplinary team can work together to achieve your goals. 

Until next time,
Jess

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

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Fine Motor Skills

exploreandsoar · 15 January 2024 · Leave a Comment

FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Now that we have discussed gross motor skills, it’s time to talk about fine motor skills!

Fine motor skills refer to the ability to use the small muscles of the hand, with adequate strength, dexterity and coordination, to grasp and manipulate objects of different sizes, weights and shapes. They involve the coordinated efforts of the brain and muscles, and they’re built on the gross motor skills that allow us to make bigger movements.

Fine motor skills consist of multiple aspects including:

  1. Strength in fingers and hands
  2. Coordination to support grasping or holding objects
  3. Manipulation when moving objects between our fingers and hands

From a very early age, fine motor skills facilitate interactions with the world we live in and therefore create opportunities for learning. As children develop, fine motor skills then assist the development of:

  • Independence in self-care activities such as doing up buttons, cleaning teeth, opening lunch boxes or food packets and using cutlery. 
  • Development of early literacy and numeracy with control and use of a pencil for drawing, writing or colouring, cutting and pasting.
  • And finally play! Picking up, moving or manipulating toys accompanied with their vivid imaginations. 

The most important fine motor skills children need to develop include the following:

  • The palmar arches allow the palms to curl inward. Strengthening these helps coordinate the movement of fingers, which is needed for writing, unbuttoning clothes, and gripping.
  • Wrist stability develops by early school years. It allows children to move their fingers with strength and control.
  • Skilled side of the hand is the use of the thumb, index finger, and other fingers together for precision grasping.
  • Intrinsic hand muscle development is the ability to perform small movements with the hand, where the tip of the thumb, index finger, and middle finger touch. 
  • Bilateral hand skills permit the coordination of both hands at the same time. 
  • Scissor skills develop by age 4 and further provides hand strength and hand-eye coordination.

I thought I’d offer some personal perspective on the use of fine motor skills, as I have recently received surgery for carpal tunnel release, on my left wrist. The experience made me realise how we often take our fine motor skills for granted. Without the use of my left hand, I experienced a lack of independence, the ability to coordinate both my hands together to pick up objects, to eat food and even to fully dress myself. 

After undergoing surgery, I had lost all the function of my left hand and started the process to rebuild and strengthen my fine motor skills including regaining a full range of motion, muscle strength, flexibility, independence and function. I was participating in a similar process of regaining fine motor skills, a process of which babies, toddlers and young children follow as they grow. 

To demonstrate this, I thought I would detail the common stages of fine motor skill development by ages. 

At 0-6 months old, babies demonstrate reflexive grasp when objects are placed in their hand, they are reaching and grasping for objects, mastering a controlled grasp (at 6 months), holding an object in the palms of their hand (with 2 hands at 3 months and 1 hand at 5 months) and recovering an object dropped in their visual field. 

At 6-12 months old, they are grasping and putting objects to their mouth, demonstrating controlled release of objects, picking up small objects with a thumb and one finger, their Pincer grasp develops (using index finger and thumb to grasp objects), they are transferring objects between hands (the beginning of crossing midline skills) and they start to show a preference for one hand over the other (beginning the development of right-handed vs. left-handed dominance). 

At 1-2 years, a child can build towers of two-three small blocks, turn the pages of a book (multiple at a time), they can clap their hands together (this is the beginning of bilateral coordination!), they can wave goodbye, scoop objects up with a spoon or small shovel and bang objects together using both hands (the beginning of bilateral coordination!)

At 2-3 years, children can string four large beads, turn single pages, snip with scissors, hold a crayon with thumb and fingers. They are using one hand consistently for most activities, picking up small objects with thumb and one finger and can also  imitate circular, vertical and horizontal stokes with some wrist action, along with illustrating dots, lines and circular strokes.

At 3-4 years, a child can build a tower of nine small blocks, manipulate clay material (rolls balls, makes snakes, cookies), use their non dominant hand to assist and stabilize the use of objects, snip paper using scissors, copy circles and imitate a cross. 

At 4-5 years, a child is cutting on the line continuously, copies a cross and square shape, they are writing their name and the numbers1-5, copying letters and can dress/undress themselves. 

At 5-6 years, a child is cutting out simple shapes, copying triangle, colours within the lines, and has a 3 fingered grasp of a pencil.

At 6-7 years, a child is forming letters and numbers correctly, writes consistently on the lines, has controlled movement with pencil and endurance for writing and tying shoelaces 

At 7-8 years, a child is maintaining legibility of handwriting, and has greater independence in self-care tasks such as doing up buttons. 

Comparatively, I worked through the stages of development as follows: 

Post operation, my hand function in my left hand was starting back at the 6-month-old stage. My left hand was completely immobile, wrapped in a tight bandage and was instructed to not move it and place no pressure on my hand in any way. My left arm was placed in a sling and required to be elevated at all times.

Around one week after surgery, my bandages were able to be removed and so to were my stitches. I was allowed to freely move my hand as able, however it was incredibly stiff, had very little range of movement and was limited by the pain.

I then commenced my passive (assisted) and light active movements of my fingers. This included supporting and moving each joint of my fingers as far as I could every 2 hours. It was repetitions and persistence of these movements that retrained my brain and body to work together so functionally I could use my left hand. 

During week 2 of  post-surgery, the movements of my fingers had improved to the point where I could now complete pincer grasp, transfer objects between both hands and increase my bilateral coordination of tasks. However, with very little pressure or resistance. I slowly tried to reintroduce simple daily activities to increase my independence, this meant I could pick up paper, hold my phone etc. 

By week 3, I was using my non-dominant hand (left) to stabilise and support my activities. I wanted more independence, so I pushed myself, within reason – much like a child would. I started to dress and undress myself with both hands including buttons and zippers, I was able to manipulate objects including hair bands to put my hair up, use cutlery, type on the computer with greater speed and open and close doors. 

Now 3 months post-surgery, my grip strength is almost where it was before surgery. Going through this experience highlighted the importance of fine motor skills development. Much like a child, it was important for me to regain those skills in order to not be dependent on someone else to support simple everyday tasks. 

If you’d like to help your child develop their fine motor skills, here are some ideas that you can do at home, together. Often the repetition of everyday activities is a simple yet effective helping hand!

  • Allow your child to assist with meal preparation, like stirring, mixing, or pouring ingredients. 
  • Put together a puzzle as a family.
  • Play board games that involve rolling dice.
  • Finger paint together.
  • Let your child set the dinner table.
  • Teach your child how to pour their own drinks.
  • Have your child roll and flatten clay with their hands, and then use a cookie cutter to make cutouts.
  • Show your child how to use a hole puncher.
  • Practice placing rubber bands around a can. 
  • Place objects in a container and have your child remove them with tweezers.

If you’d like more information, please check out these websites below!

schools.shrewsburyma.gov/ot/fine-motor

education.vic.gov.au/childhood/professionals/learning/ecliteracy/emergentliteracy/Pages/finemoto.aspx

Madeleine Simms

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JULY 1, 2020

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