Infant Sitting Tips

By: Hope James, PT, DPT

Sitting briefly with hands propped on the ground can be expected around 4 months on average. Sitting with hands free and less guarding come around 6 months on average. Try out these tips to help your little one reach this milestone while they are closely supervised:
Sitting with a Boppy pillow: Place the pillow around the front of your child while you are sitting behind. Using a higher surface can help encourage placing hands down.
Sitting in a laundry basket of socks: This can provide a safe corner for babies to practice correcting themselves back to upright.
Sitting with a mirror or toys: Try sitting on the floor behind with your baby with a baby mirror toy or fun toy at eye level. This will encourage baby to tuck their chin and active their core muscles.

Warming Up To The Playground

By: Hope James, PT, DPT

A trip to the playground is an exciting opportunity for play in a new space with new friends, but it can be a little scary or overwhelming too. Try out these ideas to help your child feel more at ease on your next trip to the playground.
Give your child time to warm up and explore at their own pace at first. A playground can be a busy, loud place with lots to take in at once. Your first trip to the park might be brief and just a time for your child to walk around and check things out. Gradually build up the time spent at the park to your child’s comfort level.
Pair a trip to a new park with some of your child’s favorite familiar things. You may need to bring along a favorite stuffed animal or bubbles for the first few trips.
Encourage your child to try something new with a “Trying Timer” for 1-3 minutes. Set the timer to try that task and give lots of praise for any attempts, then move on to a more familiar area.
Model play on new pieces of equipment. Show your child how fun the swings and slide are, then encourage them to join in.

Beach Day Play

By: Hope James, PT, DPT

Summer time in South Carolina means more beach days! A day at the beach is the perfect opportunity for some great gross motor play. Try out these fun ideas:

Jumping over shallow waves: This is a great way to work on leg strength and timing.
Crab walks races: Bellies up to the sky, on your mark, get set go!
Follow the line: Have your child help draw lines in the sand to follow with their feet. Try straight, swirls, and zig zags.
Dig a hole: Grab a shovel and encourage your child to stay in standing to dig or build in the sand. Can they carry a bucket of water to fill a moat?
Sand hop scotch: Grab a shell and draw a course to practice hopping and jumping

Ideas For A New Walker

By: Hope James, PT, DPT

Your babe is finally walking! But…now what? It’s time to help your little one get steady and safe to explore new spaces. Check out these ideas:

Dancing songs: Songs with motions are a great way to work on changing directions, briefly standing in one leg, or moving backwards. Have your new walker try to mimic your moves.
New places: Just exposing your new walker to new surfaces and environments can be a balance challenge. Encourage taking steps while your support sneaks away. Help guide your new walker across mulch, grass, tree roots, or sand.
Toy clean up: Have your new walker help you clean up toys after play. Try holding the toy bin up to encourage your child to squat to pick up the toy, then reach up to hand the toy to you.

Learning to Ride a Bike

By: Kayla Rymer, PT, DPT

Children typically learn to ride a tricycle around age 3, and a bicycle sometime between the ages of 4 and 6. The tricycle teaches kids about coordinated movements, momentum, spatial awareness, and the confidence to ride a bicycle. When a child transitions from tricycle to bicycle with training wheels, they may struggle at first. The pedals on a bicycle require a greater downward force, which means your child needs increased quadricep, hamstring, and hip muscle strength. Additionally, bicycles require greater balance, trunk stability, body awareness, and vestibular system processing. Below are some tips and tricks to help your child gain independence when riding a bike.

Tips for Getting Started

Balance Bike

We often recommend kids start by riding a balance bike. Balance bikes have no pedals and will allow a child to gain confidence and feel their balance while they are moving. The seat height is adjustable, allowing your child’s center of gravity to be lower to the ground. Your child will also learn to climb on and off, weight shift, and navigate their environment. Our favorite balance bikes include the Schwinn Balance Bike and Strider Balance Bike.

Finding The Right Size Bike for Your Child:

The bike should be less than 40% of your child’s body weight
Your child should be able to straddle the frame and place both feet on the ground when their legs are straight
Ensure your child can grasp both handlebars comfortably with slight bend in their elbows

Pedaling Tips:

Secure the child’s feet to the pedals; this allows your child to experience the revolution of the pedals as the bicycle moves forwards with external assistance
Practice wearing supportive shoes; it is important your child has a stable base to push off of
Some kids may only need verbal cues, while others may benefit from you assisting at their knees to push down to help them through the correct motions
Encouraging your child to pedal forwards instead of down can help some kids visualize the correct movement

What muscles are important to strengthen?

To propel forwards, the hip and knee extend pressing downwards on the pedal. This action requires quadricep and gluteus maximus muscle strength. These muscles are then joined by the hamstrings and calf muscles. These muscle groups make up the largest volume of muscles used in a pedal revolution.

Strengthening Exercises
Squats
Forward Lunge
Glute Bridges
Superman
Calf Raises

Brain Breaks

January 4, 2021Tri-County Therapy Blog Uncategorized

Brain Breaks

Happy 2021! We are all getting into our new routines and ready to tackle a new {hopefully better} year. Many students will still be learning virtually and we know that virtual learning is tough on kiddos and parents. Today we want to talk about BRAIN BREAKS!

To prevent reduced blood flow and muscle fatigue from sitting for long periods of time, we want to encourage your child to take breaks as frequently as their schedule will allow.

Gross Motor Activity Break Ideas:

10 jumping jacks
10 glute bridges
10 squats
30 arm circles
10 sit ups
10 seconds superman pose
10 seconds single leg balance

Outdoor Activity Ideas:

Hop scotch
Jumping rope
Riding scooters, bikes, or tricycles

Our physical therapists encourage ‘Brain Breaks’ for all ages {even adults} and have seen tremendous success in overall attention. Try a brain break today and let us know what you think!