20 Free Downloads from 2010

Here is a list of 20 free activities we posted on the website during 2010: 1. Winter Handwriting Activities 2. Artist Trading Cards Lesson Plan 3. Tangrams for Kids 4. Fabric Creation Lesson Plan 5. Visual Motor Exercises 6. Imagination Action Journey 7. Dressing Skills Sample Page 8. Wax String Activities Sample Pages 9. Follow […]

,

Gross Motor Skills and Psychiatric Disorders

Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology published research on the gross motor performance and physical fitness of children with psychiatric disorders. One hundred children (81 boys and 19 girls with a mean age of 9 yrs 11 months) were divided into three subgroups: emotional disorders (17 children), behavioral disorders (44 children) and pervasive developmental disorders (39 […]

,

Participation of Youth with Spina Bifada

Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research published a study on the participation of community activities for youth with spina bifada. Sixty three children with spina bifada, ages 2-5, 6-12 and 13-18, completed a participation survey (along with caregivers if necessary). The results indicated that the “older youth participated less in recreational, physical and skill based activities”. […]

Lego Grant Available

The LEGO Children’s Fund provides quarterly grants typically from $500 to $5000. Preferential consideration is given to disadvantaged youth, special projects that help children explore creativity and organizations serving Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. They are specifically looking for programs in these two areas: “1. Early childhood education and development that is directly related to creativity […]

Free Play and Feeling Included

Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly published interesting research on children’s feelings about being included. The researcher, Dr. Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere, interviewed 11 children with a range of disabilities including cerebral palsy, motor delays, DCD and more. Three themes were seen throughout the interviews regarding the children’s perspective on sports, games and play: 1. Gaining entry to play […]

Knee Surgery and Arthrogryposis

The Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics published research on ambulation gains following surgical correction for knee flexion contractures in children with arthrogyposis. Prior to surgery at 2 through 16 years of age, 11 children were non ambulatory, 2 were household ambulators and 1 was a community ambulator with orthosis. The children underwent an average of 1.8 […]

Wii Motion Analysis

Now this is really cool, especially if you are a nerdy, techie therapist. This physical education teacher, Mr. Robbo, explains how to use your Wii remote to do some simple motion analysis. You download a program, connect your Wii remote to your computer with blue tooth capability and ‘voila’ instant motion analysis. Give someone the […]

Motor Planning in Toddlers

Child Development published research on movement planning in toddlers. Thirty five toddlers, ages 18-21 months, were observed building a tower with blocks or placing blocks into a container and kinematic measurements were taken. The kinematic measurements indicated that there was a longer decelerating phase when the hand approached the block for pick up versus putting […]

Assessing Self Regulation

Pediatric therapists and early childhood teachers frequently assess a child’s ability to self regulate. Child Trends has released an excellent document on assessing self regulation. Included in the document are several simple questionnaires to determine a child’s ability to self regulate. The paper recommends that children participate in out of school programs to help improve […]