In the first years of life kids are growing and learning fast. Pediatric physical therapists tend to work on physical development activities that focus on large motor skills. Large motor skills are activities like walking, jumping, running, or skipping. ...
School Ideas
Gross Motor Activities For Kids
As a pediatric physical therapist one of my main jobs is to work on gross motor skills. To work on these skills pediatric physical therapists come up with lots of different gross motor activities for kids! ...
School Based Physical Therapy Documentation Resources
Are you new to the world of school based physical therapy? Maybe you are a seasoned veteran of the school based therapy world, but you are looking for a more efficient way to document? School based physical therapy documentation (and occupational therapy) can prove to be ...
April Motor Activities Planning
Spring is officially here and April is the perfect time to add all the fun spring themes to your motor programming. This April motor planning ideas include the themes - insects, bugs, and creepy crawlers, farm, baseball and earth/weather and ocean. It also ...
Letter Recognition Activities – With Movement
We love combining all things movement and learning at our house. This includes literacy and letter recognition activities. My boys are both preschool aged kids with one being 5 and one being 3. My three year old is working on letter recognition in his preschool, and my five ...
March Motor Planning Ideas – Fine Motor and Gross Motor
March is here and full of great options for gross motor planning. With St. Patrick's Day, the basketball tournaments, Spring etc. it makes it easy for March gross motor planning. Check out all of the different ideas for March gross motor planning. ...
School Based Physical Therapy Activities
Several years ago I entered the land of school based physical therapy. I honestly didn't know what to expect just 2 years out of school. . I was lucky, I had a wonderful mentor my first year to help guide me through my first year as a school based physical therapist. Today, I ...
Fun Brain Breaks For Kindergarten and Preschool
Kids need physical activity and movement. Fun brain breaks for kindergarten and preschool are some of my favorite things to share about. To anyone working with children this is not shocking news. That being said, teachers, parents, and therapists today run into a problem. So ...
Pediatric Core Strengthening – Creative Ideas
Working in pediatrics can be a lot of fun. What makes it fun is the fact that you get to "play" while working on important motor skills. Today I'm going to share some of my favorite pediatric core strengthening exercises that are so much fun that your kiddo may not ...
February Motor Planning Ideas
February is here! It's a fun month for gross motor planning with a variety of different ideas to make movement fun all February long. With events such as the Super Bowl and Valentine's Day, February gross motor can be a breeze. I'm excited to share with you different February ...
January Gross Motor Planning
Hello January! It's the start of the New Year and the dead of winter. When I think of January gross motor planning I think of all things snow and cold as well as a fresh start with the New Year upon us. I like to break January gross motor planning down into different themes for ...
Snowball Relay – Winter Movement Game
Winter will be here shortly. Being from Minnesota, I always find it hard to believe winter starts in late December as the winter weather has already been here for a while! I'm excited to share a fun winter themed game that is perfect for the entire winter season and a fun ...
Christmas Gross Motor – Jingle Jive
Are you looking for a fun way to add movement and physical activity with a holiday theme? Need Christmas gross motor ideas? How about dancing like elves? The Jingle Jive is a fun game to create dancing routines during the holidays. The Jingle Jive is a great way to move and ...
Santa Boots Gross Motor Path
I love all of the different motor and sensory paths I am seeing out there. If you are a regular reader or have been looking through this website you will notice that I LOVE themes. That's why I created the Santa Boots gross motor game that is perfect for Christmas! It's easy ...
Supportive Classroom Seating -Alternative and Complex Classroom Seating Needs
I'm excited to welcome Nik Sell a school-based physical therapist to the blog today! He will be sharing some great options for supportive classroom seating for alternative and complex classroom seating needs. Sitting. Sitting might seem like a pretty boring topic. Most of us ...
E-Books For Pediatric Therapists
We are lucky that there are so many valuable resources available to us as therapists! Several of these resources are even created by therapists. I love creating resources myself, like the resources in the shop! I also love getting resources from other pediatric therapists. ...
Vertical Surface Activities for Gross Motor Skills
One of my favorite ways to do therapy with kids was using a vertical surface. There are a ton of benefits to working on a vertical surface including wrist extension, spatial awareness, visual attentions, shoulder and elbow stability, core strength etc. That being ...
Fun Ideas For Combining Gross Motor and Fine Motor Skills
This year we have been doing more fine motor activities in my house as I have two preschoolers (almost 3 and just turned 5) living with me. It took a while for my 5 year old to even care to do anything that involved sitting at the table, but since he is interested now we are ...
Relay Races For Kids
Summer is upon us and it's the perfect time to get outside and move. Relay races for kids is a fun way to do this! Whether you are looking for activities for your own kids, a family get together, camp, or summer school you need to check out these kids relay games! The relay ...
Summer Gross Motor Planning – Printable Summer Activity Calendars
Summer is just around the corner! Hooray! School is out and many therapists and parents are looking for simple and fun activities to do with their kids or to send home with their kids. At Pink Oatmeal, we've put together some summer gross motor planning ideas for you. Pink ...