Tips for Buying Tricycles for Toddlers

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An important part of childhood is riding around in your first set of wheels. Between 2 and 3 years of age is a good time to look into tricycles. Tricycles are important for both cognitive and physical development, helping children explore their environment in new ways and develop their confidence and independence. Tricycles are also a great way to build a child’s coordination, endurance, balance, and core strength.

Tricycles are a great transition between scooters and bicycles. Scooters, strider bikes, and seated ride-on toys (learn more about these toys here) don’t have pedals so kids just have to put their feet down on the floor to propel or stop.  Tricycles and bicycles, on the other hand, require some total body coordination to pedal and steer at the same time. Bicycles require more advanced coordination and balance than a starter tricycle.

What to look for in a tricycle:

  1. Safety: A tricycle that is compact, light, and easy to push might not be sturdy enough to support a growing child. Look for a wide base of support and a stable steering wheel (one that does not make hard turns) so the trike isn’t easily flipped over. A decent tricycle does not break easily. Look for a trike that’s made out of sturdy materials (metal as opposed to plastic).
  2. Fit: A tricycle will most likely encourage independence and confidence if the child can actually reach the pedals. There are lots of tricycles out there with adjustable seats, handles, and pedals. Make sure you pick a tricycle that your 1.5 year old can grow into for at least a couple of years. If your child has a hard time keeping his feet on the pedals, there are also Toe Clips available at most toy retailers to help strap their feet in.
  3. Function and Fun: When purchasing a tricycle for your 2 year old, consider if having a push bar would be important. Push bars let parents steer their children around, which could be a good option when trying to navigate busy city sidewalks or if your child has a hard time coordinating the pedals at first. Most push bars are removable for the more advanced tricyclist.  Some tricycles have storage or dump buckets. These are usually big hits with children; they love to cart things around.

Tricycles provide a new level of independence for young children, and promotes emotional and physical growth. As always, children should be supervised and wear protective gear when on any mobile toy.

Health Benefits of Hockey for Kids

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Many parents often ask me about the best sport to enroll their children in during the winter time. Hockeythe health benefits of hockey always comes high on my list of recommendations. Children as young as 5 years old can participate and benefit from this total body work out.

Health Benefits of Hockey:

Endurance

Hockey is a high-intensity sport that has many cardiovascular benefits. Between bouts of running, skating, and bouts of rests, kids are participating in interval training without even realizing it. High-intensity interval training has been known to boost aerobic capacity, energy levels, and metabolism. Read more

How to Make Building a Snowman into a Speech and Language Activity

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Winter 2013-2014 has arrived and it has not been afraid to show us who’s boss this year. Snow, wind, ice, and frigid temps have alreadyhow to make building a snowman a speech and language activity graced us with their presence and getting outside is not always enjoyable. While some of us are not exactly fond of the snow, the kids love it! Building a snowman is a great way to enjoy the snow with them while targeting some speech and language goals such as sequencing, categorizing, and basic concepts.

Sequencing

Before going out into the arctic tundra that is Chicago, you can print off this worksheet to talk through, or sequence, the steps of building a snowman.

  • Cut out the pictures and put them in the correct sequence in front of your child. Have him verbalize a sentence or two about the pictures. For example, “First, you roll a big snowball.” You can also give your child verbal models for extra support as needed. Read more

The Hidden Benefits of Sledding

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Looking for fun winter activities to do with the kids this season? Sledding is one of the easiest snow-day experiences to learn, especiallythe hidden benefits of sledding for young children. With minimal equipment required, there are numerous fitness benefits of sledding. So find the closest hilltop and take that toboggan or flying saucer for a spin!

Find the right hill:

Look for snow-covered hills right outside your home and in your neighborhood parks. Make sure the hills are easy to climb back up, without rocks, trees, or other obstructions that might make the downhill ride dangerous.  In the city, make sure you stay clear of roads or areas with cars. Read more

Holiday Tongue Twisters

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Christmas is almost here! With the hectic holiday schedule, here are some festive tongue twisters to try with your kids!Holiday Tongue Twisters

 Christmas Tongue Twisters:

  • Santa stacked six singing snowmen in his sleigh.
  • Mrs. Claus counted carolers on Christmas.
  • Don’t drop the dreidel down, Danny!
  • Tiny Tim trimmed the tall tree with tinsel.
  • The thermometer thawed to thirty degrees on Thursday!
  • Comet caught a cold on Christmas!
  • Harry hung holly on the hearth for the holidays.
  • Rudolph ran around wearing a red ribbon.
Can you say them 5x fast?  Merry Christmas from North Shore Pediatric Therapy!

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Videogames that Will Help Children Become Happy, Healthy, and Strong

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As a pediatric physical therapist, I spend a quite a few hours of my day talking to children. Not a week goes by without one of my clients ecstatically describing a video game awaiting him at home.  I know there is quite a bit of publicity out there about how video games cannot substitute for the authentic experience of playing outdoors. I wholeheartedly agree with the research that states today’s children need less sedentary video games and more concrete mental stimulation.

However, our world and our technologies have been changing. The way children experience their world today isgreat videogames for fitness not the same way we experienced it as children 30 years ago.  Video games and virtual stimulation systems have become a major part of most rehabilitation and therapy programs across the country, especially those targeted to children.  In my own years as a physical therapist, I’ve witnessed children with complex pain syndromes recover their bike riding ability, paraplegics regain their motor control, and patients with traumatic brain injuries improve their sense of balance, all through the help of video games. Physical therapists everywhere will agree that the right game can make a session more fun, while still achieving age-appropriate goals.

Today’s video games, with motion-sensitive controllers and antennae, are a fun adjunct to any fitness program.
Most of the active video games available today and used in rehabilitation facilities require physical movement and spatial awareness to move the characters on the screen. They can be child-friendly and easy to learn for certain patients, because they eliminate the weight of holding sports equipment and focus more on the motion used by large muscle groups.  Read more

Holiday Toy-Gifting Guide to Promote Gross Motor Skills

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It’s the holiday season yet again. In this time of family, friends, foods, and traditions, many little minds are thinking about new toys.   This is the perfect opportunity for parents and family members to stock up on games and toys to facilitate their children’s development.  While some older children might have wish-lists to be fulfilled, there are plenty of toys outside of the latest trend that will help promote growth in children of all ages. As any therapist knows, a toy can be a powerful tool to promote developmental gains, particularly in children who are a little behind their peers.  Below are some toys that help kids strengthen their big muscle groups and attain gross motor skills, without making play seem like work.

Learning Tables

A learning table is a great investment if you have an infant. It will grow alongside your baby and help her attain valuable gross motor skills such as body control in tummy time, cross-body reaching, independent sitting, cruising, standing, and weight-shifting, all while promoting her upper body and cognitive growth.  Early learners can keep busy with the lights, sounds, and activities; the height of the tables adjusts so that babies from 6 to 36 months can play in various positions. Babies will be challenged throughout each step of their development and learn about cause and effect. Read more

Top 3 Board Games to Foster Therapeutic Skill Development

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Board games not only provide a cure for rainy day boredom or a source for family entertainment, but they also provide a positive and collaborative outlet in which critical thinking and interactional skills can be enhanced. Therapeutic board games are not needed to help identify and foster skills like compromise/negotiation, turn-taking, impulse control, frustration tolerance and problem-solving.  Even the most fundamental games can facilitate the integration of these key social factors. Child growth and development in the most natural of settings provides real-life applications for how to implement these skills.

Here are a few of my favorite games to help foster skill development:

Connect 4: Success in this game comes from anticipating the next person’s move and negotiating his own patterns, while also making moves that prevent the other player from achieving his pattern. Social thinking, impulse control, and frustration tolerance are essential when playing this game. Teaching your child to look not only at his own goals, but also at the potential goals of the other person, is critical to win. One strategy to improve social thinking is to also implement impulse control. Ask your child to Stop, Think, Act.  This will help foster more favorable outcomes.

At the onset of his turn, encourage your child to do the following:

  • Stop!
  • Think about his future move.
  • Think about his opponents next perceived move.
  • Act. Put his chip in.

Add a visual or written schedule to decipher the appropriate steps for each turn.  This will help foster social thinking as well.

If your child gets upset if he lost the round, encourage him to evaluate the size and severity of this problem. This is a small problem, as compared to getting bullied or falling down and hurting himself, so the reaction should be small too.  For example, “Oh well, I can try again next time.” or “It’s ok to win and lose at times.” Read more

Toys to Promote Fine Motor Skills in Children of All Ages

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Whether you are shopping for a baby, a preschooler, or a pre-teen this season, there are an array of toys to work on kids’ dexterity, upper extremity coordination, and fine motor development.  Certain activities that your children take part in during the day may be working their hand-eye coordination and visual-motor skills without you even realizing it.

Between puzzles, arts and crafts, and board games, below are some recommendations for things to look for when shopping for your growing explorer.

Games that promote fine motor skills:

Puzzles/Board Games:

Puzzles are a great way to promote cognitive enhancement and fine motor development during each stage of a child’s growth. For younger kids, puzzles don’t just come with larger pieces. There are many puzzles with handles or pegs on each piece so they can work on pinch, grasp, or grip.  Some classic toys for babies, such as ring stacking and shape sorting games, are great for learning how pieces fit together and for working on visual-motor integration and visual perceptual skills. Though it might not look like a typical puzzle, Mr. Potato Head is also a game that encourages fine motor skills. Read more

Thanksgiving Tongue Twisters

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Thanksgiving is nearly here! With the hectic holiday schedule, here are some festive tongue twisters to try with your kids!

Thanksgiving Tongue Twisters:

•    Tom Turkey is terribly timid for tomorrow’s get-together!
•    Fall is for football, feasting, family and friends.
•    Hairy Harry hurried home to heap helpings of honey ham on his plate.
•    Chef Shannon said she shouldn’t share the shake.
•    It thrills Thin Theo to think about the Thanksgiving gathering on Thursday!
•    Gobbling Gill grabbed the gravy from Greedy Gus!
•    Peter Pilgrim passed the platter of pumpkin pie.

Can you say them 5x fast?

Check out our Speech and Language Milestone Infographic!