Engaging a child in therapeutic activities at home may seem daunting to parents. As an Occupational Therapist working in pediatrics, I have heard concerns from parents about being able to implement therapists’ recommendations with their child between therapy sessions as they cannot easily explain the importance of completing therapy tasks such hand writing or sensory activities, and they do not want therapy to become a negative experience for their child.
While a job is often an adult’s primary occupation, play is a child’s primary occupation. Play is very important in the development of children’s physical, intellectual, and social skills. Occupational therapists have the skills and knowledge to incorporate play-based and functional activities to develop targeted skills and achieve child and family-centered therapy goals. Therapists will incorporate a child’s interests and strengths in addition to areas that need to be worked on when creating a therapy plan with the child’s family. Different ideas for games and activities can be provided to parents to use with their children – for example, playing connect four to improve pincer grasp, playing with sand and foam for sensory activities, or feeding beads on a string to make a bracelet to work on fine motor skills.
Therapeutic activities should not be a negative experience for the child or the parent; these activities should be both productive and fun. Play is an important facet of a child’s life… PLAY IS PRODUCTIVE!
Samantha Swimm
OT Reg. (Ont.) – Occupational Therapist
