Do You Talk During Therapy Sessions?

Here is a question to ask yourself today... do you talk to your clients during therapy sessions? Not about the weather or the latest cartoon but about what the children are actually doing? As therapists we offer an excellent opportunity to incorporate language acquisition, understanding and memory skills along with movement skills. The kinesthetic sense is being activated during movement activities which allows children to take in information via an additional pathway instead of just auditory or visual. Here are some examples of how you can help young children across several domains instead of just the motor domain:

1. Talk about the actions the children are doing to help them to understand spatial location and body awareness  - ie "You are standing in between two chairs"; "The walker is behind you."; "You are jumping to the right."
2. Verbalize directional cues regarding their own bodies to help with body awareness - i.e. "I am moving your arm up and down".;  "I am bending your knee."
3. Use action words to describe what the children are doing - i.e. "You are all jumping."; "Let's climb the ladder."
4. Use descriptive words regarding speed and direction to assist again with body awareness and motor planning - i.e. "You are running fast."  "You are walking backwards."
5. Ask open ended questions to see if they understand movement concepts and the relation to other people or animals - i.e.   "How would you move if you were a basketball player?" "Can you move like your favorite animal?"
6. Reinforce memory skills by asking questions about movement - i.e. "Do you remember what movements we did when we started the therapy session?"
7. Discuss and ask questions about movements that are similar and opposite - i.e. "You are moving so fast now.  How can you move the opposite of fast?"  "You are throwing the ball at the target.  Can you think of another way to throw a ball?"

Don't forget to mention these tips to teachers and parents as well.

Find out more at YourTherapySource.com

Locomotor Games
This download is a collection 20 locomotor cards, 10 non locomotor cards, 10 body part cards, 10 directional cards, 6 speed/path cards, 10 number cards, 30 object cards, 2 Roll and Move games and one relaxation poem. The locomotor games are quick to set up and require none or minimal equipment. It does not get any easier than this to encourage sensory motor activities in the classroom or home.
Only $1.99