10 Apps to Get Kids Moving and Grooving

There is no doubt about it that kids use iPhone and iPads.  In fact, there are some scary, eye-opening statistics regarding media use and children:

1. ages 8-10 spend about 6 hours per day in front of a screen for entertainment
2. ages 11-14 spend about 9 hours per day in front of a screen for entertainment
3. ages 15-18 spend about 7.5 hours per day in front of a screen for entertainment

Pediatric therapists, parents, and teachers should be encouraging children to have at least one hour of physical activity each day and only 1-2 hours of screen time.  Be creative during screen time and add in some physical activity.  Here are 10 iphone apps to get kids moving and grooving (this post contains affiliate links):

1.   Pokemon GO – This is the TOP app in the app store and it sure does get you moving and walking.  You have to explore different areas collecting virtual pokemon.  Your phone will vibrate when the Pokemon is close by and you throw a virtual ball at it to capture it.

2.  Toca Dance – You can create different dancers, stages and dance moves with the characters.  Once created, see if you can copy the same moves.

3.  NFL Play 60 – Can you run fast? Jump high? Turn quick? Collect coins, get football and heart power-ups, earn boosters, collect stars and get free stuff!  You run, jump, and turn WHILE HOLDING YOUR DEVICE and your character does the same. You move and your character moves on screen.

4.  Sworkit Kids – Turn Fitness into a game with your children with customizable workouts for Strength, Agility, and Flexibility! No matter where you are, every moment is an opportunity to get active and have fun getting fit.

5.  Kids Yogaverse I am Love – This beautifully hand-drawn Kids Yogaverse app incorporates 13 yoga poses for children demonstrated by children. Get ready to open your heart, expand your mind and reveal that YOU are the real treasure to love.

6.  Super Stretch Yoga – Move, play and breathe as Super Stretch introduces you to his friends and their 12 yoga poses.

7.  Fitness Kids – Contains 25 animated exercises that can be performed independently or in groups. Each exercise has buttons for music, movement, and speed.

8.  GoNoodle Kids – GoNoodle Kids is all about getting kids moving with screen-time parents can feel good about. GoNoodle videos are designed to get kids up and moving, every time!  These are perfect for in class brain breaks too!

9.  Iron Kids – IronKids provides everything a young athlete needs to safely and effectively build strength, balance, and fitness; prepare to excel in sport, and keep playing by preventing injury. Includes video instruction on 9 exercises to work the core, upper body, and lower body; strength training pointers; and tools to create custom workouts.

10.  Classroom Fitness Bundle – This video collection includes dancing, cross training and yoga.  They are simple to follow videos to encourage motor planning and physical activity.

 

Reference:  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Screen Time vs Lean Time.  Retrieved on 7/27/17 from http://ift.tt/2vb6c0c

If you need more activities to get kids moving off their devices check out all of our themed sensory motor downloads, brain breaks, yoga for kids and even more sensory motor activities.

 

The post 10 Apps to Get Kids Moving and Grooving appeared first on Your Therapy Source.

Fingerprint Bees

Check out these fingerprint bees!  I love fingerprint art because it is easy to follow the directions and the end result is adorable!  This freebie is from Fingerprint Fun.  There are simple, step by step directions on how to create these buzzing bees.  Print out the page and complete the picture with your own fingerprint bee to create a work of art that is refrigerator ready!  This activity encourages children to practice visual motor skills, fine motor skills and creativity.

Download the Fingerprint Bees activity page.

 

 

Fingerprint Fun is a no prep, digital download of 25 fingerprint activities with step by step directions. Each page includes step by step directions, a picture prompt and space to complete the fingerprint artwork picture with your own adorable, fingerprint friends.  FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION.

The post Fingerprint Bees appeared first on Your Therapy Source.

Sensory Modulation, Anxiety and Ritual Behaviors

What comes first – difficulties with sensory modulation, anxiety or ritual behaviors?  In children, it can be very hard to determine how the three are all inter-connected if at all.  The Journal of Physical and Occupational Therapy published research investigating the relationships between sensory responsiveness, anxiety, and ritual behaviors in 48 boys (ages 5-9) with typical and atypical sensory responsiveness. Twenty eight of the boys had atypical sensory responsiveness which was defined as a score of ≤154 on the Short Sensory Profile.  Data was collected using the Sensory Profile (parents completed), the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, and the Childhood Routines Inventory.

The results indicated the following:

• children with atypical sensory responsiveness had significantly higher levels of anxiety and a higher frequency of ritual behaviors than controls.
• atypical sensory responsiveness was significantly related to both anxiety and ritual behaviors with anxiety mediating the relationship between sensory modulation and ritual behaviors.

The researchers concluded that there are potential consequences of atypical sensory responsiveness.  These consequences could support the idea that ritual behaviors develop as a coping mechanism in response to anxiety stemming from primary difficulty in modulating sensory input (Bart, 2016).

Previous studies have indicated a relationship between anxiety, sensory processing and rituals.  One study indicated a high rate of sensory over-responsivity (SOR) occurrence in a sample of children seeking anxiety treatment, suggesting that SOR may not be entirely independent of anxiety and may be closely associated with OCD (Coneea, 2014). Whereas another study reported that SOR is a dimensional feature that can influence the severity of obsessive compulsive symptoms and may characterize a unique sensory OCD subtype (Ben-Sasson, 2017).   Finally, there may be a strong relationship between sensory sensitivity, childhood ritualism and adult OCD symptoms with oral and tactile hypersensitivity in childhood being a pathway to adult OCD (Dar, 2012).

So it goes back to the original question of the post – which comes first?  Any thoughts? Comments? Experiences?

 

The What? Why? and How? series helps to explain different topics to students, parents and teachers. Each hand out includes a definition of what the topic is, why it is important and how you can help.

What? Why? How? Series 3 includes one page hand outs on the following topics: Sensory Processing, Proprioception, Vestibular System, Tactile System, Sensory Registration, Sensory Modulation, Sensory Defensiveness, Sensory Diet, Self Regulation and Dyspraxia.

FIND OUT MORE.

 

 

 

 

References:

Bart, O., Bar-Shalita, T., Mansour, H., & Dar, R. (2016). Relationships among Sensory Responsiveness, Anxiety, and Ritual Behaviors in Children with and without Atypical Sensory Responsiveness. Physical & Occupational Therapy In Pediatrics, 1-10.
Chicago

Ben-Sasson, A., & Podoly, T. Y. (2017). Sensory over responsivity and obsessive compulsive symptoms: A cluster analysis. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 73, 151-159.

Conelea, C. A., Carter, A. C., & Freeman, J. B. (2014). Sensory over-responsivity in a sample of children seeking treatment for anxiety. Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics: JDBP, 35(8), 510.

Dar, R., Kahn, D. T., & Carmeli, R. (2012). The relationship between sensory processing, childhood rituals and obsessive–compulsive symptoms. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry, 43(1), 679-684.

The post Sensory Modulation, Anxiety and Ritual Behaviors appeared first on Your Therapy Source.