Starfish Therapies
Starfish Therapies Newsletter
Happy  Halloween!
October 2013
Volume 58
In This Issue
Updates
Just for Fun
Out and About
National PT Month
Halloween Games
Starfish Updates
Halloween Week:
It's Halloween time and we'd love to see all of your fun and creative costumes.  Come dressed in your Halloween costume the week of 10/28/13 - 11/1/13! 
 
Quick Links...

logo small
Like us on Facebook
pinterest
Follow us on TwitterFind us on YelpVisit our blog
View our videos on YouTube
Join Our Mailing List
Just For Fun
 
Jump Jump Froggy App

Your Therapy Source published a blog post about this free app that makes routine exercise fun for kids.  It encourages jumping, push ups, and sit ups.  There are 4 different games on the app, some are easier than others, but it can be a fun way to encourage exercise in your kiddo!
Crafty Corner

Some Halloween Crafts

Here are some links to really cute Halloween crafts that you and your kiddo can do together!


Welcome back! October is National Physical Therapy month and we are happy to celebrate it with you. Look forward to seeing you at the clinic in your Halloween costumes!

 National Physical Therapy Month   

 

 
Happy National Physical Therapy Month! Every year when the month of October rolls around, physical therapists around the country celebrate the ever-growing profession. This year, one focus of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is how to be "Fit after 50." This focus is in response to the large baby boomer population. While this may not be relevant at this point in time for you or your child, it may be helpful to share with family and friends. Also, the information can be helpful for people of all ages and is focused on assisting people to incorporate health and wellness strategies into their lives.  For more information on what physical therapists do, how they may be able to help you or a friend or family member, and more you can follow this link.

Last year during PT month, the APTA encouraged people to follow the "50 Days 50 Ways" campaign, providing individuals with a new tip each day on how to help maintain an active lifestyle and prevent injury. While many of these tips are geared towards an older population, there are definitely some tips that can be adapted for the pediatric population. We wanted to remind you of a few and how they can be implemented in a child's lifestyle as they continue to grow and explore their environments!

 

Tip # 1: Use the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible.

-Stairs are a great way for children to build the strength in their legs. Often times, children begin walking up the stairs using a step-to pattern, placing both feet on each step before climbing to the next one. As their coordination and strength improve, they begin to use a step-over-step pattern, placing one foot on each step. As their stability and confidence improve, they will begin to attempt without a hand railing or without asking to hold an adults hand. When at the park, encourage your children to use the stairs on the play-structure. Or when out in the community, encourage your children to step up/down the curb rather than walking up the ramp!

  

 Tip #2: Exercise during a favorite TV show (or at least the commercials!)

-The TV or other forms of technology such as iPhones, iPads or the Wii, serve as great motivators for children in this ever-advancing technological society. If you're having trouble getting your child to complete activities at home that have been recommended as part of a home exercise program, technology can be a wonderful tool. One strategy is to make a list of activities that you'd like the child to complete. While watching a favorite TV show, encourage your child to complete one activity at each commercial break. Once completed, they can either place a sticker next to the activity or check it off. The same can be used with an iPad application or video game that they enjoy; each time they complete an activity then can play with the application as a reward!

 

Tip #3: Walk as much as you can. Remember an object in motion stays in motion.

-This tip serves as a reminder that the more a child practices a skill, the easier it becomes. This is especially important when a child is learning to walk. When an infant first begins to stand, they demonstrate a high guard posturing, where their 

shoulders are rotated outwards with their elbows bent. Children often use this strategy as an attempt to decrease the degrees of freedom that are involved in the complex skill of walking so there are fewer components to think about. With practice, the children learn to release these degrees of freedom, allowing them to demonstrate improvements in the skill. As the saying goes, "practice makes perfect" and this couldn't be more true when a child is learning to walk.

 

We hope you will join us in celebrating National Physical Therapy Month during the remainder of October by being active and taking the time to learn a little more about PT.  




Fun Halloween Games for Kids

 

In case you need to fill some time between school and trick or treating or just want to provide some new activities for your child to explore instead of hearing them plead for just one more piece of candy, here are some ideas!

 

1. Play Freeze with Monster Mash: Put on everyone's favorite Halloween tune and call out a position they have to freeze in each time you pause the music.  For example, standing on one foot, bear position, crab position, or roll up like ball, etc. It's up to you how long to have them freeze and challenge their core muscles and balance in different positions.

 

2.  Pumpkin Play: If you are done with your pumpkins for decoration (and they aren't too rotten), you can let your children explore different ways to play with them.  With smaller pumpkins, you can play bowling.  You can use any objects around the house for bowling pins, such as empty plastic bottles with a little rice in the bottom.  If they want they can even decorate the pins to go with the halloween theme.  Another idea would be to play ring toss using pumpkins that have longer stems.  You can cut rings out of cardboard or maybe you have rings from another game that you can take out and toss over to the pumpkin stem. I'm sure once you get started playing with pumpkins, your kids with think of a few to add to the list!

 

3.  Spider Web Challenge: Using painter's tape, you can make a spider web on the floor inside or outside and mark off a clear start and finish.  If you have any plastic spiders around for Halloween, place them in the holes of the web scattered around or you can make spiders out of paper.  Ask your child to walk along the web (tape) while picking up the spiders along the way.  This challenges balance to walk on a narrow line as well as by having to reach down and outside the base of support for the spiders without stepping off the web.  

 

If this sparks your creativity and you come up with other fun Halloween games we would love to hear about it! Happy Halloween! 

Thank you for reading this month. We hope you have a fun and safe Halloween! 
 
Sincerely,
 

Your Friends at
Starfish Therapies