Starfish Therapies
Starfish Therapies Newsletter

Happy Halloween!

October 2014
Volume 70
In This Issue
Updates
Halloween Crafts
PT Month
National PT Month
More Halloween Games
Starfish Updates

New Staff:  We'd like to welcome our first guy staff member!!  We are excited to have Jeremy Lee join our team in the front office while he works his way to a degree in OT. 

 

Cigna Update:  Cigna has delayed their transition to American Specialty Health until January 1, 2015.  As a result this means that we, Starfish Therapies, will continue to be in-network with Cigna through the end of 2014.  Beginning 2015, we will be out of network.  Please contact us if you have questions about how this directly affects you.  We will continue to keep you updated if the transition is delayed again. 

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Halloween
Here are some great Halloween crafts and activities we've come across recently!
PT Month
In honor of October being PT month, we thought we would share some information that we've come across that you and your families may find useful!


Welcome back! October is National Physical Therapy month and we are happy to celebrate it with you. Enjoy reading!
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. In addition, they promote the Move Forward Campaign. The focus is always to get people moving more and leading an active lifestyle. 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 for more on the Move Forward Campaign you can follow this link. 

 

There are so many tips on how to get moving. While many of these tips are geared towards an older population, there are definitely some 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.  

Halloween Games

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.  Spider Web Ball Toss: Use painter's tape to make a spider web across a doorway or entry way.  While you work on that, have your child make the "balls" my crumpling up pieces of newspaper or thin construction paper.  Have them stand on the sticky side of the web and the throw them at the web trying to get them to stick.  If your child hasn't mastered their throwing skills, you can also have them reach up and place the balls on the web.  If you make it higher, they will have to stand on tip toes or if it's lower, possibly squat down to place the ball where they want it.  

 

3.  Spider Web Walking Challenge: Once again, 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, have a safe and fun Halloween. Trick or Treat! 
Sincerely,
 

Your Friends at
Starfish Therapies