Peds Tip #3: My-Oh-My-Pizza-Pie wins them all.

Have you met a kid who didn't like pizza? I haven't. This is one of the most amazing plastic inventions ever. You can get kids (ages 3 to 5) to jump, run, hop, balance and walk up stairs with this pizza pie. Kids get excited when you pretend "eat" with them. I like to make the "nom nom" sound when I'm eating and they absolutely crack up!

A few ideas for using the pizza pie:
- Obstacle course: get the pizza and bring it to the table so we can eat it.
- Place a slice over the course of a several flights of stairs. They have to find all the slices of pizza and bring it to the bottom flight of stairs. A work out for both the kids and the therapist.
- Sharing: perform the obstacle course and then ask the kid to share with other therapists in the room.
- Reaching activities: reaching for the slice of pizza and squating down to put in the tray.

Here is a cute pizza with toppings. Extends the game/activity longer if they have to add the toppings to the pizza.

Picture from Amazon.

Better questions to get real answers

Yes, I only read one blog but its a really good one. Cup of Jo referenced a link to an article about "The questions that will save your relationship."

I thought about the questions that I ask people, my best friends, my family, my love and my kids at clinic. I ask "how is your day?" and I get generic or half-hearted answers. Sometimes, I even feel like the person wants to say something but I asked the wrong question. The kids at the clinic have trouble telling me about their day at school but get really excited when I ask them about pizza or dinosaurs.

I really enjoyed this article because it reminds me that I can ask better questions to get real answers.

Picture from BC Early Years Blog.

Peds Tip # 2: Kids Songs

I was working with a nonverbal, 3-year old kid who has autism. His parents report that he has trouble transitioning into new environments and for the first 2 sessions, he cried for 30 minutes straight, non-stop (and it was the all-out balling type of crying). At the end of the 3rd session, he seemed like he was humming something. It sounded a lot like Jingle Bells, which the mom confirmed! The family has a christmas tree  that plays the song from an ornament. So naturally, I started to sing Jingle Bells to soothe the child and it worked. Now, I sing every children's song I know when I treat him because he is so much more productive and attentive.

After that, I started listening to Toddler Radio on Pandora (don't judge me!) to learn the lyrics to the major kids songs. I found that being able to sing these songs have helped with many of the children - distract them from the pain of stretching or doing sit-ups, wanting to run to their mom, help them forget that they are on a MEDEK balance board on top of a tall table or get them excited about moving/dancing/jumping. Singing works WONDERS!

These are my favorite songs to sing:

Wheels on the Bus

Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

If You're Happy

BINGO song

Part of your World (I'm partial to this because I grew up watching this Disney cartoon)

Jump in the Line (And I grew up on Beetlejuice. I only sing the chorus line to get the kids to jump repeatedly and dance to challenge their dynamic balance.)

Feist sings 1,2,3,4 (I haven't memorized these lyrics but I think its an adorable rendition of a pop artist's song)

And an interesting article/video about a nonverbal child with autism singing.

Picture from What to Expect.

Peds Tip #1: Transitioning

I started my Peds affiliation about 8 weeks ago. I have never worked with kids previous to this experience. I don't even have kids in my immediate family. So this affiliation is minding blowing to me. Working with kids is completely different than working with adults! I learned a few key lessons early on.

Transitioning. My peds professor imparted this very important concept to me when I visited her. She said kids have trouble transitioning…going from mom in the waiting room to OT then to Speech therapy then to PT, then back to mom. So its important that when you are 10 minutes from ending your session, that you count down. "In 10 minutes, we will be finishing up and going to mommy. In 5 minutes…1 minute…." It eases the transition and manages the child's expectations. I used this advice immediately (and continue to do so) and I can definitely see the difference on how the kids exit the clinic.

Picture from My Aspergers Child. Interesting post on how to handle/prevent tantrums in public.