Taking the Fright out of Halloween: How To Support Your Child This Spooky Season

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Spooky season is among us. For some children, this time of the year brings warm cozy feelings, excitement about costumes and candy, and eagerness about decorating your house full of ghouls and ghosts. For others, this season may bring up fear and anxiety about the festive yet scary decorations they see around the neighborhood. If your child has been expressing more anxiety surrounding the topic of Halloween, you can create a plan to help them feel more in control and calm when it comes to seeing these unexpected decorations. Below are some tips and tricks (unfortunately not treats!) to use while making a “Halloween Plan” or “Scary Decoration Plan.”

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Jump into fall with gross motor activities for all!

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The weather is getting colder and the leaves are starting to change colors which means it’s fall here in Chicago! These activities are perfect for outdoor play, as well as indoor play that will help promote gross motor development for your child’s balance, strength, coordination, and motor planning skills. These activities will have your child FALLing in love with all things FALL!

What are gross motor activities and why are they important?

Gross motor activities are important for your child’s development and mobility which include crawling, walking, jumping, running, stairs, throwing, and kicking. These skills are seen throughout the development of your child as they gain more strength and mobility! Gross motor development is essential to your child’s physical well-being as well as their social and emotional growth. Creating activities that promote strengthening, balance, coordination, and motor planning are ways you can help your child meet these developmental milestones in your own home or in the community! 

Check out some of these gross motor activities that your child can enjoy this fall!

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Follow the Leader: Following your Child’s Lead in Play

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What is child-led play? 

Child-led play is allowing your child to direct and lead the play activity. Children will choose what they want to play based on their interests and how they will carry on with play without adult direction. We as adults then wait to slowly join their play and enter their world by following their cues, ideas, and motives.  

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Playing With Food: Why and How We Need to Teach Our Children to Play with Food

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As most of us know, our children can get very messy when they eat!  Did you know this is actually the best way for them to learn about and try new foods?  

Picture yourself at a new restaurant.  You order something off the menu that someone else recommended but when it comes to the table it is different from anything you’ve ever eaten before. What do you do?  Do you dive right in and take a huge bite?  Probably not.  You likely interact with the food first.  Maybe you simply look at the food, observe all the different colors on the plate.  You may even cut the food open and/or push it around the plate to observe its different properties (e.g., squishy, dry, wet, crunchy, etc.).  Next, you may smell the food.  Is it a good smell or is it making you want to push the plate away?  Finally, you may take a little bite off to taste it before eating an entire fork/spoon full.  

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When Their Storm Meets Our Calm: The Art of Co-Regulation

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Has your cheerful child ever quickly become a ball of tears when a near-by peer begins crying? Have you ever lost the pep in your step after spending time around a grumpy co-worker? This is because the feelings and behaviors of people in close proximity to us, directly impact how we feel, and respond to our own emotions. In the same way adults are impacted by others actions, children pick up the moods of others around them. However, being able to regulate emotions effectively and efficiently is not an innate skill. A child’s capacity to manage their big emotions relies on their brain development and their experiences. Therefore, when feeling upset or overwhelmed children look to their caregivers for help with regulating their emotions and appropriately respond to external stressors. Read More ›→

Container Baby Syndrome: Why equipment-free exercise is best for your baby

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What is “Container Baby Syndrome?”

Container Baby Syndrome is a “collection of movement, behavioral, and other problems caused by a baby or infant spending too much time in a container-any commonly used piece of baby equipment that resembles a container.” While this may sound intimidating, Container Baby Syndrome is highly preventable and there are many ways parents and caregivers can help children develop while avoiding this!

 

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Summer Sun Sensory Fun

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It’s officially summertime in the Chi and we couldn’t be more excited! This perfect weather is practically begging our little ones to go outside and play. These fun, summer sensory rich activities are wonderful ways to engage our children’s tactile system and expose them to different scents, textures, and sensations. 

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The Importance of Free Play

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What is Free Play?

Free play is when we allow children to have freedom to play in whatever and however way they want, with no direction from an adult (but adults are encouraged to participate from time to time!) They can choose their play materials and activities and how they engage with them. Choice is the crucial component for free play.

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Speech at the Beach!

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Summertime in Chicago is approaching and that can only mean one thing… Time to hit the beach! Whether your child is playing in the sand or splashing in the water, there are so many amazing ways to continue targeting his or her speech and language goals while soaking up some sun. Let’s “dive” into a few different beach-based activities and how you can implement speech and language for kids of all ages with ease!

 

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