Tips to Target Therapy Goals in Your Daily Routine

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Therapy is often compared to going to the trainer: if you go to the trainer once a week but don’t continue the exercises or healthy eating, the training session isn’t going to do much for you! It is so important to carry over activities from therapy to ensure your child makes progress and meets their goals. Everyone is so busy these days and adding additional learning opportunities to your child’s life shouldn’t be daunting. Here are a few ideas of how you can address common play therapy goals into your daily routine!

Laundry

  • Matching/Sorting Concepts
    • Have your child to match socks
    • Have your child sort clothing into different piles by color or by item
  • Size Concepts
    • Have your child compare his small t-shirt to a family member’s larget-shirt
  • Association Concepts
    • Ask your child which body parts different clothing items are put on
    • Discuss the occasion or weather you would wear certain clothing items

Meal Prep

  • Symbolic Play
    • Provide your child with (safe) kitchen utensils for them to also “make dinner”
  • Size Concepts
    • Encourage your child to explore size concepts with different sized Tupperware
  • Identifying Colors
    • Discuss the colors of the food you are preparing
  • Following Directions
    • Show your child how you follow directions when following a recipe
    • Give your child simple directions to follow during meal prep
  • Association Concepts
    • Describe the functions of the different kitchen gadgets while using them

In the Car

  • Color Identification
    • Use colors to describe what you see:
      • “That construction cone is orange”
      • “The blue truck is next to us”
    • For older children, you can play games like “I Spy”. Take turns choosing a color and encourage your child to label everything they see of that color. This not only works on color identification but also vocabulary!
  • Size Concepts
    • Use size words to describe what you see:
      • “Look at the little dog on the sidewalk”
      • “That is a big dump truck”
  • Social-Emotional Development
    • Discuss:
      • Plans for the day (where you’ll go, who you’ll see)
      • What your child did at school/daycare that day
      • Encourage your child to ask you questions

And most importantly – have fun together; make it silly and stress-free! You are your child’s first teacher and can help frame their perspective on learning! Please feel free to discuss specific ideas with your child’s therapist to ensure he or she is getting the most out of their therapy.

Kimberly Shlaes, MAT, DT
Director of Developmental Therapy Services

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