After the last 15 months, I think we all have a new appreciation for the ability to have things delivered to our homes. Whether that’s groceries, take-out, or any of the thousands of products available on Amazon. Even before the pandemic I was an avid Amazon shopper. Over the years I have found a lot of products that have become an integral part of my therapy session. In this week’s video/blog I am going to share with you 5 of my favorite Amazon Products.
As most pediatric therapists know, we spend a lot of time lugging around all of our toys and supplies between schools, homes, and clinics. This means that most of our supplies need to meet a few important criteria. They need to be lightweight, durable, and serve multiple functions. Each of these products (with the exception of #5) meets those important criteria.
I purchased this Melissa and Doug toy more than 10 years ago! And, I use it on a weekly basis with many of my younger students. The Melissa and Doug is a great toy to work on improving both gross and fine motor skills.
- Fine Motor: Stringing beads either on the dowels or a shoe string is great for improving grasp, in hand manipulation, and bilateral coordination. And while stringing beads may be considered a young child activity, the pattern pieces that come with this toy make it appropriate for older kids too.
- Gross Motor: By placing the bead from this toy on the ground and/or placing the dowels on a raised surface, allows me to work on squatting and/or reaching up on toes.
I guess I am going to show my age with this one. When I was in PT school in the late 90s these stacking cones were a standard part of most PT gyms and rehab centers. So, I learned to use them early on in my career, and I still use them today. These cones can work in lots of different activities.
- Grasping/Stacking: The shape of these cones allows people with a wide variety of hand function to grasp them. Kiddos that have a fisted grasp and have difficulty getting their hand open can hold the more narrow section of the cone, while individuals with low muscle tone that have difficulty activating hand muscles can use the wider section.
- Gross Motor: I use these cones to create obstacles courses having kids walk around, step over, jump over, and side-step over. I also place bean bags or ping pong balls on the cones and have kiddos kick them off.
The nesting blocks are a super light weight toy that can encourage some great skills.
- In sitting, kneeling or standing kiddos can stack the blocks to create a tower.
- Placing the blocks in different locations around the room can provide an opportunity for kids to negotiate uneven surfaces like a mat, small steps, or crawling through a tunnel to get each block and create their tower.
- Once the tower is created it is really fun to practice kicking skills with to knock it down.
The old faithful Scooter Board! I don’t think a therapy gym is complete without one. And the ones available to purchase these days are fairly light-weight making them easy to cart around. Scooter Boards are great for lots of different activities. Here are some of my favorites:
- Arm Strengthening: Have kids lay on their stomach and pull themselves across the floor. To make it more exciting/challenging: create a painters tape course to follow on the scooter, place small items on the floor to pick up like beads, ping pong balls, small stuffed animals, etc.
- Leg Strengthening: Sitting on a scooter with your feet in front and walking your self forward is a great way to encourage dorsiflexion. Dorsiflexion is the ability to pull your toes up which is an essential component of walking. It also helps strengthen your hamstring muscles in the back of the thigh.
- Heavy Work: Load the scoot up with weights or canned goods and attach a rope or strap the board. Have kids pull the board along to get some heavy work in.
Ok. so this one is not light-weight and has a pretty heavy price tag, but I don’t think I could be a PT without it. The adjustable therapy bench is by far the most useful and important item in my therapy bag. I love it so much that I have carried around for more than 20 years. Here are my favorite ways to use this bench.
- Prone: The bench provides a great support surface to begin working on the prone position and get some great weight-bearing through the arms. As kids get stronger, you can drop down the front of the bench putting it in a declined position to increase the amount of weight through the arms.
- Sitting: The bench allows me to teach sitting balance, transitions from sitting to standing, and work on reaching. The most valuable part of the bench when working on sitting is the ability to angle the seat and promote upright posture. I have found that this angled position helps decrease sacral sitting in my kiddos that tend to prefer that position.
- Stepping: Because this bench can be adjusted to multiple heights, kids can work on stepping up and down at the most appropriate height for them.
What are your favorite Amazon products? Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear about them and how you use them in therapy/play?
Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have an amazing week!
-Heather
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