A couple of weeks ago my Facebook feed filled with status updates about spring break for many of my friends to the east of me. Since then I had some time to get ready for my full days with my girls. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with them and I can’t wait [...]
Kids
When our first daughter was a toddler, we had no idea what she should take on around the house and at what age. Now that she is five, she does quite a bit. Her younger sister works hard to keep up and, in doing so, has shown us all of the possibilities that we missed [...]
My husband and I recently took our 3-year-old daughter on a trip to Brisbane, Australia. Traveling from Edmonton meant it would be a very long way to go. We had a series of 3 flights (with the longest being 13 hours), as well as layovers at airports in between. I took note of the things that [...]
Most parents focus on helping their child(ren) learn to read and write the alphabet, but first you need to think about the foundation for printing skills, which is pre-printing skills! Do you remember spending hours as a child colouring and drawing pictures? We had lots of time to learn and practice these skills. Now, these [...]
Core strength and fine motor skills are both critical for a child’s development and learning. One specific fine motor skill that deserves special attention is scissors skills. Using scissors is not the be-all-end-all of a child’s success in school! However, it is important that children master the ability to use scissors not only so they [...]
Fine motor skill development is the ‘meat and potatoes’ of Occupational Therapy and the number one reason for referral. Generally, “fine motor” refers to the refined skills of the hands and fingers. It encompasses the use of different tools in daily life (eating utensils, writing utensils, keyboard, etc.) and basically anything that you do with [...]
Before I became a parent, I was an Occupational Therapist, working with children and people of all ages with special needs since 1993, and as a pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT) since 2002. For children, their “occupations” are play and school. This is how they learn, grow, and develop. Once I had my own children, my [...]
My daughter recently turned three and as I planned her party, I knew I wanted to incorporate some of our family’s eco-friendly practices in to the details. As I thought about party favours, I knew I didn’t want to do the traditional loot bag with a few trinkets inside that likely get played with a [...]
Teaching your kids about credit at an early age can help them understand more about money matters down the road. Children are curious creatures and they understand more at their young age than we tend to give them ‘credit‘ for. So just like good values and moral behaviour, why not start talking about how to [...]
To the collective sigh of relief from parents everywhere, school started up this week in Edmonton and with this came supplies, backpacks, and new clothes. Kingsway Mall has started a great conversation over on their website about back-to-school style and they have some fantastic video clips of their interviews to share with you. I do [...]
I know I am not alone in wanting my children to learn how to contribute to household tasks, but lately I have been finding it faster and easier just to do it myself. I have pinned different tips and techniques from for chore systems from Pinterest and, starting when my oldest son was 3, tried [...]