Innova OT Occupational Therapy

Come and join us at 1 Military Hospital for an insightful, fun and interactive workshop. See you there!

PS If you are not able to join in person on the day please leave your email in the comments, so we can keep you posted with our upcoming online workshops.

YES, occupational therapy (OT) can help children with problem-solving skills 🤔 💭

We use this Problem Solving Wheel to facilitate prompts throughout our activities and sessions to improve problem solving as a skill 🤩

Occupational therapy equips children with practical skills to navigate and succeed in their daily lives.

Why is problem solving important? 💡

We all want our children to doing what’s expected for their age - playing, moving, thinking, talking etc. and to at the right time become independent.

OTs might work on problem solving through:

Cognitive-focused activities:
Puzzles, sequencing games, and strategy-based activities can help improve mental skills like memory, attention, and problem-solving.

Real-life scenarios:
OTs can break down real-life scenarios into smaller parts to help children learn how to solve problems in a safe space.

Board games and games:
Strategic board games can help develop problem-solving skills.

Mazes:
Guiding a pencil through a maze can help improve concentration and problem-solving.

Obstacle courses:
Planning and navigating through an obstacle course can help develop problem-solving abilities, physical coordination, and creativity.

It falls part of an umbrella term called Executive Functioning Skills ☂️

Innova OT
Passionate about Paediatric OT!
+27107860530
+27743230049
[email protected]

These executive functioning skills can be quite tricky to master
🧐 🧠 💫

Did you know that OTs can assist the development and support of executive functioning skills for primary and high schoolers.

Lets take a closer look at WHAT Executive Functioning and Higher Cognitive Skills mean -

Executive Functioning Skills guide everything we do. From making decisions, to staying on track with an activity, to planning and prioritizing a task.

Executive dysfunction can interfere with independence and the ability to perform activities.

The cognitive skills are an interconnected web of processing that allows for self-regulation, planning, organization, and memory.

💫 EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING SKILLS:

Emotional Control
Task Initiation
Task Completion
Working Memory
Planning
Prioritizing
Processing Speed
Organization
Attention
Self-Monitoring
Impulse Control
Cognitive Flexibility
Foresight
Hindsight
Self-Talk
Problem Solving
Persistence
Shift

Executive functions are heavily dependent on attention.

OTs use specific activities designed to assist children and adolescents in building executive functioning skills so that they are able to work independently and efficiently in daily tasks.

Stay tuned for ideas, activities and parent support for executive functioning at school and home 🤩

Innova OT
Passionate about Paediatric OT!
+27107860530
+27743230049
[email protected]

Vestibular Input ~ classroom edition ✨

We love to corporate specific vestibular input throughout the day, and here’s why 👆🏻

Need more ideas and inspiration? 💡 follow for more!

Innova OT
Passionate about Paediatric OT!
+27107860530
+27743230049
[email protected]


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Early Cognitive Development ✨

Knowing what to look for, support and develop in each age group can bring you closer to your little one and connect on a deeper level, finding that “just right” challenge of being both supported and stimulated.

What are your favourite Early cognitive leaps? 🧠💭💡

Innova OT
Passionate about Paediatric OT!
+27107860530
+27743230049
[email protected]


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Alternative postures for Fine Motor Skills 🤩

Looking for some creative ideas on HOW to play fine motor games that also support postural muscle development? Swipe left 🤩

One of the biggest building blocks is postural endurance - just being able to maintain a good sitting posture with out being overly restless, wriggly or fidgety 😬

If a child can’t maintain a sitting posture, it’s going to naturally be quite difficult to then manage fine motor tools like scissors or pencils for drawing or writing.

You can encourage these alternative postures to build postural strength to help develop fine motor skills.

Why do we play fine motor games in DIFFERENT positions? 😁

We are working on postural stability, making it more challenging in some ways, supporting the development of postural muscles in other ways ✨

Innova OT
Passionate about Paediatric OT!
+27107860530
+27743230049
[email protected]