Halloween Offers A Lot of Opportunities

Last Monday was Halloween and it got me thinking as I watched the children of my neighborhood doing there thing. Halloween offers kids many opportunities to practice things they learn in therapies. Here are some of the ways we can incorporate therapy and Halloween.

• Dressing up - Wearing costumes helps kids expand their imaginations. It brings up conversation points to help with Speech. Costumes also allow children to work on sensory issues associated with clothing. Encourage your child to act as their chosen costume in ways that allow them to use their arms and legs.

• Practicing walking - A few years ago I got one of my favorite videos from a parent. It was a video of my patient using her new walker to keep up with her brothers as they walked up to knock on doors. It often takes that kind of motivation to get our kids to increase their walking distance.

• Trunk and core control - If your child is not walking yet, riding in a wagon is a great way to work on sitting balance and balance reactions. I often recommend working on sitting in a laundry basket or large box - this is a great place to safely pull your child and allow them to strengthen the core.

• Heavy work - Having your child hold their candy basket as it fills up will also help strengthen grip and serve as a heavy object. Having your child push or pull the wagon for a younger child as you walk from house to house is also "heavy work".

• Fine motor skills - Holding an open hand out to get candy, sorting candy after trick or treating, ringing the door bell or knocking on the door, unwrapping candy.

• Speech therapy - practicing saying "Trick or Treat" and Thank you to the folks handing out candy. Interacting with friends as they move around the neighborhood.

I know that often times therapy is not fun for the child or parent (even though I try to pull out all the stops to make kiddos smile). Hopefully Halloween gave families a chance to work on some of their therapy goals without even realizing it. As a PT I try to give families some out of the box ideas to help with gross motor skill development. Halloween is a great opportunity so don't put away those costumes so fast. If you have concerns about your child's gross motor development don't hesitate to ask for a PT evaluation.

PS - Congrats to all the Astros fans out there! H-town loves their Stros! It was an amazing World Series!