developmentally appropriate

5 Ways to Enrich Your Young Child’s Fine Motor Development (3-5 years old)

I thought about naming this post “big work for little hands” but decided to go with the title you see above.  That being said, my discarded title brings up an important point.  I believe strongly that typically developing children accomplish tasks when they are ready.  Developmentally, not all little hands are ready for big work.  The activities Read More

“Special Needs” Products for Everyone: Bubble Bear

Have a bubble lover in the house?  Pustefix Bubble Bear is a great product for children of all ages and abilities.   For babies, blow the bubbles so that they can track  with their eyes and reach out with their hands.  Toddlers love running to catch bubbles with different parts of their body.  As toddlers become 2s and Read More

A Special Educators’ Bag of Tricks

One of the first things any child receiving special services will learn to say, whether by signing or speaking, is “open bag.”  Special service providers (occupational, speech, feeding, and physical therapists, as well as special educators), come to work in homes and schools with a literal bag of tricks.  We bring novel materials to excite Read More

Talking to Young Children About Death

Let me start by saying, I’ve had this post ready to publish for months.  I’ve held on to it waiting for the “right” time to make it public.  The bottom line, is that this is a sad, difficult, personal topic, and there is no “right”time. The way one explains death to a child is a very personal decision. Read More

Teaching Children To Problem Solve

Learning to problem solve begins at a very young age, and is a lifelong skill that helps us as we make our way through the world.  Infants learn to problem solve as they track a toy with their eyes and slowly begin to reach out to grasp it.  Babies problem solve when they have a toy Read More

Baby, It’s Cold Outside! (Part 2)

Ok, here it is.  The long awaited list of my favorite activities to do with children when its just too cold to go out.  There are many more, but this is a great start.  Here we go… Baby Drag: Place your small child or baby (should have good neck and core strength) on a large Read More

Review: “No More Mrs. Nice Mom”

Please take a look at the article “No More Mrs. Nice Mom” in the NY Times. I’ve read the article and watched the news report and I’ll respond to them the way I do to so many others…what happened to the middle ground?! We have certainly had a trend in parenting where grown-ups want to Read More

My Favorite Things: Kissing Dots!

When a child says “help me please,” how can you resist? It feels so good to be able to give your child what he or she needs! But parents and caregivers should be aware that self-help skills are incredibly important for young children. Sometimes, adults don’t realize how capable children are. Toddlers can help put Read More