Monday, June 29, 2015

Lil' Flippers Summer Activities

Last week we held our Lil' Flipper Summer Community Activities.  We had so much fun!  Thank you to Brittanie and her staff for helping us out with this activity!  They do a great job!





Lil' Flippers offers a class for Special Needs kiddos from 4 months to 3 years old.  These classes are on Mondays and Wednesdays at 11:00 am.  You can stop by the office and schedule your free trial class!  The Special Needs class helps with developing large and small motor skills, cognitive learning, social skills and behaviors, and listening skills. 

Brittanie also offers a special needs preschool.  Ask her for more information if you are interested! You can contact Lil' Flippers at 801 593-8484.

Thank you Brittanie and your staff for another fun community event!Image result for thank you!

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

The Value of Make-Believe

This is an excerpt from Toddler 411 by Denise Fields and Ari Brown, M.D.

Do you remember playing dress up or cops and robbers as a little kid?  Of course, you do.  Kids love to pretend, if given the opportunity.  Why the heck do kids do this?  And why is it important that we give them the opportunity?

Kids like to pretend because it gives them the chance to work out situations they experience in real life.  This is part of normal development.  And it's a red flag if a child doesn't pretend, imitate, or have "symbolic" play.

Psychologists think pretend play helps kids develop critical thinking skills and something called "self-regulation."  A self-regulated child controls his behavior and emotion.  Self-regulated kids not only do better in school, with lower dropout rates, but they succeed on all levels of development.

Some researches feel that the changes in the way children have played over the past 60 years has taken its toll on children's emotional and intellectual development.  As kids play more with structured toys and less with just their imaginations, self-regulation has declined.  Translation: lots of expensive "developmental" toys aren't necessarily a good thing.

When kids play independently and pretend, they make up their own rules and follow them.  They talk to themselves about what they are doing.  That inner voice equates to self-regulation.  As a child gets older, he has more elaborate pretend play with other kids.  He has to act out his role, remember what the other actors are doing, and improvise on the plot twists.  That requires self-control.

As one developmental researcher, Dr. Adele Diamond, points out, we might have fewer kids diagnosed with ADHD if more kids learned self-regulation as toddlers and preschoolers.

The message: just let your kid keep on pretending. . . and give him the free time to do it.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Sensory Issues

This post was submitted by Carol Trillia, a Developmental Specialist with Davis Early Intervention.

Have you ever planned a trip to the children's museum with one of your friends who also has a toddler similar in age as yours?
In this next scenario you may find some similarities to what you have experienced.
You are excited to visit with your friend, you make it to the museum, as soon as you park your toddler starts to become upset, the parking garage is cold and echoes! You go up the stairs and now it is bright and hot!  By the time you make it in the door your child is really upset. You meet your friend and while you are in line, things really fall apart… your child is screaming on the floor,  you are desperately trying to pay and console at the same time….
You make it through the doors and things are now loud, shiny, smelly, and children are running all over. Your little one is now having a full fledged meltdown… You feel awful. Your  friend's little one toddles off enjoying all the chaos, while you are left trying to calm yours… So,  you pull out all your magic tricks; blankie, cup, snacks but  things get worse…  You try holding, cajoling, bribing, distracting all to no avail… so you apologize to your friend and head to the car, within 10 minutes he is singing "itsy bitsy spider"  in his seat! Now you are the one who wants to scream!

We have seven senses: Touch, Vision, Smell, Taste, Hearing, Proprioceptive  ( sensory receptor, found in muscles, tendons, joints, and the inner ear, 
that detects the motion or position of the body ) and Vestibular (balance: where the body is in regards to time and space).

Children with a disorganized sensory system, have a hard time regulating.
They become very agitated with very little.
Their sensory system is constantly being overloaded with information, and they have a hard time filtering out unimportant sensory information. Little things can be very overwhelming, such as light, smells, tastes, touch, noise, movement, etc.  Things that  normally don't bother children who don't have sensory issues, can become very devastating for a child with a Sensory  Issues.

If you know what things trigger your child's sensory overloads, you can work on minimizing exposure and concurrently work on desensitizing.
You can help your child,  by having him/her wear sun glasses or a hat, when it is bright. Ear muffs or sound canceling head phones if the environment is going to be loud.
Also plan short visits rather than long ones. (Be prepared to leave)
Park in a parking garage ,sit and wait a little,  get out slowly and if necessary get back in the car, talk about what you hear and see, take your time, let the child familiarize him/herself with the new surroundings..
If you are going to a store, make the visit short, have the child very involved in the shopping experience, be empathetic and talk about the experiences. Become hyper alert to all sensations, light, smells, temperature, sounds etc.
Keep in mind that simple things as fluorescent lighting can be very alerting and disrupting for your child's  fragile sensory system .
At home practice smelling, tasting, touching, swinging, etc . Prepare the child for an adventure.
"We are going to… and we are going to …"
If your child becomes upset, take a break, find a quiet place where the child can re-organize and relax… try again… if it doesn't work, you will have to leave and try another time…
Most children with hyper alert sensory systems have a hard time verbalizing what is bothering them. This is because,  there are a multitude of things that can be causing the overload, and pinpointing a  specific one  can be very challenging, especially for a toddler.
In order for your child to understand, what he/she is going through you need to help him/her figure out the problem. When you start to identify the triggers, label them "oh! it is too bright!", or "It is so loud!", etc. labeling and empathizing helps the child identify and later verbalize.  Once you and your child start to identify triggers, you can work on desensitizing, by talking about the trigger and finding ways to cope.  If  noise is a trigger, work on wearing ear muffs… Start at home, it will take a lot of practice before your child understands and accepts some sort of solution… Patience and a lot of sympathy are needed in order to help your child navigate this world that keeps bombarding him/ her with millions of sensations.

Monday, June 1, 2015

June Activities

Happy Summer!  Finally the weather is warming up!  Here are some great Community Activities to enjoy this month!

June 1st

  • Family First at Station Park  5:30 to 7:30 pm  The theme for June is Princess and Pirate Party. Enjoy free face painting, a balloon artist, story telling, Princesses and Pirates!


June 6th 

  • Free Fishing Day from 10:00 am to Noon at Any Adams Community Fishery (1800 East Gordon Ave.).  Activities include fishing contests, a fish fry demonstration and samples, and prizes.  You do not need a fishing license for this activity.


June 12th

  • Down Syndrome Families United at Legacy Park "Splash Pad" (1140 West 1100 North, North Salt Lake).  4:00 - 7:00 pm.  Bring your family and a picnic.  Have fun and meet other families.  Questions - call/text 801 783-6329.
  •  Polynesian Festival Concert at City Hall in West Bountiful  7:00 pm.  A Luau-like celebration of Polynesian dancing and music - Expect fun audience participation.
  • Concert in the Park at City Park in Bountiful (200 West 400 North) 7:00pm
June 13th
  • Arts and Music Festival at Heritage Park in Kaysville (150 North Fairfield Rd.) beginning at 6:00 am with Yoga in the Park and ending with the Lego Movie at 8:30 pm.  Enjoy a full day of arts and music.
June 18th and 19th, 25th and 26th
  • Free Summer Matinee Movies on Thursdays and Fridays at 12:00 and 2:15 pm.  All movies are rated G and PG.  First come first seated at Kaysville Theater.  (No movie on July 24th)
June 19th and 20th
  • Coats for Kids Car Show on Bountiful Main Street
June 21st
  • FATHERS DAY!!!!
June 26th
  • Concert in the Park at City Park in Bountiful (200 West 400 North)  7:00pm
  • Woods Cross Annual Garden Walk on June 26th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm and June 27th from 9:00 to 11:00 am.  Check the website for details (woodscross.com)
Don't forget our Lil' Flippers Activity days for children in Early Intervention and their siblings.  June 23rd at 9:00 for the crawlers and scooters and June 25th at 9:00 for the walkers.  Crawlers/Scooters and Walkers have been each given designated days, but if you can't make it on that day, please come on the other one.  Please let your service provider or myself know if you are planning to come and how many children you will bring.  (Mandy 801 402-5403 or mzeschke@dsdmail.net)