A reflex is an involuntary movement or action their little bodies take in response to their own movement or something in the environment. Reflexes control all of those things that our body needs regulated so that we don’t even realise we are receiving information, such as heart rate and breathing. Some reflexes occur only in specific periods of development and then are integrated naturally.
What is creativity and why do we need it?
Much of creativity does not necessarily have to do with the arts. Activities in our everyday lives provide us with numerous opportunities for problem solving, lateral thinking and widening our thought patterns,” comments Liz Senior, Occupational Therapist and Founder of Clamber Club. “While creativity is a skill that should be nurtured from a very young age, it is something that we continue to develop throughout our lives,” she adds.
When children must put effort into controlling the muscles around their trunk, hips and shoulders to maintain a good posture, it has a knock-on effect on everything else they try to do....
Eye-hand coordination is a crucial ability that lies at the core of many academic, sports, and life skills. It is a vital skill for school success because it allows children to use their vision and muscles to perform tasks such as writing, drawing, tying shoelaces, or catching a ball. In this blog, we’ll show a how to play water bottle skittles and other fun eye-hand coordination games.
Developed by occupational therapists, the Stimulate your Baby series covers x5 developmental areas. The video series can be found on the Clamber Club YouTube channel.
Repetition is a necessary building block that allows children to form neural pathways and to strengthen connections in the brain that will help them learn. Repetition in early childhood learning is one of the most important fundamentals in child development.
Hi, my name is Mandy and I’m a recovering perfectionist! I’m also a student mom to two teenagers. I’ve been working in schools in Johannesburg for 20 years and I’m passionate about helping big...
Hand strength is an important area of development. Kids who struggle with hand strength may have difficulty with grasping a pencil, colouring, holding, using scissors, attaching a seatbelt, squeezing a glue bottle, opening, and managing food containers or tying their shoes. However, there are tons of creative and playful activities for kids that can target hand muscle strength. We explore one of our favourite activities in this blog. Try it with your little ones…we promise that they’ll have heaps of fun!
Learning to talk is one of the most complex aspects of child development. In this blog we examine how learning to talk involves listening, understanding, and analysing information. It's another big...
Developed by occupational therapists, the Stimulate your Baby series covers x5 developmental areas. The video series can be found on the Clamber Club YouTube channel. SEEING AND LOOKING What your...
Definition: to ruin one’s health or become completely exhausted through overwork. Our lives are extremely busy…and getting busier each day. Work, home, social activities, friends, families,...
“We know the prevention of abuse would be better, obviously, but there has to be SOMEONE at the ugly end to catch the vulnerable ones who fall through the cracks. That’s what we do.” WMACA We are...
You may have heard your occupational therapist say “We worked on bilateral coordination activities…” and wonder what does bilateral coordination mean and why is it so important? Bilateral...
Developed by occupational therapists, the “Stimulate your Baby” series covers x5 developmental areas. The video series can be found on the Clamber Club YouTube channel.
Dates are a lovely, healthy snack for kids (and adults too, of course). They have a high fibre content, so are great for gut health, and they help to regulate blood sugar as well. I started making date balls when my now 6-year-old was a toddler. If memory serves me correctly (absolutely no guarantees there) I mixed some dates and other bits and pieces together, and amazingly, my toddler ate them, and then asked for more. I don’t follow a recipe, so no two batches are ever exactly the same, but both my kids love them still, however they turn out, and I hope yours will too.
Helping children stay physically active is essential to promoting healthy habits that last a lifetime. When you make physical activity fun, kids are likely to participate. In this blog we look at...
The branches of a tree develop from the base of a good trunk. In terms of your child’s development, their “tree trunk” is made up of big muscles found in the back, tummy, shoulders, arms, and legs....
Optimizing your baby’s development is something we all want to do for our babies. But how and where do you start? It’s probably hard to imagine now, but what we do to enhance development in the...