Peds is FUN

Our peds instructor told us on day 1 of class that the #1 rule in working with kids is to make it FUN. I was a bit worried after watching a few videos of treatment sessions & the level of fun they were having. Was I going to be as "lively & fun" as the therapist on the videos, & could I be as patient as she was? Were my kids going to be as "active" as the kids in the videos? I shouldn't have worried so much. My 1st session with the kids at a transitional homeless shelter was fun, & the 3 kids I worked with had lots of fun.

I had to come up with a fine motor hand activity for 5 to 7 years old. The kids filled in an outlined picture of an animal with pieces of tissue paper that they rolled into small balls. At first 1 of the kids didn't want to do the activity because I didn't have a picture of a monkey. But she finally came around after watching the other 2 kids having fun, & after I agreed to help her with her picture of an elephant. 1 of the other kids was a bit hyperactive, but he stayed on task & was very creative when choosing the colors he needed - pink for the cow's utters, brown for the hoofs. They were very fun kids to work with, & I'm looking forward to working with them for 2 more sessions.

In peds class, handwriting was highlighted as a very important milestone for kids, so I watched for any grasp issues the 3 kids might have when they wrote their names on their pictures, but they all had functional grasps of the pen. I'm excited about working with 1 of them tomorrow doing visual & fine motor assessments to see if he/she is developmentally on target. I hope he/she is cooperative....

Transitioning from geriatrics to peds - Geriatrics was more about doing meaningful activities, mostly for ADL independence. The people I worked with were very friendly, but they could be more stubborn than the kids I've worked with... so far. I think it will be easier to come up with more creative activities with kids than with the older people, simply because peds is about having fun.

I feel good about... my 1st session with peds at the transitional homeless shelter. I wasn't sure if, or how, the kids there would be different than the more privileged kids, but I didn't see any differences while I was there. All kids love to have FUN.