Students learn best with meaningful movement according to Physical Therapist Haley Miner who hosted a “Lunch and Learn” seminar at Benedictine. School staff participated in a hands-on workshop to address challenges educators face in developing new and meaningful activities for students.
The therapy-directed and comprehensive approach to classroom activities is aimed at developing engagement tools with a multi-task area goal. Participants learned a variety of tailorable activities to address specific goals from letter or color identification to coordination and memory.
Resources used during the educational lunch included “Creative Ideas for Therapy Sessions” by Ayelet H.Danto, MS, OTR/L, and Michelle Pruzanskey, MS, OTR/L, which outlines movements for self-regulation and other skillful opportunities for learning and fun.
Techniques covered included a tapping-cones-with-one-foot exercise. To accomplish this, numbered cones are set up on the floor and a staff member calls out a number. Standing on one foot, a student can tap on the corresponding cone. This is an example of a large motor skills and number identification activity.
