Therapy Goals 4 Kids

30/03/2026

💫 Midline Crossing - 6mth to 4yrs 💫

Babies start to cross their midline to play with their feet at around 5 to 6 months. From around 6 to 8 months of age they will cross their midline to reach for an object intentionally. Crossing the midline is a very important developmental skill, which continues to increase and becomes much more refined around the age of 4 years.

The midline refers to an imaginary line down the centre of the body that seperates the body into a left and right side. By encouraging a baby to cross their midline, messages are being sent between either side of the brain, which in turn encourages communication between either sides of the brain, supporting coordination of both sides of their body (bilateral integration/coordination) for a multitude of two-handed tasks, as well as much later down the line for reading and copying work from a board (which requires this skill!). It is essential for brain development!

When we perform activities that cross the midline of our body, neural pathways are built in the brain that are integral to gross and fine motor tasks as well as cognitive skills. This supports our little ones in their everyday actiivities and well into adulthood. ⁠

You can start slowly with tummy time, you don’t have to leave your baby to it - it’s an opportunity for interactive, connected play.

You can do something as simple as having your baby lay on their tummy, and encouraging them to reach for toys on the right with their left hand, and then the other way around.

Crossing the midline play activities can be done in any position for play and will benefit your baby or child’s brain development.

If you would like more information on age appropriate crossing midline activities from 6mths to 4yrs to use at home and in the classroom, please do get in touch.

There can be many reasons why a little one may be struggling with this activity and further assessment may be required by a Paediatric Physio. If you have any concerns regarding your little one's development, please get in touch!

30/03/2026

29/03/2026

Rewarded with a chocolate egg for doing such great physio work!!

Never a dull moment during our sessions with little George 👏🥰

29/03/2026

Flynn worked like a little trooper during his therapy session! Loved our suction spinners 🥰

Such a clever boy tolerating his AFO splints so well 👌

26/03/2026

Can you help??
If any of our families have any of these items you no longer use or your child has grown out of, could you get in touch. If these have been provided privately, we have a few families who would benefit from them.

Size 1 Firefly Upsee
Leckey Tot Stander (or similar first size stander)
Size 1 and size 2 Firefly Go To Seats
Therapy Ladders
Firefly Playpak Positioning System
Thank you x

25/03/2026

National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day 💚

Cerebral Palsy is the most common lifelong neurogical condition in childhood. It’s caused by early injury or damage to a baby’s developing brain and can impact movement, speech, hearing, vision, cognition, and mental health.

While there is no cure, here at Therapy Goals 4 Kids we provide individualised support and treatment to help every child reach their full potential. Helping children achieve their goals one step at a time through specialist Paediatric Therapies 💚

24/03/2026

📢 Intensive Treatment Courses for Babies, Children & Young Adults - May 2026.

At Therapy Goals 4 Kids we are excited to offer an intensive service at our Clinic in Cumbria. Our first blocks are not during school holidays unfortunately but we plan to offer more blocks during the Summer of 2026.

I only have availability for 3 families for the intensive 2 hour daily block. I already have one little one booked in and another family who have required recently. Please give us a message or email for package prices. We can also provide details of disability friendly accommodation nearby if you are a family travelling a distance to see us.

🌟 Intensive treatment block (Package One):

Initial Assessment and Treatment session (Two Hours)
Four treatment sessions (One Hour)
Updated report/summary, with therapy programme and goals for family and home.

🌟 Intensive treatment block (Package Two):

Initial Assessment and Treatment session (Two Hours)
Eight treatment sessions (Two hours over four consecutive days)
Updated report/summary, with therapy programme and goals for family and home.

🌟 What is intensive therapy?
Intensive therapy is a block of therapy ranging from 1-2 weeks in duration and involves higher frequency and longer duration sessions compared to weekly sessions. The blocks are goal-oriented and aim to maximise skill acquisition and consolidate learning. Basically - a lot of therapy in a short period of time!

🌟 How does intensive therapy work?
Intensive therapy allows for motor learning principles to be closely followed by providing longer episodes of intervention. High repetitions consolidated over a short period of time targets “neuroplasticity”. This is where neural pathways in the brain are reorganised through various repetitive experiences and can lead to long lasting functional changes.

Intensive blocks are beneficial for children who can not master a skill or after surgery. It may be that you wish to focus on achieving goals such as improved strength, endurance, balance, posture or achieving developmental milestones such as learning to sit, crawl, walk, self care skills, fine motor skills, sensory processing, improving mobility, executive functioning skills, coordination, improving upper limb function, motor planning and many more!

🌟 Does intensive therapy work?
In recent years there has been more and more evidence coming out showing how intensive therapy models can help children with Cerebral Palsy or Global Developmental Delay. Several studies have demonstrated significant differences in Gross Motor Function scores, participating in self-care activities, and functional independence following a period of intensive goal-directed specialist therapy.

🌟 What does an intensive block involve?
An intensive block is designed specifically around your child’s current presentation and goals. We work collaboratively with families to develop goals for the block and then design a treatment plan.

Any questions please do get in touch.

Claire & Jess x

24/03/2026

💫 Crawling Skills & Tips 💫

The process of learning to crawl is actually pretty complex. Try out our tips below to support your baby as they explore movement through crawling. Approx 7% of babies skip crawling altogether!

Babies need to coordinate the movement of their arms and legs, and develop the muscle strength in their arms, shoulders, and legs to support their weight.

💫 How babies learn to crawl:

As babies figure out how to do that arm-leg-arm-leg crawling movement, they sometimes go backward first, and then learn how to crawl forward. So, for a while, babies might cry in frustration as they somehow find themselves scooting away from the very object or person they are so determined to reach.

The process of learning to crawl differs among babies as they work out a way to move that is unique to them.

💫 How to support Your baby’s crawling skills:

1. Give your baby plenty of tummy time, starting from birth. By playing on their bellies, babies develop the muscle strength in their shoulders, arms, back and trunk (torso) that helps them learn to crawl.
2. Encourage your baby to reach for the toys she/he is interested in. Lay interesting toys at just a short distance from your almost-crawler. See if she/he is able to move towards these objects.
3. Make sure your baby has space to explore that is safe and supervised.
4. Place the palms of your hands behind your child’s feet when she/he is on all fours. This stabilises him/her and gives him/her something to “push off” from when he/she is just learning to crawl.

💫 What to avoid:

1. Seated Baby walkers. Push a long walkers are OK!
2. Spending lots of time in baby seats and baby carriers. Babies learn how to crawl, and later pull up to stand and then walk, when they have plenty of time each day to play, move, and explore.
3. Pushing your child to learn to crawl.
4. Pressing a child to develop a skill he/she isn’t ready for can actually slow the learning process.

In most cases, there is nothing physically wrong with babies who are slower to crawl. They may just be busy working on other skills that are more interesting to them, like learning to use their hands to figure out how objects work. They may prefer to sit and explore the world visually or by touch (with their hands), instead of exploring through movement. Remember, babies, like adults, have different preferences and interests.

Please contact a Paediatric Physiotherapist if:

You notice that your child is using only one side of her body to crawl (she/he pushes off with only one arm or drags one side of her/his body as she/he scoots across the floor); or your baby is not making forward progress in using her body to get around.

24/03/2026

💫 W Sitting - What's the deal? 💫

This is a bit of a controversial topic! Alot of people feel very strongly about it in one direction or another. So what's the deal with W sitting, is it good or bad for children? As a clinical specialist in child development, here is my opinion.

Children who w-sit are generally children who have low muscle tone and increased movement within their hip joint. This allows them to get into this position with ease. In this position children don’t have to work as hard to hold their trunks upright as they have a wider base of support.

Therapists dislike children sitting in this position because it places increased stress on the muscles around the hip and the hip joint itself, and this can affect your child’s hip development. When a child is born their femurs (thigh bones) are internally rotated and this usually corrects as they grow through normal development and positioning. W-sitting actually encourages their bones to stay in an internally rotated position.

Paediatric Physiotherapists do not recommend this position for many reasons:

❎ Does not engage the core muscles
❎ Impacts development of balance reactions
❎ Encourages poor posture
❎ Can contribute to in-toeing with walking
❎ Limits trunk rotation, which is integral for higher level motor skills
❎ Can impair the development of mid-line crossing
❎ Puts excess stress on the hip, knee and ankle joints

Why some children prefer to "W-SIT?”

1. Structural abnormalities of the hips
2. A weak core or poor balance
3. Out of habit! Many children realise that this position requires less muscle activation and achieves more stability, leading to increased reliance on this seated posture.

What are some solutions?

✅ Encourage alternative seated positions, such as "Criss cross", long leg sitting, side sitting, or sitting on a low chair/stool.

✅ If your child continues to sit in the W-position then seek advice from a Physiotherapist who can assess your child’s hips and muscle tone and provide an individualised treatment plan that will help with this.
⁣

24/03/2026

💫 IMPORTANCE OF SIDE SITTING 💫

Side sitting is the best position to work on with your little one's from approximately 7mths old. Practice a couple of minutes on each side and gradually build this up. There are many different activities and play ideas to work on in side sitting at each age and stage of development - really important position for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers.

There are many benefits to side sitting which include:

💫 More upright posture and spine in good alignment - allows for core to activate on and off.
💫 It's a posturally stable position.
💫 Opposite position for your legs. Back leg is internally rotated and front leg externally rotated.
💫 Both hips are at end range at both positions and allows for increased movement at the pelvis than if hips were in the same position ie; W Sitting (I will post on W sitting tomorrow and why this should be avoided).
💫 Side sitting allows you to reach further.
💫 Stretching back and front hip whilst strengthening opposite opposing muscles.
💫 Brilliant position for play and transitional positions ie; in and out of independent sitting, quadruped and crawling.
💫 Side sitting is essential for next stage activities.
💫 Bringing both hands to their side (crossing midline) increases trunk rotation and the ability for both hemispheres of the brain to work together - this then translates to reading, writing and other academic skills!!

If anyone has any questions or if you are concerned about your little one's development please do get in touch. We do offer a free 20 minute call to go over your concerns or if you would like to book an assessment, please get in touch.

23/03/2026

Another day, another training webinar after work! Keeping up to date on the legal side of the SEND proposals in the School White Paper Report. Doing what I can so we continue to provide excellence when supporting families through the EHCP process and Tribunals when needed 😉

23/03/2026

Build & Play DIY kit!
Another fabulous resource for us Paediatric Therapists to use when assessing fine motor, cognition and visual motor skills! Kids are loving it!