Nature's Path Occupational Therapy

Nature's Path Occupational Therapy Nature based Occupational Therapy services.

10/30/2025

📚I am confident that teaching your children to read is more about forging patience in us parents than it is about them actually learning to read 🤣

➡️If you feel like your child will never learn to read, they will. Tune out the parents who say “Oh my child taught themselves to read,” and tune into your child’s adorable cuteness.

🧠The cognitive load of learning to read is next level. Give them time, give them patience, give them advocacy if school is pushing them beyond their abilities. Reading is developmental, a child will not read until they are developmentally ready ❤️

10/22/2025

🍂Once I surrendered to the fact that even the simplest of moments can be therapeutic, my therapeutic lense was revolutionized.

🍁I made a commitment that our OT sessions aren’t a list of the therapeutic activities that I need to check off. OT sessions are sacred sessions. A space where I need to be still and allow the Lord to work and for Him to lead and guide me in the next best step. For him to open my eyes to see these children as He sees them.

🍂Also, no offense to adults, but if every second of my day was filled with conversations with children, I wouldn’t be mad about it. The ever so subtle constant chatter in this video literally makes my heart so happy. The therapeutic value in letting a child speak, uninterrupted, airing out their thoughts, can’t be matched ❤️

10/05/2025

🫁TAKE A DEEP BREATH 🌬️

🙋🏼‍♀️It is probably one of the most universal parenting statements. It is true that in the moment of dysregulation, taking a deep breath can aid in bringing the central nervous system back to a state of homeostasis. 👇🏻

🙋🏼‍♀️We are all about preventative measures around here. Did you know that utilizing respiration and breathwork techniques in fun play based activities can actually be a tool to maintain and sustain regulation BEFORE getting hit with dysregulation?

➡️I’ve been parenting for 17 years and have been an occupational therapist for 21. Something I have found in not only my own parenting journey, but in others as well, is that we are real good at tapping into strategies when chaos has unfolded. But we need a reminder that tapping into those tools and strategies preventatively has a HUGE payoff.

💨Here is your parenting challenge for this week…look for ways to incorporate breathing and respiration into fun, play based activities. It is a fantastic way to maintain regulation through the day for our children ❤️

08/17/2025

🔑The key to a child’s developing mind? Sensory motor experiences.

🧠The brain is being built through every hop, skip, tumble, climb, tactile experience.

⭐️The longer I do this work, the more convinced I am of this very simple truth…

➡️The best way to support our children’s growth, children of ALL abilities, is to provide them with robust sensory motor opportunities. Adapt, equip, modify, call in an army of a support system to provide your child with these experiences.

🛝PLAY…the most important work, across the lifespan.
08/01/2025

🛝PLAY…the most important work, across the lifespan.

07/31/2025

📚I have jokingly said that when I die, I want imprinted on my gravestone that my greatest accomplishment in life was teaching 6 children to read. I joke, but IYKYK.

⭐️With my combined experience teaching my own children to read, and also working with tons of children as an OT, I have learned a few things that I want to share regarding reading.

1️⃣Like ALL learning, reading should be taught with a developmentally ready approach. Since we know that development isn’t linear, then we should squash the idea that all children should be able to read by a certain age. I hate to break it to you, but if you try to teach it BEFORE they are developmentally ready, you will be repetitively banging your head up against a wall and end up with a child who hates reading. I may or may not have experience with this 😉

2️⃣ You’ve heard the quote, “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” Yes, there is an abundance of research that discusses the benefits of reading to your children at a young age, don’t think that the insane amount of hours you put in reading didn’t pay off if your child isn’t reading until 9. This was me with my first. I literally was like “what the heck, I slaved my life away reading every picture book on this planet, yet she didn’t read fluently until she was 9 y.o!”Guess who is off the charts for reading comprehension now? Yep, my 17 y.o. (9 y.o. reader). Sometimes it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

3️⃣The age at which a child reads is NOT PREDICTIVE of whether they will have a LOVE for reading.

4️⃣Even if you have 6 children, you aren’t guaranteed a child who just “naturally” teaches themselves to read. That was always wild to me when a parent would say, “I didn’t have to teach them at all, they just taught themselves.” Well good for you, apparently the Lord didn’t see fit to give me one of “those” children. It probably had something to do with my own sanctification. 🤣

➡️I have a lot more thoughts, but captions are limited, so I will leave it at this. Reading is a skill based on developmental readiness, give them time.❤️

🌿 The Best Kind of Positive Pressure Comes from Friends 🌿I see it every day: a child hesitates to climb a log… until a p...
07/29/2025

🌿 The Best Kind of Positive Pressure Comes from Friends 🌿

I see it every day: a child hesitates to climb a log… until a peer says, “You can do it!” 💪🌲

A child resists a transition, until a peer models that safe transition. ❤️

That’s positive peer pressure—when encouragement from peers inspires kids to stretch just outside their comfort zone. And it’s powerful.

👣 A child tries a new motor skill because their friend just did.

🗣 They practice language and social skills to stay part of the game.

💛 They take turns, solve problems, and build resilience…together.

In a natural setting, peer modeling feels safe and organic. Children are more willing to try, to fail, and to try again, because they’re not doing it alone.

Sometimes, the biggest breakthroughs happen not from instruction, but from modeling, and not modeling from an adult, but from their peers.

07/27/2025

🌿Do a quick google search of how to create a calming sensory space in your home and the following will be described…

💡Lighting

Natural light is ideal.

Use soft, diffused lighting—like lamps with warm bulbs or dimmable LEDs.

Avoid flickering or buzzing fluorescent lights.

👂🏻Sound

Minimize background noise

Provide noise-canceling headphones or quiet zones.

White noise machines or calming nature sounds can be soothing for some.

👃Smell

Keep the space free from strong odors (perfumes, cleaning products).

Use unscented or hypoallergenic products.

Offer control—some people may like calming scents (e.g., lavender), while others may be sensitive to any smell.

✋🏻Touch and Textures

Avoid materials that feel scratchy, sticky, or otherwise uncomfortable.

Provide fidget items or comfort objects with varied textures.

👀Visual Input

Keep the environment visually calm—avoid clutter, busy patterns, or fast-moving visuals.

Use neutral, muted color palettes—blues, greens, earth tones.

Reduce visual distractions like flashing screens or blinking lights.

💨Temperature and Air Quality

Ensure good ventilation and comfortable, adjustable temperature.

Clean air (with air purifiers if needed) is important for those sensitive to dust or pollutants.

🌳Safe, Quiet Retreat Space

A designated calm corner or quiet room gives individuals a place to retreat if overwhelmed.

Equip it with soft seating, dim lighting, soothing visuals, and minimal stimulation.

👊🏻Nailed it 👊🏻

*disclaimer: the outdoor environment isn’t the solution for EVERY child. In fact, in some scenarios it can in fact be more dysregulating and can sometimes be a safety risk for elopement. With that said, I think the outdoor environment is often overlooked as a really great option for a calming sensory space for A LOT of children ❤️

07/16/2025

➡️OT or gymnastics coach? 🤣 You better believe if I can get a child into a handstand position we are gonna be doing all the handstands in our OT sessions.

➡️It’s a powerhouse activity that provides so much sensory input and strengthening. If you want to up the ante, do the handstands on the bosu ball.

06/15/2025

➡️Your child gets referred to occupational therapy for challenges with social emotional regulation and this crazy OT is working on core activation activities 🤔

✨The core and emotional regulation are actually more interrelated than most people are aware!Here is a brief breakdown of how…

1️⃣Nervous System RegulationThe core muscles (like the diaphragm, pelvic floor, and deep abdominals) play a direct role in breathing and vagus nerve activation. The vagus nerve is a key part of the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms the body and helps regulate emotions.Deep, diaphragmatic breathing, often supported by strong core stability, activates this calming system, which reduces stress and
anxiety.2️⃣ Posture and Brain Feedback. A stable core supports upright posture, which is associated with greater self-confidence and mood regulation. Poor posture (slumped, collapsed chest) can send feedback to the brain that reinforces negative emotions like sadness or defeat.Body alignment affects how the brain interprets and manages emotional states, this is part of what’s called embodied cognition.3️⃣ Mind-Body Connection and InteroceptionCore-focused practices like static/dynamic holds, pilates, martial arts, or breathwork enhance interoception—your ability to sense internal body states. Better interoception is linked with improved emotional awareness and control.For example, recognizing early signs of anxiety (tight chest, shallow breath) gives you a chance to regulate emotions before they spiral.4️⃣ Stress Resilience and Physical EmpowermentEngaging core muscles often requires focus, control, and mental presence—qualities that also help in managing emotional responses.People with better core strength often report reduced physical stress symptoms, and improved coping mechanisms under pressure.

🌳If your child has challenges with managing emotions, throw in some core activation activities!

➡️Just because I operate outside and not in a traditional clinic, does not mean that I don’t utilize traditional clinic ...
06/11/2025

➡️Just because I operate outside and not in a traditional clinic, does not mean that I don’t utilize traditional clinic based modalities.

🌳I think a common misconception is that nature can do all the therapeutic work. FALSE! It wouldn’t be considered skilled therapy services if I was just sitting back not providing skilled intervention.

➡️Kinesiotape, estim, cupping, weighted vests like you see on this little guy in the picture…all these modalities can be used in nature! Nature is awesome, but it’s important that we don’t forget about all the other treatment modalities that could bring a ton of value to the treatment program!

06/10/2025

✏️Visual motor integration, eye hand coordination, intrinsic hand muscle strength, shoulder girdle strength, core strength…the list goes on. ⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️All these skills are required for handwriting, and guess what???? They can be strengthened and worked on without even holding a pencil 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

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