Sports Reading

Rachel’s Reads

by Rachel Levine Soccer, softball, and basketball. Gymnastics, swimming, and track. Dancing, hiking, and lacrosse. These are all ways you can keep your kids active in the Roanoke Valley. Athletic opportunities abound, and the real challenge is finding time to be active on top of school and work! Being active is obviously good for our health, but sports can also inspire us to work toward goals, provide a way to challenge ourselves, and give us role models to look up to. Celebrate physical and emotional strength with these inspiring books, and then head outside and play together! Make sure to keep a lookout for Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall in Little Free Libraries around town!

Jabari Jumps

by Gala Cornwall

Can you remember the first time you jumped off a diving board? The fear? The nervousness? The butterflies in your stomach as you tried to gather your courage? Jabari Jumps perfectly captures the experience of jumping off a diving board for the first time. Readers will cheer Jabari on as he slowly works his way up the ladder, then to the end of the diving board, and finally takes a big leap into the pool below. Cornwall’s stunning illustrations help the reader experience Jabari’s worry, determination, and hard-earned pride alongside him.

Hoop Genius

by John Coy

Do you know the story of how basketball came to be? Hoop Genius tells the true story of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball! James had taken over a wild PE class that had already driven two teachers to quit. He was desperate. He needed a high-energy game that would be exciting but would limit the amount of physical contact between the players. He wanted a game that required skill and focus. Through experimentation and lots of trial and error, James Naismith came up with basketball, an exciting and challenging game now played all around the world!

Wilma Unlimited

by Kathleen Krull

Wilma Unlimited is a book you don’t want to miss. Wilma Rudolph was one of the strongest women in American history. When she was just four, she contracted scarlet fever and lost the ability to walk. Wilma and her family fought racism and poverty to get her the care she needed. Through pure determination, Wilma regained her ability to walk, learned how to play basketball, and then began to run track — and wow, was she fast! Wilma’s hard work led to her winning three gold medals in track at the 1960 Olympic Games. Learn about Wilma Rudolph and be prepared to have your whole family inspired!

AfterSchool

Routines

by Lauren R. Pittard, MSOT, OTR/L

The school year brings new opportunities and challenges for children, parents, caregivers, and teachers! As responsibilities add up, it seems like we start to become objects in motion that stay in motion. That can get exhausting! Instead of following the law of inertia, the field of occupational therapy promotes participation in meaningful daily activities by finding a balance between work, play, rest, and anything else that can occupy your child’s time.

In the spirit of the new school year, it’s important to focus on strategies that create an after-school routine to promote self-regulation and self-care. While routines will differ from family to family, here are three helpful tips that I share with my patients and their families:

Make a realistic schedule and stick to it!

Even if they don’t want to admit it, kids love routine. A schedule helps them know what to expect and helps to develop their own sense of organization. I am obsessed with the book The Sensory Child Gets Organized by Carolyn Dalgliesh! It’s a quick read with great strategies on how to break down challenging tasks, eliminate distracting stimuli, and utilize visual supports to improve a child’s overall performance. It also includes examples of visual schedules. For instance, a younger child may benefit from pictures, whereas an older child could follow a written schedule or be told expectations.

A schedule should be consistent to help reduce resistance from the child. Additionally, when making the schedule, consider when your child has the most motivation to get stuff done. Does your child have enough patience to pick up their toys after dinner, or should that be done before you sit down to eat? You can also create some time in the evening to plan for the next day if mornings are challenging, like picking out clothes the night before or packing their backpack for the next day.

Replace tech time with movement!

According to Psychology Today, the more time children spend on technology, the less emotional intelligence they develop and the less personal connections they create. Children that are glued to the screen are more likely to experience social isolation, poor social skills, impulse problems, sleep disorders, low selfesteem, and unstable moods. These difficulties could present as big meltdowns when technology is taken from them. I highly recommend limiting tech time to no more than two hours a day, though even less is preferred. As more tech restrictions are enforced, your child may demonstrate more behavioral difficulties. This will improve with time, so don’t give up!

Replace the tech time with family time or movement time.

Playing on a regular basis helps increase a child’s strength, body awareness, sensory processing, emotional regulation, and complex social play skills. Decreased play during the week can present as decreased attention and increased fidgeting in the home and classroom setting. Check out the book Balanced and Barefoot by Angela Hanscom to read more about the benefits of play, specifically outdoor play. Try out some of these activities in your home: create an obstacle course from furniture, have animal walk races or use different animal walks to clean up toys, have the siblings take turns pulling a blanket while the other sits on it, build something out of your Amazon boxes, or have a dance party! Pinterest is a great way to get inspired for more creative play activities. In the long term, less tech time will help make it easier for your child to sit down at the dinner table, build family bonds, and fall asleep at night.

Even losing just one hour of sleep negatively impacts a child’s emotional functioning, behavior, and cognitive skills. Different ages require specific hours of sleep each night; refer to the sleep chart below for the recommended hours for your child. Try to schedule your child’s bedtime with the time they need to wake up in the morning.

Common strategies to make falling asleep easier include restricting screen time two hours before bed, calm movements (such as yoga), using a white noise machine, reading books, and rubbing their backs. Children who tend to wiggle from excitement or nervousness could potentially benefit from a weighted blanket (weighing up to 10 percent of the child’s body weight) or a set of compression sheets so they feel like they are in a nice, calming hug to help fall asleep. For the kids who try to procrastinate bedtime, it might be good to keep toys outside of the bedroom or even schedule some “quiet time” before bed. It might be helpful to start getting ready for bed earlier to get enough sleep throughout the night. Try to consider this while making your routine.

Making changes to a routine can be tough so take your time to decide what will work best for your family. It is important to remember that every child is different so these tips may need to be adapted based on your child’s individual needs and abilities. If you have concerns related to your child’s development, consult with your pediatrician to determine if an occupational therapy evaluation would be beneficial to help incorporate sensory, motor, and/or environmental strategies into your routine so your family can live life to the fullest.

Age Hours needed per night

0-3 months 14-17 hours 4-11 months 12-15 hours 1-2 years 11-14 hours 3-5 years 10-13 hours 6-13 years 9-11 hours 14-17 years 8-10 hours

Lauren Pittard, MSOT, OTR/L, is a pediatric occupational therapist who works at the local children’s hospital in the outpatient clinical setting. She is currently pursuing her occupational therapy doctorate degree to pursue her dream of bringing occupational therapy strategies into areas of need within the Roanoke Valley and surrounding areas.

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