OT Time Kids Therapy

15/04/2026

👍 Make it relevant.

🙌 Make it practical.

🤩 Make it enjoyable.

Learning that lasts – straight from the farm

Did you know a 2024 study found that children learning in a farm-based setting with animal interaction showed stronger long-term memory retention compared to classroom-only learning?

Interestingly:
👉 Test scores didn’t change immediately
👉 But learning stuck better over time (even after a month!)

This suggests that hands-on, real-world experiences with animals don’t just engage students — they help deepen and sustain learning.

When learning is meaningful, sensory, and emotionally engaging… it lasts.

19/03/2026

❤️ I love this soft, cooler weather. It feels like I have time. I’ve never liked cold water and I’ve always found the sensation of being wet uncomfortable. But once I’m wet, I’m so glad I did it. It brings me back to the present moment. I feel more alive.

🌳 But that’s what the outdoors does for us. We feel
alive and present. Nature is good for us because we are nature. It’s a ready made regulation and engagement tool.

🌧️ The slight changes in temperature. The altering terrain causing slight adjustments in our posture and balance. The changes in light as the cloud covers the sun. The feel of light rain on the face and arms. The smell of the mud and mangroves. The sound of the waves and the wind in the leaves. Sensory experiences are laid on for us.

⛵️ In today’s bayside adventure, a family of 3 (Bob, Sally and baby Tilly) built a raft and drifted to their new island abode with bountiful food, water and shelter.

😉 Get amongst it.

04/12/2025

🌳 Nice day for it!

🙌 Fine motor skills

✅ Motor planning

🏃 Balance

🧘 Meditation

🐦 Nice bit of mud, breeze and birdsong.

❤️ More fun than can be had in one day!

27/11/2025

🤪 It’s been a wild week down on the bay.

⛈️ Massive hail storm,

🏝️ Mr Ah Ah Apples beach birthday bash and

🖥️ Telehealth Chistmas parties.

❤️ Never a dull moment!

29/10/2025

Happy OT Week!

✅ Yep cooking is an occupation!

✅ Play is an occupation!

16/10/2025

🪵 Clapping sticks today. Seems simple enough but so many skills developed in this one little activity.

✅ I need to plan the steps to take to do this task and adjust my plan if it’s not working out.

✅ I need to plan how I hold my hands and grade the pressure to manipulate tools like saws, peelers and knives.

✅ I need to make adjustments to support my nervous system if sensations like sawdust falling on bare skin or kneeling on grass is too much.

✅ I need to coordinate both sides of my body while I hold something unstable with one hand while I use my other hand to use a tool such as textas to decorate.

👌 But first of all I need to feel safe with a regulated nervous system so I can be present, learn and pay attention.

🌳 So good to achieve that by being in nature doing what you love. ❤️

15/10/2025

Today’s episode direct from my waterfront office in Lota.

✅ We planned

🗣️ We communicated

🪵 We collected

🪚 We sawed

⛺️ We structured

🌟 We created!

❤️ Hands, heads and hearts.

🌳 OT in the great outdoors…
☺️ Living it!
🥰 Loving it!

☕️ If you think this might be your child’s cup of tea message me. Happy to chat.

06/10/2025

🙏 A big thank you to the organisers of this year’s Cowgirls Gathering for inviting me to speak about incorporating horses and nature in my work as an OT.

❤️ A particular thank you to my lovely friend and colleague, Amanda Hancock, head of human and animal welfare.

🐕 Amanda is renowned for her many talents including scent training for dogs and horses, snake handling, manifesting, and is always prepared with a range of potions for bites, stings and grazes. 😉

🕺 And of course, her on demand 80’s dance moves.

30/09/2025

👏 I’m excited to share that I will be presenting at the Cowgirls Gathering this weekend at Kilkivan Showgrounds as part of the Human and Animal Well-being program.

💎 You can catch all the gems about OT in equine environments at 1pm on Saturday Oct 4th in the presentation tent

🙏 Or join me for our mindful morning moment at 7am in the pavilion Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

❤️ Looking forward to a weekend surrounded by horses and those that love them.

Photo credit Shear shots by Jayne https://www.facebook.com/share/16QRfcpLGk/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://cowgirlsgathering.com.au/?srsltid=AfmBOorr1lNEG9vD4IQ64Pmj5dZUfIAeiA6t1Y4ll_CJQXblBieotJDE

16/09/2025

🪄 Pure Magic!

🛶 We built the boats.

🛖 Constructed the village.

🎣 And we fed the people.

🪵 I remember creating miniature cattle yards with my brothers in the bush while waiting for dad.

🗃️ I remember I had a miniature doll I kept in a matchbox with a tissue for a blanket.

🫖 I remember having tea parties and making mud pies with my imaginary friend little Janice.

❤️ Can you recall your most magical play experiences from your childhood?

04/09/2025

🍏 There’s more to eating than putting food in your mouth, chewing and swallowing.

Some kids just have to start here:

👀 Can you look at the food?
👃 Can you smell it?
🖐️ Can you touch it?

If trying new food is tricky, start there.

🕵️ Explore food. It doesn’t have to be at the dinner table.

🗣️ Talk about the sensory features food. Wet, dry, crunchy, soft, warm, cold, orange, green, red.

🙌 Play with food

😊 No pressure to eat. Just fun.

🌳 Being outdoors naturally encourages relaxation and attention. Can you see what other skills we’re developing?

❤️ Food exploration and play is just one of the skills we work on in our outdoor and Telehealth sessions.

🍃 Message me if this speaks to you or you’d like to be supported through tricky life skills with your child.

22/08/2025

🍃 Outdoors.

🏴‍☠️ Where imaginations run wild.

🙌 Senses are stimulated.

🔨 Skills are developed without effort.

🌈 And you’re lost in the moment.

🌳 Fully present and engaged.

N.B. I’m afraid the crew of this vessel had to walk the plank 😜