Strengths in Motion - Speech & Occupational Therapy

Strengths in Motion - Speech & Occupational Therapy Pediatric Speech, Occupational & Feeding Therapy services.

🍎 Feeding Therapy Tip for School Lunch Nerves 🍎Starting school lunches can feel BIG! New room, new smells, new foods… th...
12/31/2025

🍎 Feeding Therapy Tip for School Lunch Nerves 🍎

Starting school lunches can feel BIG! New room, new smells, new foods… that’s a lot! One way to help reduce anxiety is to make lunch feel familiar before it happens.

✨ What we did today:
We printed off the school lunch menu and went through the different meal options together. And guess what? We found some foods on the menu that we already love!

We spent time color-coding the foods:
🟢 Foods we love
🟡 Foods we like
🔵 Foods we’re not sure about yet

This was such a great way to help learn that we can eat some of our favorite foods in different environments—and that it’s okay to feel unsure about new foods while we’re learning.

💡 Why this helps:
• Builds predictability and reduces anxiety
• Gives kids a sense of control and choice
• Encourages curiosity without pressure

Remember: exposure doesn’t mean eating—it means learning. Small steps lead to big confidence at lunchtime! 💪🥪

🎲 Games make GREAT gifts for kids! 🎁Games work on so many important skills including turn taking, social communication, ...
12/19/2025

🎲 Games make GREAT gifts for kids! 🎁

Games work on so many important skills including turn taking, social communication, vocabulary, problem solving, and following directions. Following the rules can be a wonderful goal for some kids…

✨ But here’s the thing: games don’t always have to be played by the rules!

Games can also be an opportunity for flexibility and creativity—letting kids make up their own rules, change how the game is played, or even just explore the pieces. This kind of play encourages imagination, language, joint attention, and connection.

What’s your child’s favorite game to play their own way? 👇

My absolute favorite thing for speech and language… BOOKS! 📚Reading and being read to is such an important part of child...
12/18/2025

My absolute favorite thing for speech and language… BOOKS! 📚
Reading and being read to is such an important part of child development and supports so many skills, including vocabulary growth, listening, attention, comprehension, joint attention, and expressive language.

Want a fun twist on books? Try stories with fewer words, like Goodnight Gorilla. Books with limited text take the pressure off “reading every word” and invite children to participate more.

This gives kids space to add their own comments, label pictures, make predictions, and use fun expressions—allowing for so much creativity and language growth!

12/16/2025

One of my favorite toy categories as an SLP: cause & effect toys ✨
These are amazing for early learners because they naturally work on
✔️ requesting (“help,” “more,” “go”)
✔️ anticipating what comes next
✔️ turn-taking and joint attention
✔️ early problem-solving
Press, push, spin… and watch communication happen 💬🧠

🎁 Looking for toy or activity ideas for your holiday list that support speech and language skills? 🎁This week, I’ll be s...
12/15/2025

🎁 Looking for toy or activity ideas for your holiday list that support speech and language skills? 🎁

This week, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite toys, games, and activities that have been a big hit with my clients—and are great for supporting communication skills along the way!

To kick things off… Critter Clinic! 🐶🐱
This toy has been a favorite lately. Kids love locking and unlocking the doors, and it’s been so fun to see the communication that naturally happens when they open each door and discover what surprise is inside.

✨ Skills this toy supports:
-Making requests (“open,” “help,” “I want…”)
-Spatial concepts (in/out, open/close)
-Color & shape concepts (matching the keys)
-Making comments (“It’s a dog!” “Uh oh!”)
-Asking questions
-Turn-taking and problem solving

Stay tuned for more favorites coming this week 🎄🧸

✨ Feeding Therapy Tip for Picky Eaters! ✨One of my favorite strategies for expanding food acceptance is getting kids inv...
12/10/2025

✨ Feeding Therapy Tip for Picky Eaters! ✨
One of my favorite strategies for expanding food acceptance is getting kids involved in the meal prep process.

Kids can help with things such as:
🧁 Putting food on the plate
🥣 Combining ingredients
🌀 Stirring or mixing
🔥 Placing items in the microwave or oven (with adult supervision, of course!)

Why does this work?
When children take part in preparing food, they naturally gain more confidence around new or less preferred items. They get to look, touch, smell, and interact with food in a fun and functional way — all without the pressure to eat it. These positive exposures add up and can make new foods feel a lot less “scary.”

Small steps in the kitchen can lead to big steps at the table! 🍽️💪

🎉 Strengths in Motion is officially ONE year old today! 🎉We are so grateful for the wonderful families we’ve had the joy...
12/09/2025

🎉 Strengths in Motion is officially ONE year old today! 🎉

We are so grateful for the wonderful families we’ve had the joy of meeting and for everyone who has supported us this past year. Thank you for trusting us and being such an important part of our journey.

We’re excited for all that the future holds and can’t wait to continue growing with our community! 💙✨

✨ This week in Occupational Therapy… ✨We focused on building self-confidence! The children created their own self-portra...
12/04/2025

✨ This week in Occupational Therapy… ✨

We focused on building self-confidence! The children created their own self-portraits and shared reasons why they like and appreciate themselves. 💛

It was wonderful to see the smiles and pride shine through as they recognized their own strengths.

✨ Speech Therapy Tip: Minimal Pairs! ✨In speech therapy, one of our favorite tools for improving articulation is minimal...
12/03/2025

✨ Speech Therapy Tip: Minimal Pairs! ✨

In speech therapy, one of our favorite tools for improving articulation is minimal pairs — pairs of words that differ by just one sound (like tea/key, pig/big, or coat/goat).

By practicing these small sound differences, children learn to hear and produce the target sounds more accurately. It’s a fun, meaningful way to help speech become clearer in everyday conversation!

Curious about more strategies to help your child's speech improve? Send us a message — we’re always happy to chat! 💛

AAC Moment of the Day: 3, 2, 1… GO! 🎉My client and I were having so much fun using the speech-generating device to say “...
12/02/2025

AAC Moment of the Day: 3, 2, 1… GO! 🎉

My client and I were having so much fun using the speech-generating device to say “go!” as the cars zoomed down the ramp. Then — surprise! — my client navigated to the numbers page and selected 3…2…1 before launching the cars.

Moments like these show how motivating play can be when paired with AAC. 💛

✨ Feeding Therapy Moment of the Day ✨Today in feeding therapy, we had a BIG feeling moment! My client described trying a...
12/02/2025

✨ Feeding Therapy Moment of the Day ✨

Today in feeding therapy, we had a BIG feeling moment! My client described trying a new food as “terrifying.” And you know what? Trying new foods IS scary for so many kids.

So we created our own rating scale and explored how each new food made us feel. Some foods scored high, some low—and that’s totally normal! We all have foods we love and don’t love.

The best part? As we kept going, a few foods moved up the scale as they became less scary. 🎉

Such an awesome way to make food exploration fun and empowering!

Halloween crafts 🎃
10/30/2025

Halloween crafts 🎃

Address

2900 Eagle Bluff Circle Suite 110
Medina, MN
55340

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 6:30pm
Tuesday 8am - 6:30pm
Wednesday 8am - 6:30pm
Thursday 8am - 6:30pm
Friday 8am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+17637722091

Website

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