Tag Archives: therapist resources

Explore curated resources for therapists, including intervention tools, educational materials, assessment supports, and treatment strategies. Designed for therapists and educators, these resources help professionals plan effective sessions, support diverse client needs, and stay current with best practices in therapeutic and educational settings.

Therapeutic Recreation Activity Ideas for All Ages

Games, Motor & Movement, Therapist Resources, , , ,

Each year, National Therapeutic Recreation Week—celebrated during the second week of July—shines a spotlight on the vital role recreation plays in rehabilitation and wellness. This week is a time to celebrate and explore therapeutic recreation activity ideas that improve physical, cognitive, emotional, and social well-being across all ages and abilities. Whether you’re a therapist, educator, or parent, incorporating purposeful play into therapy sessions can make a lasting difference.

Why Therapeutic Recreation Matters

Therapeutic recreation combines leisure activities with therapeutic goals to enhance function and quality of life. For children and individuals with disabilities or developmental delays, recreation becomes a vehicle for skill-building, engagement, and self-expression. Using the right tools can transform everyday activities into therapeutic opportunities.

Top Therapro Products for Recreational Therapy

At Therapro, we offer a wide range of tools and materials that support meaningful recreational therapy. Here are three standout products to integrate into your practice this week and beyond:

Fine Motor Olympics

Fine Motor Olympics

Developed by Marcia Bridgeman, MHA, OTR/L, this inclusive program equips OTs to train staff, parents, and volunteers in delivering structured fine motor support. Includes a manual, screening tools, record forms, and 64 full-color activity cards featuring hand function tasks.

➡️ Explore Fine Motor Olympics

Sensational Fun

Packed with over 100 activities that incorporate movement, touch, and sound, this resource offers endless therapeutic recreation activity ideas to support children with sensory processing challenges.

➡️ View Sensational Fun

Sensational Fun
Drive Thru Menus

Drive-Thru Menus

The Drive Thru Menus: Calming & Stress Busting Kit and Attention & Strength Kit offer therapist-designed, movement-based activities that promote self-regulation, focus, and physical readiness for learning. Each set features fun, structured exercises that support emotional regulation, motor control, and attention, making them ideal for classrooms, therapy sessions, or home use.

➡️ Check Out Drive-Thru Menus: Attention & Strength Kit

➡️ Check Out Drive Thru Menus: Calming & Stress Busting Kit


Integrating Recreation into Everyday Therapy

Recreational therapy doesn’t require elaborate equipment or large spaces. Many activities can be done in clinics, classrooms, or at home. The key is to pair intentional movement and play with therapeutic goals—such as improving executive function, fine motor precision, or sensory regulation. The above tools provide structure and flexibility to adapt activities based on individual needs.

Celebrate the Week, All Year Long

National Therapeutic Recreation Week is more than a celebration—it’s a reminder to embed joy and function into our daily therapeutic routines. By using resources that support creative, purposeful activity, therapists and caregivers can make therapy more meaningful and effective.

Top Summer Reads & Webinars for Professionals

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Summer is the perfect time for professionals to focus on personal and professional growth. Summer reading can be more than just a chance to relax—it’s an opportunity to refresh your skills, explore new ideas, and gain valuable insights that can be applied in the upcoming school year. Whether you’re a therapist, educator, or caregiver, Therapro offers a variety of resources and free webinars that are both informative and practical, helping you make the most of your summer! Read on for Therapro’s top summer reads & webinars for professionals.

📚 Professional Reads That Make a Difference

Therapro’s collection of professional resources is designed to support the continuous development of therapists, educators, and caregivers. These books, grounded in evidence-based practices, provide effective strategies and activities to implement in various therapeutic settings. Consider adding these essential reads to your summer reading for professionals:

  • Debra Em Wilson’s The Polyvagal Path to Joyful Learning offers educators a practical guide to applying Polyvagal Theory in classrooms to foster safety, connection, and engagement, while her Resilient Learner’s Backpack provides over 60 adaptable mind-body activities grounded in neuroscience to enhance students’ focus, regulation, and resilience across all grade levels.
  • Just Right! A Sensory Modulation Curriculum for K-5 is a 206-page, evidence-based program featuring 16 flexible lesson plans and full-color handouts designed to help students build self-awareness and manage their sensory needs—ideal for Tier 1 and Tier 2 RTI implementation by teachers, therapists, or parents.
  • Is It Sensory or Is It Behavior? Second Edition equips educators and clinicians with updated, evidence-based strategies to differentiate between sensory-driven and behavior-driven challenges in children, offering practical tools like case studies, worksheets, and laminated intervention cards to support a holistic, team-based approach to assessment and intervention.
  • M.O.R.E.: Integrating the Mouth With Sensory and Postural Functions offers a comprehensive framework for addressing sensorimotor challenges by focusing on the integration of Motor components, Oral organization, Respiratory demands, and Eye contact/control (M.O.R.E.), providing clinicians with practical strategies and activities to enhance self-regulation, attention, and postural development in children.
  • Social Language Rules & Tools: A Preschool Curriculum is an engaging, developmentally sequenced program that equips educators and speech-language pathologists with multisensory, play-based lessons and carryover strategies to enhance social communication skills in preschoolers, particularly benefiting children with autism and other social language challenges.
  • Pediatric Feeding Disorders: Evaluation and Treatment is a comprehensive clinical guide edited by Kelly VanDahm, MS, CCC-SLP, featuring contributions from 14 leading clinicians and incorporating the latest research and interdisciplinary perspectives to support professionals in the assessment and management of pediatric feeding disorders.
Pediatric Feeding Disorders: Evaluation and Treatment i
Pediatric Feeding Disorders: Evaluation and Treatment
Social Language Rules & Tools: A Preschool Curriculum of activities to improve social–ability
Social Language Rules & Tools: A Preschool Curriculum
The Polyvagal Path to Joyful Learning
The Polyvagal Path to Joyful Learning

🎓 Free Webinars to Support Ongoing Learning

For professionals seeking learning opportunities that fit into a busy schedule, Therapro’s Free Webinar Series is an excellent choice. These on-demand webinars offer concise, high-impact professional development, giving you the tools and strategies needed to excel in your practice.

Here are some must-watch webinars this summer:

Explore more and register for free: Therapro’s Free Webinar Series

✨ Pro Tip: Build Your Own Summer Learning Plan

If you’re wondering how to make the most of summer learning opportunities, here’s a simple guide to help you get started:

  1. Choose a Focus Area – Identify a specific topic, like handwriting, feeding, or sensory integration, that aligns with your professional goals.
  2. Pair a Book with a Webinar – Combine reading a relevant book with attending a webinar to reinforce your learning.
  3. Reflect and Apply – Use your summer to explore new strategies and materials, or even test them with clients or students in summer programs.

Therapro: Your Partner in Professional Growth

At Therapro, we understand the importance of ongoing professional development. Our carefully curated resources, including books and free webinars, are designed to support your growth and success. Summer learning doesn’t have to be a solitary task—use it as a chance to engage with new content and further your impact on the children, families, and communities you serve.

🔗 Visit therapro.com to explore more summer resources, and stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for the latest updates.

Happy summer learning!

Levels of Whistle and Blow Toys Explained

Oral Motor, Sensory Regulation, , , , ,

Whistle and blow toys are more than just fun — they’re powerful tools in oral motor therapy that support breath control, lip closure, sensory regulation, and multisensory integration. Whether used by occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, or other pediatric specialists, whistle and blow toys can be strategically selected and graded to match a child’s specific needs and abilities.

In the clinical guide M.O.R.E.: Integrating the Mouth With Sensory and Postural Functions, the authors explain how oral motor activities engage the sensory and postural systems simultaneously. Blowing activates the muscles of respiration and the oral-motor system while also stimulating alerting or calming effects, depending on intensity and pacing. Synchronizing breath with visual tracking or postural tasks further enhances body awareness and regulation. Selecting the right level of whistle or blow toy ensures that the activity challenges the child appropriately and supports therapeutic progress.

Understanding the Levels

Level 1 Whistles – Low Resistance, High Accessibility

These are ideal for children with reduced breath support or limited oral motor control. They require minimal pressure and allow success with less precise lip closure.

Echo microphone blow toy

Therapro Recommendations:

Level 2 Whistles – Moderate Breath Control Required


 These tools are appropriate for children who have mastered basic breath activation and are ready to develop sustained airflow and coordination.

Therapro Recommendations:

  • Whistling Straws: Require focused airflow, ideal for mid-level strength building.
  • Floating Ball Game: Combines visual tracking with breath control, great for synchronizing breath and eye coordination.
Floating Ball Game blow toy

Level 3 Whistles – High Resistance, Advanced Control

These challenge even strong blowers. They demand powerful, sustained breath and refined control, activating deeper postural and respiratory systems.

Balloon Car Racer blow toy

Therapro Recommendations:

Therapeutic Benefits

  • Breath Support & Control: Essential for speech production, sustained phonation, and self-regulation.
  • Oral Motor Development: Enhances strength and coordination of the lips, cheeks, and tongue.
  • Sensory Regulation: Blowing can be alerting or calming, depending on resistance and activity structure.
  • Multisensory Integration: Eye-breath coordination and posture-breath synchrony help develop attention and motor planning.

Therapro’s full line of whistle and blow toys is organized to help therapists and parents choose developmentally appropriate tools that support targeted outcomes. For a deeper understanding of how oral motor input integrates with sensory and postural systems, consider adding M.O.R.E. to your resource library.

Explore Therapro’s oral motor therapy tools today and discover how simple, affordable tools can deliver powerful therapeutic results.

Guest Blogger: Karen Conrad Weihrauch, PhD, OTR/L