Fun with Your Fridge

We like to use the fridge for my daughter to work on her reaching skills! We did this a lot when she was old enough to pull herself to standing. Not only does it encourage her to reach to get desired objects (we like magnets and post it notes) but gives her the support to slide her arm further up than she would have if she was just reaching for an overhead object. She does require encouragement to use her affect arm at times. However, I feel it's important for them to use both. I sometimes have to hold down lefty. I realize this may be a struggle for some parents as my daughter can sometimes be a booger when I try and hold down lefty. You may have to find something HIGHLY motivating to reach for or ease into how frequently they use their affected arm. For example, let them start with their unaffected arm. Then, encourage 1 or 2 turns with effected arm. Then, back to unaffected arm. It may take some time to build up to getting them to use just their affected arm. Also, as they start growing and/or reach higher and higher switch the height of the magnets or post it notes for more of a challenge. You can even make a game out of it.... Have them pull colored post it's off the fridge and put them in a desired location matching by colors.