Registration now open for children's summer programming at Child Inspired

Child Inspired is a family-centered therapeutic practice offering speech/feeding therapy, occupational therapy and behavioral therapy to support children with developmental delays, fine/gross motor coordination skills, psychological needs, and sensory processing differences in Southern Delaware. It is offering its first summer of children’s programming, and registration is now open.

The programs are built to inspire and empower children in the community. Guided by Child Inspired’s professional family educators and therapists, these 1 1/2-hour mini-camps will begin in June and take place at the Lewes Public Library. Sessions will be filled with hands-on, developmentally appropriate learning activities and collaborations with peers in small groups, with a maximum of eight children per session. Each four-week session costs $180 per child.

There are four session concentrations, and multiple age groups and time frames to select from. Session topics include Mingle Mondays, Ready Readers, Workshop Wednesdays and Back to School Butterflies.

Mingle Mondays focuses on helping children build individualized strategies and develop social interaction skills while engaging with peers. Children will learn about topics such as empathy, making new friends, problem solving with peers, and identifying coping strategies. Activities and games will work on turn taking, tolerating "no," sharing and waiting.

Ready Readers will help keep children engaged in reading all summer long, fostering independent reading skills while piquing each child's interest in reading. Special activities include a book tasting to explore a variety of book genres, and a mystery day context clue search. Make-and-take supplies to create functional reading tools or visuals will be provided.

Workshop Wednesdays will support children’s writing and math skills. Participants will practice critical thinking through hands-on, developmentally appropriate writing and math activities. Special activities include building a Lego math house and sampling cookies in order to write an opinion piece on favorite flavors. Make-and-take supplies to create functional academic tools or visuals will be provided.

Back to School Butterflies supports different school transitions. If children are nervous about going into middle or high school, worried about entering the next grade level or anxious about going back to school after summer break, this group will help them. Working through interactive scenarios with peers in a small-group setting, participants will cover topics such as identifying triggers for feeling nervous, different ways anxiety presents itself, learning about circle of control, and coping strategies to manage nerves. Make-and-take supplies to create meaningful, personal self-regulation tools will be provided. 

These programs are being spearheaded by Lexi Gooch, a family education specialist with Child Inspired.

“I am so excited for the Child Inspired summer programs. These programs are a wonderful opportunity for inclusion of all children in our community. The reading, writing and math sessions are a fun way to help children continue to strengthen these skills and avoid the summer slide, and I am especially excited about the Back to School Butterflies sessions. My goal is that these programs will help lighten the worries children may have about going back to school and boost their confidence in areas where they face challenges,” said Gooch.

For more information and to register, go to ChildInspiredTherapy.com/SummerPrograms.