Date of Award

2008

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT)

Department

Occupational Therapy

First Advisor

Michael Atkinson

Keywords

Child Development; Play and Playthings; Occupational Therapy -- methods

Abstract

The purpose of this scholarly project was to develop a manual for parents of children ages birth to five years. The manual includes significant milestones and provides age-appropriate activities which can be used to facilitate development.

A literature review was conducted to identify how play is used to achieve developmental milestones. Resources included journal articles and textbooks from the disciplines of occupational therapy, psychology, education, and medicine.

A manual for parents was created and consists of a discussion on the importance of play in development, expected milestones, occupation-based interventions, and resources regarding child development. This manual is intended for distribution to parents at a group educational seminar lead by an occupational therapist. The components of this manual are guided by the Ecology of Human Performance Model.

Child development can be optimized through the use of play activities to develop physical, social, emotional, and cognitive skills. Experiences in early childhood can hinder-or enhance developmental achievement later in life. The parent-manual product of this project will provide developmentally-appropriate occupation-based activities which can be incorporated into daily routines for children ages birth to five years.

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