Therapy OPS

06/26/2026

A haiku in honor of Sarah's 3 year work anniversary with Therapy OPS!

silliness is her game
good chicken and a great therapist
thank you for three years

06/23/2026

June is National Safety and Home Safety Month. The Denver Health Trauma and Injury Prevention Program has a list of useful tips to keep your family safe and secure in and around your home. The goal of this list is to help to identify and reduce common home hazards because prevention is the best form of trauma care.

1. Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and near sleeping areas. Test alarms every month and change batteries every six months.
2. Create a fire escape plan and practice a home fire drill with your family.
3. Keep chimneys and dryer exhausts well-ventilated and free of flammable buildup by cleaning them regularly.
4. Keep fire extinguishers in common areas like the kitchen, near the fireplace and near other sources of heat.
5. Install carbon monoxide (CO) alarms and test alarms every month. In a CO emergency, leave your home immediately.
6. Watch children around balconies and windows. Install window guards or stops to prevent falls. Install safety gates to keep children from falling down staircases
7. Secure or remove rugs to prevent tripping and remove unnecessary items that may cause falls.
8. Ensure proper lighting throughout the home.
Keep the floors dry to prevent any slipping, especially in the kitchen and bathrooms.
9. Secure unstable TVs and top-heavy furniture to the wall. Use wall mounts, anti-tip straps and brackets.
10. Put cleaning products, medicine and button batteries up and away, out of children's reach and sight. Save the Poison Help Line number in your phone: 1-800-222-1222.
11. Have a first aid kit available.
12. Keep all window cords tied down, with ends cut so they aren't in a loop. If possible, get cordless blinds.

With such busy lives, we can sometimes forget about the simple things. Hopefully this list has you thinking about your home and what you need to do to make it as safe as possible!

06/22/2026

Looking for something to do this Tuesday morning at 10:30 (so oddly specific), come to South Valley Park in Inver Grove Heights for Music in the Park and be sure to stop by our table and say hi! These concerts are a lot of fun!

06/22/2026

Happy Father's Day to those out there suave enough to add these to the Dad jokes repertoire:

"I told my wife she should embrace her mistakes. She gave me a hug."

"I was going to tell you a joke about time travel, but you didn't like it."

"What state is known for its small drinks? Minnesota."

Enjoy the day!

06/20/2026

Today is . We've written about it before but for those that may not know, the Saturday before Mother’s Day and the Saturday before Father’s Day are recognized as Birth Mother Day and Birth Father Day.
EVOLVE Adoption & Family Services said it best (an organization near and dear to our heart) that "although we do not need a single day to express our love for the important people in our lives, it is a great opportunity to be intentional in taking some time with your child to honor their birth parents. This is a day to celebrate the birth mothers and birth fathers who made the courageous, loving, and selfless decision to place their child for adoption. This decision is allowing families all around the world to be able to experience one of life’s greatest joys." Perfectly said, we couldn't agree more!

06/19/2026

In Celebration of , Blackish and The Roots put out a really great video that helps explain what Juneteenth represents and the history behind the culmination of it becoming a Federal Holiday. For those of us of a certain age that remember the Schoolhouse Rock videos (how is a bill is made?!?) this is really great!

The Roots reenact the history of the end of the slavery in "I Am Sl...

06/18/2026

You graduated from PT, congratulations on your accomplishment!

06/17/2026

Don’t let those hard-earned OT skills slide just because school is out!

You don’t need expensive toys or complicated setups to build hand strength, bilateral coordination, and finger isolation this summer. In fact, your backyard and kitchen are packed with everything you need.

Try these other super simple, low/no-prep ideas today!

Peeling painter's tape off the driveway or sidewalk

Squirting liquid soap into a water bucket and making bubbles with a whisk

Picking up wet river stones with kitchen tongs

Popping bubble wrap left over from summer delivery boxes

Threading pool noodles onto a long piece of rope or a clothesline

Which one are you going to try first? 👇 Tell me in the comments, and don't forget to SAVE this post for your next "I'm bored" summer day!

06/09/2026

In this video, Speech Therapist Rachel and her lovely assistant demonstrate how fill-in-the-blank books such as "Do Cows Meow?" help with language development. If your child is just starting out, books that require animal sounds are great because kiddo's generally learn animal sounds before they learn words. It's important that as you read the books that whether your child makes the correct sound or not, you repeat the sound so that they can hear it. Repetition is key to aiding in language. You can also use simple word books as well. Simply read the sentence but don't say the last word and let your child say it instead. Let us know how you do!
https://youtu.be/gsVCcDvnT1s
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In this video, Speech Therapist Rachel and her lovely assistant dem...

06/09/2026

Did you know that Therapy OPS offers a month support group for caregivers? It's true! Our support group has a general format and is open to all caregivers who have a person in their life who has different needs/abilities. This group is free for anyone to join, you do not need to be part of the Therapy OPS family.
The group meets the second Tuesday of every month at Therapy OPS in Inver Grove Heights from 5:30 to 7 pm. You can come to share your experiences, your wins, listen to other's experiences and connect with other caregivers. Please note, there is NO childcare available and there will be families in the building until 6 pm. Come join us!