Nature provides health benefits that are truly impossible to replicate in any indoor therapy setting. Mental clarity, peacefulness, attentiveness, and cardiovascular health are just a few of the benefits research has proven are offered by nature. The natural world inspires children’s internal drive to explore, challenge their bodies, be creative, and have FUN while building skills.
Indoor OT clinic spaces are full of therapy equipment: plastic balance beams, swings, tactile bins, monkey bars, rock climbing walls, foam mats and more. At Full Potential we balance on logs, lift large sticks and rocks to build forts, play in real mud, sand and water, climb trees and boulders, roll down hills, and more.
Best of all, your child can access nature at any time with you- no special clinic space needed-so carryover of skills to daily life happens more naturally.
These Nature based therapy sessions are based on the ConTiGO approach. ConTiGO stands for Connection & Transformation in the Great Outdoors. The goals of the COnTiGO approach are:
- Fostering children’s connections to other people and to nature.
- Transforming children’s development through evidence-based practice outdoors.
- Partnering with nature to provide therapy sessions.
The ConTiGO approach uses a blend of structured activities and child-led playful learning, involving children in making decisions every session.