Occupational Therapy

Our Activate Playdate Review

| Patti Webb

For our last 2025 Playdate Review, Mary and I headed over to Activate Games. We had brainstormed this venue a few years ago, but our kids were just under the age recommendation. Now that they are 7 and 8, we decided to give it a try and see how they’d fare.

Activate is an indoor, high-tech gaming facility where you and your friends physically step into interactive game rooms that blend technology, puzzles, and movement. It’s like stepping inside Nick Arcade. The environment reacts to your movements in real time. Each themed game room is filled with lights, sensors, and challenges:

  • Laser mazes: Duck, dive, and dodge beams to reach the other side.
  • Arcade-style basketball hoops: Fast-paced scoring challenges.
  • Puzzle rooms: Memory, logic, and teamwork tasks.
  • Climbing and agility rooms: Test your speed and coordination.

The kids have all done their fair share of video gaming and interactive gaming with their consoles, VR, laser tag, and Immersive Gamebox. Mary and I have also had a couple adult group outings with immersive gaming. Could we shepherd them into a new gaming world??

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Kids and “Stuff”

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

The holidays have arrived, bringing with them the ritual of gifting wish lists. Yet, as every parent knows, last year’s treasures don’t always stand the test of time. While some presents do become beloved companions and favored sources of entertainment, others unfortunately break, or gather dust, or get lost in the abyss. When asked about it, they simply shrug before adding a nearly identical (and equally useless) toy to next year’s list. UGH! The audacity…

As the season of giving begins, we can’t help but wonder: If kids want these toys so badly, why don’t they care for them? And if they don’t, why ask for them at all?  There must be a good explanation for this, right? Turns out, there is.

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Holiday Gift Guide: Tweens, ages 10-12

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

This year, we’re introducing a new gift guide category just for tweens. With all the rapid growth and change happening in our families, we know they’re going to be firmly in this category soon. Even though it’s an awkward age group, they still have their own distinct developmental needs.

At ages 10-12, kids are no longer little but not quite teens. They ask bigger questions, challenge ideas, and start understanding how they learn. Language sharpens, conversations deepen, and puberty often begins, bringing physical changes and self-awareness. Emotionally, tweens explore identity, crave peer connection, and care deeply about fairness. Gifts for this age group should provide flexible structure, foster open communication, model emotional regulation, all while supporting their evolving interests.

You also want to be careful not to choose gifts that are either too adult or too infantile. They are right in between.

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Holiday Gift Guide 2025: Elementary Kids, Ages 6-9

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Kids ages 6–9 are growing fast mentally, socially, and physically. They start reading independently, grasp abstract ideas, and enjoy creative and group play. Friendships deepen, empathy emerges, and they seek approval from peers. Motor skills sharpen, and they take pride in accomplishments. Gifts for this age group balance autonomy with guidance, and encourage curiosity, connection, and confidence.

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Holiday Gift Guide: Preschoolers, Ages 3-5

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Between ages 3 and 5, children rapidly grow as curious problem-solvers, expressive communicators, and imaginative players. They build friendships, develop empathy, and gain physical independence. This all lays a strong foundation for school readiness and future learning.

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