Neuroscience

Skin Deep: Skin’s Role in Child Development

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Touch is a child’s first language. Studies show that early tactile experiences shape attachment, regulation, and the development of motor and sensory systems. It helps build our body schema for crying out loud.

All of this begins with the skin: the body’s largest organ, the first sensory system to mature, and the primary gateway through which infants learn about safety, connection, and their place in the world. Because the skin is a direct extension of the developing nervous system, it plays a central role in how children build body awareness, emotional stability, and early relationships.

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Talking Body: Kids and Body Schema

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Kids have an enormous amount to learn, but before they can take on reading, writing, math, social skills, or even coordinated movement, they need a basic sense of themselves.

As children develop, it takes years for them to truly understand themselves—the “me I feel inside,” the “me others see,” and the “me I’m becoming.” That long process begins much earlier than most people realize. It starts when the brain first learns the physical boundaries of the body.

Those early signals (movement, balance, joint and muscle feedback, and deep pressure) are the “me sensations.” They give the brain its first clues about where the body begins and ends. Over time, these sensations fill in the brain’s internal “map of me,” the foundation for later self‑awareness, confidence, and coordinated movement.

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Swooping, Sloping Cursive Letters

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

If handwriting is the foundation of written expression, cursive is the next layer of fluency. After children learn to shape letters and build the motor patterns of print, cursive offers a new pathway that emphasizes flow, rhythm, and efficiency.

Despite its disappearance from US school curriculum at the start of the 2000s, cursive is making a real comeback in many parts of the United States. This return revisits the question: Is cursive important?

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Kids and the Concept of Love

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

“I’m in love.”
“No, you’re not. You don’t know what love is. You love cupcakes and ponies.” – Steve Byrne, The Byrne Identity

Kids are funny when it comes to love. Adults see it as a deep emotional connection, but children are still figuring out what that feeling even is. They might say “I love you” to a parent, announce plans to marry a playground friend, or juggle “relationships” with multiple classmates. They hug with their whole bodies and may even offer a kiss simply because they don’t know another way to show affection.

Kids may not fully grasp what love means, but they’re learning how it feels, how to express it, and how to set safe boundaries—and that learning begins from the moment they’re born.

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Podcast Playlist: Attention and Learning

| Patti Webb

So fun fact, it’s very hard to find a podcast episode about kids’ learning and attention without it being centered around kids with ADHD. So instead, I wanted to share some podcasts about alternative ways of learning that help us (and our kids) strengthen our brains and executive functions.

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