Welcome to START-Play!Helping babies learn to move and move to learn.
START-Play (Sitting Together and Reaching to Play) early intervention aims to promote development and readiness to learn in babies with motor delays or challenges. Sitting and reaching skills are critical to early development and help babies explore, interact with others and learn about their world.
START-Play will be joining the PT Learning for Practice network starting Fall 2025. For detailed program information, click the links below to be redirected to University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s dedicated START-Play website.
Course Highlights
12 self-paced lessons + 2 online meetings with interventionists
10-hour online hybrid format [take on your own schedule]
Continuing education certificate (CEU credit) for 10 hours from the Physical Therapy Board of PA provided
Cost $400
Our mission is to advance early development through movement and learning skills.
Learning through Play
START-Play therapy targets motor skills that lead to greater physical exploration.
Sitting
Sitting allows babies to orient themselves to important features in the world.
Reaching
Early reaching and object exploration skills in the first year of life relate to future cognition.
Motor-based problem solving
These motor skills aid in problem-solving play scenarios to build critical cognitive abilities.
What We Do
Our research team investigates how babies with motor delays develop motor skills and thinking abilities, and how the START-Play intervention affects babies with motor delays differently than the care usually offered to them.
We examine babies’ motor skills:
Sitting
Mobility
Reaching
Head control
Control of the arms, legs and hands
We assess babies’ thinking abilities:
Problem-solving
Object properties
Toy play
Social interactions
Language