PFOT, while still a small company, continues to grow and work hard to meet your needs. It was conceived and established in 1989 by us, Michelle Tobias and Ilene Goldkopf. We are both Occupational Therapists and have each worked exclusively in pediatrics for over 30 years. We have experience in pediatrics & developmental disabilities, have worked in public and private schools in Central New Jersey, and continue to see private clients in our sensory integration based clinic. We are co-authors and contributing authors to several professional books and publications.
PFOT's initial goal was, and still is, to assist parents, teachers, occupational, physical, speech therapists and others, concerned with the development of children, find the unique materials needed to provide effective, appropriate, motivating and FUN, therapy and learning.
As OT’s we look at toys a little differently than typical toy stores. We select items based on a few criteria:
What skills will be intrinsically addressed or practiced? Is it durable? Interesting? Motivating? What is the developmental age of the child who would be interested in the item and is safe for them to use? Does it feature licensed characters that may be too old or too young for some children, or will limit the “life” of the toy? (A 10 year old boy may not want to play with a game that is decorated with princess characters or one with “Woody” from a popular movie several years ago.)
Products are arranged into categories pertinent to development. This makes selection of items easier for classroom and home use, as well as Gift giving recommendations.
If you have any therapy-related questions, we'll try to help answer them or lead you to a resource for the info.
Hope this helps in understanding us and our catalogue a little better - but please keep writing and calling, we enjoy hearing from you!
Ilene and Michelle
">PFOT, while still a small company, continues to grow and work hard to meet your needs. It was conceived and established in 1989 by us, Michelle Tobias and Ilene Goldkopf. We are both Occupational Therapists and have each worked exclusively in pediatrics for over 30 years. We have experience in pediatrics & developmental disabilities, have worked in public and private schools in Central New Jersey. We are co-authors and contributing authors to several professional books and publications. In 2020, we were pleased to welcome Lisa Walker, MSOT to the administration of PFOT. Lisa brings new energy and experience as both an active clinician and mother of 4.
PFOT's initial goal was, and still is, to assist parents, teachers, occupational, physical, speech therapists and others, concerned with the development of children, find the unique materials needed to provide effective, appropriate, motivating and FUN, therapy and learning.
As OT’s we look at toys a little differently than typical toy stores. We select items based on a few criteria:
What skills will be intrinsically addressed or practiced? Is it durable? Interesting? Motivating? What is the developmental age of the child who would be interested in the item and is safe for them to use? Does it feature licensed characters that may be too old or too young for some children, or will limit the “life” of the toy? (A 10 year old boy may not want to play with a game that is decorated with princess characters or one with “Woody” from a popular movie several years ago.)
Products are arranged into categories pertinent to development. This makes selection of items easier for classroom and home use, as well as Gift giving recommendations.
If you have any therapy-related questions, we'll try to help answer them or lead you to a resource for the info.
Hope this helps in understanding us and our catalogue a little better - but please keep writing and calling, we enjoy hearing from you!
Ilene and Michelle
