Best Continuing Education Options for Pediatric OTs in 2025 (And Why Movement-Based Training Is Rising)

Pediatric occupational therapy is changing fast.Therapists are seeing more sensory dysregulation, more emotional overwhelm, more difficulty with motor planning, and more challenges with attention and participation than ever before. And that means pediatric OTs and OTAs are looking for continuing education that actually helps them support real children with real needs.

If you’re a pediatric OT, you already know how overwhelming CE can be. There are hundreds of courses… but most fall into the same categories: handwriting, sensory integration, behavior, trauma-informed care, school-based interventions, handwriting, more handwriting… and hours of Zoom lectures that may or may not give you anything you can actually use with your caseload.

This guide simplifies your CE choices for 2025 — and introduces you to a rising category of CE that pediatric therapists everywhere are turning to: movement-based regulation training.

Understanding NBCOT PDUs vs State CEU Requirements

Before exploring CE options, let’s clear up a huge point of confusion among OTs:

NBCOT uses PDUs, not CEUs

You need 36 PDUs every 3-year cycle.1 hour of training = 1 PDU.

You do not need a provider to be AOTA-approved or pre-approved by NBCOT for most CE activities. NBCOT allows a wide range of training as long as it’s:

✔ relevant to OT✔ includes clear learning objectives✔ has a certificate✔ includes proof of hours

This opens the door for courses on movement, yoga, sensory processing, mindfulness, and regulation — which fall under “Professional Development”.

What about state CEUs?

Many OT boards accept self-directed learning as long as it is relevant to practice and properly documented.

States friendly to self-directed CE include:

• Massachusetts

• Texas

• Georgia

• Pennsylvania

• Connecticut

• Arizona

• North Carolina

• California (content relevance required)

• New Jersey (CE optional but professional development allowed)

This means you have far more flexibility than you think.

⭐ Common CE Categories Pediatric OTs Choose

When OTs look for CE, they often choose:

• Sensory integration

• Handwriting and visual-motor integration

• Trauma-informed care

• Autism/ADHD-focused trainings

• Primitive reflex integration

• School-based interventions

• Early intervention

These are excellent… but here’s the truth:

Most CE courses are heavily lecture-based and do not actively strengthen your real-world therapy toolkit.

What’s missing from most CE?Movement. Breathwork. Regulation. Embodied emotional skills.

And that’s where the rise in yoga-based CE comes in.

⭐ Why Movement-Based CE Is Exploding in OT Practice

Children’s needs are changing.

✔ More sensory overload

✔ More emotional dysregulation

✔ More stress and anxiety

✔ More difficulty sitting still

✔ More trouble attending

✔ More need for grounding and sensory input

Movement-based CE addresses ALL of this.

Here’s why movement-based learning is so powerful for OT practice:

1. Movement regulates the nervous system.

Children cannot “think” their way out of dysregulation.They need sensory input + breath + grounding.

2. Yoga provides proprioceptive and vestibular input together.

Few interventions do this safely and predictably.

3. Breathwork improves emotional and behavioral regulation.

A kid who can breathe can calm.

4. Motor development improves participation in ADLs, school, handwriting, and play.

5. Group yoga teaches waiting, turn-taking, following routines, and social regulation.

This is the OT trifecta:sensory + motor + emotional regulation.

⭐ What to Look For in a High-Quality CE Course

Here’s how to evaluate a CE course in 2025:

✔ Relevant to pediatric OT scope✔ Teaches skills you can use tomorrow✔ Provides clear learning objectives✔ Offers at least 10–20 hours of training✔ Includes breathwork, sensory tools, motor work✔ Includes a certificate + documentation✔ Is movement-based (not 20 hours of Zoom lecture)✔ Is trauma-informed and neurodiversity-affirming✔ Has printable tools or lesson plans

This is exactly what OTs say they’re missing in traditional CE.

⭐ The Best CE Option for Pediatric OTs in 2025: Yoga Phamily’s 20-Hour Kids Yoga Teacher Training

If you want CE that genuinely transforms your OT sessions, this is it.

Why OTs love it:

✔ 20 PDUs for NBCOT✔ Combines sensory processing, motor development, self-regulation, and breathwork✔ Practical routines you can use in therapy tomorrow✔ Online + Self-paced✔ Lifetime access✔ OT-specific relevance and documentation✔ Perfect for school-based, outpatient, and EI therapists

You’ll learn:

• Sensory-informed yoga for kids

• Yoga-based regulation tools

• Breathwork for emotional stability

• Trauma-informed and neurodiversity-affirming movement

• Motor development sequences

• OT-friendly lesson plans and visuals

• Group routines for classrooms and gyms

OT Testimonial:

"This training gave me more usable regulation tools than any CE I’ve ever taken." — COTA, MA

⭐ Ready to Start Your Best CE Yet?

If you want practical, meaningful CE — instead of more lectures you’ll forget — this is the course every pediatric OT should take in 2025.

👉 Enroll Now — Start Your 20 CE Hours