Back to School Essentials

I am in complete denial that we are in our final moments of summer vacation. However, it's hard to be in denial when so many people around the country have already sent their kids off for their first day of school. One of my favorite parts of going back to school when I was a kid was the back to school shopping. I started putting together a list of my favorite school supplies last year. I decided to do it again this year but added some of my new favorites alongside some of the old standbys. Starting the year off with fresh supplies helps a child to feel more excited about all the new things that are about to happen to them in a new school year.

American Tourister Backpack-one of my favorite things to shop for as a child was my backpack. Even if my old one was in good condition, we were always allowed to start the year off with a new bag. There's something about a fresh backpack that makes you feel more confident. Many of the kids I work with have a hard time keeping their things organized so finding a backpack with lots of pockets and compartments is something I recommend to parents of those children. I am a big fan of this American Tourister Keystone bag. Not only is it an affordable option, it has multiple pockets that will help a child keep their supplies organized. For some children, I even recommend that parents label what each pocket is for as they are putting everything in with their children.

See Through Pencil Pouches-this is especially important for children who may have difficulty with visual perceptual skills. In addition to having different color pouches for different kinds of supplies, make sure that your children can easily see what is inside. This makes it easier for them to be able to reach into their bag or desk and find out what they need. It's important that if you have seperate supplies at home that you keep your system consistent. For example, if you have all your writing tools in a blue pencil pouch for school do the same at home. I recommend having 3 pouches: one for writing tools (pens, pencils), one for coloring supplies (markers, crayons, colored pencils) and one for miscellaneous items (scissors, glue, etc.). Another important tip: don't fill them too much. Just put in what you need and nothing extra.

Fiskar Scissors-good scissors are an essential for me. This is especially important if you have a child who has delays for the acquisition of fine motor skills. Over the years I've tried a variety of different scissors but always go back to the child-sized Fiskars. I find they are the most comfortable and the sizing is perfect for those little hands. Not only do they have a large variety of colors, they have different sizes for larger hands and also have left-handed scissors.

Cadoozles Mechanical Pencils-I prefer mechanical pencils for a variety of reasons. The first one is that sometimes kids can't get to a pencil sharpener or have difficulty manipulating one due to fine motor delays. The second reason I am a fan of mechanical pencils is that they are a great way to get kids to use a proper amount of pressure when writing. If they press to hard, the lead will break. After a while, kids start to understand just how hard they should press down when they are writing. There are a lot to choose from but I tend to recommend these. They come in a variety of patterns and colors and are super affordable....you can get a pack of 28 for $8! For children who need to use a pencil grip, many of the grips that I recommend fit on these pencils.

Ooly ClickOit Erasers-for some reason, my daughter loses erasers more than any other school supply. She also has this terrible habit of chewing the eraser off of her pencils (it makes me cringe just thinking about it). I have been on the hunt for an eraser that might be a little more difficult to lose and was psyched when I discovered these erasers. One of the things I like about these is that they are shaped like a pencil (just thicker) so kids who have difficulty with fine motor and manipulation skills have an easier time holding them.

Do-Overs Erasable Highlighters-highlighters are great for helping kids with organization, especially when studying. I have found with my own daughter, that she tends to over-highlight so have to go back and help her figure out what is most important to highlight. That's why I am obsessed with this set of erasable highlighters from OOLY. There are no such thing as a mistake when you have these. If they happen to accidently highlight something, they can easily fix it.



Just Getting Started 17-Month Large Planner-as kids get older, we expect them to be able to keep track of their own schedule. This includes being able to keep track of their homework assignments, when projects are due and when they have tests. One way to help school age children do this is to have them have carry around a daily planner and help them fill it out the beginning of each week. Working together, you can fill in all of the things that remain the same each week and then talk about any special events that may be occuring. At the end of each school day, you can look through their homework and see if they have tests or reports.

Study Wall Organizer-another great way to keep kids organized, especially if they have a busy schedule, is to have a wall calendar that you can fill out as a family before the school week begins. I recommend this one from Pottery Barn because in addition to having just 7 days to fill out (as opposed to the entire month), it has a cork board that you can put announcements from school, birthday party invites or other pieces of important information. I have found with my own daughter, who has a very relaxed schedule compared to others, that if we fill out her schedule together on Sunday night, she feels less anxious about the upcoming week. We write down days that she has gym/art/Spanish, what after school activities she might have, play dates, birthday parties and any other important things she needs to know about (tests, 1/2 days, etc.). If you have multiple children, I highly recommend assigning each child their own color so they can quickly look at the calendar and know what their week is going to be like.

Desk Organizer-many of the kids I work with struggle with keeping things organized. This can lead to homework time being a stressful and anxiety-producing part of the day for not only children, but the parents or caregivers who need to help them. One thing that I started doing with my daughter is to set up a homework station with all of the supplies she needs. This means that when we go school supply shopping, we buy an extra of everything and set it up in a desk organizer so she doesn't have to take anything out of her bag other than her homework folder. This helps in preventing her forgetting to put something back that she needs during her school day.

Yoobi Folders-I didn't realize how important a sturdy school folder was until I began working with school age kids who had a hard time with keeping their backpacks organized. I can't tell you how many folders I have seen stuffed to the gills and ripped from being shoved into the bag by their owners. This leads to frustration from parents, teachers and the kids when they can't easily find what they are looking for. One way to avoid some of this is to assign a specific color folder to each subject (be sure to label the front of the folder). Another little trick I learned is that you should avoid buying cardboard/paper folders as they rip easier. I LOVE these poly covered folders by Yoobi. They are the only ones I use with my daughter and they last us all year long. They hold up to 100 pieces of paper (although we weed through her papers a couple times a month) and can take a beating. Another great thing is that this company does an amazing thing: for every Yoobi item you buy, a Yoobi item is donated to a classroom in need somewhere in the US. Certainly makes me feel good about doing as much of my school supply shopping from them as possible.


Many of the recommendations on this list are ones that will help with children becoming more organized and independent. As kids get older and the expectations increase, I have noticed that they can become more disorganized which leads to all kinds of other problems. Providing children with simple strategies for organization will lead to increased success in school and at home when doing homework. It also leads to increased confidence and self-esteem, which is one of the most important things to ensuring that a child has a good school year. The other school supplies recommended are ones that I have used for years and years in my private practice and with my own daughter. They are affordable and easy to find in local stationery or office supply stores.

Do you have favorite school supplies? Things that help children with organization or lead to improved fine motor skills? I love finding new supplies, especially ones that have been tested out by others. Be sure to send me your ideas. I am always a click away and love hearing from you all.

Wishing everyone out there a very happy, fun and organized school year!

A Popping Good Time!

There are a few toys/tools that pretty much every occupational therapist and therapeutic gym has.  One of those are wrapper snappers or pop tubes.  This simple toy can bring endless hours of joy to kids and the therapeutic benefits are endless.  They are great for working on improving bilateral coordination, grasp strength, manipulation skills and problem solving and motor planning.  Kids love the funny sounds that they make as you push them together and pull them apart.  And you can be super creative and do lots of other fun things with them like make a marble run or use it as a slide for little toys to sort into different color containers.  The best part, they are inexpensive and easy to throw in a travel bag.

This past weekend, I was in my local toy store looking for a birthday present.  Imagine my surprise, okay, my childlike excitement when I found this amazing box filled with mini wrapper snappers and little plastic connecting pieces called Popoids.  Upon closer inspection, I discovered that Popoids was a popular toy in the late 70s/early 80s (my own childhood).  The toy is basically the same as the original one with some minor changes.  Each box comes with 60 pieces....36 pop tubes in a variety of colors and 24 connectors.  Don't get scared about that number of pieces....the box they come in is incredibly sturdy so you can use that as storage.  And if you want to keep your kids occupied on a long car ride, to take on vacation or eating out, you can pack a handful in a ziploc bag and throw them into your bag.  There are plenty of things your child can create with just a handful of the Popoids.

I am going to put this out there and say it might be one of the best toys I have purchased in a really long time.  In the week that it has been in my gym, just about every kid has used it and has had the best time.  One of the things that I am looking for in toys these days is that they encourage creativity in kids.  During the summer months, I want to not only work on meeting the IEP goals of kids, but also want to help kids think outside of the box and begin to use their imagination when building with different toys.  The best thing about this particular toy is that not only does it work on a bunch of occupational therapy goals, it encourages creativity and open-ended play.  There is no right or wrong which is a welcome change for so many kids who are used to having to do things just right in school or therapy.  Providing children with the opportunity to play with open ended materials such as Popoids help develop problem solving skills and enhances cognitive and executive functioning skills such as working memory, flexibility and self-regulation.

In addition to all that I have already mentioned, Popoids help work on the following occupational therapy skills:
Improves Grasp Strength/Manipulation Skills-pop tubes have been one of my go to finger/upper extremity strengthening activities since day one.  I have been using the smaller pop tubes from the Popoids set to "warm up" the muscles of the hands before kids do graphomotor activities.  The good thing is that the kids are having so much fun, they don't even realize they are doing work.
Improves Bilateral Coordination Skills-whether you are pulling the pop tubes apart or pushing them together, attaching pop tubes to each other or to the other pieces, kids have to use two hands.  For some of the kids I work with who have decreased upper extremity strength and shoulder stability, I have to really encourage them to not use their belly to stabilize/make this task easier.
Encourages Creativity-while there is a little guidebook to show you some of the things you can make with the Popoids, very vew of the kids that have played with them have wanted to use it.  They are having more fun building their own creations.  Whether it be a fireman hose, robots or a some kind of crazy alien, kids are choosing what they want to make and then they choose their pieces, put them together and then playing with them.  So in addition to improving creativity, it is encouraging open-ended play opportunities which many of the kids I work with don't get nearly enough time to do.
Improves Social Skills-I've had more fun watching the kids I work with play together and come up with something to build and then play with.  They have had to sometimes negotiate and be flexible about trying something different than they were thinking about making.  They have to share pieces or sometimes help their friend put the pieces together.  Once they are done creating their masterpieces, they can play together.

Here are a few other things you can do with the Popoids.
*have kids work on matching and sorting colors.  Make sure that you have them identify the colors as they sort them.
*for kids working on shapes, have them put together a few pop tubes and manipulate them into shapes.

What are some of your favorite open ended building materials?  I would love to hear from you about other great toys that will encourage and motivate creativity.  I am only a click away and love hearing from all of you.

Sometimes It's Good To Manipulate

One of the most common goals I have to work on is improving hand strength with the kids I work with.  Decreased grasp strength leads to children having delayed fine motor skills, including how to grasp a writing instrument and manipulate small objects. It also has an impact on children being able to be independently dress and undress themselves by manipulating buttons, snaps and other fasteners. It's important to find creative ways to work on building strength since it's not uncommon for kids with decreased grasp strength and delayed fine motor skills to have self-esteem and confidence issues.

When it comes to manipulative toys, everyone knows about Legos.  They are awesome and the most accessible manipulate toy in toys stores these days.  Personally, I have a daughter who has been collecting the Disney Princess and Elves collections over the last few months and we both have a ton of fun putting them together.  But if you are looking for something a little different to work with, there are a lot of options out there that may actually be a bit more affordable and lend themselves to encouraging creativity in young children.  An added bonus to all of the manipulative sets I will talk about are that they are great for working on improving hand strength, eye-hand coordination and bilateral coordination.  I can also tell you from my personal experience with all of the following building toys is that parents will have just as much fun playing with them!

Straws and Connectors Building Sets-thanks to an awesome SEIT/friend, I was introduced to straws and connectors.  There is nothing fancy about these toys but the kids love to build and create with them.  There are visual instructions that can be followed but oftentimes, it's great for kids to work together and build what comes to their minds.  The nice thing about these is that you can build something small or something really large that kids can interact with.  The kids that attend the social skills class I co-teach (The Meeting House in NYC) worked together to build a giant house that they could sit inside.  So in addition to being great for working on improving fine motor and manipulation skills, they also can work on improving gross motor and motor planning skills.

Multicolor Snowflake Building Blocks-these snowflake shaped manipulative toys are perfect for encouraging kids to expand their imagination and creativity skills.  Whether children follow the visuals that come with the snowflake pieces (great for improving visual perceptual skills) or build something on their own, they will work on improving grasping skills, bilateral coordination and work on increasing hand strength in a fun and creative way.

Creative Toys Building Blocks 3D Puzzles-I saw these when I was working at The Meeting House last week and loved them at first sight.  One of the things I like best is that the kids were working together to build these elaborate creations.  It was fun to see how they were taking simple shapes and different size bars and pushing them together to connect them to build and create.  Kids who typically had a hard time working together and compromising with their friends were successfully planning out what they were going to make and helping each other add onto the structure.  In addition to working on improving fine motor and manipulation skills, these are great for working on learning colors and shapes and sorting skills (have kids sort by shapes, colors, size, etc.).

Tinkertoys-there are certain toys that have been around for a long time and even though they have changed a bit over time, the purpose is still the same.  Tinkertoys are one of those toys.  I remember playing with them as a child and spending hours building and creating with friends.  This set from Fat Brain Toys is similar to the classic set from my childhood.  I liked how the straws/rods bend a bit so kids can add more details to their structures.  Spokes and spools snap together, bendable straws help connect pieces and use miscellaneous wheels, flags, washers, etc. to create and build whatever comes to a child's imagination.

The best part of all the toys above is that there is no right or wrong way to use them.  You can follow step-by-step directions if you want to, but you can also allow kids to interact with them and create with them using their imagination.  Given the amount of structured work our children have in school these days, it's important to offer lots of opportunites for kids to have open-ended and unstructured play.  Kids need to be able to have time to let their imaginations grow and all of the aforementioned manipulation toys do just that.  They can all be used independently or used with friends or siblings to work on improving critical social skills such as turn taking, compromise, flexibility and language skills.

I've had such fun testing and playing with all the toys written about above.  I am always looking for new products to keep the kids I work with excited and motivated to come to our sessions.  Do you have any great building toys that you/your kids love?  Please share your ideas with me and my readers if you do.  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all.