Let's Build These Cars and Take Them For a Test Drive

As the holiday season approaches, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for hot toys and games to add to this year's gift guide.  Parent are already asking me what they can get their children and what they can suggest that others get them.  While parents want to get things that their kids want and will like, they also interested in getting things that will help them reach some of their therapeutic goals.

I've always been a fan of Legos and have quite the collection that I use at home and at work.  For some of the older kids on my caseload, working with Legos can be motivating and get them to work on a number of skills.  They are great for working on increasing hand strength and improving manipulation skills, which  is important for handwriting, cutting and all kinds of other academic activities.  It helps with executive functioning skills, especially improving organization, problem solving and focus and attention.  At the end, the kids have a final product that they have built themselves and there is a tremendous amount of pride.

Many of the kids I work with are under the age of 5 and have significantly decreased grasp strength and poor fine motor skills.  Therefore, regular Lego sets are typically not appropriate for them and end up causing more harm and frustration than good.  In the past few years, Lego has expanded their Duplo products and there are some pretty amazing ones to choose from.  The other day, I was looking around and stumbled upon the Creative Cars set.  First of all, I was impressed with the affordable price tag of $20.  The set comes with 40 different colored blocks in a variety of shapes, including windows, sirens and other truck parts.  With those 40 Duplo blocks, you can create tons of different cars and trucks, including a dump truck, a police car or a tow truck.  The set comes with a poster that shows you all the different things you can make.  The best part is that the pictures are big and make it very easy to follow the directions.  Depending on the child you are working with, you can make something small and simple or bigger and more complicated.  I like that most of the cars and trucks use less than 10 pieces (most of them are closer to 5 or 6 blocks) so they can complete them in a short amount of time.  After the kids have built all the different vehicles, you can ask them to try and create their own.  If you have kids who need to work on being more creative, you can put a handful of pieces in front of them and have them come up with their own creation.  

Some of the other occupational therapy skills that can be worked on using the Duplo Creative Cars set are:
Improve Grasp Strength-as previously mentioned, all Legos, no matter the size, are great for working on increasing grasp strength and making those little muscles in the hands stronger.  Many of the kids I work with tend to avoid working with manipulative kinds of toys because they are hard for them so it's important that I find things that are interesting and exciting to them.  I've only been using these for a couple of days, but I can tell you that the kids are loving them and asking to build more and more cars instead of giving up after just one.  

Improve Bilateral Coordination Skills-building with Duplos are great for working on bilateral coordination/using two hands together during activities.  For so many of my little kiddos at work, this is a difficult thing for them.  I spend a lot of my time telling kids to use both hands.  Even with blocks and other manipulative toys, I watch kids not use two hands and they get frustrated because the blocks aren't sticking together.  Bilateral coordination is important for so many things, including handwriting, cutting and other academic activities.  It's important to find motivating ways to work on this skill, and this car set is proving to be very motivating!
Improve Visual Motor/Perceptual Skills-as I mentioned earlier in this post, the set comes with a poster with pictures of all the different cars and trucks that you use as a reference when building with the blocks.  This is great for kids to work on improving their visual skills, such as visual tracking and visual perceptual skills.  Kids have to be able to look through and scan the big pile of blocks to find what they need to build the car or truck of their choice.  Once they have all their pieces gathered, they need to be able to be able to look at the diagram and figure out what pieces go where.  It can be tricky sometimes because some of the pieces look really similar so I have the kids double check their pieces before they begin building.
Improve Executive Functioning Skills-there are so many executive functioning skills that can be worked on when building with this Duplo set.  First of all, being able to follow the directions and maintain their attention is very important in order for children to be successful when building their cars and trucks.  They also need to be able to sort and organize their blocks before building.  Sometimes kids can frustrated when things aren't easy and give up easily.  Being able to ask for help instead of giving up and getting upset is a really important skill that can be worked on as well.  

Improve Social Skills-these cars are great for working on improving social skills with younger children.  I had a small group of 3 boys playing with them yesterday and it was fascinating to watch them work together to build cars and then play with them.  The great thing about this set is in addition to being able to build cars and trucks, you can build a gas station so you can expand play skills at the same time.  In my social skills group, I had the kids build a garage using Magna-Tiles which they thought was really fun.  Using the Creative Car set with a group of kids will help them work on sharing, compromise and working together to build something.  This can be a difficult thing for kids and is something that's important to work on so they can be socially successful in a classroom setting later on.

While I have only had this Creative Cars set for a few days, it has been a popular activity amongst all the kids on my caseload.  When I told one mom that her son had played with the Duplo blocks for almost 10 minutes, she didn't believe me.  "My kid doesn't play with Legos, Meghan." I think that the building of vehicles and then being able to play with them are highly motivating for the kids.  If you wanted to add another level of play to this, you could get this Road PlayTape and have the kids set up a course for their vehicles to drive along.  There are so many things that you can do with the vehicles once they are built.  As I mentioned earlier, you don't have to just make the vehicles that they have pictured on the poster.  Sometimes kids need to be able to think outside of the box and become more creative in their play.  Have them build vehicles and tell stories about them.  Have them give the vehicle a name, a magic trick it can do or a place they are going to go on some kind of magical adventure.  Being able to be imaginative and tell stories is a really difficult but important skill for kids, even preschoolers.

Whether you use these with an individual child or a group of children, there is so much that you can do with the Creative Car set by Duplo.  While they are having fun, you can be happy knowing that they are working on developing a ton of skills that will help them become stronger and more confident little people!

Be sure to check out your local toy stores (I found mine at Mary Arnold Toys on the Upper East Side of Manhattan) before going to Amazon or the other big box stores.

If you have any questions, I am only a click away and love hearing from you all!

If We Could Turn Back Time...and Just Play

In the last few months, I have been reading up a lot on play and how research is finding how important it is to social emotional development for children.  We have become so focused on teaching our children the ABCs and 123s, that we have ended up decreasing the amount of time they get to just play.  I know that there is lots of time during the school day for kids to "play" but it is often directed by the adults because kids are given a choice to play in one station or another.  There is often an adult guiding their play.  I can't tell you how many times I have walked into a classroom observation and seen kids on the outside of the group having to be brought in and directed how to "play" by one of the classroom team members.  Play, unfortunately, is something that has taken a backseat these days as we as a society place a greater importance on teaching our kids and making sure they have all the academic skills.  You don't hear parents bragging about that awesome block castle their kid build all by themselves, do you?  What you hear are things like "My 3 year old already knows how to write all their letters!" or "My 4 year old learned how to read!"  While these are both critical skills for every child to learn, they don't need to be taught at such a young age.  Leave that to their teachers and begin playing with your kids!

Why is play important?  There are endless reasons, but here are just a few:
*children are given the opportunity to practice both verbal and nonverbal communications skills by negotiating roles and gaining an understanding of other peoples feelings.
*they learn important social skills that they will need for the rest of their lives such as turn taking, sharing materials and waiting for their turn.
*play and physical activity has been linked to helping kids be more creative thinkers and have a better ability to connect with others.  They are better able to negotiate, share and resolve conflicts when given ample opportunity to play independent from their caregivers.
*play helps to improve fine motor skills.  Children who have been given lots of playground play opportunities are given the chance to hone their body strength and coordination skills which leads to improved fine motor skills.  It also helps them to build gross motor skills, improve self-control and modulation skills.
*play has been proven to relieve stress in children, especially as the academic demands begin to increase.  I always tell the parents I work with that what we expect from kids today is abnormal.  We are asking way more from them than is developmentally appropriate.  According to a poll of parents by Let's Play, 46% of the parents said that the focus on academics was one of their kids' biggest barriers to play.

The countless articles I have read have gotten me thinking a lot, especially as I watch my daughter grow and mature.  I have always been impressed how she has always been able to interact with her environment.  Not just the people in her environment, but the toys and objects as well.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I am not preaching, judging or trying to tell anyone what is right or wrong when it comes to play and the kinds of activities and toys we expose our children to.  My daughter is an expert when it comes to playing with and exploring an iPad.  Maybe it is a bad thing at times but it has helped motivate her to learn how to write letters, begin learning how to read and kept her from freaking out during some long car and plane rides.  I'm definitely guilty of buying those battery operated toys that she has seen on television (she's an commercial addict and MUST have everything she sees) because she "has to have them".  But what I love the most is that as much as she loves those things she sees on tv, she can play for hours with her little Maileg bunnies and mice I've been collecting for me...I mean her...since she was born.  She can play in her kitchen and cook for her daddy and me coming up with some of the most delicious meals.  When I would pick her up from school, she would run around with her friends without a care in the world playing tag and other kid games.  I know that even if she is exposed to too much television and screen time on the iPad, she has a vivid imagination, can sit and color and draw for long periods of time and socialize with her peers without me having to step in more than what any parent of a kindergartener expects to.

These articles have also gotten me thinking about my childhood and what I did outside of school.  I am one of four girls, my younger twin sisters being less than 2 years younger than me.  We would come home from school and not have to do homework and were forced to go out and play.  Even in the most awful of weather, we were outside.  My mom would pull the car out of the garage and we would ride our bikes, play games and just play.  In the fall, we were given rakes and made leaf mazes and homes.  In the winter, we were given shovels and made snowmen, threw ourselves in the snow and made snow angels and have snowball fights.  It didn't matter what season it was, my sisters and I were encouraged to just play and have fun.  In those moments, we learned how to fight, how to resolve our conflicts and how to compromise with each other.  It wasn't always clean and there were several times that our parents had to intervene, but I know that these opportunities to just play shaped us and our relationship as grownups.

These articles and focus on play has also gotten me to think about the toys we used to play with growing up.  They were so simple yet kept us focused and engaged for such a long time.  Most of them didn't require batteries, didn't make a lot of noise and could be shared with a sibling or friend and encourage social interactions, such as turn taking, compromise and being flexible.  These toys encouraged you to be creative and think outside of your comfort zone.

Here are some of the toys from when I was growing up that are still around today. They may have been modernized to some degree, but not too much.  They are still great toys and in my opinion, ones that we should be getting our kids:
Hula Hoop-do you know the Hula Hoop we know today was invented in 1958?  They are great for working on improving trunk control, motor coordination, focus and attention and increasing frustration tolerance.  Hoop Mamas, an Etsy based store, custom makes hula hoops in different sizes and colors!  A great gift for your those kids you know who love to hula hoop!
Sit N' Spin-the Sit N' Spin is still as awesome today as it was nearly 40 years ago.  They have upgraded the original one several times since its debut in the early 70s, but I am happy to see that they have a non-singing, non-lightup version available now.  The Sit N' Spin is great for working on bilateral coordination, modulation/regulation skills, building upper body strength and motor coordination skills.
Colorforms-Colorforms have been around for over 60 years and one of the oldest and best known toy brands.  These vinyl re-stickable playsets started off as basic shapes (you would put the shapes together to make pictures) and has evolved to popular characters from tv shows and movies.  I'm pretty sure I had a Strawberry Shortcake set way back in the day.  I use Colorforms in my therapy sessions and the kids love them.  Every time you play with them, it can be a little different.  They are great for working on fine motor skills such as grasping, visual motor and perceptual skills and improving language skills.
Wacky Wally-recently, my daughter and I were in a toy store and she found this sticky starfish that can "walk" down the wall.  She got the biggest kick out of it and would fall to the floor laughing as it clumsily made its way to the floor.  It totally brought me back to my childhood and how much fun I would have with my sisters and friends having Wacky Wally races.  It was the simplest of toys yet it provided endless entertainment.  I've actually used other kinds of sticky toys during my therapy sessions.  Sometimes I have them throw them at targets on the wall or mirrors which they love to do.  This simple and inexpensive toy is great for working on decreasing tactile defensiveness (because of it's sticky texture), upper body strength and motor coordination skills.
Snoopy Sno-Cone Maker-first introduced in 1979, the Snoopy Sno-Cone Maker was on every kids wish list growing up.  While things have evolved and we have the ability to make much more sophisticated cool treats, there is something about this sno-cone maker that just takes ice, juice and/or flavoring to make them yourself.  Great for working on bilateral coordination, increasing upper body strength, focus/attention and many other OT skills.  Also great to use with a small group of kids to work on improving social skills such as turn-taking, compromise and improving pragmatic language skills.
Connect 4-even though there are several versions out there now, the original game came out in 1974.  The 2 player game was easy to put together and was simple to play.  Choose a color and start putting the pieces into the board.  The first person to get four in a row, is the winner.  Great game for working on focus/attentional skills, improving executive functioning skills, eye-hand coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills.  Also a great game to play in a small social skills group.
Spirograph-this arts and crafts set has been around for over 50 years and kids today are still enjoying it.  Spirograph was originally designed by a mechanical engineer for use as a drafting tool.  The gears and wheels work together to create cool and colorful swirling designs.  There are now several versions to choose from, including a My Little Pony one that I think my daughter would lose her mind over!  For you traditionalists, no need to worry.  The original set is still available.
Great for working on bilateral coordination skills, improves eye-hand coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and focus and attentional skills.  Also great for encouraging kids to be creative and think outside of the box.
Cats Cradle-I remember spending countless hours playing Cats Cradle with my friends and don't know why I haven't done this at work with my kids!  Using a long circular string, you can create a series of string figures.  This two-person game is great for working on improving fine motor skills, visual motor and perceptual skills, eye-hand coordination, executive functioning skills and many other occupational therapy skills.  I'm definitely going to get myself the book and re-learn how to play this game and start using it at home with my daughter and at work!
Card Games-a simple pack of cards can go a long way in entertaining kids.  I feel like each family has "their" card game.  My sisters and I used to play the game Spit all the time and my now 7 and 10 year old nieces are following in that tradition.  I've used cards to help reinforce number learning with some of the kids I work with.  I love this article by Today's Parent that has the directions to 10 family friendly card games.   
Jenga-did you know that Jenga was released in other countries before coming to North America in 1986?  I remember playing this game with my friends and family as a kid and as stressful as it was, it always ended up with everyone laughing!  After you stack the 54 blocks into a tower, you take blocks out and place them back on the top of the tower. The game continues until the tower falls.  This game is great for working on fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, modulation and regulation skills, focus and attentional skills, motor planning and social skills.  I've actually taken a Jenga game and written questions on each block so each time the block is pulled, a player has to ask the other players social questions.  This can be a great ice breaker game for any social skills group!

These are just a very small handful of games and toys.....I could have gone on and on and on!  As it is, I have a wish list on Amazon.com a mile long on old toys and games I MUST have.  I would love to hear from you about your favorite toys or games growing up.  For you parents reading this post, is there any toy/game from your childhood that you play with your kids?  What about you therapists? do you have anything form your childhood that you use in your therapy sessions that the kids just can't get enough of?  I am only a click away and love hearing from you all!

Back to School Already??

Summer is flying by and school supplies are out on the shelves for purchase.  While I am not even remotely thinking about the fall and trying to take in all that summer has to offer, I know that there are some people who want to get their kids thinking about school.  One of the big things parents want to do over the summer is keep their kids busy with fun activities, but also make sure that they don't lose any of the academic skills that they worked on during the school year.  Now that my daughter is getting older, I find myself spending time this summer getting her prepared for pre-k.  She is a typically developing girl but I have discovered that she is very hard on herself about getting things just right and gets frustrated easily and gives up when she isn't able to accomplish that.  I have found that working on things like handwriting needs to be done in a way that is fun and meaningful to her.  And this is not just for her but for all kids, especially those who may struggle with learning in the most traditional way.

If you read my blog consistently, you already know how much I love the iPad in motivating children to learn.  It is not the only thing I use and will often use it with an activity that is related to what the app is working on.  For example, if I am using an app that is working on learning shapes, I will use a puzzle, shape sorter or shaped beads as a related activity so they can do something hands on and sensory based to help generalize the skill.

Whenever possible,  I use a stylus when kids are engaged in apps so they can work on improving their pencil grip at the same time.  Find one that your child feels most comfortable with and try and make it a rule that if they want to use the iPad, they have to use the stylus.  My favorite is the iCreate Crayon stylus by Fred & Friends as it is just the right size for those little hands.  In addition, children have to work on using the proper amount of pressure when using the stylus; if they press to hard, it won't work as well for them.

The app store is a magical place with new and amazing apps being added daily.  It's hard to keep up with what is out there and even more difficult to really know which ones are worth the money and the space on your iPad.  For those of you (parents and therapists alike) who are looking for some new apps that will keep your kids motivated while also working on preparing them for the upcoming school year, I will share with you what has been hot with my kids this summer and what you can use to get your kiddos geared up for the upcoming school year.

Curious About Shapes and Colors:
Looking for a fun app to motivate your preschoolers to learn their shapes and colors?  Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat lead you through five different levels of matching and sorting fun to help build a toy. Within each level, you will find 5 or 6 activities.  After you have completed all of the activities in each level, there is a game for you to play with whatever you have built....a robot, a boat, a train, a dinosaur, a castle or a spaceship.

While this game is most appropriate for the younger preschool set, I have found that my 4 and 5 year olds attention can be held as well.  The nice thing about this app is that there is no reading involved and that the directions are all spoken to the children so they can be somewhat independent (a child should always be supervised when they are using the iPad but it's also important for children to become more independent when engaged in educational apps).

Skills that can be worked on using this app are:
*Improving matching and sorting skills
*Working on introducing colors and shapes to younger children
*Begin introducing concepts such as same/different and spatial concepts such as in, around, below, etc..
*Improving attention span and frustration tolerance

Other early learning apps worth exploring:
*Monkey Preschool Fix-It by Thup
*Tiggly Safari by Tiggly
*Endless Alphabet by Originator Kids

Writing Wizard:
I am always on the lookout for the perfect handwriting app.  I have found that nothing motivates a child to learn how to write more than using the iPad.  As I have already mentioned, I NEVER use just the iPad to teach a skill but will use it in order to get a child motivated to try something that consistently causes them frustration.  It is a great tool to use to show a child struggling with handwriting that they can be successful; not only will it be fun, it will be educational and can give them the motivation to try handwriting with less argument.

There are a lot of writing apps out there but I am a particular fan of Writing Wizard by L'Escapadou.  There is also a cursive version of this app which I have used with the older kids on my caseload who are struggling with learning how to write in cursive.  Writing Wizard allows a child to practice upper and lowercase letters, different shapes and pictures and numbers.  There are two different modes:  Free Play Mode and Star Mode.  With Free mode, you can practice 1 letter (shape or number) at a time and move onto the next one.  With Star mode (you can set it to 1-5 stars), you practice the same thing over and over again with it getting more challenging each time.  For example, the first time you practice, you just trace the letter.  Eventually the letter will become smaller and the lines will even disappear and a child then has to draw it by memory.  What makes this different from other apps, is that there are 26 animated stickers and "pencils" to draw with and interact with after you are done writing.  My kids especially love watching the flying objects fly back into place to make whatever they just practiced.  

Be sure to practice writing each letter with a writing instrument and paper after you use this app in order to generalize the skill.  In my opinion, it doesn't matter if a child knows how to write the letter on the iPad if they can't do it on paper as well.  A child does not "master" writing letters for me until they are able to write letters in both the iPad and paper.  I tend to find that my children are more motivated to write their letters if it is done in a fun way so I ask parents to send in stickers with their favorite characters, sports teams, etc. so we can practice writing the names out.  Kids will run out of our sessions with their page full of stickers and their names written out and a huge smile on their face.  

Skills that can be worked on while using this app are:
*Improving shape, letter and number recognition
*Improve tracing skills
*Improve grasping skills (use a stylus when using this app to encourage a proper grasp)
*Improve letter and number writing skills

Other handwriting apps worth exploring:
*LetterSchool
*Touch and Write (shapes, letters, cursive) by Fizzbrain

Highlights Hidden Pictures:
One of my favorite childhood memories was when my issue of Highlights came in the mail.  There were so many great activities to do in the magazine (and I am happy to say that we get this magazine now for my daughter and it is still wonderful) but nothing compared to the excitement I felt after finishing a Hidden Pictures page.


I have been keeping my eyes open for a Hidden Pictures app for ages but it wasn't until recently that Highlights came out with one that resembles the magazine version.  This is a great app for my older children who have visual motor difficulties.   One of the nice things about this app is that you can grade it for children who may need more help by using the "clue" option.  I tend to see if my kids can do it without the clues before turning that on.  For my children who need to work on handwriting, I have them work on practicing while finding the pictures.  After they find each hidden item, they then have to write the name of the object that they have found. With over 50 different pictures, it's difficult for kids to get bored with this app.

Skills that can be worked on using this app are:
*Improving visual perceptual skills, including visual spatial skills and visual organization skills
*Improving handwriting skills by writing out the objects you find after you find them
*Improve attention span, frustration tolerance and many other executive functioning skills

Other visual perceptual apps worth exploring:
*Bug Mazing by Little Bit Studios
*Pick-Up Sticks
*Jigsaw Box

Bug Art:
It's no secret how much I love all the apps by Little Bit Studios.  My kids NEVER tire of them and any time a new one comes out, I have to get it.  Bug Art is their newest app and works on inspiring imagination, creativity and play in children.  Children can paint, design and explore the app in a fun and easy way.  They are encouraged to paint whatever comes to their minds (some kids may need a little help from their grownups to think about what they want to make and how to go about that).  Some may be able to draw independently and others may need the interactive tracing...whichever allows for your child to be successful!  Once they create a bug all of their own, they can then play one of the several games built into the app.  For example, they can take their bug and have them participate in fast and furious bug racing.  For those children who might not be ready for that, they can test out having their bugs fly through different environments.

Skills that can be worked on using this app are:
*Improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills
*Improve grasping skills (be sure to use a stylus whenever possible)
*Improve attention span and frustration tolerance
*Improve creative skills

Other drawing apps worth exploring:
Doodlecast by Sago Sago
Draw Along with Stella and Sam by Zinc Roe Designs
DipDap

These are just a handful of the many apps that have been played by the children I see all summer.  As we head into the final weeks of summer and parents are asking you how to get their children back into the whole school mode, you can suggest some of the apps listed above.

Do you have any apps not mentioned here that you have loved working on with the kids that you work with?  I am always looking to freshen up my iPad and keep my kids motivated by changing out apps often.  Like the toys that I have in my closet, it's important to rotate the apps that you present to the kids to make sure they are constantly learning.  If you have any great apps to share with all of us, please let us know!  As always, I am just a click away and love hearing from people.  Not only do I appreciate you taking the time to read, I appreciate the suggestions I have received from you all.

Enjoy your final weeks of summer.  I hope that you are spending them creating memories with your loved ones!

Let's Get the Doodling Started

Until I began working with kids what seems like a lifetime ago, I didn't realize that not being able to draw was something so many kids struggled with.  I just assumed that everyone knew how to draw and that some were just better at it than others.  

It is quite common that children who have handwriting difficulties will also have a hard time with being able to draw.  When I evaluate a child to determine their occupational therapy needs, I always ask that they draw a picture of themselves or their family and to draw another picture of their choice.  It is really interesting to see 

I am a big believer that sometimes it requires some motivation and bribery to teach kids new skills.  Typically, kids avoid things that are difficult because it doesn't make them feel happy.  This shouldn't come as a surprise to any of the adults reading this blog as I think we are all guilty of the same thing.  I know I still avoid doing things that aren't easy or that I might not be very good at.  As an adult, we can do that without too much backlash.  Children are sometimes forced to do things that they aren't good at or that is hard for them and it makes them much more resistant to wanting to do it.  So it is really important to me that I find fun and creative ways to work on those more challenging things so that it ends up being more fun and less work for them.  As a child I wasn't a great drawer, but I had fun and could draw a variety of things so it made me sad to see kids get stressed out when drawing.

Doodlecast for Kids, created by zinc roe Design, is a super cute app that works on teaching kids how to draw.  The really cool thing about this app though is that while you are drawing, it records your drawing process including your voice.  You can then save it on You Tube and send it to parents, teachers, etc..  As a therapist, I love that I can share this process with parents so they not only see their child's work but that they can have a better understanding of what kind of language I am using in order for their child to be successful.  The chances of seeing progress quicker is more likely if we are all using the same language and a similar process with kids.  

As you can see in the picture to the right, there are different ways to start the drawing process.  I like the idea of giving the kids a starting place like the water and the eyes.  When I use it, I brainstorm with the kids even before they begin to draw about what they will include in their picture.  For example, if completing the water picture, I would ask what kind of animals could be in the water, what could be in the bottom of the water and/or what might be on top of the water.  If you choose to use the word bubbles it will ask you to draw something yucky, wet, etc..  

As you can see in the picture below of the octopus, you can let your imagination run wild.  Sometimes once kids are given a starting place, they can jump into completing a picture with greater ease.  As they become more adept at completing the pictures, you can start to use more of a blank canvas and allow them to draw pictures of their own.  Many of the kids I work with struggle with the motor planning and processing part of drawing a picture and end up shutting down.  Even when they feel comfortable enough to draw a picture using the blank template, I would still talk through the process with them to help organize their work and know what they are thinking so I can then help them if they get stuck at any point.  

Listed below you will see just a few of the many therapeutic benefits of Doodlecast for Kids.  

Improve Grasping Skills-as with many other handwriting apps, I like to have the kids hold a stylus when using this app.  Check out this link to the Fred and Friends iCreate Crayon stylus.  I find apps like this are perfect for being able to work on holding a writing instrument the correct way because they tend to become so engrossed in their work.

Improve Motor Planning and Following Directions-sometimes when I ask children to draw pictures, they just scribble all over the paper and quickly finish what they are doing.  When using this app, you could help talk through the process and come up with a plan and then encourage them to follow that plan.  I would make it simple and stick to 3 or 4 steps in the beginning and begin increasing the demands as they are more comfortable with the app and their drawing skills.  

Improve Imagination Skills-this app can be a great way to get kids to start thinking outside of their boxes when drawing.  Many kids I work with will draw the same picture every time I ask them to draw.  Hopefully this will help them begin to feel more comfortable drawing new things and add more details and ideas to their drawings.  It might take time, but I have a feeling that they will become more confident in their drawing skills.  

Improve Social Skills-this is a perfect game to do with siblings, parents or friends.  It would be fun to do this with a small group of kids and see what each one adds.  This is a great way to work on improving a child's flexibility about working with friends and doing something they may not want because each person will be able to add to the picture and they have to not get upset. 

I am really looking forward to using Doodlecast for Kids more with the kids at work.  I think they will really get a kick out of the fact that after they finish their picture, they can watch what they did and see how they got to the finished product.  As I mentioned before, I also love the fact that you can share the videos with the parents.  It is a great way for them to see what we are working on in therapy, what their child is capable of doing and how they can do similar things when they are working with them at home.  

I would love to hear your thoughts about this app and how you might use it with your kids and how you might adapt it for even greater success for your kids.  As always, I am just a click away and would love to hear from you.  Happy Doodling!