8-Bit Art Start for Little Hands

With summer in full swing and many people packing up and getting ready for vacations, I have been asked for suggestions for long plane and car trips.  A few weeks ago, while looking for birthday presents at a local toy store in Park Slope, I happened to see a cute set of sticker/workbooks called Pixel Heroes and Pixel Dolls.  I was immediately sold on the small size and how easily they would fit in my work bag (doing homecare this summer has forced me to look for smaller and more easily transportable items); I couldn't help but think how perfect they would be for so many of my clients who would be doing an extensive amount of traveling this summer and needed to keep working on their fine motor skills.

Using a fine pincer grasp to put stickers in the squares

Pixel Heroes and Pixel Dolls are quite similar to the Orb Factory mosaics that I wrote about here. Each book contains 9 different dolls or heroes to replicate.  On the left hand side of the book, you will see what the doll looks like and on the right hand side there is a grid shaded in guiding the user where stickers need to be placed.   There is an envelope full of small square stickers in the back of the book for easy storage and helps a child keep their work organized.  The gist of the sticker book is to use the different colored stickers and place them in the correct boxes.  They are required to go back and forth between the left and right sides of the books to make sure that they are following the correct pattern.  While this sounds easy, for many of the children I work with, it may be quite a challenge. First of all, the stickers are flat and not easy to manipulate so it's perfect for those kids who need to work on increasing grasp strength and in-hand manipulation skills.  It requires patience and focus to get the stickers in the boxes precisely.  This is a fun activity for older children who need to work on improving their grasping skills and it won't seem so therapeutic to them.  Remember, a child who has good grasping skills will have typically be able to hold a writing instrument properly, be able to manipulate buttons and snaps easier and develop other higher level fine motor and in-hand manipulation skills.  

Pixel Heroes Sticker Book

In addition to what has already been discussed, Pixel Heroes and Pixel Dolls can work on the following occupational therapy goals:

Improve Eye-Hand Coordination-a simple but great activity to focus on eye-hand coordination skills.  The pixel sticker books require a child to look at where the sticker goes and move it around with their fingers until it is in the box the correct way.  For some of my kids, I have them remove the stickers if not placed in the box as close as it can be.  It's important for them to not only put the stickers in place but to correct it if it is not in the right way.  

Improve Visual Tracking and Scanning-if you have a child who has difficulty with this visual motor skill, Pixel Heroes and Pixel Dolls is a perfect activity to work on that without them really knowing that is what you are focusing on.  In order for the doll/hero to be completed correctly, they have to constantly scan between the picture on the left and the grids on the right.  They need to scan each row and figure out what color sticker goes in each box.  

Improve Self-Esteem and Confidence-as with many arts and crafts projects, they can help build a child's sense of confidence and self-esteem.  Don't ever under-estimate what completing a challenging activity all by themselves can do for a child's self-esteem.  I love seeing their faces as they place those final stickers into the grid.  I like to show the kids how their accuracy improved over time by comparing the first few rows with the final ones.  

Improve Attention and Focus-it's important for children to really stop and focus on the picture and the grid.  Unlike the Orb Factory mosaics, there isn't a number or a color for the children to place the stickers on.  They have to rely on being able to copy the pattern provided on the left to the blank grid on the right hand side of the book.  When I first begin this activity, I have the children talk the pattern out to me for the first few rows to help them be more successful in completing the picture.

Pixel Dolls Sticker Book

Improve Organizational Skills-I encourage children to start at the top, left-hand side of the page when beginning their hero or doll.  I have them complete it line by line and not color by color.  For older/school age kids, working this way is important for handwriting, reading and math skills as they all start in the top, left hand corner.
Improve Upper Extremity Strength-I have been having some of my older kids complete their chosen pixel hero or doll while lying prone on a net swing in order to work on improving his/her arm and neck strength.  I love killing two birds with one stone and this is the kind of activity that allows me to do just that.  A kid can work on building their fine motor and grasping skills at the same time as upper extremity strength.  A great way to hide the "work" behind the whole thing.  One of the things I like best is that I can tell a kid that we will stay on the swing until they finish a certain number of rows.  So instead of constantly asking how much longer they have until they are finished, they can just take a look at how much work they have left.

The Pixel Heroes and Pixel Dolls books will be a huge hit with your older preschoolers and school age kids, both at work and at home.  These are perfect for parents who need something to keep in their bags when going out to eat, waiting for a therapy appointment to start or just to keep your kids away from iPads, video games or the television.

I was able to pick my books up at a local toy store in Park Slope, Brooklyn so I wouldn't be surprised if you would be able to find it one of your local toy stores.  I love being able to support the local small businesses in my hood and encourage you all to do the same.  If you can't find them, I happen to have an obsession with an online toy website called My Sweet Muffin, that sells these books (and a million other amazing products).  I originally discovered this store because of an obsession with a certain Danish toy product but have come to realize that they offer tons of other amazing products that are not only fun but therapeutic.

I would love to hear about your experience with the Pixel Heroes and Pixel Dolls sticker books.  Do you have other products that you have seen or used that are like this?  As always, I am just a click away and love hearing from my readers.

An App That Has Me All Fingers and Thumbs

I am sure it is totally obvious how much I love finding good apps.  Ones that will motivate my kids and keep them interested while still working on specific goals.  Months ago I found Dexteria, an occupational therapy app created for school age children (also great for adults who may need to work on building up strength after a hand injury) that focuses on improving fine motor skills.  While it has been a great app for my older clients, it was a bit challenging and not motivating enough for my younger children or those older clients who have significantly decreased grasp strength and in-hand manipulation skills.  So when I saw that they released Dexteria Jr. I immediately downloaded it and began using it right away.  It's a true must have for all you therapists who use an iPad during therapy.

Binary Labs created Dexteria Jr. in conjunction with occupational therapists.  There are 3 activities that work on improving pinching, grasping and coordination of motor skills.  I have been using this for a week or so with a variety of kids (including my own 3 year old daughter) and they all love it.  For my preschoolers who struggle with aquiring higher level fine motor skills, this is a fun app that easily motivates them to work on those challenging skills.  It's clear to me that a lot of thought and collaboration was put into the creation of this app and I am thrilled to have it out there.  Not only am I loving using it in my sessions, I love having it to suggest to my colleagues and to parents of children I work with.

The app is broken down into three mini-games and each game has multiple levels that focuses on a different fine motor skills.  I will describe each game here:

Squish the Squash

Squish the Squash-works on encouraging a child to use a pointer finger to squish the vegetable.  I encourage my kids to stick only their pointer finger out and let all the other fingers go to "sleep".  This can be quite challenging for those kids with decreased grasp strength.  There are a number of levels and the expectations increase on each level.  The number of squash they must squish goes up; they start moving around the screen and eventually you have to squash them 2 to 3 times before you earn a point.

Pinch the Pepper...watch out for the multiplying yellow peppers

Pinch the Pepper-this section of the game focuses on developing a pincer grasp.  Kids are expected to pinch the peppers on the screen.  Again, there are a number of levels and the expectations and challenges go up with each level.  At first, the peppers remain still; eventually they begin moving around the screen.  My favorite part of this game is that eventually the red peppers will begin changing color; if the pepper is yellow and it is pinched, it will split into 3 more peppers.  This is perfect for working on improving a child's focus and ability to regulate their actions.

Trace and Erase..Step 1.  Drag the line to the star

Trace and Erase-this game is perfect for working on pre-writing and tracing skills with preschoolers.  A child is expected to trace a variety of lines and shapes by drawing a line from a dot to the star.  They are timed and their accuracy is measured.  Once they are done tracing the lines, they are then expected to erase each line.  As they erase the lines, they begin to see a picture of themselves.  Once all the lines are erased, the camera will go off and take a silly picture of the kid.  Talk about motivating! My kids keep asking to do more levels just so they can get there picture taken at the end.


In addition to what I have already mentioned, here are a few more occupational therapy goals that can be addressed when using this app:

Improve Grasping Skills-the pinching game is perfect for working on improving a child's grasping s I would work on generalizing this skill by following up with a hands on activity like the Orb Factory Mosaics or stringing small beads on string.  If you are working on proper pencil grasp with a child, you can have them complete the squish the squash and tracing game using a stylus.  I try and do this as often as possible with apps so they can work on grasping skills more consistently.  I recommend the iCreate one found here.  This one meant to look like a crayon is the perfect size for little hands.
Improve Eye-Hand Coordination-all 3 of the games require eye-hand coordination.  This is a perfect and motivating app to be able to focus on coordinating your eyes and hands.  Once you feel as though they have mastered this, you can then try and find more hands on/less techy activities such as stringing beads or mosaic activities.

Trace and Erase...Step 2.  Check out the picture that pops up
as you erase your lines.  

Improve Visual Tracking and Scanning Skills-this is a great game to work on improving visual tracking and scanning skills.  The squash and pepper game require a child to follow the vegetables around the screen prior to either sqishing them or pinching them.  They begin to move faster and faster so it's really important that they maintain their eye contact at one object at a time instead of moving from one to the other.   If you want to work on generalization of their tracing skills, have them complete a paper tracing activity right after.  I am a big fan of the Kumon books; try out the Amazing Tracing and Easy Mazes ones to compliment this activity.
Improve Modulation/Regulation Skills-I like that in order to be truly successful with these games, it requires a child to slow down and be steady in their movements.  For example, if you rush through the trace and erase game, you won't stay in the lines.  I tend to have to remind my kids that speed is not as important as staying in the lines in order to get them to slow down.
Improve Attention and Focus-sometimes I find that the timed apps make my kids rush through activities.  While playing Dexteria Jr., it's important to remind the kids to maintain their focus on the vegetables or the tracing shapes and not the timer.  All three of the activities require you to focus but on different things.  For example, the tracing game requires you to focus on staying in the boundaries.  The pinching game requires you to focus on the color of the peppers.
Improve Upper Extremity Strength-not all iPad games are easy to do while lying on the net swing but once a child is familiar with this one, you can present it to them while on the swing.  I have so many kids who complain about working on upper body strengthening and say they are tired within seconds of getting on the swings.  However, if I have them engaged in a game, they don't mind spending more time in that position.

There are a ton of things to love about this app and as an OT, I could go on and on about the therapeutic benefits of it.  The best part about it is that the design is very child friendly and motivating for the younger kids.  They are having serious fun while working on skills that are necessary for success in academic skills such as handwriting, drawing and cutting.  What's also great is that while it is therapeutic, it can be used at home with caregivers and parents.  Children don't mind doing their OT homework when this app is involved.

While there is still a lot of summer left, I know some parents are looking for activities to get their kids ready for the new school year.  I promise Dexteria Jr. will be something all you early educators who use the iPad will want in your catalog of apps.  And I promise you will be recommending it to parents for home use.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the app and how you use it in therapy or at home.  If you have any other apps that are like this that you want to suggest to my readers, please let me know.  I am always a click away and value your thoughts and opinions.