On The Go Fun

Summer is here and with August right around the corner, I know a lot of families spend a lot of time traveling. August also ends up being the time of the year where (some) parents begin to panic about the lack of work their kids have been doing all summer and not being properly prepared for the upcoming school year. Traveling is a great time to practice the whole "make learning fun" concept by packing the right kinds of toys. It can be so easy to just occupy their time by giving them some kind of device, which is fine, but there are so many ways to keep kids entertained without having to be looking at a screen. Below, I share some of my favorite products out there that are easy to take along anywhere. They aren't bulky, heavy or take up a lot of space which is a crucial thing when you are traveling.

Car Seat Travel Tray-I haven't used this but wish I had had something like this for my daughter when she was younger. When she wasn't sleeping, she wanted to be drawing or playing on our long car rides and there was never an easy solution. This travel tray can be attached to your car seat (also can be used in a stroller or when out at a restaurant) over your child's lap and helps in keeping everything your child might need in their reach. This comes in especially handy if you are doing any kind of traveling without a spouse or someone who can be that person who can pick up dropped objects. This particular travel tray has sturdy walls and a raised front edge, has multiple storage areas and the waterproof tray is safe for your child to eat on. Be sure to stock your child's travel tray with their favorite art supplies, manipulative toys, stickers and anything else that will keep them entertained.

OOLY Play Again Reusable Sticker Sets-these are one of my favorite new discoveries of this year. OOLY never disappoints me so when I saw these reusable sticker sets a couple of months ago, I bought them all. Think Colorforms reinvented for kids today. Choose from four different sets: Dragon Racetrack, Space Critters, Mermaid Magic and Princess Garden. These incredibly well made sticker sets come with over 60 reusable stickers with a double-sided trifold scene board and can be stored in the sturdy case they come in. Great for throwing in a bag to keep your kids entertained while traveling. These sets are great for working on improving grasping skills, bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination while encouraging creativity and imagination.

Teebee Play and Store Box-I have loved this storage box since I first saw it on Kickstarter years ago and my own daughter has used it when traveling to keep her Legos all in one place or keep her arts and crafts supplies from going all over the place. The box has a great design with two hinged lids that fold out to create play trays that can rest over your child's legs and a handle for kids to be able to carry from the car to anywhere else. There is also another tray that can be removed to fit on the front edge of the box. If you want to use it for Legos, it comes with a brick plate that you can place in one of the lids. The Teebee box can be used for whatever you want, especially those open-ended toys like action figures, Squigz, beads, etc..  The Teebee box is a great place to store products that will work on increasing grasp strength and manipulation skills while also encouraging creativity and imagination skills.

Squigz 2.0-I've been a fan of Squigz since they first came out years ago and not only use them at work all the time, I gift them to kids almost as much! These open-ended suction cup building toys are as much fun for the grownups as they are for the kids and are so great for working on a variety of developmental skills. Just like the original Squigz, you can push them together to build creations. When you pull them apart, you get the most satisfying Pop sound! The Squigz 2.0 have been updated so that they can not only stick to each other, but the new flat centers allow them to connect in more places. Not only do they stick to each other, they stick to a variety of surfaces (think car window, airplane trays or tables when eating out) making them a perfect on-the-go toy. Squigz work on improving fine motor skills such as grasp strength and manipulation skills, encourages spatial reasoning, creativity, imagination and visual motor and perceptual skills.

Feelings and Emotions Peg Doll Set-sometimes vacations can be challenging for the children I work with. Being away from their comfortable place and not following their familiar routines can cause anxiety for some kids and lead to some meltdowns. When a child is in mid-meltdown mode, they can lose the ability to express themselves. I am loving this peg doll set from Hope Learning Toys that can help children get through difficult times by being able to label and discuss how they are feeling at different times. This set comes with 5 peg dolls (sad, calm, angry, happy, worried) and birch discs with the feelings written on them and comes in a bag making it perfect for traveling.

Toy Story 4 Mini Potato Heads-this is one of my favorite new purchases of the summer and they are a huge hit with the kids I work with. First of all, whenever a huge movie comes out, I check out what kinds of toys are being sold as they always end up being really motivating for my kids. With Toy Story 4 being one of the biggest movies of the summer, I was so excited to see they had come out with these adorable set of mini Potato Heads. I have had a pretty large collection of the superhero themed mini Potato Heads and they are a huge hit in the gym. These are a really great on-the-go toy because they don't take up much space and easily thrown into a travel or diaper bag. They are great for working on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improves bilateral coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills and works on executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, motor planning, organizational, problem solving and sequencing skills. An added bonus is that there can be some great opportunities for pretend play with these adorable figures.

OOLY Chromoblends Travel Watercolor Palette-just because you are on the road, it doesn't mean your little artists can't keep creating. This awesome travel size watercolor set comes complete with 24 watercolors, two water brushes and a built in watercolor palette. The water brushes fill up so you don't have to worry about cups of water if you are in a restaurant or on a plane/in a car. I love how small the packaging is making it easy to throw into a beach or travel bag keeping your kids entertained without a screen when they need some down time.

Lee Sticker Puzzles-these sticker puzzles will always be a favorite of mine and are so perfect for travel. They come in different sizes making them appropriate for a wide range of kids. Look through the Sticker Puzzle collections and you will find all kinds of books featuring some of your kids favorite television and movie characters. Kids create pictures by placing a numbered sticker on the right place in the numbered grid. These are great for working on improving hand-eye coordination, visual tracking, visual motor and perceptual skills, grasping and manipulation skills and encourages focus, attention and organizational skills. The best part is that each book has 8 puzzles and will take up almost no room in your bags. Sets range from 15-42 stickers.

Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics-another one of my all-time favorite things ever! I discovered the sticky mosaic sets years ago and they have been a staple in my OT tool box ever since. While I encourage you to look for these at your favorite local toy stores if you have that as an option, Amazon has a great collection for you to peruse if you don't. Whether your kid is into dinosaurs or princesses, there are so many great sets to choose from. They get to make a picture using the various stickers by matching colored sticker to the matching number on the picture.Once they have completed their picture, they can hang it up to display which makes a kid feel so confident!

Sticky Mosaics are a great way to work on developing fine motor and grasping skills, visual motor and perceptual skills, encourages bilateral coordination and executive functioning skill such as focus, attention, planning and organizational skills.

Kid Made Modern Beach Bash Jewelry Kit-I happen to have a kid who really loves to create anytime she can, especially accessories! I am kind of obsessed with all things Kid Made Modern. If you don't know about them, you need to! They have this amazing mission to inspire kids (and their grownups) to find and enjoy being creative. All of their products are designed to give kids the opportunity to realize their creative spark, use their imagination and express themselves by providing them with a variety of craft materials. While they provide them with ideas, they also encourage kids to use their imagination to come up with their own creation.
While there are so many jewelry kits to choose from, the Beach Bash Jewelry Kit is one of my favorites, especially for the summer. Each set comes with everything you need to make fun summer related accessories. The durable case comes complete with different colored hemp cords, shell pendants, seashells, wooden and acrylic beds and an instruction guide to motivate your little designer.
These kits are awesome for working on improving fine motor and manipulation skills, bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination, visual motor skills, encourages creativity and imagination skills and works on improving focus, attention and organizational skills. Another great thing is that as kids complete their jewelry, their confidence and self-esteem rise!

Glow Friends Neon Colouring Set-sometimes my daughter is perfectly content with the coloring pages that you may get a children's menu on at restaurants but most of the time she wants more than a couple of crayons and whatever they give you to color.  This coloring set by Tiger Tribe is a perfect for throwing in your bag, whether you are going out to eat or about to hop in a car or a plane for a long trip.  Each set comes in a sturdy box with a magnetic top and contains 36 coloring pages, 2 storage drawers, 3 sheets of stickers and 3 double sided markers.  Great for working on improving graphomotor skills, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and encourages creativity.  

Take-Along Games-this set by Peaceable Kingdom is great for keeping kids entertained while in a car/plane, at a restaurant or those down times at the pool or beach.  The set comes with 4 games that use reusable stickers (think Colorforms): Tic-Tac-Toe, Four-in-a-Row, Memory Match-up and On-the-Go Bingo.  In addition to keeping kids entertained, these are great for working on improving grasp strength and manipulation skills, improves hand-eye coordination and visual motor and visual perceptual skills and works on executive functioning skills.   



These are just a handful of the awesome things out there that not only make learning fun, they are easy to take when you are on the go. I know there are a ton more out there so if you are looking for specific ideas for your children, let me know. If you have toys, games or activities that are hits with your kids for traveling, I'd love to hear from you. I am always a click away and love hearing from you all!

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.