Remote Therapy Tools

It's hard to believe how quickly things shifted for us as therapists, parents, teachers, etc. in such a short time. For kids, they may be feeling scared about how many things in their life have changed and as their grownups, it's our responsibility to offer them comfort and consistency. While I am preparing to move towards remote therapy sessions, I am trying to gather ideas and tools on how to make this as successful as possible. This is definitely going to be challenging, but I am looking forward to expanding my skills and helping parents through this time. One of the things I am doing is trying to think about what parents might have lying around their houses or what might still be easy to get. I know that stores are closed to foot traffic and browsing, but are still open for deliveries or curbside pickup. I urge parents to take advantage of these stores and the personalized care they can provide to you. For my New York City folks, check out places like Lulu's Cuts and Toys, Norman and Jules, Little Things Toy Store, Stationary and Toy World and Stoopher and Boots (follow on Instagram to see her awesome toys).


Here are more than 20 of my favorite and most commonly used therapy tools:

PopTubes-I think any therapeutic gym you go to will have a bag of these. Used for working on improving grasp strength and manipulation skills, encourages hand eye and bilateral coordination skills. One of our favorite activities to do at our gym is to set up our sorting bears and cups, have the kids stretch out the poptube and use it as a slide for the bears.







Stickers-I use stickers for SO much. Kids love them as a reward at the end of a session, but I find them to be so useful for therapeutic activities. Here are a few things I use stickers for:
-find stickers of your children's favorite characters and put them on a piece of paper and have them write their names next to them (I make boxes for my early writers)
-draw lines and put stickers at the top of them and have kids practice cutting. Make curved or zigzag lines to increase the challenge


Bag of Beads-there are so many things you can do with a bag of beads! There are a variety of sizes of beads. Typically I recommend larger beads for smaller hands and smaller beads for bigger, stronger hands. Obviously stringing beads are great for working on developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills and improves hand eye and bilateral coordination. You can simply string beads or add some challenges by doing the following:
-make pattern cards and have kids follow them
-add a sensory component and hide the beads in a bucket of rice and have them dig through and find them
-when using smaller beads, like these alphabet beads from Norman and Jules, pick up all the beads you are going to use with kids chopsticks

Squeeze Popper Toys-these have been a huge favorite of mine for a while. Definitely check out your local toy stores for these as I have seen them everywhere! Kids really get a kick out it but don't realize that there are a ton of occupational therapy goals that can be worked on using them. Let them choose their favorite animal or food and then let them play. These are a perfect toy to work on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, increases grasp strength and encourages hand eye and bilateral coordination skills. Make a game out of this and set up a target (think something like a dart board) and see how many points you can get by aiming at different numbers or colors worth different points.



Fiskars Scissors-there are a lot of kids scissors out there but many of them are poorly made which could lead to kids getting really frustrated and giving up easily when you present them with cutting activities. The Blunt Tip (made in both left and right hand options) have been my go-to since I started as an occupational therapist. Some people thing I am crazy, but teaching preschoolers to learn how to cut in a safe and appropriate way is a very important thing to me. As a pediatric OT how many times I have seen kids walk into my sessions with chopped up bangs and wished that more schools taught kids the appropriate ways to use scissors in order to avoid this. I have a lot of great cutting activities and resources that I will be sharing with my families as I begin remote therapy. If you want to

Discovery Putty-Fun and Function's Discovery Putty is another one of my favorite and most recommended items when parents ask for activities to do at home. Theraputty is perfect for working on increasing grasp strength, improves fine motor, manipulation and grasping skills and encourages bilateral coordination skills. There are a bunch of different themes to choose from with different resistance depending on your child's hand strength. Kids have just as much fun finding the hidden objects as they do when I challenge them to hide them for whoever is going to use it next. Putty can also be used for other things. If you remove all the hidden objects, you can roll it into a snake and practice cutting it into pieces. You can also use putty to practice making letters, numbers and shapes.



Colored Paper-don't underestimate how helpful a good supply of colored paper can be. I like to use thicker card-stock weight paper because it doesn't tear so easily and I also find it is easier for kids to cut through if we are practicing cutting. I plan on having kids set up some easy obstacle courses during our remote sessions and will be using colored paper for this.



Legos-I have spent hours and hours scouring Pinterest and so excited to find that there are a million ways to incorporate them into my soon to be remote therapy sessions. My daughter had a thing for a long time with Legos so we have a massive amount of them lying around and it's amazing what you can do with them. We all know that Legos are a motivating hand strengthening tool, especially if you pick out the right set (we have a new Trolls set that we are going to tackle during our time at home) but there are so many other things you can do with them. Here are just a few things:
-practice making letters and numbers with Legos on a baseplate
-solve a secret code: using 26 different Lego pieces and a baseplate, assign a letter to each piece
-this 31 Day Spring Lego Calendar provides you with a whole bunch of other things you can do with your Legos

JaqJaq Reusable and Washable Paper-these are my new obsession and I can't think of a better time for us all to be trying to use less paper than now. Especially when doing handwriting or drawing apps, I always have kids practice when pen and paper immediately after practicing on the iPad. For example, when using LetterSchool, I have the kids practice the letter first on the iPad and then have them do hands on writing practice using this amazing product. You can use chalk, chalk markers, JaqJaq Butter Stix, or ooly Dustless Chalk Crayons. Easy to clean with a wet paper towel and can be used over and over again.




Wikki Stix-another classic, inexpensive and really versatile therapy tool that I have been using for years. I have been using these for as long as I can remember to and the kids love them and could be used for so many things. Wikki Stix are pieces of yarn dipped into a safe, non-toxic wax that can be manipulated for open-ended creating. One of my favorite things to do with Wikki Stix, other than making a pair of eye-glasses, is to have kids practice making shapes, letters and numbers. Make sure to have a pair of scissors handy so you can cut them into the smaller pieces. It's amazing to see how motivated kids are to practice these things when they have fun, sensory materials to engage in more challenging activities.


Zoo Sticks-love, love, love these and I know that you can buy them at Stationary and Toy World and Lulus in Park Slope. Another one of my most favorite and most recommended tools for parents. These child-friendly chopsticks have different objects on the top that connect the sticks together. There are a variety of animals, car, etc. so if you find the right one, your kids will love using them. They are a great way to improve grasp strength and manipulation skills, encourages hand eye and bilateral coordination and can work on motor planning skills. Kids can eat with them or they can be used to pick up small objects in games. For example, I like to use them when playing Kerplunk or Tumbling Monkeys instead of them using their fingers to pull the sticks out. One of the kids favorite things to do is to use them to pick up these Squishy Animals.

Dry Erase Board-I have a feeling that this is going to come in really handy with my upcoming remote sessions. Whether it be to write out the session plan, practice letters or play games, I know my dry erase board is going to come in very handy and have asked parents to make sure they have one handy for their children. I'm looking forward to playing Tic-Tac-Toe, Hangman and other games with my kids using this! An added benefit of using a dry erase board is that if it is hung up on the wall, working on a vertical surface is great for working on improving upper body strength and encourages proper wrist positioning when writing.




Playdoh-I have to admit that I have never been a fan of traditional Play Doh, but the kids love it and it is an easy to find and inexpensive sensory material that can be used in a ton of different ways. Playing with playdoh is great for improving grasp strength and manipulation skills, improves hand eye and bilateral coordination and encourages creativity and imagination skills. Practice cutting by rolling the playdoh into a circle and cutting out pizza slices. Roll the playdoh into snakes and turn them into shapes, letters or numbers. Throw out challenges and have them create different things: face, snowman, cars, buildings, etc..
Since parents have a lot of time to fill during the day with their kids right now, homemade playdough is a fun thing to do with them. There are SO many recipes out there but I have tried this one and it is great.
If you are looking for something more natural, check out my post last week featuring the almost too beautiful to use Land of Dough.

Pegboard-pegboards are a pretty common toy that you will find in a therapeutic gym because they can be used in a bunch of different ways and work on a ton of goals. Great for increasing grasping and manipulation skills, improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills and encourages hand eye and bilateral coordination. The pegboard I have linked comes with two double sided boards for different challenges such as matching and sorting. Add a gross motor challenge by having them stand on a balance board forcing them to go from standing to pick up pegs and squatting to place them in the board.




Bubbles-these are probably something that most of us have lying around and if not, go to your local drug store and get a giant bottle of them. First of all, kids just love bubbles and if you blow them for them, they can get some energy out by running around to pop them (great visual motor activity!). If you find that your kid's starting to feeling dis-regulated or anxious, taking deep breaths and blowing bubbles can help calm them down. A fun (outdoor) art activity would be to place a large piece of paper on the sidewalk or driveway, fill a bunch of paper cups up with bubble mix and add some food coloring to them and then blow different colored bubbles to make a picture.

Rainbow Indoor Tunnel-I like to make reasonable recommendations to families when it comes to gross motor toy ideas because the families I work with tend to not have a lot of space. This tunnel is great because you can do a lot with it and then fold it up and put it under a bed or next to the couch. A tunnel is a great thing to have to add to an indoor obstacle course and can be used with kids of all ages....new crawlers to big kids who need to move around and release some of their energy. Also great for increasing upper extremity strength, motor planning and coordination. Give it more of a sensory experience by putting it over beanbags, couch cushions, etc. and then having kids crawl through.

Balance Board-I tend to add a balance board to some simple activities for my kids at work like completing simple puzzles or doing sorting activities. There are a bunch of different ones to choose from, from a low price point to more expensive. At the gym I work at we have the Alex Monkey Balance Board  which is small and doesn't take up much room. The balance board is great for strengthening balance skills, improves trunk control, strength and coordination skills. While they are standing on the board you can play a game of catch for added fun. For my daughter, I have the Wobbel Board which I got from Norman and Jules and just printed out the Wobbel Cards to add to our daily routine to get her up and moving around.




Zoom Ball-this is one of my all time favorite therapy tools and one of my most highly recommended gross motor toys on my annual gift guide. Safe to play indoors or outdoors and even though it is meant for two players, there are ways to set it up for a single child to play. Kids can work on improving upper extremity strength, motor planning and motor organization and encourages self-regulation, focus and attention. Make a game out of it by counting how many times they can pass it back and forth without messing up. I like to add a little challenge by having kids answer questions while we go back and forth. For example, name the days of the week in order every time you send it back, name different animals, colors, foods, etc..


Sidewalk Chalk-we are all pretty fortunate that the weather is getting warmer and that we can spend some time safely outdoors. I am feeling very grateful for our little Brooklyn front yard and have been encouraging my own daughter to go out and draw and write messages of hope to those who are out for some social distance walks. Practice letters, play games, make hopscotch boards, draw pictures or make draw a picture on a fence or wall if you have it. This kind of drawing is great for working on building those upper body muscles

Hopscotch Board-keeping our kids moving, especially those of us in New York City who are more limited by our smaller living quarters, is going to be crucial. But space and storage is also limited so we don't want big and bulky things. I am a big fan of a hopscotch rug as it can be used in a bunch of different ways and doesn't take up any space. And if you are outside of the city and have a driveway, you can use sidewalk chalk and draw your own! Check out this article from Parents that teaches you how to play hopscotch and even provides some variations so you don't get bored!

Craft Box-crafting is going to become really popular during this time. I have always had a big collection of crafting materials for my daughter and in the office. I was inspired by Lizzie Assa from The Workspace for Children years ago and have started to encourage open-ended crafting with not only my own child, but with the kids I work with and my kids in The Meeting House Juniors group. Guys...I highly recommend following Lizzie on Instagram for some amazing ideas...like really can't recommend enough! The Arts and Crafts Supply Library from Kid Made Modern would be a great thing for you to have at home. It comes with fuzzy sticks, wooden pieces, pom poms, wooden and plastic beads, googly eyes, glue, scissors and SO much more in a sturdy case so you don't have to worry about making a mess.

Writing Journal-this could be a great time for your older children to start journaling. My 10 year old daughter received a blank journal for her birthday and when all of this started, she decided to keep a Corona Virus Journal. At the end of each day she writes about what she did and rates her day. Giving children an outlet to talk about this time, share their feelings and vent is a really important thing, especially if they don't want to talk to you about it.

 Preparing for remote therapy has been a really interesting and exhausting thing but it has also been very helpful in me feeling ready to start working with kids in this new format. I hope that this list of materials is helpful for all of you whether you are parents, teachers or therapists. I would love to hear from you guys on what materials and toys are most important to you. I am always a click away and love hearing from you all. I think one of the most important things is that we all help each other during this crazy time and look forward to reading about other peoples ideas and experiences.

Awesome Activity Books for All Ages!

This is one of my favorite posts to write all year long.  I spend a kind of ridiculous amount of time in bookstores.  Now that  my daughter is a total bookworm, we spend a lot more time in them.  While she is looking for her books, I spend time hunting for new activity books to use at work.  A good activity book makes me happy.  Not only do I love them for work, I love being able to recommend them to the families I work with.  As I have mentioned in other summer blogs, parents are always looking for things to keep their kids thinking and working while they are taking time off from therapy.  Below I share some of my favorite activity books that work on developing a variety of occupational therapy and academic skills.  While many are new, there are some that I just can't not share time and time again!

I Can Do That!  Color and Draw-I used to recommend a series of drawing and sticker books by this company years ago but then they were discontinued (and I was heartbroken!).  So when I realized they had released a whole new series of books, I was thrilled.  They are still as great as they used to be and really motivating for younger children.  The book is filled with fun pictures that kids need to add details to.  For example, there is a picture of frogs holding blank balloons that kids can decorate or color in a picture of fireworks.  This book is great for younger children who have a hard time with coming up with their own ideas.  I like it because the directions are simple and easy for children to follow and that kids can work on not only improving drawing and coloring skills, but are encouraged to be creative at the same time.  

I Can Do That!  Cut and Paste-another fabulous book from Lazoo that works on developing cutting skills for younger children.  The purpose of this book is to create pictures by tearing or cutting paper and gluing them to decorate a series of pictures.  This is great for improving bilateral coordination, hand strength and manipulation skills, visual motor and perceptual skills and executive functioning skills.  At the same time, kids are working on creativity and imagination which helps to boost confidence and self-esteem.  Some of the activities in this book are cutting out a series of buttons to decorate a dress or cutting/tearing out paper to create flowers to put on the end of stems.  

Arty Mouse Trace, Copy, Color and Cut-the whole series of Arty Mouse books are my new favorite and I have recommended this to a bunch of people already.   Intended for pre-schoolers, this activity book is chock-full of pre-writing activities that will help children develop skills necessary in order to learn how to draw and eventually write.  While you can get individual books for each of these skills, I like having them all in one big book and have kids do one of each activity in one sitting.  What's nice about these activities is that they start easy and get increasingly more challenging.  As kids work through the various activities, their confidence and self-esteem increase which actually encourages them to try more challenging activities.  Be sure to have the correct instruments for your children for when doing them.  For example, have child size scissors, markers for a child who may have decreased grasp strength or broken crayons/small pencils for children who need to work on developing a more age-appropriate grasp.  

Usbourne Lots of Things to Find and Color-these coloring books have been a long time favorite of mine for a ton of reasons.  The pictures are fun and motivate the kids to work even harder when they are doing their work.  Each page has a handful of directions on what they need to find in the pictures and how they have to color it in.  An example of a direction might be "find all of the ice cream cones with two scoops of ice cream and color them in pink".  Once they have finished finding all of the requested objects, they are then free to color the rest of the picture any way they want.  This is a great activity book for working on improving all kinds of visual skills, hand-eye coordination, grasping and executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, following directions and organization.  

Go! My Adventure Journal-it's hard to get kids to sit down and write or do work while they are on vacation.  One of my recommendations for children who are taking family vacations is to keep some kind of travel journal.  For older journal, I suggest taking polaroid pictures throughout their trip and write about each picture.  For younger children, I am totally obsessed with this journal from Wee Society.  This hardcover journal comes in three different colors and is filled a variety of thought-starters so kids can keep track of and remember their special vacation adventures.  For example, there is a two-page spread that has a picture of a plate and you have to draw a new food you tried and the other side has a bunch of different faces and you have to check off what you thought of that food.  It also comes with a bunch of stickers, badges your kids can earn while on vacation, a place to keep pictures and postcards that they can send out to family and friends. 

Mrs. Grossman's Sticker Kaleidoscope Sticker Books-I found these at Norstroms when I was out in California and became obsessed with them!  These are great for older children who may have to work on developing fine motor, visual motor, visual perceptual and executive functioning skills.  Each book comes with 8 designs that you fill in with stickers that match the letters.  Each page comes with extra stickers just in case you tear a sticker or so you can create your own kaleidoscope picture.  Not only is this great for all of the reasons I already mentioned, but once it is completed, a child feels so proud which is great for building up their confidence and self-esteem.  

Adventures with Zap: 107 Creative Writing Prompts for Beginning Writers-if parents are looking for a fun way to work on writing skills over the summer, I highly recommend this activity book.  What's nice about this book is that they actually had younger children in mind and provide writing prompts that are good for children of all ages.  If your child is unable to write, you just find an adult and have them write down your thoughts.  Each page has both a writing prompt and pictures....the child's job is to write (or tell) a story for each picture.  For each writing prompt, there is also space for a child to draw pictures.  For example, one page asks a child to make a list of people they would like to receive a letter from you and another has some characters who are saying goodbye and the writer's job is to invent space alien words that mean goodbye.  This activity book was created by a veteran writing coach and the purpose of all the activities is to work on the following:
-create characters, settings and action scenes
-bring pictures to life with words
-learn how to brainstorm when stuck
-write thoughts and dialogue
-use "power"words
-express feelings and wishes
I like that this book works on handwriting and drawing in a fun way....some make it so serious that kids get discouraged.  I find that kids are more willing to take writing risks when they are allowed to be silly and think outside of the box. 

The Kid's Awesome Activity Book-this is one of my newer finds and I love it, especially for school age children (those finishing kindergarten and older).  Over the 96 pages, kids will find a variety of crafts, games, writing prompts, etc. that will keep your kids entertained (and learning) for hours on end.  Some of the activities you will find in this book are find the difference pictures, word searches, mazes, write a song for a cat rock band, build a time machine using the items they provide you and SO much more.  Additionally, it comes with over 400 stickers you can use throughout the book or to create your own pictures, stories, etc..  This is great for working on improving writing and drawing skills, hand-eye coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills and a ton of executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, planning, organization, sequencing and problem solving.

Mindful Me Activity Book-mindfulness is something that has been growing in popularity the last few years.  I think introducing some kids to the mindfulness is incredibly important and meaningful, especially for kids who are experiencing a lot of stress or anxiety.  There are a lot of different books out there on this topic but the Mindful Me Activity Book by Whitney Stewart is my go-to at this point.  By completing the different activities in this book, kids will learn how to handle some of the problems they are experiencing.  Through a series of fun writing prompts, games and meditation exercises, kids will learn how to settle their thoughts and ground some of their big feelings.

Journal Sparks-this is one of my daughter's favorite activity books!  This is one that she actually will look through all by herself to figure out what she wants to do.  Emily K. Neuburger has put together 60 interactive writing prompts and art how-tos to help your child's (best for children 7 years and older) imagination grow and encourage creativity.  One of my daughter's favorite activities from this book is the visual map of her day.  I like it because it helps with recalling the events of her day and combines drawing and writing in a non-stressful way.  Another fun activity is turning into a Potion Pantry.  Kids get to draw a pantry and fill the shelves with all kinds of bottles/potions.  They then need to name them.  This is a great jumping off place for conversations with kids about what their potions are for.  In addition to being awesome for sparking creativity and imagination, Journal Sparks is a motivating way for school-age children to work on improving handwriting and drawing skills and executive functioning skills such as organization, planning, sequencing, focus and attention.

One other recommendation I have to make when using any of these books is to make sure that you provide children with the correct writing instruments and tools for increased opportunities for success.  For example, if you have a child who has decreased grasp strength and endurance for graphomotor activities, give them markers because it doesn't require as much hand strength and pressure.  If you have a child who is a leftie, be sure to make sure you don't give them a pair of right-handed scissors!  It sounds crazy, but having the right instruments is as important to a child's success as important as finding motivating activity books that will make kids want to learn.

A really important thing I want to add to this post.  While I linked to Amazon for most of these books since a majority of my readers are not local, it is not where I purchased my copies of these books.  I am a huge supporter of local bookstores and am actually quite fortunate to have some amazing ones in Manhattan and Brooklyn where I tend to pick up my activity books.  Be sure to support your local book (and toy stores) whenever possible.  Not only do they count on our business more than we can appreciate, they are also always open to ordering books that you want and finding what you may be looking for.  Here are my local go-to bookstores for those of you who happen to be local:
Stories Bookshop and Storytelling Lab
Community Bookstore
Greenlight Bookstore
Books of Wonder
Bank Street Bookstore

I actually could go on and on with recommendations, but I will keep it to this list of 10!  If you are looking for activity books that work on specific activities, I would be more than happy to provide suggestions.....feel free to reach out with questions or advice.  I am only a click away and love hearing from you all and helping you all out.  If you have fabulous activity books that your children love, please share with me!  I am always excited to add something new to my library.

On The Go Fun!

It's hard to believe that the end of another school year is quickly approaching.  Being the mother of a second grader, the countdown to the last day of school has begun (27 school days left as of today).  For us, the summer means being on the go quite a bit.  I think that is the norm for most families, right?  It is during the summer months, that many of the kids I work with go on vacations and miss more therapy than they do during the school year.  Many of the parents panic a bit about this and are looking for ways they can make sure their kids don't regress.  They are also looking for things to take on the go....things they can throw in a beach bag or in a backpack when traveling and need to keep their kids entertained for long periods of time.  They want hands-on things so their kids don't spend time on some kind of device.

In today's blog, I share a dozen of my favorite on-the-go craft sets and activity sets and books that you can throw in your bag and easily take with you wherever you may be going.  They are things that can work towards a variety of occupational therapy goals but your kids won't even know it because they are super fun and the "therapy" piece is hidden from them. 

On-The-Go Jewelry Making Kit-this is a great activity set for your little craft lovers.  It contains 102 multicolored beads and  2 different colors of cords.  It comes in a convenient little carrying case making it a perfect on-the-go kit.  Making jewelry is great for working on improving hand-eye coordination, visual motor skills, increases grasp strength and manipulation skills and encourages bilateral coordination.  It is also great for helping kids become more creative as there is no right or wrong...it's just what you put together.  

Playfoam Go-if you have a little sensory seeker, this is a great on-the-go set for them.  Educational Insights Playfoam is a non-toxic molding dough that never dries out.  It can be molded into anything the imagination comes up with.  One of the best things about it is that it won't stick on anything
This set contains 8 blocks of different colored Playfoam in a portable carrying case.  The top of the case has 4 shapes on top so you can turn your Playfoam into a star, triangle, circle or square 

Melissa and Doug Water Wow-I've been a fan of these Water Wow books for ages and are great for younger children.  What I love about it is that each of the books comes with a water brush you fill up before use.  Kids use this water brush to color in pictures, learn how to write numbers, letters and shapes and complete a variety of different activities (dot-to-dot, mazes, etc.).  Perfect for car or plane rides as you don't have to worry about markers or crayons getting all over the place.  Great for working on introducing younger children to graphomotor skills (drawing, coloring and handwriting), improves hand-eye coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills and and can increase focus and attentional skills. 

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.   

Little Travelers On-The-Go Magnetic Play Set-this tin contains 25 magnetic pieces that can be mixed and matched to create different people who are ready for some kind of travel adventure.  The tin not only acts as storage, the inside has two scenes printed on the inside where the characters can be displayed.  This open-ended toy encourages creativity in children as there is no right or wrong way to make the characters.  Kids use their imagination to come up with all kinds of characters.  This set is also great for improving hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and helps in developing fine motor and grasping skills.  You can help encourage language in kids by having them talk about their characters and what they are doing in the scenes.  

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.  

On-The-Go Coloring Kit-another great on-the-go kit by Kid Made Modern.  This Coloring Kit contains a 24-page coloring book, 10 markers and  a dozen hexagon crayons (awesome for encouraging a proper grasp).  All of these awesome tools come in a super convenient canvas storage tote you can throw in any bag.  Perfect for improving graphomotor skills, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and encourages creativity while working on increasing focus, attention and organizational skills.  

Scratch and Sketch Games and Puzzles Ocean World-I am a longtime fan of the the Scratch and Sketch books by Peter Pauper Press.  I recently saw this book filled with a variety of games and puzzles and snatched it up immediately for my own daughter for our next trip out to California.  It includes games like crossword puzzles, complete the pictures and connect-the-dots.  In addition to the 20 pages of scratch paper activities, there are also 20 pages of activities like Tic-Tac-Toe, the Dot Game and Sudoku.  This book is great for working on improving graphomotor skills, visual motor and visual perceptual skills 

My Brick Case: Travel Lego Box-my daughter is obsessed with Legos and insists on taking a bag full of them whenever we travel.  I love Legos because they not only keeps her entertained for hours on end, it is one of the things I recommend to all my families to help build grasp strength an in-hand manipulation skills.  This travel Lego box by ModFamily is a perfect storage case for your Lego fan.  What I love about it is that it can hold hundreds of pieces and has two base plates built onto each side of the box so kids can build and create while on the go.  **I suggest putting all your Lego pieces in a Ziploc bag and placing it in the case so when they are ready to build, they can just grab their pieces from the bag.  In addition to improving grasp strength, building with Legos encourages creativity, works on improving bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and executive functioning skills such as focus, attention and organizational skills.  

On-The-Go Stationery Kits-I have all of these stationery kits by OOLY!  I couldn't decide which ones I wanted for my daughter so just got them all.  During the summer months, I am going to encourage (actually going to force) my daughter to keep in touch with friends and family via old-fashioned snail mail.  This is a good way to work on her spelling and writing with it being a bit more fun than just practicing.  These sets by OOLY are definitely motivating her to write some letters, especially the Unique Unicorns set!  Each set comes in a sturdy plastic case and contains: 8 letter sheets, 4 postcards, 4 envelopes, a notebook, a sheet of stickers, a multi-colored pen, a mechanical pencil and an eraser.  In addition to working on improving graphomotor skills, it is a great way to work on improving executive functioning skills such as focus, attention and organizational skills.  

Wikki-Stix Traveler Set-another one of those awesome toys that I have been pushing on parents for years.  I was first introduced to Wikki Stix when at a restaurant.  The wax covered yarn kept my daughter (and husband) entertained the entire time we waited for our meal.  Wikki Stix are .  This set contains 144 Wikki Stix in 16 different colors, a 12 page activity book with different ideas for the kids to make, 2 activity sheets with games like tic-tac-toe and connect-the-dots and is all stored in a sturdy carrying case.  This set is great for working on improving fine motor and grasping skills, hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills. Kids can work on creativity by building their own designs.    

Mad Libs-this is one of my families favorite things to do when we are in the car.   We all take turns being the writer (except for whoever is driving!) and take turns coming up with words.  Mad Libs are a sure fire way to make kids laugh hysterically as they read the completed story.  They are also an amazingly motivating way to teach kids about parts of language, how to spell and expand their vocabulary.  In addition to the aforementioned, Mad Libs are good for encouraging creativity and working on executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, planning and organizational skills.  Warning: depending on your child's sense of humor, you may want to come up with some family game rules before you start such as forbidden kinds of words!  There are now dozens and dozens of different editions of Mad Libs so if you have a kid who may be resistant to writing, you can probably entice them with a Mad Libs books of their favorite characters, tv shows or sports.  

I could keep going and making more suggestions for On-The-Go fun but I think there is plenty here to choose from.  While many people rely on an iPad or some other kind of tablet to keep their kids happy and entertained, there are many who prefer to keep their kids busy doing something instead.  Do you have anything that you rely on for long trips or keeping your kids occupied without a screen when at a restaurant?  I would love to hear about some of your favorites and I am sure my readers would love to as well.  I am only a click away and love hearing from all of you!

What's App?

One of the most asked questions I get is what is on my iPad?  While parents want to limit the amount of time their kids spend on electronic devices, they know that there are a lot of educational apps out there that will motivate their children to learn a variety of things.  And like most everything else, all things done in moderation will not be harmful to your children. 

Below, I share some of my favorite educational apps that I use both at work and at home with my daughter.  The most important thing to me when choosing what apps I put on this list is that they are ones that are easy for families to use.  I especially like when they can work on a variety of skills in way that makes the work seem more like play than "work".  I also am sure to add as many apps that will encourage language building skills at the same time.  I am always having the kids answer questions about what's happening or talk about the directions or the sequence of steps before they complete tasks. 


Sago Mini Pet Cafe-this was my first app by the genius' at Sago Mini and is still one of my favorites for the little ones on my caseload.  Kids learn how to count and sort while interacting with some pretty cute animals in a diner.  There are three different games to choose from: matching pictures, counting and sorting treats and making a colorful smoothie.  This app is also great for working on learning colors, improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills and great for increasing language skills.  An added bonus is that it is available in 15 languages!

Artie and The Magic Pencil-this fun and interactive app by Minilab Studios helps introduce preschool and early school age children to drawing a variety of shapes and early art concepts.  Kids get to play the hero while learning at the same time!  There's a monster on the loose and he's destroying the town.  Kids help Artie rebuild the world by tracing simple shapes bringing the town back to life.  For example, trace a triangle and put a roof back on a house  It can be played as a story or you can focus on the same part drawing until they have mastered the shape.  A nice feature of this app is that you can download drawing worksheets so kids can practice drawing with a writing instrument. 

LetterSchool-I have tested out so many handwriting apps that I have lost count.  In the end, I always come back to LetterSchool and continue to recommend it to all parents who are looking for ways to teach their kids to write.  What I love most about this handwriting app is the multi-sensory approach it has for learning all the letters and numbers.  For each letter/number, there are 3 ways to practice:
1.  Tap-this level has kids tap where the lines start and they then watch the letter get formed
2.  Trace-this level kids have to drag the lines from their starting point to end point to form the letter
3.  Write-this level has a chalkboard feel to it and the kids are given a clue as to where to start the letter but the lines disappear and they have to write it from memory
On each level, there are fun visuals to watch the letters come to life which is incredibly motivating for even the most ambivalent student.
In addition to learning how to write letters and numbers, kids can work on improving hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and introduces kids to letter sounds and names and learning how to count.

Pepi Doctor-this app by PepiPlay is another that has been on my must have app list since I discovered it years ago.  In this app, kids get to play the doctor to three different patients (Amber, Eva and Milo).  Each one of the kids has the same 5 ailments that need to be taken care of: a cold, a toothache, earache, broken bone and clean up cuts from a fall.  Each ailment requires them to complete several tasks in order for their patients to feel better.  Some of the tasks are putting the bone back together, brushing teeth, putting bandaids on scrapes and many, many more.  This app is great for improving visual motor and perceptual skills, hand-eye coordination, focus, attention and organizational skills.  It's also a great app to work on improving language skills.

Peppa Pig Theme Park-recently, I have found that so many of my kids are pretty obsessed with Peppa Pig....I can't blame them!  I remembered from my own daughter having some Peppa Pig apps and how great they were.  There are many of them, but my favorite right now is the Theme Park one because it works on a lot of skills that my younger kids need to focus on.  There are 10 different games to choose from including:
-make Cotton Candy for Peppa and her family....make sure you choose the right color and don't make it too big or they won't be able to eat it
-ride in a hot air balloon and collect balloons as you go up and down
-steer a race car around the track...be sure to avoid the puddles!
This game is great for working on improving hand-eye coordination, visual tracking, focus, attention, motor planning and organizational skills.

Endless ABC-hands down my favorite literacy apps out there and kids of all ages on my caseload love it as well.  Endless ABC from Originator is great for introducing preschool kids to the letters of the alphabet and encourages early reading skills.  In this interactive game, kids will learn lots of new and interesting words.  Super cute monsters run across the screen and knock all the letters out of place.  Kids have to match the letters (I encourage kids to put them back in the correct order).  Once they have them all in place, there is a little video that teaches kids about the word. In addition to the aforementioned skills, kids work on improving hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills, executive functioning skills (focus, attention and organization) and grasping skills.

Math Tango-I have been on the hunt for a good math app for a really long time and have been mainly disappointed by what's out there.  That was until I saw that the brilliant people at Originator came up with a math app and I couldn't have been more excited.  I actually didn't get too excited until I had my 7-year old daughter test the app out but once she gave it 2 thumbs up, I was sold and have been recommending it to others.  The game is structured in a way that kids have to complete 24 different missions where they earn monsters and other kinds of items that will help them on the island that they inhabit.  While playing over 200 different addition and subtraction games will learn some of the following concepts:
-adding single digit numbers
-adding doubles
-adding near doubles
-making 10 to add 9
-adding 10's

Trilo Spelling-when my daughter was finishing up kindergarten and preparing for first grade, I started to really panic about her reading skills.  I knew developmentally she was where she was supposed to be but living in NYC, academic expectations are higher.  I had spent a lot of time looking for the right app and each time I thought I had found it, she didn't like it.  So when we found this one, we were both thrilled!  In Trilo Spelling, there are five levels of spelling and reading fundamentals with each level introducing kids to a different letter blends.  Within each level, there are three different games/challenges they can play.  The graphics and monsters within the app are fun and friendly, motivating children to want to learn how to spell.  In addition to learning how to spell, children can work on improving executive functioning skills, hand eye coordination,

Dexteria Junior-this is a great app for working on developing fine motor and grasping skills with your little ones.  What I love about this app is that the creators worked with occupational therapists to make it.  Perfect for preschoolers and getting them ready for school.  There are three different games:
Squish the Squash-encourages children to use their pointer finger to squish squashes.  There are 15 levels for the kids to work through.
Pinch the Pepper-encourages children to use their thumb and pointer fingers to pinch the peppers.  Great for developing a fine pincer grasp which is important for the developing proper pencil grips later on.  There are 10 levels that become increasingly more challenging.
Trace and Erase-kids can learn how to draw various lines and shapes.  They first trace the lines and then use an eraser after.  Once they finish erasing the lines, they can take a silly selfie of themselves which my kids love.  I have my kids use a stylus with this particular game to encourage proper grasp patterns when holding a writing instrument.
In addition to what I have already mentioned, this game is great for working on hand-eye coordination, visual tracking, focus, attention and planning and organizational skills.


Little Fox Animal Doctor-hands down, one of my favorite apps for my preschoolers and early school age kids.  The characters are adorable and the animations are amazing.  There are 7 different animals with 15 different injuries or illnesses that you have to help cure.  First kids choose their patient and before they can help them get better, they have to watch a short little movie that explains why they are at the doctors.  Once the movie is done, there are visual directions on what kids  need to do in order to cure the animals.  Some of the ailments they will have to help with are: helping a sick animal who has had too many sweets, sewing together a wing that got torn or helping an animal with a cold.  My favorite thing about this app is the short little movie they have to watch before helping the animal out.  This is great for helping with language and organizational issues.  The other thing I like is that the visual directions help kids work on sequencing and following directions.  In addition to those skills, kids also can work on improving fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills and executive functioning skills.

Planets Puzzle-this is a great app for older children who need to work on improving visual motor, visual perceptual and executive functioning skills.  In this puzzle game, kids have to put the animal in the right place on the rotating world.  They have to figure out where the animals go by matching their terrain.  For example, place the dolphin in the ocean and the elephant on the grassy patch.  There are over 30 levels of play with increased challenges as they move through the puzzle.  In addition working on the aforementioned skills, this app is great for working on improving focus and attention, organizational skills, logic and problem solving.

Thinkrolls and these two apps by Avokiddo are a huge hit with my older children and are my go-to's when I have children who need to work on improving their executive functioning skills.  Through this app, kids will improve problem solving, memory, motor planning and organizational skills.  In these interactive logic puzzles, kids learn about different scientific theories such as gravity, heat, buoyancy, speed, friction and so many more.  There are two levels of play for younger and older children.  In addition to the aforementioned, kids can work on improving visual motor skills, hand-eye coordination, focus and attention.  I have found that this is a great app for kids to do together; they have to work together and talk through a plan in order to complete each part of the game.

I always wrap up my app suggestions post with ways you can make screen time as beneficial as possible for the kids.  During my sessions, I always combine using an app with some other activity or skill.  Here are a few things you can do to make the most out of screen time for your kids:

-use a stylus whenever possible.  This is especially important when using any kind of handwriting or drawing app.  Like everything else, it can be confusing to know which stylus is best.  My two top recommendations are the Cosmonaut Wide Grip Stylus and the Crayon Stylus by Boxwave.  These two stylus' have are wider and encourage a more age-appropriate grasp, especially for those little hands.

-encourage use of language during when playing on the iPad.  One concern parents have about using an iPad with their children is that they observe them to zone out or disconnect from the real world.  When I have kids using the iPad, I am constantly asking them questions and encouraging conversations with them.  Whether it be saying the name of the letter during Endless ABC or counting out loud when playing Sago Mini Pet Cafe, I am making sure the kids don't have an opportunity to zone out. 


-there are a lot of apps that can encourage social skills.  When I am working with small groups of children who have similar goals, I will occasionally pull out the iPad.  We work on turn taking, cooperative play and being flexible with ideas peers suggest.

-work on a vertical surface when using the iPad (I sometimes lean mine up against an easel and have kids sit on a ball or bolster).  Working on a vertical surface is great for encouraging bilateral coordination, encourages bilateral coordination and helps with improving upper extremity and core strength.

-when at the gym, I have my kids work in a prone position either on the net swing or over a bolster.  This is a good way to work on increasing upper extremity strength.  I have found that my kids who tire easily with this task have more endurance when they are distracted from some fun apps.

These apps are just a handful of the dozens and dozens I have on my iPad.  If you are looking for specific suggestions for your children, I would be more than happy to help you find the right apps for them.   And if you have any great app suggestions for me, I would love to hear them....I am always happy to add something new to my app collection!  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all.