Hands Up for Handee Band!

When I was Christmas shopping this year, I discovered this really subscription box that I had to get.  The Sensory Theraplay Box comes once a month and is chock full of some pretty awesome products.  Some of them are ones I have seen or already have but there have been more than a few that are new to me and I couldn't be more excited about them.  One of the things I have been introduced to and have to share with you all is the Handee Band.  This is an awesome and totally affordable exercise program for children that is kinda perfect for those kids who might be taking a break from therapy over the summer but need to maintain some kind of home-based strengthening routine.

Let me tell you about the Handee Band.  It was created by a Los Angeles based occupational therapist, Francesca Avalli, who has years and years of experience working with children with a variety of learning disabilities.  It is intended for children between the ages of 3 and 7 years old and the goal is that they can independently exercise at home with this program.  The exercises are taught to kids from the different monsters created by Francesca.  Everything is bright, cheery and child-friendly.  This is meant to be something that once a child is comfortable with it, they should be able to do it on their own.  What's nice is that they don't have to do all of them....they should choose a few and do however many they can in about 15 minutes.  The exercises are intended to help a child do the following:
-increase core strength and trunk control
-increase upper extremity and grasp strength (which leads to improved fine motor and manipulation skills)
-improve endurance
-improve bilateral coordination skills
-improve motor planning and organizational skills
-work on following multi-step directions
-improves balance and coordination

All of the things mentioned above are important skills for preschool and school age children to help get them ready for academic skills.  For example, in order for a child to develop age-appropriate grasping skills, they need to core, upper extremity and grasp strength.  Also, for kids to be more independent for dressing and undressing themselves, they must have good balance and coordination, use two hands in a coordinated manner and follow multi-step directions.

Here is a small sample of some of the exercises:

Flamingo Hops and Frog Jumps-while holding the Handee Band tightly in each hand, take a deep breath, bend both knees and jump up and down like a frog 10 times.  For an increased challenge, jump on just one foot like a flamingo
Karate Chop-while holding the Handee Band tightly with two hands, stand up straight with arms at your side; raise arms high and straight above your head, take a deep breath and when someone yells "chop", lower arms down until they are in front of your chest 10 times.
Row Your Boat-while sitting on the floor with legs straight out in front of you, wrap the Handee Band around your feet while holding the ends in each hand.  Start with straight arms while sitting up as tall as possible and bend your arms at the elbows before straightening your arms again. 

There are two kits to choose from The Handee Band Exercise Kit contains 1 Handee Band, an illustrated book with 15 different exercises broken down into 5 easy to follow steps, a spinner with all of the activities, a dry erase marker and checklist to keep track of progress and a sheet of stickers.  The book is a high quality book that can stand up making it easy for a child to see/follow the instructions.   What I like about this, especially when doing it in a bigger group of kids, is that with the addition of the spinner, you can make it more of a game and a chance for them to be leaders.  Each child can take a turn spinning the The Handee Band Exercise Cards Set is intended to be able to take with you/throw in your bag.  It comes with 1 Handee Band and 17 exercise cards stored on a reclosable ring for storage purposes.  This is perfect if you are going to be doing a lot of traveling but want to keep up with some kind of exercise routine with your children.

One of the nice things about the Handee Band program is that it can be done individually, with a friend or siblings or can be part of a larger exercise curriculum in classrooms or social skills groups.  I am actually going to be introducing an abbreviated version of this program to my kids this summer at The Meeting House.  So many of the children who attend my group are not only in need of working on increasing overall body strength but also need to work on following directions, staying with the group and doing what their peers are doing.  I believe that if they can master some of these fun exercises, they may be more motivated to try more challenging things throughout the afternoon.  Additionally, as they master each activity, their confidence and self-esteem increase. 

I am so excited to have found something like Handee Band to be able to recommend to the families I work with.  So many programs I have tried in the past get too clinical or therapeutic making it difficult for parents to follow-through on.  Finding something like this that can be implemented at home is like winning the lottery for me.  Do you have any awesome home-based exercises programs that you use with your kids or recommend to the families you work with?  I am only a click away love hearing recommendations from you all!







                

       

Un-bee-lievably Fun Word Game!

Since most of the kids I work with are between the ages of 3 and 6, I tend to blog about items appropriate for that age group.  I do have a handful of older children on my caseload and most of them come to me to focus on handwriting and fine motor skills.  So it is important to me to find fun games or activities that will motivate these older kids to work on this challenging activity.  I want to make sure that our time together is fun but also spent working towards achieving goals that will help them be more successful in both school and at home for academics.

A  few weeks ago I spotted Speedeebee! by Blue Orange.  Ever since discovering and blogging about Spot It by the same company, I have been drawn to their products.  Besides being super portable (which is great for those of us who do home care or work between a couple of offices), it is a fun game that can work on a variety of occupational therapy goals.  I also love that many of their games can be adapted to allow for success for whatever child I am working with.  I also like the fact that the game can be different every single time you play it.

Speedeebee! consists of 50 cards containing 150 challenges and 4 alphabet dice.  On each of the cards there are three challenges to choose from.  Some examples of the many challenges are:
**Name something you love to do, starting with one of these letters (throw all four dice)
**Name something you love to eat, containing one of these letters (throw all four dice)
**Find a word containing two of these letters (throw the red and green dice)
I think the questions are great and make kids think, but aren't all so challenging that they won't be successful.  And I think it is nice that they have a choice of 3 so they can find a question that they are comfortable with.  There is a lot about the game that sets the kids up to not only have a good time but to be successful.  The fact that a child gets to pick out a question means less stress for them during game play and unfortunately, playing games can be something that produces a lot of stress in the kids I work with.

There are two different ways to play the game (although with my kids I don't always play by their rules)
Challenge Mode:   Place 20 cards in the middle of the playing area face down.  The remaining 30 cards are not used for the rest of the game and are returned to the storage tin.  The first player holds all 4 dice  (great for fine motor skills and improving in-hand manipulation skills), picks the top card from the deck and picks one of the 3 challenges on the card and reads it out loud to the group.  Once all players understand the challenge, the person who selected the challenge will roll the dice and as quickly as possible, all players attempt to complete the challenge using the letters rolled.  Whoever answers first takes the card and a new turn is started.   This continues until there are no cards left in the draw pile and at the end, the person who gets the most cards is the winner.
Freestyle Mode:  Set up the game the same way you would if playing with the Challenge cards, but rather than reading the challenges on the cards, the players are required to make up their own.  The first person to complete the challenge/answer the questions correctly gets the card.  The person who has the most number of cards at the end is the winner.

Here are a few occupational therapy goals that can be addressed when playing Speedeebee!:
Improve Handwriting Skills-while the game is meant to be a language game, I have adapted it to be able to work on improving graphomotor skills.  Instead of having the kids shout out their answers, I have them write their answers down on paper.  Whether they are working on print or cursive, I find this to be a motivating way to work on a skill that is typically challenging for them.  I actually did this with a 9 year old girl I work with who needs to work on handwriting and endurance; she was totally engaged for much longer than she would have been if I had just had her practice words or other random sentences.  She actually asked to play longer when I said it was time to put the game away!  I encourage the children to write whole sentences and use proper grammar.  Depending on their handwriting goals, you can work on grasping skills, building up writing endurance,
Improve Social Skills-as I have already mentioned, this is actually a game that is meant to be played in a group.  If you are looking for a good game for a social skills group or to have at your disposal for family game options, this is a great game.  If you a group of younger and older kids, you can pair them together (since this is more appropriate for kids who are 7 years of age or older) and have them work as a team.  This could also work on improving frustration tolerance for those older kids who get annoyed with the younger ones.  I know that the point of the game is to be the fastest to answer the questions, but in my adaptation of the game I encourage the kids to take turns and allow all friends to be able to have an opportunity to answer the questions as well.  I find that in my social skills groups, there tends to be one or two kids who dominates play which discourages other children from taking risks.
Improve Executive Functioning/Organizational Skills-many of my older kids are also coming to me to work on improving their executive functioning skills.  The most common aspect of executive functioning I work on is improving organization skills for improved performance in school or at home with homework.  For my older kids who are fluent readers, the first thing I make them do is read the directions to themselves.  Once they have read them, I ask them to repeat the directions back to me...I will interrupt them if they forget something or mess them up.  I also make them set the game up and if they do something incorrectly, they have to read the directions again and fix their error.

I love games that can be adapted to be appropriate for a variety of children and their varying needs.  Speedeebee! is one of those and while I intend on adapting it when necessary, it is also a great game the way it was created.  I have a feeling that my speech therapy friends will love this game and am definitely interested in hearing their thoughts and opinions.  One thing I would like to figure out is a way to make this game work for my preschool population, particularly the social skills groups I run with my colleagues.   Any thoughts or suggestions from you my readers on how to do that?  I love hearing from you and am always a click away.

So Many Obstacles, So Much Fun

Several weeks ago, I blogged about a toy from one of my favorite toy companies, eeBoo.  I have loved this company for years, but have fallen more madly and deeply in love with them after that post.  I was fortunate enough to go spend some time at the eeBoo studios in New York City a few weeks ago.  Oddly enough, my sister and I had been to a sample sale there many years ago and it wasn't until I was walking in the doors that I remembered that.  I blame me not remembering on being pregnant.  Yes, that explains it all!

Right before I went to the eeBoo studio, I was talking to my speech therapist colleague Jacki Barredo who was telling me all about this great game she purchased over the weekend, Obstacles.  It sounded great.  Actually, it sounded amazing and asked her to bring it in so I could see it and possibly get it for The Meeting House.  Fast forward 20 minutes; I am standing in the eeBoo studio taking a look at all their toys, dreaming a bit about how cool it would be to have my OT office in their space!  As I look around, my eyes fall on the game Obstacles that Jacki was talking about!  I love coincidences like that!  In addition to a handful of other games and products, I walked out with the game Obstacles and have been playing it nonstop ever since.  

Obstacles is a game of imagination, problem solving and collaboration.  There are 25 obstacle cards that have scenes and you have to figure out how to get through each one using one of the 100 tool cards.  Check out a few examples in the image to the right.  The goal of the game is pretty easy: get home using the best tool card to overcome the obstacles.  My favorite way to play the game with a small group of kids is to have them each put down a tool on each obstacle and explain how they would use it.  After each of them has finished explaining how they would use their tool, the group has to decide which tool would be most effective for that given card.  It might take time to negotiate and come to a decision but I think it is a tool that will help our kids in so many life situations.  Learning how to negotiate can be a difficult thing to teach kids, especially the ones that I work with.  Doing it in a fun and lighthearted way may be a good non-stressful way to practice the skill before generalizing it to other life situations.  

There are so many things to love about this game, but one of the things I like best is that there is no right or wrong answer.  It's not about winning or losing.  It's all about being creative and using your imagination in order to get through each obstacle.  It's about encouraging a child to compromise and recognize that sometimes others may have good ideas too.  One of the most interesting things I have seen when watching this game is how stubborn a child can be about thinking that the other players tool might be more effective.  Children are competitive beings and are so used to winning and losing that it can be quite difficult to realize that they need to work together to get home.  

Here are a few more skills that can be worked on when playing the game Obstacles    

Improve Social Skills-I have used this game at The Meeting House and in my smaller social skills groups.  I love watching the kids come up with reasons why their tool will be the the best to get through the obstacle successfully.  There are many ways to play it but the way I mentioned above seems to be the best way to encourage team work and collaboration.  

Improve Imagination Skills-what I love most about this game is that you can never be wrong and that you are required to really think outside of the box.  So many of the children I work with, both individually and in groups, struggle with this.  It's really fun to watch the excitement that comes out of a creative explanation of how they might use a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to overcome a herd of sheep or how they might use a vacuum to get through a street filled with tacks.  

Improve Problem Solving-so many of the children I work with struggle with solving problems (whether it be with their school work or dealing with a social situation).  This can cause a child to get frustrated and often give up too easily on things.  This game is a really fun way to get children, especially those who are concrete thinkers (or rock brains as we tend to call them in our group) to become more flexible and really think things through.  

Improve Organizational Skills-you can work on improving organizational skills by really thinking about what tool you will use for each obstacle.  I tend to lay out a certain number of obstacle cards in front of the players and give each player a number of tool cards at the beginning of the game.  I then allow them a little time to look through their tools and organize them and figure out what tool would be best with each obstacle.   

I am sure my love for this company is obvious.  But let me tell you one more thing that makes me want each and every one of my readers to support this company.  If you want to, you can go onto their online store and purchase any product they create.  However, that is not what they want or encourage.  They are a true small business supporter and encourage you to find a small business in your neighborhood to purchase their products from.  How cool is that?  If you live in Park Slope, I can tell you that you can find a tremendous selection of eeBoo products at Little Things and Lulu Toys and Cuts.  I realize that sometimes it is more convenient to order online, but let's all do what we can to support these awesome small businesses.

While I think this game is great for social groups and individual therapy sessions, I think it is an also a great family game.  I think this game will turn into a family favorite as it is fun for children of all ages and grownups.  It's pretty awesome that the game can be different every time you play it because each person will have different ideas for the different tools.  You may not always use the same cards.  I know that I have as much fun playing and strategizing with the kids when they are struggling to come up with solutions.

I look forward to hearing from you all about this game and how you use it during therapy, groups and at home.  I am sure that there are many other ways to play this game and am always looking for ways to adapt and modify the games and toys that I blog about.  I am only a click away so please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or comments.