Book of the Week-Waiting Is Not Easy

As an occupational therapist, a pretty common goal among many of the children I work with is helping them improve their ability to regulate themselves or be in better control of their bodies.  Our focus the last few weeks at The Meeting House has been self-control.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, self-control is the ability to control one's feelings or behaviors, particularly when in situations that may be difficult for them.

There are a ton of great children's books that deal with this particular subject in a fun manner.  Not only do they help children gain a better understanding of self-control but also provide some great strategies for those difficult times when they are having a hard time controlling their feelings or behaviors.  There are many ways difficulty with self-control can come across in children.  One of the most common things, especially in younger children, that they struggle with is waiting.  Kids have to do a lot of waiting.  Waiting for their turn, waiting in line, waiting for something they really want.  They have to wait for things at home, in school and even at after-school programs and at the playground.  Waiting is an unavoidable part of everyone's lives but for kids who have sensory processing difficulties, it is especially difficult for them.  You know that kid:  the one who shouts out an answer without raising their hands, the one who pushes to the front of the line or insists on being first when playing a game.  They are not trying to be "bad" so it's important for them to learn about the importance of waiting and even develop some strategies to help them through those tricky times.

This week I chose Waiting Is Not Easy by Mo Willems to help children learn about waiting.  I have been a huge fan of the Mo Willems' Piggie and Elephant series for a long time and love how they can help teach children about life lessons that so many struggle with.  In Waiting Is Not Easy, Gerald has to practice patience after Piggie tells him he has a surprise for him.  Gerald is not happy that he actually has to wait and wants it right away.  He asks questions throughout the day and grows increasingly frustrated that Piggie won't tell him what the surprise is.  At the end of the day when he finally gets his surprise, Gerald realizes that the wait was definitely worth the wait!

Below, you will find some questions you can ask your children and activities that you can do with them after reading Waiting Is Not Easy:

~ask your children about times that it has been difficult for them to wait.  Talk about how they feel when they have to wait.

~brainstorm strategies when they have to wait for something.  Some of the things I have taught kids is to take a deep breath, count backwards from 10 or sing some song.

~play games with your children.  This is a great way to practice waiting and turn taking with young children.  Make sure that they your child isn't always going first! Some of my favorite children's games are:
*Yeti In My Spaghetti
*Pop The Pig
*Jenga
*The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game
*Tumbling Monkeys

~there are a lot of great gross motor games that work on self-control, regulation skills and waiting!  Here are a few of my favorite that you can play after reading Waiting Is Not Easy:
*Simon Says-children have to perform an action only when the leader says "Simon Says....".  For example, if the leader says, "Simon says touch your toes", they should perform the action.  If the leader says "Touch your toes", they should stay as is.
*Freeze Dance-blast music and have the kids dance (remind them to be aware of their friends and not run into their bodies!).  When the music stops, they have to freeze.  For an added challenge, I sometimes have the kids perform an action when they freeze (freeze in a big shape, freeze as an animal, etc.).  
*Red Light, Green Light-like vehicles, kids move on the green light and freeze on the red light.  Sometimes I will have a visual cue to help the kids at first.  For example, I will hold a red ball when I shout "red light" and a green ball when I shout "green light".  As they become comfortable with the game, I remove the visual prompts and have them rely on the verbal prompt.  S
*Ready, Set, Wiggle-the leader calls out Ready, Set, Wiggle and everyone has to wiggle their bodies.  When the leader calls out Ready, Set, Watermelon, nobody moves.  When they call out Ready, Set, Wigs, nobody moves.  If you want to switch out different "W" words, you can. The point of the game is that the kids wait until they hear the word wiggle. 

One of the most important ways to teach our children about self-control during waiting is to model it ourselves.  We need kids to see that we can be patient and wait for things ourselves.  If we model this behavior to our kids, they are more likely to be able to follow our lead.

I have a handful of other book recommendations that help children learn about self-control and waiting in a fun and kid-friendly way which I'm happy to share those with you.  I'm always a click away and love hearing from you all.

Boom Yah!

One of the things I love about the holiday season is that it often means the discovery of new toys to bring into work.  I am a bit of a stalker on Facebook and Instagram when people post pictures of the gifts their kids got for the holidays because I always find something new.  This year, one of my colleagues posted pictures and videos of a game and I just knew I had to have it.  The pure joy and the hysterical laughter coming from everyone playing it made me go right to Amazon and order it.

Boom Blast Stix by Moose Toys has quickly become not only one of my favorite games, but the kids love it too.  My daughter was actually upset with me that I was taking it to work.  It's a simple game that doesn't require batteries and can keep kids entertained for a long time. The directions are very straightforward making it a great game for kids (and grownups) of all ages.  While it says it's meant for kids who are 6 and older, I have played it with some of my 4 year olds and they have been successful.  The game comes with a container and lid, which acts as the gameboard and 32 stix.  Kids have to lock the sticks into place, great for improving grasp strength and manipulation skills, and then gently place them on top of the lid.  The key to this game is placing the pieces on as gently as possible with the goal being stacking as many as possible before the stix explode.  The biggest obstacle I have found with  my kids is the whole idea of gently placing them on top of each other.  So many of my kids I work with have difficulty with regulating their movements and are often in a rush to finish their turn.  While I remind them at the beginning of the game to take their time with their turn, I have found that after a couple of times of their stick unsnapping, they remember to slow down without verbal prompting.

**one other reminder....my kids have a tendency to put their heads right above the game as they are putting their pieces down.  It's important that they keep their faces away as you have no idea when the pile will explode and where the pieces will go!

In addition to working on the aforementioned skills, this game is great for working on the following skills:

Improves Grasp Strength/Manipulation Skills-the locking of the sticks is a great activity to help make those little muscles in the hands get stronger.  Kids also have to pay attention to how they are snapping the pieces into place.  I also require that the kids use a pincer grasp when placing it on the lid.
**I sometimes sneak an extra strengthening activity during cleanup by making them pick up all the pieces with a pair of child-friendly chopsticks
Improves Bilateral Coordination-in order to lock the stix, kids must use two hands at a time.  Many of the kids I work with will try and use their dominant hand at all times but with this game, you just can't snap the pieces into place without using both hands.
Improves Hand-Eye Coordination-this game requires a tremendous amount of visual attention and focus.  Kids must look at the pieces carefully before placing the piece down.
Improves Executive Functioning Skills-this game is great for working on improving focus and attentional skills.  It's also perfect for working on self-regulation and organizational skills.  It requires a child to control the impulse to throw the pieces down on the lid.  It also works on motor planning and organizational skills because they have to look at the pieces on the lid and see what spot is the safest/least likely to cause the pieces to explode when they put them down.
Improves Social Skills-while the directions are very straight forward with this game, you can challenge the kids you are playing with to try and come up with their own rules.  Throw a dice into the box and have them roll the dice to see how many sticks they need to put down on that turn.

What I really love about Boom Blast Stix is how many occupational therapy goals can be addressed while playing this game.  The kids don't even realize that they are "working" which makes it doubly great.  Parents are always asking me what they can be doing at home with their kids and the thing that is most important to me is that kids don't feel as though they are in another therapy session.  Good family games are always my go-to recommendations and Boom Blast Stix will be on the top of that list!

If you have any other fun family games that you have recently discovered, especially ones that would be good for the whole family, I would love to hear about them.  I am only a click away and love hearing from you all.

Jump for Joy!

As many of you have noticed, the holiday gift guides and catalogues are starting to clog up our inbox and mailbox.  For the most part, I dump these things into recycling before even looking at them.  The exception are the ones that feature toys.  I am always on the lookout for new toys and gifts that will be good at work.  One of my favorites is Fat Brain Toys which I could get lost in for hours if I had the time.  I won't lie, I've made many unnecessary but amazing purchases from here for kids of all ages!

Yesterday, while looking through their new products, my eyes went right to a new trampoline that they were featuring.  As a New York City based pediatric occupational therapist, one of the things that I do is give parents and teachers ideas on how they can incorporate some of the activities I am doing our sessions at home and in school.  The biggest problem I face is the lack of space many New Yorkers have.  Asking parents to get a big therapy ball or a trampoline seems totally reasonable but if you live in a small apartment or have a classroom with not much free space, it becomes more trouble figuring out where to put it when it's not in use.  So when I saw the Foldaway Trampoline, I was thrilled and had to share it with everyone.  Even if you have space in your house/apartment/classroom, you may not want to have a trampoline out at all times so the Foldaway Trampoline is the perfect option for those of you who feel that way!  It is simple to open, close and store without taking up much space.  For older children, you can teach them how to open and close it so when they feel like they might have some extra energy that they need to get rid of, they can go and take care of it on their own.  I really like that the bar on the trampoline offers some of the younger kids, or those who have trouble with balance, extra support making them feel more secure and stable while jumping.


I believe having a trampoline available for younger children who may have sensory or gross motor difficulties is a great thing and that there are many benefits besides just releasing some extra energy.  Here are some of the other benefits of jumping on a trampoline:
-provides proprioceptive input which helps improve body awareness and organizational skills
-works on improving motor skills such as bilateral coordination.  When jumping, both sides of the body and brain must coordinate in order to maintain balance
-it's a fun way to work on building endurance and overall body strength.
-great for working on modulation and regulation skills
**you can play a game of freeze jump to work on increasing the length of time they jump.  Kids have to jump until the music stops!**

So if you are on the lookout for an easy to store sensory tool, be sure to check out the Foldaway Trampoline.  If you happen to know of any other great sensory products like this, please be sure to tell me about them.  I am always on the lookout for new products and love hearing from all of you! Remember, I am only a click away!

What's On My iPad

I had grand plans this summer to do wonderful things with my blog and write at least weekly...maybe even more.  Well, the beach and my kid called and I hardly wrote at all.  Now I am playing catch up because this time next week, I'll be in that back to school panic mode and worry I won't have time to write.

I spend a lot of my summer trying to figure out ways to get things new and fresh for the new school year.  While there are a ton of apps on my iPad that I've had for years and that the kids never tire of, I like to add new ones.  In this post, I will share the apps that are the most popular with the kids in my life right now.  Some may have been written about before and others will be new.  The common factor is that they are fun, motivating and worth every penny (for those that you have to purchase).

I know that using an iPad in therapy is not for everyone and I certainly don't use as my sole means of

teaching a child a skill.  The truth is that using an iPad and finding good apps can be really motivating, especially to children who are struggling with skills.  I have found that an iPad is exciting for them, particularly for those children who don't have access to one at home.  Another great thing about it is that it is easily used in conjunction with other activities that address similar goals.  For example, how many of you have a kid or work with a kid who will avoid handwriting at all costs?  I have had so much more success with getting a kid to pick up a pencil and copy a shape or write a letter or number after they have practiced it on the iPad.  There are also a lot of ways to make using an iPad more therapeutic:
*use a stylus whenever you can while using the iPad, especially if you have a child who needs to work on improving their grip on writing instruments.  My favorites are the the iCreate Crayon stylus, the Kikkerland Retro Stylus and the Paper Mate 2 in 1 Stylus pen.
*whenever possible, I have my kids lie prone on the net swing or over a bolster when using the iPad.  This works on improving upper body strength but they are often so focused on what's on the screen that they aren't focusing on being or getting tired.
*when appropriate, try and have kids work together to play the iPad.  People don't think something like an iPad can encourage social skills, but I have found that it is a wonderful tool for that.  Turn taking, problem solving for puzzle games and increasing pragmatic language are all things that can be worked on using an iPad
*bring parents in and show them the apps you are using with their child so they can do them with them at home.  Parents are always asking me for things that they can do that isn't really work.  I know from trying to "work" with my own child, that if it looks like work to her, she won't do it for me.  Making sure it is fun goes a long way and parents feel good that they are having quality time with their children while working on important skills.

Here are my iPad choices for right now.  Each of them has been kid tested and therapist approved!  

Star Gurus-I'm always looking for connect-the-dot like apps but most of them are boring and the kids tire of them quickly.  Additionally, you get a couple of puzzles and then have to keep paying extra money in order to add more to your collection.  A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon Star Gurus by Colto, a wonderful a creative studio dedicated to creating educational apps that will "make your kids smile", and was so excited by how captivating and motivating they were.  In addition to teaching your kids to count, it works on improving eye-hand coordination, visual tracking and several other occupational therapy skills.  One of the things I like about this particular connect-the-dot app is that you also have the option of counting by 2s or 10s which makes this more appropriate for some of the older kids on your caseload.  I have also found that the kids I work with are super motivated about the final product of connecting the dots....once all the stars are connected, they form a constellation.  Very motivating and exciting for kids, especially those who are interested in stars!

Shape Gurus-another great app by Colto, Shape Gurus is a fun and motivating way to learn about shapes, colors and early geometry skills (I wish I  had something like this for myself when I was growing up!).  This app is appropriate for children as young as 2 years old, but the older preschoolers and young school age kids on my caseload are loving it.  Shape Gurus stimulates creative problem solving, sequencing, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and many more.  I like how each puzzle moves into the next one allowing the parent or therapist to work on building language skills at the same time.  At the same time, it can work on increasing attention span.  Since each puzzle moves into the next one, the kids are engaged and not wanting to stop playing the game.  Some of my kids with the shortest of attention spans easily spent the 15 minutes it took to complete the whole game without any encouragement from me.   

Lazoo Art Box-I wrote about this one in great detail here a few weeks ago, but didn't want to leave it off this list of my favorites.  Lazoo has been a long time favorite of mine and I discovered their apps because of the amazing activity books that they have developed over the years.  They have taken the magic and uniqueness of their books and put them into a truly dynamic and motivating app that encourages, motivates and gets kids excited about art.  The best part for me is that while there are clear ideas and suggestions about what to do (i.e. draw something coming out of an elephant's trunk, put swirly wool on a lamb or color in an airplane before it takes flight), they leave plenty of room for a child to think outside of the box and be as creative as they want to.  Lazoo Art Box is a great way to work on improving graphomotor skills such as 

LetterSchool-as for as handwriting apps go, LetterSchool continues to be my go to and the first one I recommend to parents who are looking for a fun way to practice letters with their children.  Whether you want to begin working on teaching children how to write their letters or if you want to review what they already know, this is the best app out there.  It comes with three options:  uppercase, lowercase and numbers.  There are two levels of play for lots of practice.  For each letter and number, you work through 3 games (tap, trace and write) in order to earn stars.  Once you have completed both the silver and gold levels of play, you can then unlock the opportunity to do free-form writing.   Don't forget to use your stylus when using this app!

Winky Think-Spinlight Studio is a series of logic puzzles that will help your kids develop problem solving and fine motor skills.  Due to the puzzles getting increasingly more challenging, this app is appropriate for preschoolers and school age children.  To quote my 5 year old daughter, "This started really easy but it's getting more difficult!"  However, it doesn't stop her from doing the harder puzzles and feeling more proud of herself when she gets the puzzles on her own.  I've tested it out a few times and must admit that I ended up getting sucked into it as well!  With each puzzle, kids learn a new tool that will help them solve puzzles that will show up later in the game.  One of the things I like most about this is that there is no timer and the children are given as much time as they need in order to solve each puzzle.  Often times these kind of math and reasoning games are timed and end up causing the kids I work with to get nervous and have increased difficulty in completing it.  Another great app for older kids.

Avokiddo Think Rolls/Think Rolls 2-another one of those apps that I have written about in great detail before but can't be left off this list.  Most of the apps I have are geared towards the preschool or early school age kids.  Finding apps that will keep the attention of the older kids on my caseload is more difficult and when I find one, I am super happy.  You can read all about all of the Avokiddo apps in this post here but Think Rolls and Think Rolls 2 is awesome for the older kids on my caseload.  Kids choose a character and have to move them through a series of obstacles and mazes.  Each chapter introduces a new object with a unique physical property that kids will have to manipulate and experiment with in order to get through each puzzle.  These games are great for working on focus, attentional and problem solving skills.  I sometimes have kids play this game together in order to work on improving social skills.  It's a great app for kids to problem solve and work together to solve the puzzles...especially as it gets more and more challenging.

So, these are the apps that are getting the most screen time on my iPad.  I love that almost all of them are appropriate for a wide range of ages and that they are interesting and challenging enough that parents won't mind playing them with their kids.  As a new school year begins and you might be looking for educational but fun apps for your kids, I recommend any or all of these 6 apps.  I know that we tend to try and decrease the amount of screen time our kids have during the school year, but rest assured that any of these will help with learning and building important skills that will carryover into what they are focusing on in school.

Do you have any great apps you discovered this summer?  Now that my own child is going into school, finding wonderful apps is even more important for me.  Send along any suggestions, questions or thoughts to me.  I am only a click away and love hearing from each and every one of you!

Let's Get Cooking!

It's totally crazy to think about how quickly this summer is going.  I don't know about you, but even though we are having a lot of fun and doing lots of things with our own daughter, my husband and I are sometimes trying to figure out what to do with her.  We are getting to that point, especially these last few days, that it's so hot out that we don't even really have the motivation to go outside.  So even though there are several weeks left of summer, it is now it is time to get creative and keep us all from going to stir crazy.

One thing that brings me more joy than pretty much anything is baking.  It is something that connects me to my father and acts as my personal therapy.  As soon was Quinn was old enough, I started having her bake with me.  As a matter of fact, one of my favorite gifts for her was her first apron (thank you Carrie Cook!  Quinn still wears it when baking all these years later).  It started off simple and I would have her pour all the ingredients in for me.  As she got older and could be more involved, I'd let her do more.  The day I let her crack her own eggs was a pretty exciting day for her.  Baking with Quinn has been something that has not only been something we could do together to bond over, but has been a fun way to teach her new things.

Cooking and baking with your kids can be a wonderful activity, especially in air conditioning on these super hot days.  When parents are asking me for things to do over the summer to keep their kids up to speed with their occupational therapy goals, baking is one of the first things I suggest.  Not only is it fun, it can be tremendously therapeutic. Additionally, introducing kids to cooking/baking early on in life makes them more likely to take risks when eating and try new foods.  There are also a lot of ways to sneak in opportunities for learning when baking.  For example, if your child is working on learning their letters and numbers, they can make cookies using alphabet or number cookie cutters. If they need to work on building up strength, you can do it while stirring ingredients.

**before I begin the next half of my post, I am going to admit I am much more of a baker than a cooker.  So going forward, when I say baking, it represents both baking AND cooking***

Some of the therapeutic benefits of baking with your kids are:
Improve Upper Body and Hand Strength-baking is a great way to work on this skill in a fun and sneaky way.  Stirring the ingredients, especially as they start blending all together, can become increasingly difficult and require a lot of strength and endurance.  When baking for your family, I suggest that parents let their kids roll up their sleeves and mix with their hands instead of a spoon or a spatula....this really helps with building up the strength in those small muscles of the hands.
Improve Bilateral Coordination-baking is a great way to work on improving bilateral coordination because there are so many parts of this activity that require the use of two hands.  For example, when pouring the ingredients you need one hand to hold the measuring cup or spoon and the other pours the ingredients.  When mixing the ingredients together, it's essential that you hold the you hold the spoon or spatula with one hand and keep the bowl stable with the other one.  How about cracking an egg?  You need to hold the egg with one hand and keep the cup or bowl still with the other.
Improve Fine Motor Skills-do you have kids who need to work on improving cutting, grasping and other fine motor skills?  Baking is a great way to do that in a really fun way.  Need to work on cutting?  How about getting your kids to cut open the bag of chocolate chips?  If you have a ton of patience and time, you can use a pair of Zoo Sticks to put some of the smaller ingredients in (chocolate chips, pieces of fruit, etc.).  Even the simple task of pulling the paper off the butter is a great fine motor activity.
Improve Visual Motor/Visual Perceptual Skills-baking is a great way to work on improving visual skills.  When you are following a recipe, you have to be able to visually track between the recipe and the ingredients.  You need to be able to pour ingredients into a measuring cup or spoon and be able stop pouring them when they hit the line.
Improve Executive Functioning Skills-what I love about baking is that it is a great activity to work on improving higher level skills for older children.  Baking requires an incredible amount of focus and attention.  It requires one to be able to organize their ingredients, sequence and follow directions.  If you one doesn't (and I have lots of experience here) follow directions and focus carefully, you can end up with a mess of a project.  Baking is a great activity for older kids who need to work on improving their executive functioning skills and the best part is that much of the work can be hidden.
Improve Social Skills-baking is an incredibly social activity. Even though I am an occupational therapist and I tend to see kids on a 1:1 basis, I have also been lucky enough to spend a lot of my time working in social skills groups.  As a matter of fact, in September, I will be working with The Meeting House again as we begin our TMH Juniors group.  One of our program offerings will be a baking/cooking class once per month.  The social benefits of baking are endless and can be easily carried over at home with siblings and friends.  You can work on taking turns (pouring ingredients in), work on compromise and working as a team to complete a final project.  Once a cooking project is finished, there is a tremendous social opportunity to take advantage of.  You can set up a table or a picnic blanket and let the kids have conversations about what is happening in their lives.  If you have kids who have difficulty with conversation, you can throw a pile of conversation cards out in the middle of the table for them to reach out for when there is a lull in conversation.

There are a lot of fun and simple baking and cooking activities that you can do with your children...some that don't even require oven or heat!  Just keep in mind, when cooking with children, you will need patience and extra time.  Kids will ask a lot of questions, make a mess and may even lose their attention part way through your activity.  One thing to do in order to prevent that from happening is set up all the materials before you call your kids in....have your ingredients out, eggs cracked and in a cup, measuring spoons and cups ready, etc..  As children have more success with a cooking activity, you can start to add on responsibilities such as having them take out the ingredients.
Here are a few ideas for you to try with your kids, either at home or at work. I've tried them all and they have been a huge hit!

Zipsicle-I saw these when in Bed, Bath and Beyond a few weeks ago and had to try them.  Who doesn't love a refreshing ice-pop?  How about making your own with your kids?  These little pouches are perfectly designed for making your ice pops.  If you go here, you will find a bunch of tasty and easy recipes you can follow to make your very own ice pops.  The best part, is that you can avoid artificial flavors and colors, which so many of the kids I work with are unable to eat, and add lots of fruits and other healthy ingredients.  
Zoku-this is another fun way to make your own ice pops at home.  I wrote out the Zoku ice pop maker about two years (check out that post here) and since then, they have expanded their line.  They still have their original pop maker, but now have smaller ones that don't take up as much room in your freezer.  They also have molds that are in the shape of fish, people and rockets, which might make your little ones more willing to try a new flavor. You can follow one of their recipes or make something of your own.  
Rainbow Fruit Kabobs-another activity that doesn't require the use of an oven or heat.  I love the idea of fruit kabobs and have actually made these with many of my kids when I was running social skills groups.  This activity is great because it can encourage your child to try new fruits.  It works on building fine motor, visual motor/perceptual and bilateral coordination skills.  For younger children who are just beginning to learn their colors, it's a fun way to reinforce it for them.  It's also nice to work on improving organizational and sequencing skills for older children who are struggling with both of these things.  Lastly, this is a simple enough of an activity that you can do it in small groups and encourage conversation, cooperation and team work.
Alphabet Cookies-I have always found that if you hide the work in learning, kids are more likely to hold onto the information.  I have always had a set of alphabet cookie cutters in my office to use with playdough and the kids really love it.  At home, you can take those same cookie cutters and make cookies instead.  If you are motivated, you can make your dough from scratch but if you want to
make it simple and fast, buy the rolls of sugar or chocolate chip dough at the store....the end product is the same.  There are so many opportunities to talk about the letters during this activity...you can have them look through the pile to find a certain letter and talk about words that start with certain letters.  Once they are all baked (and cooled), you can have children put them in order.  And if you want to make it really fun and therapeutic, you can decorate the cookies after using icing, sprinkles and other fun decorations.

These are just a few ideas to get you started but really, you can make any recipe a good recipe for kids.  I know that my daughter just loves being part of the process.  It can be as simple as pouring the cheese, butter and milk into the macaroni when making mac and cheese or as complicated as shredding cheese with a grater (kid friendly of course) for meals.  In addition to all of the skills that can be worked on while baking or cooking, it's a great source of pride for a child to be able to tell people that they helped make whatever they are eating.

Do you have a favorite recipe or cooking activity that you do with your child?  It would be fun to be able to put together a list of things that you have been successful with and share them with each other.  While I am an avid baker, I am always looking for new and tasty recipes to try with Quinn.  I'm always a click away and love hearing from you all.

Stay cool and fun baking with your kids.  Who knows, if you start your kids off early in the kitchen, maybe they will be the next top chef!

I'm Going to Huff and Puff.....and Calm Myself Down!

This is going to be a quick post, but one that I think will be super valuable.  I am not sure about any of you, but I find May and June to be harder than almost any other time of the school year.  So many of my kids are feeling nervous and worried about all the changes that summer usually brings about.  For some of them, it's ending school and realizing they will be in a new school next year with so many new faces.  Others are worried about camp, taking a bus for the first time.  Whatever the changes are, it often brings about kids with increased energy and more difficulty with being able to modulate/regulate their behaviors.

One of the skills I love to teach children when they present with these types of behaviors is how to take deep breaths.  When a child is feeling anxious or scared, his or her breathing will change and instead of taking normal breaths, they will be observed to take short, quick and shallow breaths.  Deep breathing is
important because it can lower a child's anxiety and give them a sense of control over their body.  Teaching a child how to do calm breathing is a great tool that they can have with them at all times, especially when their grownups aren't there to help guide them through it.  However, teaching children, especially the younger ones, how to properly take deep breaths can be more challenging than one may think.


Ever since discovering Free App Friday by Smart Apps For Kids, I have found a handful of great apps.  Ones that I most definitely wouldn't have discovered without me reading it about on their post.  Last week, one of the apps features was Huff-N-Puff by Duckie Deck.  Their description of the game is:  Huff n' PUff lets children learn about physical effects of wind and air, in a simplified setting.  Now, a youngster can have a more direct interaction with the digital world by using the power of their own breath.  Just blow some air near the iPad's or iPhone's iOS 5 microphone and delight in the realistic effect on-screen.  As an occupational therapist, I read this as follows:  Huff n' Puff lets children learn about how to effectively take deep and controlled breaths in a fun, motivated and simple setting.

There isn't much to the game, but it is fun and so far, my kids are loving it!  There are about 25 different activities that your child can play with.  I
pick and choose which ones are most appropriate and most motivating for the child I am working with.  The only thing the child needs to do is breath into the microphone of the iPad or iPhone and something fun will happen.  So far, my favorites are blowing the seeds off the dandelion, making the pinwheel spin or blowing the whistle.  I like these because they require a child to work on sustaining a long, deep breath.  I sometimes challenge my kids to see how many times they can make the pinwheel spin which they love!

One thing I really love about this game is there are ways to generalize and practice your deep breathing with real life activities.  For example, one of the activities is to blow up a balloon.  Right after you blow the balloon up on the game, you can have a child practice using those deep breaths by blowing up a real balloon.  Who remembers that pipe where you have to keep the ball in the air without having it fly away?  They have that as an activity on this game!  I have a few of the real pipes at work and the kids love it, but they often have trouble with it.  Some of my kids think it is really funny to make it fly away and have to chase it.  I am going to see if I can get them to be more successful by practicing with Huff-N-Puff first.

I hope you all have as much fun with this game as I am having.  Deep breathing is such an important skill and I have struggled with finding the most effective way to help my kids learn this skill.  It is an essential skill for learning how to cope when faced with challenging situations.  I am sure many of you have other ways to work on this without using technology and I would love to hear from with your ideas.  As the end of the year approaches and our kids are faced with an increased number of changes and challenges, I would love to be able to help empower them with a skill that will help them get through these difficult times.  

Foiled Again!

Every once in a while I stumble upon an arts and craft project and I feel like I have hit the jackpot.  I first felt that way when I discovered the Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics.  To this day, I still buy tons of these sets each year to do with my kids and they never get bored of it.  Actually, I have 12 kids on my caseload working on different pictures as we speak.  So when I was searching through the craft aisle at West Side Kids on the UWS the other day, I was thrilled to find the Foil Art Sticker Kits by at Peaceable Kingdom.

I am a big fan of craft projects that take more than one or two sessions to work on.  I find that it makes it more exciting and rewarding for the children that I work with to spread projects out over a few sessions.  I love seeing the pride on their faces when they finish something that they worked on for so long and try and make it a really big deal when they get to proudly show off their work to their parents or caregivers.  It's a really great thing to watch them run out of the room and share their work and tell everyone how they did it.  Sometimes, I will talk to my kids about the process and how hard it was when we started the project and how it got easier.  This is a great opportunity to build a child's self-esteem and confidence.

Foil Art Sticker Kits by at Peaceable Kingdom are a fun and motivating project for any child.  So far, I have found that they work better for my older preschool kids or my school-age kids because it requires a decent amount of patience, and more importantly, focus.  It also requires a certain amount of hand strength in order to complete the project which means an older child will have more success completing it independently.  These projects are a great way to work on a variety of fine motor skills, including increasing hand strength and manipulation skills.  For kids who avoid those kinds of activities, this is a great way to hide that work and end up with a really cool project to take home at the end.  Another nice thing about the Foil Art Sticker Kits is that the options are not too overwhelming.  Each set comes with 4 different colors to choose from which I find to be helpful in organizing ones work and attention.  When there are too many colors to choose from, I notice that some of my kids become more distracted and end up jumping from one color to another rather quickly.

In addition to what has already been mentioned above, Foil Art Sticker Kits by at Peaceable Kingdom can work on the following skills:

Improve Bilateral Coordination Skills-looking for a simple but fun activity to promote using two hands?  This is perfect.  It will be nearly impossible to make your picture without using two hands.  First, you have to hold the sheet/picture with one hand while you peel the stickers off with the other hand.  Once you have the sticker off the picture, you have to hold the picture still with one hand while you rub the foil onto the sticker using a finger from your other hand.  Sounds simple but I can't tell you how difficult this can be for some children.
Improve Modulation/Regulations Skills-I have done these with a few kids at work and at home with my own 4 year old and have learned that the whole "slow and steady" motto really helps.  When a child tries and rub the foil really fast, it moves around too much and won't stick well.  They will have to redo their work which can be quite frustrating.  The nice thing about making this a long-term project is that after a session or two, I can see the kids slowing down and being more attentive to what they are doing and how quickly they are doing it.  As I say to my kids.....they don't have to be perfect but they must try their best to do their best.  For some of my kids, just being able to slow down is their best and that is a huge thing.
Improve Grasping Skills-a child is required to pull the sticker off before they place the colored foil on top of the picture which will work on developing a fine pincer grasp.  Additionally, a child has to use a fine pincer grasp to pull the top of the sticker off so they can place the foil on top.  For some of my kids, this is quite challenging and requires some encouragement and assistance from me to make sure to take only one sticker off at a time.
Improve Organizational Skills-for my older children who may be working on improving organizing their work and improving executive functioning skills, I have them think about what color they want each section to be prior to completing the activity.  After they have figured out what color will go where, they then have to complete all of the same color at one time.


Peaceable Kingdom is a great company and I love that they make so many great products that I can feel good about supporting and recommending to others.  First of all, they have an amazing mission:

Make good, do good, be good!

They use sustainable materials in their products whenever they can using recycled papers and soy-based inks.  They work with independent illustrators, giving people the chance to make their mark on this awesome world we live in.  Most importantly, they believe in creating products that help you connect to the kids in your life and for kids to connect to other kids.  Awesome, right?  Plus, they have awesome customer service.  If you lose a piece to one of their games, they will replace it for you at no cost.  Lastly, they are big into giving back to their people through a "Donation a Day" program.  I don't know about you, but I would like to see more companies out there like this and I will do what I can to support and promote them.

I found my Foil Art Sticker Kits at West Side Kids, an amazing toy store on the upper west side of Manhattan.  Be sure to check out your local toy stores to see if they carry these kits (or any of the fantastic products by Peaceable Kingdom).  I am a huge supporter supporting our local businesses whenever possible and hope that my readers do the same.  If you don't see these products in your local toy stores you can always find them on their website by clicking here.

I am always looking for new craft projects that will motivate my kids at work.  Ones that will work on improving their fine motor and attentional skills are awesome especially if they will help on building self-esteem and confidence.  Do you have other great projects like the Foil Art Sticker Kits or the Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics that you would recommend to me and my readers.  I am always looking for something new to add to my OT closet and love hearing from you all.  I am always a click away so please be sure to send me your favorites!  

Rainbow Brights!

If you have a young girl or know any young girls (or young boys for that matter), I am pretty certain you have heard of the latest craze, The Rainbow Loom.  Thanks to my goddaughter, I learned about the Rainbow Loom in April before it was virtually impossible to find in the stores.  Meghan was wearing the bracelets and showing me her whole setup.  Once she started making one for me, I was sold.  I went home immediately and bought two looms; one for work and one to keep at home for any younger visitors to play with.  Since bringing it to the gym, it has been a huge hit.

If you don't know about the Rainbow Loom, let me tell you about it because it is truly a perfect addition to any occupational therapist's bag of tricks, especially if you work with school age children. Basically, the Rainbow Loom (pictured at the left) is a set to make friendship bracelets.  Using a plastic loom, a hook and a bunch of brightly colored rubber bands, you make an awesome bracelet out of small colored rubber bands.  You place the rubber bands on the loom and then use a hook to weave the rubber bands into a colorful bracelet.  I encourage the kids to use their pinchers (fine pincer grasp) to place the rubber bands onto the pegs.  You have to follow a pattern so this is great for visual motor and visual perceptual skills.  I encourage the children I work with to choose a pattern and follow it from beginning to end to work on planning and organization skills in addition to the aforementioned visual skills.  If you have a child who needs to work on visual skills, this is a great craft activity for them.

Here is the original set.  Perfect for throwing in a bag
for those of you who do lots of home care or running from
school to school

Each set (pictured at the right) comes with the original Rainbow Loom pattern.  As of right now, that is the only one I have used with my kids at work.  However, if you have a child who has mastered the original bracelet pattern and is ready for more of a challenge, You Tube has step-by-step videos for tons of other patterns.  You can also check out the Rainbow Loom website for some links to other videos.  As a child becomes more of a master, you can start seeing how independent they can become learning new patterns by watching the videos.  I guarantee that if a child who has struggled with these types of activities can figure out the different patterns on their own, their confidence and self-esteem will improve by leaps and bounds.  It may even motivate them to try other activities that have been challenging for them in the past.

In addition to what I have already mentioned, The Rainbow Loom can work on the following occupational therapy goals:

This child is using great bilateral coordination
for the completion of her bracelet

Improve Bilateral Coordination Skills-this is a great activity to focus on bilateral coordination skills in a fun and motivating way.  So much of this activity requires the use of two hands.  From putting the rubber bands on the loom, to stabilizing the loom with one hand while the other holds the hook to removing the completed bracelet from the loom with one hand while holding the loom still with the other.  So many ways to address this OT goal in a sneaky way (love tricking the kids into working on goals)!
Improve Grasping Skills-if you have a child who struggles with pencil grasp, this is another way you can work on encouraging a proper grip.  If you look at the picture below, you will see that you should hold the Rainbow Loom hook with a tripod like grasp.  I work with so many children who avoid working on handwriting activities and most of the time it is because their grasp on a writing instrument causes them so much difficulty with the task.  Using the Rainbow Loom can be a sneaky way to work on improving a pencil grasp without the child even knowing it!

Check out the tripod grasp being used in this picture.
This is the grasp that is expected when holding a writing instrument

Improve Focus and Attention-if you are trying to work on increasing a child's attention span and ability to focus, this is a perfect activity for them.  It is crucial that a child has good attention and focus when completing their bracelets because there are a lot of steps to completing each bracelet.  If you take your eyes away and lose focus on where you are, there is a chance you will have to start from the beginning again.  I try and help keep the children I work with who have decreased frustration tolerance by calling their attention to where they are and what the next step is.  Sometimes, having children talk through the next step, they are more successful.  As each child becomes more confident with their looming skills, you can decrease the amount of assistance you give them.  If you look at the picture above, you will see a child deep in concentration....something I strive to see in the kids I work with.  

Do you have a child who needs to work on his/her organizational
skills?  The Rainbow Loom kit above is a great way to
encourage a child to keep their supplies neat and organized.  

 Improve Organizational Skills-for children who lack organzational skills, this is a fun way to work on that.  Instead of having them just pick through the rubber bands while making the bracelet, I have them take out all their supplies first.  If they are following a pattern, they have to figure out how many of each color they need and put them in piles.  When they begin actually making the bracelet, they aren't wasting time digging through all the rubber bands.
Improve Self-Esteem and Confidence-I can still remember making friendship bracelets when I was younger.  I can remember struggling learning how to get it just right and feeling frustrated when it didn't come out perfectly.  But then, I finally got it and finished that bracelet and gave it to a friend and felt so good about myself.  Since this is an activity that is a bit of a fad right now, all the kids want to do it and do it well.  Being able to take their looms and make bracelets alongside their friends will help the kids I work with feel better about themselves and much more confident in his/her skills.  And in the end, if I have helped make a kid I work with feel better about themselves, then I have done what I truly set out to do.

Improves Social Skills-as some of you know, the Rainbow Loom is a craze right now.  I know my almost 8 year old niece and her friends have made hundreds of them this summer at her camp.  They sit together and share their materials, help each other out when they need it and exchange completed bracelets.  I just gave Julia her very own Rainbow Loom Deluxe kit and she is beside herself.  She is on vacation now, but know that she can't wait to show it off to her friends and make more bracelets with them.  This is such a great social activity for kids that doesn't involve electronics and/or screen time which I find to be such a welcome thing for school age kids.

How many of you have memories of making friendship bracelets growing up?  I can clearly remember going to the craft store with my mom and sisters and picking out tons of embroidery thread and spending hours and hours with my clipboard creating bracelets.  It wasn't easy and I had to start over again time and time again, but the satisfaction I felt when I completed a bracelet was awesome.  It made me feel so proud to create something and then be able to give it to a friend or family member.   I am loving watching that satisfaction and pride in the children I am working with.  What I really love is that this is an activity that is the rage amongst so many young (6-10 years old) kids this summer.  So when a child I work with, who typically struggles being able to do things like their peers, masters this, I know they feel good and are more likely to try this with their peers.  Way too often, I see children I work with avoid to do activities that they really want to do because they are afraid to not be as good as their friends.  I love watching them practice and then master something like the Rainbow Loom and then go out and do it alongside their friends.  Not only makes them feel proud, but it makes them feel like they are part of their peer group which is something that many of the children I work with typically struggle with.

If you are wondering where you can pick up a Rainbow Loom kit for your kids, I suggest checking out local toy stores first and seeing if they carry them.  My love of supporting small businesses is no secret.   I know that Stoopher and Boots on the Upper West Side in Manhattan carries them (and the accessories).  The educational store Learning Express carries them as well.  If you have no luck there, check out Amazon.com and see what you can find there.  This is where I found the Rainbow Loom Deluxe kit for my niece Julia's 8th birthday and am pretty certain I have not given her a gift that has made her this happy in all 8 years of her life!

I am excited to hear about your experiences with the Rainbow Loom with your kids.  Do you have a pattern that you have introduced to the kids you work with that has been easier for them than others?  Have you come up with ways to adapt the activity for children?  I would love to hear from all of you about your experiences with the Rainbow Loom.  As always, I am just a click away and really do love hearing from my readers.  

  

It's All About Teamwork

As a therapist, I wear many hats.  I do all the 1:1 private practice stuff at two sensory gyms in NYC (Heads Up and SAGE).  I am a co-founder of the most amazing after school program, The Meeting House, for school age children with social special needs.  And I run smaller social skills groups with a speech therapist I have had the joy of working alongside for years now.  Professionally, I can't think of a luckier therapist than me.

With all of those different hats I wear, the toys, supplies and equipment I need varies from setting to setting so my eyes are ALWAYS open for new and fun things that would be appropriate for each place.  Yesterday, while walking around the UWS trying to kill some time between clients, I found myself in Stoopher and Boots, a super cute kids store that carries not only adorable clothes but also a great selection of toys.  I'm super excited for the new game I picked up and think that many of you will love it as well, especially you parents of multiple children or therapists/educators who tend to see groups of kids.  Stack Up by Peaceable Kingdom is a perfect game for preschoolers.  It is great across the pediatric disciplines as it covers goals for occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physical therapy and educational goals!  I can't think of many other games in my very large and overstuffed closet that do that.

Stack Up is a cooperative game that focuses on having all the players work towards the same goal as opposed to being first or the winner.  The object of cooperative games is that you focus on working together and not as individuals.  Nobody is made to feel left out or made to feel as though they didn't do a good job.  The point of the game is that in order for you to win, you need to be part of a group and play with your friends, not against them.  Cooperative games have becoming increasingly popular since I began working in schools about 10 years ago.  I love them because I find that for some of the kids on my caseload, they spend so much time working 1:1 with grownups that they lose out on opportunities to play with their peers outside of the classroom and may present with difficulties playing games appropriately.  I am lucky enough to work in an office with other occupational therapists and speech therapists.  If the kids are appropriate for one another, we will put aside some time to play a game together; this is great for all those involved.  For parents who want to encourage their children to play together more peacefully, this game is perfect!  Sometimes parents tell me they have a hard time letting their kids play games together because it leads to so much fighting and upset when somebody loses.  This could be a good solution to the sibling game-playing blues.

In addition to what I already talked about, here are a few more goals that can be worked on while playing Stack Up:

Improve Eye-Hand Coordination-this is a fun way to work on eye-hand coordination without the kids even realizing they are working on it!  My favorite kind of activity...one that can be super fun but help reach some of those occupational goals.  A child requires eye-hand coordination to put the stick in the hole of the block and then they need to carefully look at where the block goes and how to stack it on top of the other without it toppling over.  Sounds easy but when you have kids do it at the same time, it can be quite tricky for them.
Improve Frustration Tolerance-cooperative games are a good way for kids to work on improving their frustration tolerance.  Not just towards an activity, but in regards to working with another child. This is such an important skill for kids to develop but not always an easy one to work on.  Children who have good frustration tolerance will most likely play better with their friends.  

Improve Color Recognition/Matching Skills-another great aspect about this game is that you can use it for younger children who are still in the early stages of learning their colors.  As you spin the spinner, you land on 1 of 4 colors; you can use this as an opportunity to not only learn colors but to work on matching and sorting colors.  For younger children who aren't quite ready to play the game, you can use the opposite side of the board and have them sort colors onto the right colored square.
Improve Social Skills-I find it is very difficult to teach a child the importance of team work and not always having to be the winner.  So many of the children I work with think that if they win, they are the best.  I love that the concept behind this game, and all cooperative games, is that the way to win is by working together and making decisions as a group, not just on your own.  There are a lot of collaborative games out there but many are geared towards older children and, oftentimes, don't always hold the interest of the kids.  I love that this is easy to understand and even easier to adapt for whatever the group of children are able to handle.  This game is also good for encouraging conversation amongst friends which many of my kids need to work on.
Improve Motor Planning-depending on how you play the game, you can add a physical component to the game.  If you land on a challenge when you spin, you pick up a card with some kind of physical challenge (the whole group should perform this).  For example, my favorite challenge is to do a jumping jack and freeze in a legs open position.  The kids found this to be really funny and we were able to work on a skill that is sometimes hard for them.  Other challenges include standing on one foot, giving a friend a high five and holding it for 5 seconds or making silly faces.  All of these things may sound easy to you but for children with motor planning difficulties, it can be quite challenging and they may avoid trying it.  This game motivates the kids to try it in a really fun way.

I am really excited about trying this game out with the kids signed up for my social skills group in the fall.  I am also anxious to check out a few more of the games that Peaceable Kingdom has created.  The other cooperative games they have on their website look like they will be a lot of fun as well. In addition to more cooperative games, they have regular board games, card games and sticker sets.  I'm impressed not only with the quality of the product but with the thought that has been put into creating the game.  I am sure their other games and products will prove to be equally as wonderful.

Do any of you have cooperative games that you can recommend to me and my readers?  I would love to start the fall with a few new games to use during my sessions at the gym and also for my social skills groups.  Please share your ideas with us all!  While this game is targeted towards the younger kids, I also work with older children both in my private practice and at The Meeting House and would love a few more games for that population.

As always, I love hearing from my readers and am just a click away.  Looking forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions for other fun and motivating cooperative games.