Let's Get That Body Moving....Part 2

Last week, I blogged about the importance of brain/body breaks during this crazy time and provided a bunch of activities that could be incorporated into your child's daily schedule. Things like playing a game of Simon Says, jump roping or hula hooping throughout the school day can help your children reset for the rest of the day. Some kids require more movement than others and for different reasons. Let's be honest, some kids are perfectly happy with not having forced movement throughout their day while others just can't get enough movement. 

As I have been supporting families through this crazy time, some of them have asked me to help create some kind of weekly schedule that will help their children gain some kind of routine. For many of my kids, this involves building in several body breaks. While our kids are spending a lot more time in front of screens, it is often while they are seated. One of the most helpful things I have been using to start my remote sessions before we sit down and do our table work is some kind of big body/movement activity. When we are at the gym for our sessions, we always start with a swing, jumping on a ball or trampoline or some kind of obstacle course and it is such a great way to get them organized and energized for the rest of our session. Since we can't be face to face at this point and most people (particularly my families in the city with not a lot of space for equipment) don't have access to things like a trampoline or large therapy ball, I've had to get creative. With the help of screen sharing, I have been able to find fun ways to get my kids up and moving. There are some really fabulous three to 5 minute movement videos on You Tube that have been a huge hit with my kids. As I mentioned last week, these movement breaks are not only necessary for giving our kids a chance to move around but have been proven to help with improved learning. This is even more important now than it ever was as kids are not getting out. Below, I share with you twenty short videos that you can do at home with your children. Since we are all home, make this a family thing and add a few dance parties or brain breaks to all of your schedules. This will not only be good for getting your up and moving but dancing and moving is good for you emotional well-being. 

The Freeze Dance

Go Bananas

Smallfoot: Do The Yeti

Dancing Robots Song

The Goldfish Song by Laurie Berkner 

The Goldfish Song: Let's Go Swimming 

The Hokey Pokey

Shake Your Sillies Out 

Simon Says

Walking, Walking, Hop, Hop, Hop

Twist and Shout 

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Get Funky: The Funky Monkey Dance

Baby Shark Dance Song

Trolls: Can't Stop The Feeling

Can't Stop The Feeling Dance Party

Animal Dance and Freeze

Move and Freeze

Boom Chicka Boom

Frozen 2: Make Your Move

If You're Happy and You Know It    

Do The Bear Walk


These videos are not only great getting kids up and moving around, but have more therapeutic value than you even realize. Kids will learn how to follow directions, work on improving body awareness and motor planning skills. This moving around will help them with their ability to focus and attend better to more challenging school work or therapy activities. The best part about this is that so many of these are familiar songs or characters which makes these videos even more motivating, especially for those kids we know who totally prefer to sit on the couch! 

This new way of doing therapy with my children has forced me to be more creative and think outside of the box. While I can't wait until the day when I can get back to my toys, equipment and co-workers, I am embracing all there is out there and what technology is allowing us to accomplish during our therapy sessions. If you have any other movement videos that you are using with your kids, send along! I am only a click away and love hearing from you all. 

Get That Body Moving!

I hope that this latest blog post finds you all healthy and staying sane. My daughter is just starting week two of her remote learning and we are all adjusting with our new "normal". We have set up our small apartment with three stations for school and work and so far, it's working. One thing I have noticed being cooped up inside for a majority of our day is how important it is to get up and moving throughout the day. For the first time in my daughter's school career, the majority of her work is done on a computer which means she is spending hours on end looking at a screen and I am realizing how important it is for her to get up and move around throughout the day. Seeing this firsthand has made me realize even more than I already know just how important body and brain breaks are crucial and have been encouraging my daughter to get up and move around, especially when she seems to be getting frustrated by something.

Look at how much active your child's brain is after just 20
minutes of physical movement! 

The importance of brain/body breaks can't be expressed enough. Here are a few of the many benefits of incorporating these breaks into your child's daily schedule while remote learning is taking place:
*improves cognitive skills as they complete these activities. Be sure to up the challenge for them as they become more successful with them.
*improves focus and attention which helps with the learning process. We must allow time for movement opportunities in order for our children to learn.
*movement has been proven to actually help "turn on" your brain.
*engaging in organized physical movement helps a child with being able to not only focus and attend but also helps with organizing your work.

Brain breaks are easy to build into your child's day, especially if they are following some kind of schedule. My daughter gets her daily schedule first thing in the morning and then writes it down on her dry erase board. We know when she will have Zoom meetings and know what assignments need to get done and know when it needs to be completed so we work around that and then think about where to add in some brain breaks. Like most things, what kinds of brain breaks work for children are individual. Below, I share some simple and fun brain breaks that you can do at home.

1. Dance Party-my daughter's go-to brain break is to have a dance party. We have music playing in our apartment all day long. It's something all of us love and helps us focus and attend. When it's time for her to get up and move, she is allowed to pick a song or two of her choice, typically Taylor Swift, put the volume up and just dance. If you have more than one child, put together a family dance party playlist that they can shuffle through during these dance parties.

2. Freeze Dance-during all of my remote therapy sessions, I start with a game of Freeze Dance. Sometimes I have them choose a song which is highly motivating to them to get them up and moving and helps them to get their bodies organized before we sit down and do our work in this non-traditional manner. During each of the freeze moments, I add in some kind of body awareness challenge. For example, I will say to them, "The next time the music stops, make your body a small shape." There are also a ton of really great video options on You Tube that my kids have really enjoyed.

3. Simon Says-this is an easy game to do, even in the smallest of spaces! I like Simon Says because it is always different and you can pick activities that are appropriate for each child. Jump up and down, touch your toes, touch various body parts, do jumping jacks, run in place, and so much more. This is a great activity to get your kids up and moving but also helps with improving body awareness, body strength, motor planning and coordination and improves executive functioning skills such as focus, attention and self-regulation.

4. What's Your Name Workout-I have been doing these workouts with my kids at the gym and they love it because it is personalized for them which makes it feel more special. I have included both the beginner's and extreme workout for you to take a look at. Change things up by having your kids spell out other family members or pet's names. If your kids are struggling with their spelling words, have them practice them by combining it with the these activities.





5. Alphabet Scavenger Hunt-this is also a great way to work on handwriting but the main goal is to get them up and moving around. Give your child a clipboard with a piece of paper with the letters of the alphabet written along the left hand side of the paper. Depending on how much time they have, highlight a certain number of letters and have them walk around their house or apartment and find objects that start with those letters and write them down. If you have siblings, they can compete against each other or work together to complete the scavenger hunt.

6. Play Charades-charades is a fun brain break activity that can be played with a child and a parent, with siblings or as a whole family. It not only gets kids up and moving around, it helps with developing body awareness. You can have kids come up with their own ideas (might be easier for your older children) or come up with a list as a family and throw them in a bowl and pick them out one at a time to act out. Definitely set a timer because it could go on forever and then lead to kids getting super frustrated. For those of you who prefer to have the work done for you, check out some of the great charades games out there: Charades for Kids, Pictures Charades and Kids On Stage.



7. Animal Walk-this is a really fun activity, especially for younger children and can be silly or serious. Come up with a list of animals and talk about how they move before you do this with your child. I am a big fan of using colorful visuals with kids so I encourage finding pictures of a bunch of animals, print them out and turn them over so they can't see the picture. Decide on how many animal walks you are going to do, pick that number of cards and place them somewhere the child can see them and start moving! Maybe find some fun animal-themed music (In The Jungle is a good one!) and have it playing in the background.





8. Yoga-not only do our kids need to move around, they need opportunities to practice mindfulness. That is more important right now than ever before as so many kids are feeling confused and uncertain about what is going on. Yoga is the perfect activity to combine both of these things and there are so many fun videos out there, especially on You Tube (people swear by Cosmic Kids Yoga). I have been using the Super Duper Publications Yogarilla cards with my kids for years and I love them. I actually just purchased a new set since mine are stuck at work to use in my remote therapy sessions. At this point, I prefer the cards just because I feel like our kids need a break from screen time with this new school format. These cards are my favorite because the cards are large and the illustrations are great. On the back of each card, there are regular and adapted directions for children with different skill sets and other activities that can be done.

9. Balloon Games-since we are spending more time inside, I recommend balloon ball games instead of using a regular ball so you don't have to worry about something breaking or someone getting hurt. Just blowing up a balloon is a great activity for kids to help with calming them down and getting them to focus and attend. Here are a couple of balloon games you can have your children play or play with your children during these brain breaks.
*Balloon Toss-set up two spots for you and your child to stand on and tap the balloon back and forth to each other as many times as you can. Keep a tally to see how much better you are getting at it!
*Balloon Tennis-instead of using your hands, make a tennis racket out of a paper plate and stick and use that to toss the balloon back and forth to each other.
*Balloon Catch-try and find something at home that you can use to catch a balloon that is tossed at you. For example, a large funnel or a beach bucket.
*Balloon Head Volleyball-Instead of using your hands to tap the balloon back and forth to each other, use your head!

10. Hula Hoop Games-i'm thinking that now that the weather is getting nicer and my daughter needs more opportunities to move that body of hers, it will be time to get a new hula hoop. The most obvious use of a hula hoop is the traditional way but you can take that and make it more challenging for them. Have them try getting it around a certain number of times or a certain length of time. Keep track of how long they can go so they can see their progress. Here are two other ways to use a hula hoop:
*Hula Jump-stand with the hoop vertically in front of your body and then flip it down towards your feet, jump over it and bring it back behind you. See how many times you can go before having to take a break.
*Hoop Rolling-this was actually one of my daughter's favorite things to do here in Brooklyn. We are lucky enough to have a long sidewalk with not much foot traffic (even less now) where my daughter can see how far she can roll her hula hoop. She really likes to flick it so it comes back to her and one of her favorite things to do was to have contests with me or her dad.

Many of the activities I suggested are ones that can be played inside or in your backyard. Keeping in mind all of my New York City families and their limited space, I tried to suggest things that don't require a lot of space or equipment. Keep in mind that not only do kids need brain breaks, grownups need them too. I can say that I have been missing my morning routines, especially my commute. I am one of those strange people who loves that 45 minutes of walking, movement, etc. before I walk into the office. When your kids take brain breaks, do it with them! In order to keep healthy and sane, we need to make sure that we are keeping our bodies moving. Do you and your family have brain games that you have begun to incorporate into your daily routines? What are your family favorites? It would be great to hear what other brain games people are playing. I would love to hear from all of you and am only a click away.

Back to School Essentials

I am in complete denial that we are in our final moments of summer vacation. However, it's hard to be in denial when so many people around the country have already sent their kids off for their first day of school. One of my favorite parts of going back to school when I was a kid was the back to school shopping. I started putting together a list of my favorite school supplies last year. I decided to do it again this year but added some of my new favorites alongside some of the old standbys. Starting the year off with fresh supplies helps a child to feel more excited about all the new things that are about to happen to them in a new school year.

American Tourister Backpack-one of my favorite things to shop for as a child was my backpack. Even if my old one was in good condition, we were always allowed to start the year off with a new bag. There's something about a fresh backpack that makes you feel more confident. Many of the kids I work with have a hard time keeping their things organized so finding a backpack with lots of pockets and compartments is something I recommend to parents of those children. I am a big fan of this American Tourister Keystone bag. Not only is it an affordable option, it has multiple pockets that will help a child keep their supplies organized. For some children, I even recommend that parents label what each pocket is for as they are putting everything in with their children.

See Through Pencil Pouches-this is especially important for children who may have difficulty with visual perceptual skills. In addition to having different color pouches for different kinds of supplies, make sure that your children can easily see what is inside. This makes it easier for them to be able to reach into their bag or desk and find out what they need. It's important that if you have seperate supplies at home that you keep your system consistent. For example, if you have all your writing tools in a blue pencil pouch for school do the same at home. I recommend having 3 pouches: one for writing tools (pens, pencils), one for coloring supplies (markers, crayons, colored pencils) and one for miscellaneous items (scissors, glue, etc.). Another important tip: don't fill them too much. Just put in what you need and nothing extra.

Fiskar Scissors-good scissors are an essential for me. This is especially important if you have a child who has delays for the acquisition of fine motor skills. Over the years I've tried a variety of different scissors but always go back to the child-sized Fiskars. I find they are the most comfortable and the sizing is perfect for those little hands. Not only do they have a large variety of colors, they have different sizes for larger hands and also have left-handed scissors.

Cadoozles Mechanical Pencils-I prefer mechanical pencils for a variety of reasons. The first one is that sometimes kids can't get to a pencil sharpener or have difficulty manipulating one due to fine motor delays. The second reason I am a fan of mechanical pencils is that they are a great way to get kids to use a proper amount of pressure when writing. If they press to hard, the lead will break. After a while, kids start to understand just how hard they should press down when they are writing. There are a lot to choose from but I tend to recommend these. They come in a variety of patterns and colors and are super affordable....you can get a pack of 28 for $8! For children who need to use a pencil grip, many of the grips that I recommend fit on these pencils.

Ooly ClickOit Erasers-for some reason, my daughter loses erasers more than any other school supply. She also has this terrible habit of chewing the eraser off of her pencils (it makes me cringe just thinking about it). I have been on the hunt for an eraser that might be a little more difficult to lose and was psyched when I discovered these erasers. One of the things I like about these is that they are shaped like a pencil (just thicker) so kids who have difficulty with fine motor and manipulation skills have an easier time holding them.

Do-Overs Erasable Highlighters-highlighters are great for helping kids with organization, especially when studying. I have found with my own daughter, that she tends to over-highlight so have to go back and help her figure out what is most important to highlight. That's why I am obsessed with this set of erasable highlighters from OOLY. There are no such thing as a mistake when you have these. If they happen to accidently highlight something, they can easily fix it.



Just Getting Started 17-Month Large Planner-as kids get older, we expect them to be able to keep track of their own schedule. This includes being able to keep track of their homework assignments, when projects are due and when they have tests. One way to help school age children do this is to have them have carry around a daily planner and help them fill it out the beginning of each week. Working together, you can fill in all of the things that remain the same each week and then talk about any special events that may be occuring. At the end of each school day, you can look through their homework and see if they have tests or reports.

Study Wall Organizer-another great way to keep kids organized, especially if they have a busy schedule, is to have a wall calendar that you can fill out as a family before the school week begins. I recommend this one from Pottery Barn because in addition to having just 7 days to fill out (as opposed to the entire month), it has a cork board that you can put announcements from school, birthday party invites or other pieces of important information. I have found with my own daughter, who has a very relaxed schedule compared to others, that if we fill out her schedule together on Sunday night, she feels less anxious about the upcoming week. We write down days that she has gym/art/Spanish, what after school activities she might have, play dates, birthday parties and any other important things she needs to know about (tests, 1/2 days, etc.). If you have multiple children, I highly recommend assigning each child their own color so they can quickly look at the calendar and know what their week is going to be like.

Desk Organizer-many of the kids I work with struggle with keeping things organized. This can lead to homework time being a stressful and anxiety-producing part of the day for not only children, but the parents or caregivers who need to help them. One thing that I started doing with my daughter is to set up a homework station with all of the supplies she needs. This means that when we go school supply shopping, we buy an extra of everything and set it up in a desk organizer so she doesn't have to take anything out of her bag other than her homework folder. This helps in preventing her forgetting to put something back that she needs during her school day.

Yoobi Folders-I didn't realize how important a sturdy school folder was until I began working with school age kids who had a hard time with keeping their backpacks organized. I can't tell you how many folders I have seen stuffed to the gills and ripped from being shoved into the bag by their owners. This leads to frustration from parents, teachers and the kids when they can't easily find what they are looking for. One way to avoid some of this is to assign a specific color folder to each subject (be sure to label the front of the folder). Another little trick I learned is that you should avoid buying cardboard/paper folders as they rip easier. I LOVE these poly covered folders by Yoobi. They are the only ones I use with my daughter and they last us all year long. They hold up to 100 pieces of paper (although we weed through her papers a couple times a month) and can take a beating. Another great thing is that this company does an amazing thing: for every Yoobi item you buy, a Yoobi item is donated to a classroom in need somewhere in the US. Certainly makes me feel good about doing as much of my school supply shopping from them as possible.


Many of the recommendations on this list are ones that will help with children becoming more organized and independent. As kids get older and the expectations increase, I have noticed that they can become more disorganized which leads to all kinds of other problems. Providing children with simple strategies for organization will lead to increased success in school and at home when doing homework. It also leads to increased confidence and self-esteem, which is one of the most important things to ensuring that a child has a good school year. The other school supplies recommended are ones that I have used for years and years in my private practice and with my own daughter. They are affordable and easy to find in local stationery or office supply stores.

Do you have favorite school supplies? Things that help children with organization or lead to improved fine motor skills? I love finding new supplies, especially ones that have been tested out by others. Be sure to send me your ideas. I am always a click away and love hearing from you all.

Wishing everyone out there a very happy, fun and organized school year!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Supplies!

I have been procrastinating getting myself and daughter ready for the new school year.  For some reason, no summer seems to have gone by quicker than this one and I am not quite ready for the demands of a new school year.

One of the most exciting parts of a new school year, even as a parent, are the new school supplies.  There is something about the look of brand new supplies that makes me feel giddy!  As a therapist, parents ask me for advice about the best supplies for their children and I love being able to recommend ones that I have used at the gym and with my own daughter.  Some kids need a different kind of school supply in order to be most successful.  Whether it be a particular kind of writing instrument that helps encourage a proper grip or tools to help during homework time, it's important that we find what works for each child.  Below, I share some of my favorite school supplies and how they can help children.

See Through Pencil Case-for kids who have a difficult time with keeping track of and organizing their supplies, you can get a transparent pencil box or case.  If you put supplies in a box, you can sort pencils, crayons and miscellaneous items into smaller Ziploc bags so they can grab what they need without having to waste time on digging through everything.  Tiger Brand makes some great (and sturdy) zippered pencil cases in two different sizes which is another great option.

Colored Folders-another way to help kids as organized as possible is to assign different colored folders to each subject.  If your school requires a certain kind of folder, than you can place colored labels on top of the folders in order to help the kids find their folders easier.  Make sure you are consistent with the colors you use to label each subject.
*I tend to suggest plastic folders for the kids I work with as they don't rip as easy.  Kids I work with are prone to shoving lots of papers into their folders which can lead to them ripping.  Plastic ones have a bit more give and can handle a bit more wear and tear than the cardboard ones.  I love the Yoobi brand of folders for my own daughter; they are sturdy and offer a variety of colors for different subjects.  Even better, for every sale, Yoobi will donate supplies to classrooms in need all across the country.


Dry Erase Weekly Calendar-one way to keep your family organized is to have a calendar visible for all to see.  This is not to keep track of homework, but more about keeping track of after school activities, parties, appointments, etc.. I typically suggest doing a weekly calendar and not a monthly one as it can get too overwhelming for kids, especially if you have a child who has organizational difficulties.  If you have more than one child, assign a different color dry erase marker so they can easily spot their activities.  Sitting down as a family on a Sunday and filling out the schedule together is a great way to get the whole family ready for the upcoming week and to discuss any plans or changes that might be happening.  This is particularly important if you have a child who presents with anxiety.

Mighty Zipper Pouch-I love this large pouch from OOLY for keeping things organized, especially for older kids who might have more and larger supplies (think calculators, rulers, etc.).  The pouch has 3 compartments with one of them being see-through making it easy to see some of the more important or most used supplies that your child may need.  The three compartments means you can organize writing instruments in one compartment, larger supplies in the other and miscellaneous supplies in the third.
**if you have a child who has a tendency to forget things in school, you can have one for home and one for school

Do-Overs Highlighters highlighters are an important school supply, especially as children get older and the demands increase.  They can be a helpful tool for organization during homework time.  I am a particular fan of the Do-Over highlighters by Ooly because it allows for kids to not get stressed out over making mistakes.  Highlighters can be used for lots of different things.  Obviously, highlighters are needed when reading and having to keep track of information.  For some kids, I have suggested that they use a highlighter to keep track of what homework they have completed; once they finish an assignment, they highlight it.

Weekly Planner- a good weekly planner is an essential tool for kids to help keep them organized.  As my own daughter climbs her way up in the grades, she is becoming responsible for having to write down her homework assignments and not count on a handout from her teacher with all of the assignments.  She is still too young for a full-on daily planner, but I have been on the lookout for them just in case it might help her or any of the other kids I work with.  I have fallen in love with the weekly planners by Yoobi as each week is on a side-by-side two page spread.  There is lots of space for them to write their assignments and room for extra notes when necessary.  In addition, there are coloring pages for the kids to fill in at the end!

Triangular Crayons-the triangle crayons by Crayola are my favorite, especially for younger children who are working on developing a proper grip on writing instruments.  The triangle shape and thicker width of the crayon encourages a tripod-like grasp.  I encourage parents and teachers to break the crayons into two or three smaller pieces because the smaller the crayon is, the less likely they are to hold onto it with a fisted grip.

Sticky Note Tabs-over the years, I have been asked to help kids with their homework during my sessions.  One of the things that I have observed is that for some kids, trying to ruffle through folders or workbooks to find their homework can be an incredibly disorganizing and a stressful way to start the homework process.  One method I have used is using sticky note tabs to mark the homework before leaving school could help homework time be less stressful at home.  That way they can reach into their folder and easily see what needs to be done.  Once they are done with the homework, they can remove the tab and put the paper back in their folders. For younger kids, I love the variety of sticky tab packs by OOLY (I actually had a hard time making a choice!).   For older kids, the Post-It Flags (which come in a variety of colors and sizes) are a great way for kids to organize their homework folders.

Accordion Folders-I don't know about you, but one of the things that I struggle with each year is what to do with all the assignments and art projects that my daughter comes home with.  One of the things we will be doing this year is getting a great big accordion folder that we can fill up at the end of every week or two with old assignments that she wants to keep.  For her, this 7-pocket folder by Five Star is plenty big enough as it will expand as we add things to it each cleanup and it will keep her homework folder and her backpack from getting cluttered and disorganized.

Some things to keep in mind:
* if you find something you love, make sure that you stock up on them just in case your child loses it, breaks it, etc.
*if you know you have a kid who has a tendency to leave things behind, be sure to have a backup stash at home; this is particularly important for a pencil case with all of the necessary supplies for homework.

So, these are a few of my favorite supplies.  Have you found special school supplies that have helped your children be more successful at school and at home?  I would love to hear what kinds of supplies and strategies have been helpful to be able to recommend them to my clients.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful, successful and organized school year!

Big Kid Finger Fun!

When kids are younger, I find it is easier to get them to do their strengthening work during our therapy sessions.  Oftentimes, you can hide the fact that they are actually "working" by making it seem like it is a game and not exercise.  For example, Discovery Putty by Fun and Function is one of my kids favorite things to do during my sessions.  Finding the various objects hidden in the putty is still a game for them and they are so excited to see what they find next.  As kids get older, something like this becomes "boring" and they need more to get them motivated to do their strengthening exercises.

Some of you may wonder why this is important, right?  Kids who have decreased grasp strength tend to be those kids who complain that their hands get tired when writing for a long time.  They may have a hard time getting all their work done in the classroom because they require breaks to rest their hands.  These are the kids who may have an immature grip on their writing instrument.  These are also the kids that may have a hard time with activities of daily living such as manipulating buttons, snaps, etc. or being able to tie their shoes independently.

Below, I share a handful of my favorite games and toys that could help work on building grasp strength and manipulation skills in some of your older kiddos.


Finger Hockey Mini Set-this is a great way to work all those muscles in the hand.  The best part, kids don't even realize that they are "working".  This mini hockey set comes with a playing mat, 2 finger goalie pads, a net, 2 hockey sticks and a puck.  This fun game is great for working on increasing grasp strength and manipulation skills.  Also great for working on improving visual skills such as visual attention, tracking and hand-eye coordination.  It's a great social activity for siblings and/or friends.  If your kid isn't so into hockey, check out the Desktop Croquet Mini Kit or Desktop Basketball Kit.  These are so reasonably priced (all under $10 each) that you could grab the whole collection!


Legos-I can speak from personal experience with my 7 year old daughter how Legos have been incredibly helpful for developing fine motor and grasping skills.  She recently became obsessed with them and will spend hours a week putting together these elaborate sets.  Since then, I have seen that her grip on a writing instrument is now appropriate (yay!!) and she can write, color and draw for much longer.  In addition to working on improving grasp strength and manipulation skills, building with Legos is great for working on visual motor and perceptual skills and executive functioning skills such as motor planning, organizational skills, focus and attention.  It can also encourage creativity when you let your kid build whatever they want to with a bunch of pieces.  If your kid is up for a real challenge, check out the Nanoblock sets.  Same concept as Legos but much tinier and more challenging to manipulate.

Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty, Mixed By Me Thinking Putty Kit-I have been and recommending Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty to my families for years.  Hide little objects in the putty, have kids find them and you have an easy strengthening activity.  However, this is something that my younger kids love and the older kids find to be a bit more boring.  The Mixed by Me Kit is great for older kids, especially those who are into the whole DIY science experiment fad that seems to be all the rage right now.  Each kit comes with five tins of clear putty, three concentrated color putties, three special effect putties and a guide that will help your kid make their very own Thinking Putty colors.  This is a great activity for working on improving grasp strength and manipulation skills.  It is also great for working on executive functioning skills such as planning, organization, focus and attentional skills.  It will also build confidence and self-esteem and can help improve social skills if you have them do this while working with a friend or a sibling.

Brynk-in this fun stacking game, kids can work on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills.  One by one, kids take turns sliding any of the pieces onto the base of the game or attaching them to other game pieces.  The pieces are different shapes, sizes, etc. meaning that they have to look carefully making sure that the piece they choose won't make the structure topple over.  They have to make sure that they really pay attention to where they place their pieces to keep the structure from falling over.  If you have kids who need to work on improving social skills, this game could be a fun way to work on that.  Kids can play against each other or they can work in teams.  Be sure to discuss the rules of the game as a group and establish expectations on being a good winner/loser.

Paint by Sticker-if you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know how much I love the Sticky Mosaics by Orb Factory.  While even my bigger kids enjoy doing these, they do find them to get babyish and not challenging enough after a certain age.  So when I discovered the Paint by Sticker book by Workman Publishing, I got really excited.  This books is a collection of 12 black and white pictures (animals, flowers, landscapes, etc.) that come to life by adding stickers.  The stickers are a variety of shapes and each one matches up with a number.  colorful paintings that gets to design my matching stickers to numbers.  These are great for working on the development of fine motor and manipulation skills, improves hand-eye coordination, visual scanning and visual motor skills.  In addition, it is a great activity to work on improving executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, organization and planning.  Once completed, you can frame the picture which will help in boosting confidence and self-esteem.

Klutz Cootie Catcher Book-I remember spending hours making these with my friends growing up!  We used to call them fortune tellers but this book by Klutz refers to them as cootie catchers.  It is a simple origami kind of activity that has different colors, numbers, questions, and fun message at the end.  This book comes with 22 preprinted punch out and fold cootie catchers all with different themes/messages/etc..  These are great for working on improving fine motor skills such as grasping, manipulation and grasp strength.  It's also great for improving visual motor and perceptual skills.  Additionally, this is a fun way to encourage social skills in kids who may be experiencing challenges in this area.

Pirasta Coloring Posters-I absolutely love these giant coloring pages by Pirasta.  Not only are they great for working on improving coloring and hand-eye coordination, if you hang it up on a wall in your house, it is a great way to work on improving upper body and wrist strength/control.  My nieces got one for Christmas one year and it is still hanging on their wall and people still finding objects to color in on the poster.  I make sure that there is a really good variety of pencils, gel pens, markers, etc for the kids to choose from such as these Super Duper Scented Gel Pens or these Triangular Colored Pencils (triangle-shaped pencils help to encourage a tripod grasp when holding them) by Ooly.

Finding fun ways to work with older kids, especially ones that they won't mind doing at home, can be challenging but as you can see, there are a lot of great options out there.  Do you have any toys or games that you use with your older kids that have been a big hit?  I love hearing about new products and I know that the parents of the kids I work with appreciate it as well.  As long as we can keep things fun for those hard to please older kids, they won't mind doing "homework" in between sessions.  I look forward to hearing from you with your suggestions.  I am always a click away!

Road Trip Fun!

I'm only a couple of days into summer vacation with my daughter and it's going really well.  I mean, the fact that we don't have to get woken up by an alarm in the morning is all kinds of magical.  And ice cream for dessert every night makes my girl happier than you could imagine.  I'm so looking forward to a summer with my girl.  This means lots of adventures and many of them require us getting into the car for long stretches of time.  While Quinn is a champion traveler, she is like all other kids and can get bored quickly and sick and tired of being strapped into her booster seat for hours on end.

Many of you will be traveling this summer as well, and whether you will be traveling by train, planes or automobiles, you will want to have a bag of tricks to keep your kids entertained.  Like many of you parents, I don't like to just give her an iPad for hours on end.  She also gets bored with it pretty quickly and wants to be entertained in different ways.  Entertaining a child in a car can be quite challenging but it can be used as an opportunity to work on some occupational therapy goals.   Below, you will find my top 10 activity/suggestions to help make this summer's traveling a little more entertaining for your kids and less stressful for you.

1.  AquaDoodle Travel Doodle Mat-I've been a fan of all things by Aqua Doodle for years.   I love the idea that you can use water to draw, color and create on a mat and that you can re-use it over and over again.  There is no mess at all other than a little wetness from water as you are filling up your pen.  Your kids can practice writing letters, draw pictures or play some tic-tac-toe/hangman with each other.  If you are willing to spend money and be a bit patient (these take about a month to get delivered), do a search for Tomy Aquadoodle mini mats on Amazon.  Instead of it being a blank canvas for kids to use their water marker on, they are little pictures where some of the images are blank that they can color in.  Once the water dries, the kids can use them again.

2.  Usbourne Sticker Books-my daughter is a huge fan of these books and has gone through several of them over the years.  There are a lot of different ones to choose from so you will be sure to find one that your son or daughter will enjoy.  Each book has a handful of characters that you have to dress up with stickers in a bunch of different scenes.  For example, there is one that focuses on school and you have to dress the 3 different characters for gym class, for art class, etc..  Not only are these great for improving fine motor skills, it is great for working on eye-hand coordination.  If you have a child who needs to work on language skills, you can have them tell a story about the pictures they have created.

3.  Boogie Board-the Boogie Board is an old favorite of mine; check out this post from the past that tells you all about the Boogie Board and all the occupational therapy benefits.  In summary, it is a portable LED writing tablet....think modern day Etch-A-Sketch.  Kids can draw, practice writing letters/numbers or play games with friends or siblings while in the car.  If you have kids who like to draw, but you don't really feel comfortable with them using markers or crayons in a car, this is a perfect option for them.  There is no mess to worry about!  The best part is that it is incredibly thin and lightweight, taking up almost no room in a travel bag.



4.  Water Wow Books-Melissa & Doug are known for so many things, but their collection of reusable coloring books are one my favorite.  They are especially great for younger children who aren't really into coloring yet.  All you do is fill the pen provided with water and let them color away.  As the water dries, the pictures lose their color and they can color them again.  This no mess activity can keep your kids entertained for hours!  Another great thing is that the books aren't limited to just pictures.  They have a great selection of books that help kids learn how to write letters and numbers.

5.  Crayola Color Wonder Books-you know you can't go wrong with Crayola!  Their line of Color Wonder Books are great for preschoolers who may not be quite ready to color with real markers (or any coloring tools) while in a moving vehicle.  Kids like that they can color their favorite characters in and parents love that the markers are 100% mess free so if your kid tries to color on themselves or the car, it won't matter.  To make coloring a little easier, I suggest getting your child a clipboard so they have a sturdy surface while coloring.

6.  Puffy Sticker Play Sets-these reusable puffy sticker sets are a great thing for long car (plane, train, etc.) rides.  Each set comes with over 50 reusable stickers and a two sided case to store your stickers when not in use.  The set is like a folder so you can easily keep all the stickers in one place when it isn't in use (and it will fit in perfectly in the pocket of a set in your car). Great for working on improving fine motor and manipulation skills, eye-hand coordination and visual perceptual skills.  Also great for encouraging creativity and pretend-play with kids.  If you want to work on improving language skills, you can have kids tell you a short story about the scene that they worked on once it is complete.

7.  Lee Sticker Puzzles-I have been a big fan of these sticker books by Lee Publications for a long time.  I was originally drawn to them because they were affordable, motivating and easy to carry around with me from my home-based and school-based sessions.  When I started  using them, I was excited about how many occupational therapy goals could be worked on when using them.  Great for working on improving fine motor and manipulation skills, eye-hand coordination and visual perceptual skills.  Also good for working on focus, attention and organization skills.  These sticker books are great for all ages as they have books that have only 8-piece puzzles and some that have as many as 45-pieces.

8.  Take 'N' Play Anywhere Games-sometimes kids need more than activity books to keep them occupied on those long car/plane/train rides, especially if you have kids who like to play together.  I love all these magnetic games by PlayMonster.  They offer a large assortment of magnetic games that are great for kids of all ages.  One of the best parts is that they games are small, don't take up a lot of room and all the pieces can be stored inside.  My favorites are the Hangman and Matching games.  Not only are these magnetic games great for passing some time, they are also great for working on improving fine motor skills such as grasp strength and in-hand manipulation skills, eye-hand coordination and focus and attentional skills.

9.  Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics-easily and hands down one of my absolute favorite therapeutic activity.  The Orb Factory Sticky mosaics are great for working on fine motor and grasping skills, eye-hand coordination and visual motor and perceptual skills.  Additionally, it's a fun and motivating way to work on improving focus, attention and organizational skills.  Kids love that they get to show off their completed project.  There are a variety of sets to choose from so if you have a kid who is into fairies or dinosaurs or pirates, you have plenty to choose from.  There are also smaller sets available for the younger crowd because you know that if a younger sibling sees their big doing something, they want to be doing it too.  These kits don't take up much room and easy to throw in a bag and take with you wherever you are going.

10.  Clipboard/Lap Pillow-earlier, I mentioned that kids might have an easier time with some of the coloring and activity books if they had a sturdy surface to lean on.  A cheap clipboard from Staples or an office supply store is all you need and it's super easy to store in the pocket of a car seat.  Each kid should have their own and you can let each of them personalize it with stickers, markers, etc.. Another great option is a lap pillow but it takes up more room.  I like this one by Kikkerland because there is a space for you to put an iPad or tablet so kids can work on an incline surface.

So here are a few of the things that I use with my daughter and always recommend to families to pick up before a long trip.  It's so important that kids are kept occupied on long trips or else everyone will go crazy.  And let's be honest here....there is only so much kids music (if any) that us parents can tolerate on those long trips.  All of the activities and toys that I have recommended are also great for taking from the car to restaurant tables.

Do you have any wonderful on the go toys, books or activities that you rely on for long trips or recommend to your families?  I have a lot of long car trips coming up with my girl and am ready to add some new things to her backpack of tricks!  I love hearing from all of you and am just a click away!

Happy Summer to you all and may your travels be filled with happy memories!