More Than Meets the Eye

As the end of the school year approaches, I am trying hard to make these last few months of therapy as fun and motivating as possible.  By this time of the year, everyone (kids and therapists alike) is struggling to enjoy the toys and activities that have been used all year long.  Last weekend, I spent some time at my local bookstores looking at some of the new books that work on visual skills.  As a child, I remember spending hours and hours playing with the Where's Waldo books.  Little did I know, that those books accomplished way more than just passing time and having fun with friends.  Looking at them now with my therapist eyes, I see just how many skills can be worked on while using books like Where's Waldo.  For some of the kids I work with, working on visual perceptual skills can be difficult and requires much encouragement.  Making the activity as fun as possible makes it way more motivating.  I have introduced some of my kids to a few new books (and shared it with parents who are looking for things to do at home with their kids) and they have loved them.  We have been able to work on improving visual scanning/tracking, visual attention, visual discrimination and many other visual skills that are critical for the development of graphomotor and reading skills.  Below, you will find a handful of the best books to work on improving visual perceptual skills.  These are ones that have been kid tested and approved by the experts....the kids I work with!

Taro Gomi's Playful Puzzles for Little Hands-I have been a longtime fan of the books by Taro Gomi so when I saw this puzzle book, I was immediately intrigued by it.  This book contains over 60 different finger games that are completed using your fingers so it's perfect for working on improving fine motor control and strength.  There are a variety of different kinds of activities including mazes, matching games, brain teasers and many, many more.  One of my favorite things about this is that since you don't use writing instruments, you can use it over and over again making it a perfect addition to any teacher or therapist's bag of tricks.

One Is Not A Pair-in this search and find book by Britta Teckentrup, kids have to find the object that doesn't have a match on the two page spread.  Each page contains several sets of pairs but there is always one that doesn't have a match.  For example, try and find the house on the street that is unlike all the others or find the teddy bear that doesn't have a twin.  This sounds like it would be too easy but it is actually quite challenging.  Great for working on improving visual scanning, visual discrimination and several other visual skills.  It is also great for working on improving executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, organization and modulation/regulation.  Additionally, you can work on improving language skills by having kids describe what makes the object different than the others on the page.

Where's The Pair?-another great search and find book by Britta Teckentrup.  In this one, kids have to find the two animals that are exactly the same on each page.  Each two page spread features a different group of animals and kids have to find the ones that are the same  Sounds easy, but it is actually pretty tricky and requires the kids to really focus and look at the details.  Be sure to remind the kids that the animals might be a different size or looking in a different direction.   Once they find the matches, you can play a game of I Spy to have them find different things on the pages.  Great for working on improving visual scanning, visual discrimination and several other visual skills as well as focus, attentional and organizational skills.  

Who Done It?/Who What Where?-these two books by Olivier Tallec are great books for younger children to work on improving their visual skills. In these book, kids are asked a different question on each page about the lineup of featured characters.  They need to really listen to the question and carefully look at each animal to figure out the right answer.  For example, one page asks to find the animal who ate all the jam.  By looking at each animal, they will find that one animal has jam all over their face.  In addition to working on improving visual skills, kids will work on improving language skills, focus and attention and organizational skills.  Can be done 1:1 or you can have kids work together to find the correct animal on each page.

The Lost House (A Seek and Find Book)-I was drawn to this book by B.B. Cronin because of the bright colors and beautiful illustrations.  In this seek and find book, kids have to find a variety of objects to help Grandad get ready to leave the house.  The kids I work with have gotten the biggest hit out of having to find the grandad's teeth on one of the pages!  You don't have to just look for the objects that grandad has lost...you can spend some time looking at each page and come up with a list of other items that would be fun for kids to find.  This book is great for working on a variety of visual skills such as visual tracking, visual attention and visual discrimination skills.
I have graded this activity for younger children by giving them hints about where the object is hidden which works on following directions and auditory processing skills.  For older kids, I make them come up with hints to help me find where the object is hidden.  This is great for working on improving language skills and executive functioning skills such as focus, attention and organizational skills.

Undercover...One of These Things is Almost Like the Others-another book that I was drawn to because of the beautiful illustrations.  There is a simplicity to this book but so many opportunities to work on improving visual perceptual skills, including visual attention, visual scanning and visual discrimination.  Each two page spread has a series of pictures that are similar shapes/categories but there is always one that doesn't belong for one reason or another.  For example, on one page, there are a series of insects with an airplane hidden in there.

Busy Bunny Days-another awesome book by the brilliant Britta Teckentrup. I was drawn to this book because it reminded me so much of the Richard Scarry books I loved when I was a child.  The illustrations are similar and I love the fact that there are a lot of things happening in each picture.  In this one, kids follow the Bunny family from morning until night in their home town.  On each two page spread, the Bunny family is in a different part of their town.  There are 3 questions that require the kids to search the pages to find the answer.  This is not only great for working on improving visual skills, it is also great for language development, improving conversation skills and executive functioning such as focus, attention and organizational skills.  You don't have to just use the questions that are already provided...you can get creative and come up with your own.

These books have been a great addition to my bag of tricks at work these last few weeks.  The best part is that the kids are really enjoying them and don't even realize that they are working!  Do you have any great books that you would recommend to me or my readers?  I know as a parent, I am always willing to spend money on books, especially ones that will engage my daughter.  If you have any other suggestions, please share them with me.  I am always a click away and love hearing from all of you!

This Is Just The Beginning of Your Story

As my daughter gets older, I find that she has become much more interested in stories.  Not only listening to stories, but creating her own.  She likes coming up with the stories, the characters and drawing pictures to go along with her stories.  I love watching her work feverishly on these stories and can see that her confidence just soars as she shares them with whoever will listen to them.  She enters first grade next week and I know that the expectations for handwriting and being able to write stories will increase significantly and I am so happy to have her feeling more confident and sure about what kinds of things she has created.

In my years of working with school age children, I have come to realize that this ability to come up with and write stories can be quite difficult for children with learning difficulties.  The very thought of having to come up with a whole story can cause them to become incredibly anxious.  However, if you help them start the story, they are more likely to be able to come up with ideas on how to end the story.  I have used a lot of different things when working with some of my kids to help them including Rory's Story Cubes (these are really great but sometimes just not enough for some of my kids who are really struggling).  Recently, while out shopping with my daughter, I discovered something even more wonderful:  And Then Story Starters by Live Inspired.  In short, And Then Story Starters are a set of 20 illustrated cards with the beginning of a story.  After listening to the beginning of the story, it is up to the child to come up with how the story will end.  There is no right or wrong way to end the stories which helps children feel more comfortable with telling their story.  With my daughter, we have done a few different things which have all been fun. The simplest idea was we would read her the beginning of the story and then we would take turns telling our ending.  At times, we had to push her to come up with more than just a sentence and to add details.  After a few tries, we didn't have to prompt her quite as much.  The other thing we did was read the story to her, give her writing utensils and a blank piece of paper and let her draw out the way her story would end.  She enjoyed both of the ways, but she is really into drawing and I felt like she was more creative and her ideas were meatier when she was able to draw it out and then tell us her story.  

As a parent, I love finding products that will inspire and encourage creativity in my daughter.  But since I am a therapist, I am always looking at the possible therapeutic benefits of any of those products. In addition to what I have already mentioned above, And Then Story Starters are perfect for working on the following occupational therapy goals:
Improve Executive Functioning Skills-this is such a great activity to work on a variety of executive functioning skills.  It doesn't matter if the children are just verbally telling you the story or if they are writing it out and illustrating it, the skills being worked on are the same.  This activity requires the ability to focus and attend and organize their thoughts and ideas.  They need to be able to prioritize what It also requires a child to use working memory (the ability to hold information presented to them and use it to complete the task at hand).
Improve Graphomotor Skills-depending on the age and goals you have for the children you are working with, you can have the kids write out their stories.  For older kids, I would grab a composition book and have them copy the beginning part of the story that's been provided.  Once they are done with that, they can write the rest of their story.  Another great thing you can do is have kids illustrate the end of the story.  You can get a set of blank storybooks (I like these by Mead because many of the kids I work with need lines to write in and this one has the right size lines and a space for drawing a picture) and use it just for their story starter cards.
Improve Creativity/Imagination Skills-as I have already mentioned, not everyone is born with a creative side and the ability to use their imagination.  However, sometimes if they are given a little boost, they are able to tap into their creative side.   And Then Story Starters are a great tool to give those kids who need a push/some inspiration.  The hope is that once they build some confidence using these cards, they will be able to come up with their own thoughts and ideas when writing stories.

Not only are these cards great for use in an occupational therapy setting, they are perfect for educators and speech and language therapists to use.  Wouldn't it be fun for a teacher to give a class of students the same story and see how each child made the story their own?   For speech therapists, they can play a game where they can go back and forth in adding to the story (be sure to write it down so they can show their parents!)....helps with conversational skills, focus/attention and being flexible with thoughts and ideas.

I'm getting excited about using the And Then Story Starters at work and have already been recommending them to family and friends for their children.  In a day and time where so much of us (myself included) rely on technology and electronics, it's nice to have an option that is more hands on.  Not only is this a fabulous tool for all of the reasons I have mentioned above, it is a great way for parents and kids to work together and create.  The best thing about the And Then Story Starters is that you can use them over and over again coming up with different fun and creative stories each time.

If you have any other great products like this you have used in the past, I would love to hear about them and use them with my kids at work and my own child at home.  It's great to have a fun way to inspire imagination and creativity and improve a child's self-esteem and confidence.  I am always a click away and love hearing from all of you!

Genius...Super Genius!

My daughter is in the process of learning how to read.  She's on the verge but for whatever reason, is resisting and has hit a bit of a wall which can get frustrating for this mom!  Part of me thinks that she is afraid that once she learns how to read that we will stop reading to her.  Even though we have promised her that we will always have our nighttime reading routine, she doesn't seem to want to take the final leap and read herself.
In the process of her learning, I have also tried to find fun word games that will help us work together to get her over this hump.  As you all know, there are a ton of options out there and many of them are just too educational which is just not going to be what works with my daughter.

The other day, I spent some time at one of my local Park Slope toy stores at their game choices.  My eyes quickly spotted the Blue Orange logo on a learning game and I was sold.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Blue Orange, they are the masterminds behind some of my favorite games:  Thumbs Up, Doodle Quest and all of the Spot It games.  Not only are their products fun, they are educational.  But they are more fun than educational making kids want to play them over and over again.

I picked up Super Genius First Words and Super Genius Reading 1 to use with my daughter who is still focusing on learning simple sight words (at this point, we are trying to master 3 letter words) and so far, so good.  There are other versions of the game for those who are already reading and can handle the challenge of larger words.  There is also a math version of the game that works on addition and multiplication.  I've used this a bit with my daughter and can't wait to bring it to work to test out with some of my other kids there.

If you are familiar with and love the the Spot It games, you will be a big fan of the Super Genius games.  The concept of the game is pretty similar:  you have to find the matches between two cards.  The biggest difference is that instead of finding the matching pictures, you are trying to match the word to the corresponding picture or in the case of the math ones, you are looking for the matching number and math problem.  There are many ways to play the game which keeps it fresh and exciting for you and your kids:
Face Off-Score the most cards at the end of the game by being the first to find the match between the two faceup cards
Flip Flap-get rid of your cards as fast as possible
Sardines-have the most cards at the end of the game
Click Clack-find the pair between two cards
Cooperative-remove all the cards from the table by matching them to their neighboring cards

Super Genius works on the following skills:
Visual Perceptual Skills-great way to work on improving eye-hand coordination, visual tracking and visual attention.  As you scan your cards for matching pictures and words, you are building crucial visual skills necessary for reading and writing.
Executive Functioning Skills-fun game to work on improving focus, attention and organizational skills.  These are critical skills for school aged children as the academic expectations increase and they are required to focus for longer periods of time.
Speech/Language and Reading Skills-clearly this game was meant for working on improving reading skills.  But it is also great for improving speech and language skills.  This can be used by parents and speech therapists to also work on building a child's language and conversational skills.
Graphomotor Skills-If you are working on a 1:1 basis with a child and they are also working on handwriting skills, you can adapt this game so that they have to write the words as they find the match.  Encourage them to work on spacing, sizing and/or upper and lowercase letters.  If you have a child who needs to develop drawing skills, you can have them draw a picture for every word they write as well.  When possible and appropriate, encourage kids to work on holding their writing instrument with an appropriate grasp.
Social Skills-what I love about almost every single one of the Blue Orange games is that they all have a social focus.  Whether it be working as a team to find the matches or encouraging kids to be a good sport when they win or lose, Super Genius can be used to work on many social skills that are vital for kids growing up to work well with others.

For any of you who are dealing with a kindergartener (or any student) and all the unrealistic learning expectations, I completely sympathize and understand how important it is to try and keep learning fun. Due to the nature of my job, my own kid ends up not getting as much of my focus and attention at the end of the day when it comes to her school work.  Because of that, I have made it a point to find fun games that will motivate both of us at the end of our busy work and school days.  I was so happy that my daughter was excited to play Super Genius.  I was even more excited that she didn't feel stressed out and ended up feeling proud of herself as she sounded out the words and then found the matches between the two cards.  Keeping learning fun is my goal with not only my daughter but every single child I work with.

What are your favorite educational games?  Specifically, what educational games focused on reading and literacy are your favorites?  I'm more personally interested these days...I know the power of reading and how magical it is and can't wait for that for my daughter.  Please feel free to share your ideas with me.  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all!

Life Is An Open Book

This is a new addition to the gift guide.  My daughter is now 5 years old and in kindergarten so this is something that has been a major focus at home with her.  Finding fun and motivating ways to teach her how to spell, read and tell stories has been tricky.  However, there are so many great books and writing activities out there that have made such a big difference for

Over the course of the year, I've discovered some pretty great books that would make the perfect gift for those little bookworms in your life.  There is nothing like a good book, especially a good book that teaches important  life lessons to our little ones.  I could list a million books (not even exaggerating) but I am going to stick to ones that have teachable moments built in.  Ones that you can use to help children learn to be more creative are my favorite.

Just as important as the books, are the tools you can use to teach children how to learn the letters of the alphabet and numbers, learn how to read, spell and write.  Over the course of my career, I have tested out more toys than I can remember.  There are a lot to choose from and as parents, it can be very confusing to figure out which ones are the best for your child.

Below, you will find a handful of books that I think should be part of everyone's library.  You will also find different toys, games and activities that have been proven to be successful with the kids that I have worked with.  All of the activities I have mentioned are ones that can be used at home in a fun way.  They aren't workbooks, but real toys and activities that can be fun for children of all abilities.

I Am Books-I was introduced to these amazing children's books by one of the families I work with.  Brad Meltzer has written a series of books about real life heroes.  They are each written from the perspective of these heroes as children and talks about the struggles they had growing up.  He highlights what made them different and how they took those differences and made the world better.  For example, did you know that Albert Einstein was a later talker?  Or that Lucille Ball was encouraged to not be so funny?  My daughter who is 5 1/2 adores these books and I have been so impressed with what she has learned from each of them.  The questions she has asked and what she has taken from each book has been so fun to watch.
I Am Amelia Earhardt
I Am Rosa Parks
I Am Lucille Ball
I Am Helen Keller
I Am Martin Luther King
I Am Albert Einstein
I Am Jackie Robinson
I Am Abraham Lincoln
Disney Pixar Inside Out Box of Mixed Emotions-the success of the movie Inside Out was no surprise to me once I saw it the first time.  The kids I work with loved it and I loved how this movie helped kids feel okay about expressing their feelings and gain a better sense of understanding about their emotions.  When I saw these books, I had to pick them up to bring to work.  I run a social skills group at  The Meeting House for children with a variety of social difficulties.  We have put these books out for the kids during our snack and hangout time and they love them.  This set of 5 books features each emotion.  They are easy to read and even if you have a kid who can't read, they can look at the pictures instead.
In My Heart:  A Book of Feelings-this book by Jo Witeck is a brilliant and beautiful book about feelings.  For many of the kids I work with, understanding your feelings can be quite challenging.  In addition to being an occupational therapist, I work for The Meeting House, a recreational based after school program for awesome kids who have social difficulties.  This book is great for
Little Book of Big Fears-this book is written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo and talks about all different kinds of things that people may be afraid of.  It introduces you to 16 children (in alphabetical order) who are each afraid of something different.  Drew is scared of raccoons and Quinn is horrified by needles.  Not all letters of the alphabet are in the book, but that is on purpose.  The letters that are missing spell out Gutsy and Brave....two things that will help a child get over their fears. This is a cute little book that helps children understand that it's okay to be scared of things and that there are ways to deal with those fears.

Hope Learning Toys-this brand of nature based learning toys have been created by a mother, teacher and toy lover.  Using a variety of objects found in the beautiful state of Maine, Heather has gathered rocks, shells, branches and wood to come up with an amazing set of learning toys.  My daughter has the Vintage Letter Alphabet Stones and adores them.  As soon as she received them, she started exploring them.  I loved that she wanted to put all the stones in alphabetical order while making their sounds.  We have been using them with her to practice her sight words during homework time and it has made it more interesting and exciting for her.  There are so many products to choose from beyond just the alphabet products.  I, for one, can't wait for the phonics matching game using wood from my favorite tree, the lilac tree.  You need to really spend some time exploring the Hope Learning Toys Etsy shop to find what products are best for your child.
Kids Story Maker-created by Magnetic Poetry, this kid friendly magnet sets encourages kids to build their own crazy stories using over 150 different word magnets.  I love how they have color coded all the words by different parts of language to reinforce nouns, verbs, prepositions, adjectives, etc..  For so many of the kids I work with, writing a story can be really challenging for them (decreased writing endurance) but they have lots of ideas.  For those kids who need some creative ways to practice telling stories, this is a great solution.  You can make a long-term project out of it by having them write a few sentences at a time...first they create their story by putting the magnets up and then they can copy them into a book.

Tell Tale-another great storytelling game by Blue Orange.  Tell Tale has three different versions to choose from (original, Fairy Tale and Disney Pixar).  Using the 60 different cards and illustrated rules, kids and families work together to make a story.  It's hard to bore of this game because it's different every time you play.  The best part is that kids are learning the whole entire time but having tons of fun.  If you want to work on handwriting, you can have the kids write their stories out as they are telling it.  It might take more than one session in order to complete it, but I am always happy to find activities that we can do over the course of a few sessions.  Great for working on improving processing speed, verbal abilities, attention and problem solving and reasoning skills.

Alphabet Magnetibook-another great magnet book by Janod.  This is the perfect on the go toy to work on learning how to spell.  The set comes with 26 pictures and over 100 letter tiles. Each picture has the name spelt out so kids can dig through the letters and put them in the correct order.  I love how the magnet board is in a grid (reminds me of graph paper), requiring them to focus on putting the letters in the blocks and staying in order.  For older kids, you could find magnets of pictures without the words written on them in order to practice spelling.  This toy is not only great for working on learning the alphabet and learning how to spell, but great for working on developing fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination and visual motor and perceptual skills.

BabyLit Playsets-I am a HUGE fan of the BabyLit series of board books.  They make such great  presents for all kids, especially kids of parents who love the classics.  When I saw these playsets, I got so excited.  There are four to choose from:   Pride and Prejudice, Alice in Wonderland, Moby Dick and The Jungle Book.  Each set comes with the original board book and different punch-out cards featuring the different characters from the story. The box it comes in doubles as the scenery/background for the story.  These are great for working on improving focus and attention, language skills and creative skills.  You can also work on improving fine motor skills and visual motor/perceptual by pushing the pieces out of the board and putting them together to play with them.  I can't wait to get a couple of these sets not only for gifts, but to use in my social skills groups to put on little plays with the kids.

When kids learn how to read and write, the world opens up to them in the most exciting of ways.  The tricky part is actually finding ways to encourage kids.  The books and activities I talked about in this post have been proven to teach kids.  The most important thing about each of them is that they are fun and that it ends up giving them confidence.  My rule is to always start out simple and increase the challenges as the kids master them.  Kids are way more likely to keep trying when they are given the time to move at their own pace.

Do you have any great books that you have read that you want to share with my readers?  How about alphabet and handwriting games or activities that your kids love?  I would love to hear from any and all of with your suggestions.  I am always a click away and so appreciate all the suggestions that have been given to me from you all.

Eye Spy the Difference

I'm always downloading new apps.  It's just something I love to do and expose the kids I work with to.  At least once a week, I go onto the App Store and see if anything wonderful catches my eye.  This past week, I discovered an awesome app, Toonia Differences.  It reminded me of this game that my sister Katie and I first started playing at a local bar ages and ages ago, Photo Hunt.  The point of the game was simple (yet totally stressful):  look at the same picture side by side and find what is different.  When it became available as an app, I spent countless hours playing it and got such satisfaction from beating a friend or a previous score.

Toonia Differences is the cutest "spot the difference" game for kids that I have seen.  Very much like the game I described above, the object of the game is to look at the side by side picture and notice the 8 things that are different.  Some are obvious at first glance and other are much trickier to spot.  I first tried this game with my daughter who turned 5 in March.  After explaining the rules of the game, she caught on quickly but required prompting from me to only touch one of the images that were different....her initial instinct was to hit the images on both pictures which caused her time to increase which then lead to frustration.  This game requires a child to really focus and attend to what is on the screen.  The app uses simple graphics and colors with quiet/organizing music playing in the background.  Since there are so many details in each picture, the differences can change over and over again so the kids don't get bored or memorize the things that are different.  Kids of all ages are loving this game and I really like that you can change your expectations for each child you are working with based on their level of functioning.  For younger kids, you may have to provide them with some subtle hints to get them to find the differences.  For the older kids, you can have the kids explain what they notice before touching the screen.  If you are working on handwriting skills, you can have them write down what they notice...make sure they go into detail and write full sentences!

This app works on the following occupational therapy goals:
Improve Visual Perceptual Skills-there are so many visual skills that can be worked on with this game.  Visual scanning, visual tracking, visual attention...I could go on and on.  The great thing about it is that the pictures are cute and the kids really like them. If you want to work on improving eye-hand coordination, you can have the child play the game while using a stylus.
Improve Language Skills-clearly, speech and language isn't my area of expertise, but I can't help but notice how much a speech therapist could work on improving language skills using this app.  For my older kids, I have been having them describe the differences in the pictures before they can touch the screen.  This sounds easy, but so many of my older kids struggle with this task...they recognize what is different, but putting it into words is tricky for them.
Improve Modulation/Regulation Skills-for so many of the kids that I have tried this game with, their instinct is to just start tapping away and hoping that they find the differences by luck.  They have needed prompting from me to be mindful and attentive to what they are looking at, making sure that they are really finding the images that are different.  I try not to focus on the fact that there is a timer tracking their work (and thankfully, very few of the kids I have played this with have noticed that) because once they realize that they were being timed, they became much more impulsive and less focused.
Improve Social Skills-this is an ideal app for improving social skills and can easily be done in a group of two or three kids.  You can work on taking turns finding the differences.  You can also have the kids work together to create stories about what is happening in the pictures.

Toonia Differences is available in the app store and the first 5 pictures are free.  There are a variety of sets available via in-app purchases for $2.99 or their super pack (45 pictures) for $6.99.  For the amount of time you can spend on this game and all the skills that can be focused on, I think it is totally worth splurging on the whole collection.

If you wanted to do something fun with your kids, you can make your own Spot the Difference game using your own pictures.  One thing you can do is take pictures of different places in a child's life.....their bedroom, their classroom, etc..  Take the pictures on different days so the environments look different.  Print the pictures out and put them side by side and see if they can find all the things that are different.  This could be a really fun project to do with a social skills group....have each kid bring in a few different sets of pictures from their house and put together a book.

Finding a good app is still one of my favorite things.  Sharing those finds with my readers is another one of my favorite things!  This is a great app that parents can do with their kids while being able to work on occupational therapy goals in a fun way.  Kids can play it with their friends or siblings.  Do you have any great new apps that you have discovered lately?  As the end of the school year approaches, I would love to be able to put together a list of fun and educational apps that parents can do with their children over the summer.  Please share your favorite apps with me...I'm just a click away and love hearing from you all.

Tiggly...Take 2

Several months ago, I blogged about Tiggly Shapes and the associated apps.  I am happy to say that even after months of use, I am still as happy with them as can be.  More importantly, the kids who I work with are still happy and motivated by them.  For those of you unfamiliar with Tiggly Shapes, it is an interactive iPad app that allows you to use actual geometric shapes to enhance shape recognition and creativity.  For many of my kids, it has been a motivating to work on visual motor and visual perceptual skills.  I have been able to use the Tiggly apps in conjunction with other therapeutic activities to make sure that they are generalizing the concepts of shapes .

Just a couple of days ago, I was invited to test out Tiggly's newest product.  I was excited for many reasons but mostly because I have been searching for good early math apps to begin working on this with  my daughter.  Quinn is most definitely my hardest client and gives me more trouble than anyone else when I want to work on anything to get her prepared for school.  So when I told her about Tiggly Counts, I was thrilled to see how excited she was to learn about math.

Both of us were very excited when the box arrived on Saturday and wanted to get started immediately.  In short, Tiggly Counts is a iPad math toy created for children 3 and older that will begin teaching children about counting, number sense and math skills.  Using 5 counting rods (inspired by the cuisenaire rods typically used in Montessori schools), a child is able to interact with 3 different math apps and learn early math skills like counting and addition.   It can be adapted to work for a child's skill level.

Below you will find a description of each of each of the apps and what they will teach your child:

Tiggly Adventure:  cute little Tiggly is on an adventure to deliver apples to his grandmother.  You will need to use your counting toys to build bridges, ladders and much more in order to help him get to her.  Tiggly Addventure introduces children to number-line concepts while improving their number sense and counting skills.

Tiggly Cardtoons:  I love this app and have used it with some of my younger and more involved children.  It's simple yet totally interactive and easy to use so even those younger/more involved children can use it independently.  You place any one of the 5 counting rods on the iPad screen and the same number of dots will show up.  After you touch each dot, they start to move around and you have to catch them and place them in circles.  Once all of them are in place, two pieces of cardboard turn into a variety of things.  A juggling owl, a hungry shark or a truck filled with snakes are just a few of the fun things your child can create.
*great for working on visual motor, visual perceptual and visual tracking skills
*encourage a child to use their pointer finger when playing with the dots.  For those who need to work on grasping skills, you can use a stylus with this game.
*for early learners, a fun way to work on counting skills like one to one matching

Tiggly Chef: this has definitely been the favorite in my house and with the few kids I have tried it with.  Using the counting toys, you help the chef create some of the most fabulous and silly dishes!   Your job is to add the exact number of the ingredients the chef asks for.  You can use the exact counting rod (this is what I have been doing with my daughter) or you can use several counting blocks to add up to the correct number.  There are different levels and with each one comes different challenges.  This helps keep it fresh and exciting for older children.

In addition to all of the skills mentioned above, Tiggly Counts can work on improving focus and attentional skills and improving frustration tolerance.  When working with older children, you can focus on improving executive functioning skills such as organizational skills.  For my speech therapist colleagues, there are tons of opportunities to work on language skills when using all of the apps.

As I am getting to know the new apps, I have only used Tiggly Counts 1:1 with the kids but look forward to trying this with a small group of kids to work on social skills at the same time.  I think that all of the apps lend themselves to working as a team or in a small group.  For example, each child can take a turn putting ingredients in while playing Tiggly Chef.  Math can be a frustrating thing for many kids and watching and working with their peers is almost always more beneficial than it being led by a grownup.

Tiggly Counts is available for pre-order until October 21st.  If you order before then, there is a 25% discount and free shipping.  For any of my therapist/educator colleagues who use the iPad with kids, this is a great addition (no pun intended) to your bag of tricks.  I have already tested it out with some of my kids and it's been a huge success.  I have even gotten my kids to lie in the net swing while playing with it so we have been able to work on building upper body strength at the same time.  For educators and parents, this is a highly motivating system to work on math skills.  If you have a hard time getting your kids to sit down and do work with you, I guarantee this is something your children will not only enjoy but will ask to play!

Spot It and Disney....A True Happily Ever After Ending!

I didn't really need another reason to love the game Spot It by Blue Orange Games but last weekend I discovered a whole new series of Disney Spot It games.  For me, this is a game changer for some of my kids who are much more resistant to learning their numbers and letters...especially a certain 4 year old little girl I know.  I had to hold myself back from buying every single version of the Disney Spot It games.  Instead I decided to try out the Frozen and Doc McStuffins for now with the intention of slowly adding to my collection.   They have already been used a ton of times and it's been a big hit so far!

Each of the new Disney Spot It games has a different educational focus. While there are alphabet and number Spot It games, I haven't found them to be that motivating for the kids I work with.  Just seeing the letters and numbers wasn't exciting enough for them so when I saw these Disney versions of the game, I was pumped.  In addition to a certain educational focus, there are pictures of your favorite characters and objects from the television show/movies.  The best part is that the variety allows for you to find one that will be good for your child.  There are ones that are targeted to the preschool population and others that are targeted to the older kids.
Frozen-alphabet
Doc McStuffins-numbers, shapes and alphabet
Jake and The Neverland Pirates-numbers and shapes
Sofia the First-alphabet
Planes-alphabet
Disney Princesses-words/pre-reading
Pixar-words/pre-reading

I have written about Spot It before here so I won't go on for long.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the game, it is a card game that requires a child to find matches between two cards.  Even when you don't think it is possible, every single card has a match to another card.  There are several ways to play the game but the simplest form is to hand out an equal number of cards to each player; flip one card in the middle and start spotting your matches.  The first person to get rid of all of their cards first is the winner.  For some of my older kids who are working on organization and sequencing skills, I will have them tell me the directions, set up the game and deal the cards.  This can be tricky but since there are not many steps to the game, it is a good game for them to attempt this task.

Spot It is great for a variety of other skills such as:
Improving Visual Perception/Motor Skills-finding and matching your letters, numbers, shapes, pictures, etc. is the point of the game.  Having good perception skills is important for many other things like puzzles, handwriting, cutting, etc..  A child also has to be able to visually track in order to look at both the card in the middle and the card in their hand.
***for some of my older kids who are working on handwriting, I have been making them write the letter or number that they have found when playing the game.  It slows the game down, but it's a fun way to get the kids to work on their graphomotor skills.
Improving Speech and Language Skills-my speech therapy friends can certainly elaborate much more than I can about all the speech and language benefits of this game.  When I play with the kids, they must shout out their match and not just point it out.
**each of these games comes with a guide of what each picture is so you can go over that with the kids prior to playing to make sure they can identify everything before the game begins
Improve Focus and Attention-this game typically lasts about 10-20 minutes depending on the speed of the kids playing.  I like that there is a definitive end to the game and can encourage my kids to stick with it until someone wins.  Often times, the kids I work with struggle with completing a game, especially ones that are more challenging for them.  If you have children who really have a hard time with focus and attention, don't start with a full deck of cards and work towards being able to play the game with the full deck down the line.
Improve Upper Extremity Strength-looking for a way to work on other goals at the same time?  Try putting a child prone on the net swing while playing Spot It to work on increasing upper extremity strength and head/neck control.  This can be difficult for some kids so I like to give them a goal of a certain number of cards need to be put down or a certain amount of time must pass before they can get out.  Sometimes get so into the game, that they forget they are tired and work through it!
Improve Social Skills-Spot It can be played with as few as 2 people and as many as 8 (I like to start small and build up to more kids/stimulation).  Great game to work on developing good social skills such as compromise, being a good winner/good loser and many other skills.  For older kids, let them negotiate how they want to play the game including the rules.

So if you are looking for some new and motivating ways to work on some of these academic skills and work on a variety of occupational therapy goals at the same time, I highly recommend the Disney Spot It games.  I have already introduced them to my daughter and for the first time, she is asking to play a game that she knows will work on something she typically avoids.  And while she still gets frustrated, we work together to help find the numbers or letters of the alphabet and she is quickly picking them up and generalizing that knowledge to other things.

If you have any questions or suggestions on other ways to use these games, please do share with all of us.  I am a click away and love hearing from you all!