Awesome Activity Books for All Ages!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stick It To Me!

For any of you who follow me regularly, you may know my love for the Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics.  Unfortunately, it seems like they are not as easy to get anymore....perhaps to make way for a lot of their new awesome products....and I have been trying to find things to replace them.  The thing is that stickers, no matter what they look like, motivate kids.  Whether it be a reward for a job well done or part of an arts and crafts set, kids LOVE stickers.  Since the Sticky Mosaic sets are no longer as easy to find in my local toy stores (be sure to check out Amazon since they do still have a bunch available), I have started looking for options that will help to accomplish a similar goal. 

Below, you will find a handful of my new go-to sticker activities.  They are not only great for working on developing a variety of fine motor and visual skills, they are ideal for encouraging creativity, helping to build confidence and self-esteem once they have completed their work.

Mrs. Grossman's Sticker Kaleidoscopes-I am just returning from vacation with my daughter.  What that means is that I spent time checking out kid's stores for new things.  One of the things I discovered, and am completely obsessed with, are these series of sticker books from Mrs. Grossman's.  There are 4-different books to choose from and a handful of 1-sheet sticker sets to choose from.  It's fun, easy and not too many directions to follow:  peel off stickers and match them to the right letter.  Sounds simple, but there is a bit of a challenge:  there are some stickers that face different directions so you have to be mindful of the letter associated with it and make sure it's in the right place.  Once all the stickers are on, you have a beautiful sticker mandala creation to show off.  This is great for working on developing fine motor and grasping skills, improves hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and improves executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, organizational and sequencing skills.  It's also wonderful for building up confidence and self-esteem once your child has completed the whole picture.
**one of the bonus' of these books is that each page has extra stickers just in case you mess up.  At the end of the book, there are blank pages for your child to create their own kaleidoscope creations.

Paint By Sticker Kids-these books are definitely intended for older children, particularly those with a good frustration tolerance.  Over the years, I have found that many of the kids I work with don't like coloring or drawing but want to be creative.  It can be for a variety of reasons, but most often kids avoid coloring because of decreased grasp strength or decreased endurance activities using those little muscles in the hands.  Paint By Sticker Kids books allow kids to be creative but take away the use of a writing instrument which can be stressful for some kids.  Each book contains 10 illustrations that kids bring to life by putting the stickers in the correct place.  This requires a lot of focus, attention and organization making it a perfect activity for children who need to work on developing higher level executive functioning skills.  Additionally, it's a great activity for improving fine motor and grasping skills, hand-eye coordination and visual motor and visual perceptual skills.  Most importantly, kid's confidence and self-esteem will soar when they complete this challenging activity. 

Melissa and Doug Peel and Press Sticker by Numbers-another great sticker activity for school age children that works on developing fine motor skills.  Kids complete the picture by matching the different shapes to their numbers.  Unlike the sticky mosaics, the stickers are different shapes and sizes, not just different colored squares.  One of the really nice things about this activity is that it comes on a wooden frame that can be hung on a wall once completed.  In addition to working on fine motor skills, they are great for working on focus, attention and organizational skills and helps to improve hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills.  Also great for increasing confidence and self-esteem when they complete the picture and get to display it for all to see.

Alex My First Mosaics-these sticker mosaics were created for preschoolers and are very similar to the Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics.  What's nice about these and what makes them better for younger kids/smaller fingers is that the stickers are bigger and easier for them to manipulate.  Each set comes 5 pictures to complete using different colored shaped stickers.  Instead of matching the stickers by number, kids match the color and shapes.  My First Mosaics are great for developing fine motor and grasping skills, improves hand-eye coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills and improves focus, attention and organizational skills.  Additionally, they are great for introducing younger children to colors and shapes.

Usbourne Sticker Dolly Dressing Books-these have been a favorite of my daughters for years and I have been recommending them to friends and the families I work with all the time.  I especially love this sticker book to keep my daughter entertained while traveling because you don't have to worry about making a mess with markers or other writing instruments.  There are several different themes to choose from based on your child's interests.  Using the stickers provided, kids dress the dolls and bring the pages to life.  Great for working on developing fine motor and grasping skills, improves hand-eye coordination and works on increasing focus, attention, organizational and planning skills.  They are also great for encouraging language skills by having kids talk about what is happening on each page.


On-The-Go Make A Face Craft Kit-if you follow me, you know I have a complete obsession with all of the Kid Made Modern products.  They are affordable, well-made and encourage creativity in an open-ended manner.  Using hundreds of different colored felt stickers with a variety of facial features, kids can create faces, monsters, robots or whatever else comes to their mind.  This kit is especially made for taking on the go and all of the stickers and googly eyes can be stored in the canvas tote that it comes with.  I like to throw some scraps of papers and some markers in the bag so kids can add details to their creations.  Great for developing fine motor and grasping skills, encouraging bilateral coordination, improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills and works on developing executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, organization and motor planning.  The open-ended aspect of this activity helps to build confidence, self-esteem and creativity in children of all ages as there is no right or wrong way to do it.

Arty World:  Early Learning Through Art-this is a great book for preschool age kids.  They can learn about different shapes while completing a variety of activities using the stickers in the book.  Kids fill in missing parts of the pictures using the correct stickers.  This is great to work on developing fine motor and grasping skills, improves bilateral coordination skills, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and encourages creativity.  One of my favorite things about this whole series of books is that there are notes throughout the books that help parents know what is expected of their children for each activity.  This is nice because it also helps with engaging kids in conversation while completing each page.

Pipsticks Sticker Club-my 8 year old daughter insisted I include this in this post.  We have been member of this sticker club for well over a year and we just love it.  Each month, my daughter receives an envelope filled with 15 sheets of different stickers, a prepaid postcard and paper goodies.  One of the first things Quinn does after looking through her new stickers is to decorate and write a note to a friend or family member.  If you have a sticker lover in your life, I couldn't recommend this more.  Here are some of the activities I do with some of the stickers:
*practice handwriting by having kids write out the names of different stickers
*work on developing grasping skills and increase grasp strength by having them remove stickers from the sheets and placing them on paper.  To add a visual motor component to it, I draw dots all over the paper and have them put the stickers on to the dots.

One of the things I love about all of these sticker based activities is that it gets kids who may struggle with drawing or coloring to have success with crafts.  By taking away the graphomotor aspect of things, they are more motivated to complete the tasks presented to them.  I also find that if I can use the stickers as a starting place for an activity, I can encourage the kids to add details with writing instruments much easier.  Do you have any amazing sticker activities, books or craft sets that your family loves?  If you have any ideas, definitely share them with me and my readers.  I am only a click away and love hearing from you all. 

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!

Stick It To Me!

According to my friends at Red Tricycle today is National Sticker Day which I love to know.  I have always loved stickers.  As a matter of fact, I have a little folder at home with some of my favorite childhood stickers and my daughter loves to look at them!  Stickers play a huge role in my work life as well.  They are used for way more than just a reward at the end of a great session.  Stickers can be used to work on improving fine motor skills, grasping skills and a ton of visual motor and perceptual skills.  You can work on improving bilateral coordination and crossing midline by taking the stickers and placing them on one hand and having them take the stickers off with their other hand.  I have also worked on improving upper body strength by placing a piece of paper on a wall above a child's head, placing stickers on the floor or on their feet and have them bend down to take them off and reach up high to put them on the paper.  Below, you will find a few more ideas of what you can do with stickers with your kids.  The best part about these all of these activities are ones that they are easy enough to do at home with them.

Writing-I have found that once kids learn how to write the letters of the alphabet, they need to start using that skill in a functional way.  I have used stickers of sports teams, characters or various objects to do just that and kids adore it.  I actually just started a Shopkins Book with one of my little guys who was clearly getting bored of just practicing his letters.  I couldn't get over how motivated he was and how all those letters that he had been struggling with were written with ease.  I was also excited because he was asking how to write the letters he didn't know and immediately practiced them.

Cutting-using stickers during cutting activities is a great motivator as well.  I will have kids put stickers on the top of a piece of paper and then draw lines from the bottom of the paper up to the sticker.  Depending on the child's skill level, the lines will be straight, curved or zig zags.  When cutting out shapes, I place the stickers along the shape (i.e. at the corners of a square or triangle) which gives them a visual reminder to turn the paper once they cut to that sticker.

Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics-I have probably talked about these a million times on this blog but they are the best and can work on so many occupational therapy goals.  These little sticker squares are great for working on improving grasping skills, grasp strength and eye-hand coordination.  At the end, the kids get a piece of art or some kind of cool project that they have completed that they get to show off.  My daughter's favorite are these Silly Snack ones because they remind her of her current obsession, Shopkins.  The variety in the Orb Factory line is amazing and you won't have any problem finding a set that will be sure to bring a smile to your child's face.  These are also a great activity to use during therapy sessions.  Place it on an easel to work on improving shoulder stability and upper extremity strength or have them work on it while they are lying prone over a bolster or on a new swing.

Sticker Puzzles-another one of my favorite therapy activities.  These sticker puzzles by Lee Magic Pen are an incredibly motivating activity for my little friends at work.  They also come in a variety of sizes so you can find ones that are good for preschoolers and ones that are good for the older kids in your life.  The goal is simple:  you have a grid with numbers on them.  You then take the a sheet of stickers with numbers on them (in mixed order), peel the stickers off and place them in the matching square.  These tend to be even more motivating for the kids on my caseload because there are 8 different puzzles in each booklet and they feature popular characters.  The Frozen and Cars ones are by far the most popular amongst my kids.  Great for working on improving fine motor skills like grasping and strengthening, eye-hand coordination and visual tracking skills.  I like that you can grade the activity based on each child's skill level.  For example, if you are working with a young child, you can give them the stickers in order so they don't get frustrated.  For older kids, you have them do it indepenently.  Best part, these are crazy inexpensive, lightweight and travel easily to keep your kids occupied on a plane, in a car or at restaurants.

Stickers in general are a great thing to have in your bag of tricks. They are relatively inexpensive and easy to carry around.  If you check out your local toy stores or stationary stores, you will be shocked to see the variety of great stickers at an affordable price.  My favorites are Smickers scented stickers and books and the Kawaii stickers.  Another big hit amongst my kids (especially my own daughter) are the Usborne Sticker Dolly Dressing books.   What I love about them is that you can be creative with them and kids love them so you can really hide the fact that you are doing "work" with them.

Now that I know it is National Sticker Day, I plan on having a lot of sticky fun with my kids today.  What are your favorite things to do with stickers?  Do you have a favorite sticker book or collection that you would reccomend to me and my readers? I am just a click away I love hearing from you all and value your ideas!

8-Bit Art Start for Little Hands

With summer in full swing and many people packing up and getting ready for vacations, I have been asked for suggestions for long plane and car trips.  A few weeks ago, while looking for birthday presents at a local toy store in Park Slope, I happened to see a cute set of sticker/workbooks called Pixel Heroes and Pixel Dolls.  I was immediately sold on the small size and how easily they would fit in my work bag (doing homecare this summer has forced me to look for smaller and more easily transportable items); I couldn't help but think how perfect they would be for so many of my clients who would be doing an extensive amount of traveling this summer and needed to keep working on their fine motor skills.

Using a fine pincer grasp to put stickers in the squares

Pixel Heroes and Pixel Dolls are quite similar to the Orb Factory mosaics that I wrote about here. Each book contains 9 different dolls or heroes to replicate.  On the left hand side of the book, you will see what the doll looks like and on the right hand side there is a grid shaded in guiding the user where stickers need to be placed.   There is an envelope full of small square stickers in the back of the book for easy storage and helps a child keep their work organized.  The gist of the sticker book is to use the different colored stickers and place them in the correct boxes.  They are required to go back and forth between the left and right sides of the books to make sure that they are following the correct pattern.  While this sounds easy, for many of the children I work with, it may be quite a challenge. First of all, the stickers are flat and not easy to manipulate so it's perfect for those kids who need to work on increasing grasp strength and in-hand manipulation skills.  It requires patience and focus to get the stickers in the boxes precisely.  This is a fun activity for older children who need to work on improving their grasping skills and it won't seem so therapeutic to them.  Remember, a child who has good grasping skills will have typically be able to hold a writing instrument properly, be able to manipulate buttons and snaps easier and develop other higher level fine motor and in-hand manipulation skills.  

Pixel Heroes Sticker Book

In addition to what has already been discussed, Pixel Heroes and Pixel Dolls can work on the following occupational therapy goals:

Improve Eye-Hand Coordination-a simple but great activity to focus on eye-hand coordination skills.  The pixel sticker books require a child to look at where the sticker goes and move it around with their fingers until it is in the box the correct way.  For some of my kids, I have them remove the stickers if not placed in the box as close as it can be.  It's important for them to not only put the stickers in place but to correct it if it is not in the right way.  

Improve Visual Tracking and Scanning-if you have a child who has difficulty with this visual motor skill, Pixel Heroes and Pixel Dolls is a perfect activity to work on that without them really knowing that is what you are focusing on.  In order for the doll/hero to be completed correctly, they have to constantly scan between the picture on the left and the grids on the right.  They need to scan each row and figure out what color sticker goes in each box.  

Improve Self-Esteem and Confidence-as with many arts and crafts projects, they can help build a child's sense of confidence and self-esteem.  Don't ever under-estimate what completing a challenging activity all by themselves can do for a child's self-esteem.  I love seeing their faces as they place those final stickers into the grid.  I like to show the kids how their accuracy improved over time by comparing the first few rows with the final ones.  

Improve Attention and Focus-it's important for children to really stop and focus on the picture and the grid.  Unlike the Orb Factory mosaics, there isn't a number or a color for the children to place the stickers on.  They have to rely on being able to copy the pattern provided on the left to the blank grid on the right hand side of the book.  When I first begin this activity, I have the children talk the pattern out to me for the first few rows to help them be more successful in completing the picture.

Pixel Dolls Sticker Book

Improve Organizational Skills-I encourage children to start at the top, left-hand side of the page when beginning their hero or doll.  I have them complete it line by line and not color by color.  For older/school age kids, working this way is important for handwriting, reading and math skills as they all start in the top, left hand corner.
Improve Upper Extremity Strength-I have been having some of my older kids complete their chosen pixel hero or doll while lying prone on a net swing in order to work on improving his/her arm and neck strength.  I love killing two birds with one stone and this is the kind of activity that allows me to do just that.  A kid can work on building their fine motor and grasping skills at the same time as upper extremity strength.  A great way to hide the "work" behind the whole thing.  One of the things I like best is that I can tell a kid that we will stay on the swing until they finish a certain number of rows.  So instead of constantly asking how much longer they have until they are finished, they can just take a look at how much work they have left.

The Pixel Heroes and Pixel Dolls books will be a huge hit with your older preschoolers and school age kids, both at work and at home.  These are perfect for parents who need something to keep in their bags when going out to eat, waiting for a therapy appointment to start or just to keep your kids away from iPads, video games or the television.

I was able to pick my books up at a local toy store in Park Slope, Brooklyn so I wouldn't be surprised if you would be able to find it one of your local toy stores.  I love being able to support the local small businesses in my hood and encourage you all to do the same.  If you can't find them, I happen to have an obsession with an online toy website called My Sweet Muffin, that sells these books (and a million other amazing products).  I originally discovered this store because of an obsession with a certain Danish toy product but have come to realize that they offer tons of other amazing products that are not only fun but therapeutic.

I would love to hear about your experience with the Pixel Heroes and Pixel Dolls sticker books.  Do you have other products that you have seen or used that are like this?  As always, I am just a click away and love hearing from my readers.