Write On! Summer Writing Ideas

The end of the school year is just around the corner and there is a level of excitement in the kids that I work with that is hard to contain. Kids are looking forward to spending their summers at camp, going on vacations or just getting a break from the daily grind of school and homework. For many kids, summer is supposed to be about resting and relaxing and not thinking about school. However, since many of the older kids I work with don't come to occupational therapy during the summer because of long camp days or spending the summer out of the city, it's important for me to come up with ideas and activities to keep them writing so they don't lose all the skills they have gained over the summer months. Many parents want to give their kids a break but also want to make sure their kids are ready for the upcoming school year. 

There are a lot ways to make handwriting seem less like work for kids. I like when there are activities they whole family can get involved in that way a child doesn't feel like they are being punished. Here are a couple of fun handwriting games you can play as a family:

Crossword Puzzles-these are great for practicing letter writing, sizing and spacing. 
Mad Libs-these are still one of my daughter's favorite things to do when in the car for long car rides. They are great for working on spelling and learning about identifying parts of speech (verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc.). It's also great for working on sizing of letters so they fit in the space they provide. 
Cryptograms-a cryptogram is a type of word puzzle that consists of a code in which a symbol or number is assigned to each letter of the alphabet in order to solve the code. These are not only great for practicing writing letters, it's also great for working on improving visual motor and visual tracking skills. You can find them online for printing out or can check out this book here. 

In addition to the ideas above, I am sharing some of my favorite activity books, journals and other products that are great for working on handwriting over the summer months. These are meant to help my older children who need to prepare for the increased expectations that they will be faced with in the upcoming school year. Many of these provide writing and story prompts to make it a bit easier for my kids who struggle with coming up with ideas. Sometimes kids get really nervous about how to start a story, but once given a little push, they have great ideas on how to create a full story. 

Super Powers! A Great Big Collection of 
Awesome Activities, Quirky Questions-calling on all kids to turn on their superpowers! This fun-filled book offers tons of wonderful way for kids to discover what really interests them, what makes them unique and what makes them so amazing just the way they are. With invitations to declare a superhero name, create a superhero tool kit and even write their own superhero legend, this book will light up the imagination of young kids-boosting their confidence and opening up their minds to big possibilities. When completed, parents have a wonderful keepsake of their child's unique personality.

And Then Story Starter Cards-And Then is a collection of 20 beginnings of stories that your children have to come up with how the story will end. Each of the cards in this box has a tantalizing start to a story that your child (with the help from friends, siblings or parents) will have to finish. After the And then...it's up to your kids to figure out what happens next. Encourages self-expression, creativity and confidence as they work on developing good writing skills. 

I Like....A Great Big Book of Awesome Activities-inspire kids of all ages to write all about themselves and they things they like in this whimsically illustrated activity book. Features creative activities, intriguing questions, writing prompts and wild artwork. This is great for working on handwriting and drawing with kids over the summer months, perfect for taking along when traveling and a great way for your kid to get to know themselves even more. 



Cliffhanger Writing Prompts-this ready-to-use resource contains 30 exciting story starters that model good writing and help any student get past writer's block. The prompts provide scaffolding through rich characters, imaginative settings and and edge-of-your-seat cliffhanger. "And then...." students put their natural storytelling skills to work, dreaming up their own unique endings. Some of the writing prompts they will write about are: What's under the door in the floor? What are the voices in the root beer saying? What arrived via special delivery? 


Mindful Me Activity Book-being mindful won't take away your problems, but it can help you handle them. In this activity book, kids will learn to settle their thoughts and look inward through a series of fun writing prompts, games and meditation exercises. Serving as a guide to reflect upon the lessons learned in Mindful Me, it offers kids a place to record their reflections, creating a tangible account of how far they've grown in their meditation practice. 




Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book-with the Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself book, your child is the author, illustrator and the main character. Filled with loads of interactive pages and plenty of space to write you own life's story, this book is all you need to create your masterpieces. Another great book for kids to take with them while traveling, at the beach or when at a restaurant. 



Kid Made Modern Comic Book Kit-this DIY comic book kit has everything you need to create your own comic book. Whether you are writing about a superhero or making up some other fun story....it's all right and all up to the writer. This kit is perfect for the graphic novel obsessed kid and provides endless possibilities to design their own colorful comic book. Your budding storyteller will have plenty of room to explore and customize their own 32-page comic book (or write a bunch of short comics). The set comes complete with a blank comic book, markers, stencil templates, rubber stamps, ink pads, bottles of ink and a storage box.


On The Go Stationery Kits-a fun way to get kids writing is by setting them up with a pen pal of sorts. Summer is a great time for this because there are so many kids who go to camp or friends who go away. And what kid doesn't love getting actual mail in the mailbox?? I love these sets from OOLY. They make a great gift for kids who are heading off to camp. Each kit comes complete with 8 letter sheets, 4 envelopes , 4 postcards, a notebook, a mechanical pencil, a four color click pen, a sheet of stickers and an eraser which can all be conveniently stored in the sturdy case it comes in. 

Share Your Smile-living with a 9 year old daughter who is completely obsessed with graphic novels, especially those written by Raina Telgemeir, we had to get this journal like book as soon as it came out. With guidance from Raina herself, kids get lots of tips from her about how to write and draw in this colorful, interactive journal. She teaches kids how to brainstorm ideas, make lists, paste in personal photos and encourages kids to use their imagination to create their own stories. In addition to all these great tips, there are a bunch of behind-the-scenes info from Raina and a sneak peak at her newest book coming out in the fall. This has been my go-to gift and it's been the biggest hit! I guarantee if you have a Raina fan in your life, they will be encouraged to write and create with this journal. 

I Am A Rebel Girl Journal-another recommendation based on my daughter loving it. We have been huge fans of the Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls books since they came out a couple of years ago (gladly been backing them on Kickstarter for each of their projects) and when the journal came out, we were psyched. This journal is filled with activities that challenge perspective, induce thoughts and prompt action. There are activities that encourage girls to love their bodies, write a letter to an elected representative and to interact with the absolutely beautiful artwork by female artists. This 224-page journal is perfect for working on developing writing skills while also empowering young girls. 

So these are just a handful of the dozens and dozens of amazing products out there that can encourage young kids to want to write and create this summer. I chose ones that keep things light since it is summer and know that you have to motivate kids to work on these challenging things when they aren't being forced to. I also chose ones that allows them to use their imagination while also getting to know themselves a bit better. During the school year, their aren't too many opportunities to just write what you want which can often lead to kids resenting handwriting. By allowing your kids creative writing opportunities, you may find that they actually find it easier and will begin to develop a love for writing. 

If you have any other recommendations or ideas, please share them! I know that I am always on the lookout for great writing products and am sure my readers will love the suggestions as well. I am only a click away and love hearing from you all! 

A Childhood Highlight

As many of you, I have a lot of childhood memories that make me smile.  Some of them exist in some form today, but very few are almost exactly like they were when we were growing up.  One of my favorite things while growing up was sitting in a doctor's office and looking through the Highlights Magazine.  It seemed to distract me from why I was in that doctor's office.  One of my absolute favorite parts of the magazine was the Hidden Pictures page.  I always felt like I had hit the jackpot when I got to look at it before someone else had circled all the hidden objects.

Fast forward a bunch of years and I am a grownup (for the most part) and I am asked by one of my goddaughters to support her magazine drive.  The first thing I ordered was the Highlights Magazine and have been getting it ever since for my daughter.  Quinn, who just turned 6, loves it and especially loves the Hidden Pictures page.  So a few weeks ago, when someone reached out to me and asked me to take a look at the new Hidden Pictures app, I jumped on it.  I am always looking for new apps, especially ones that are more appropriate for the older kids and this app definitely fits that description.  While they say that it's ideal for children ages 6-8, I think that it can be used with younger children who have strong visual skills, especially if an adult is playing it with them.

So far, I am a big fan of the Hidden Pictures app.  More importantly, the kids are really enjoying it. The pictures are colorful, bold and and great at encouraging conversation (for my speech therapy friends).  It's a great app to work on a variety of occupational therapy skills without the kids feeling like they are "working".  It's more of a game to find all the different objects hidden throughout the pictures and at the same time, the kids are working on improving visual skills (visual motor, visual perceptual and visual tracking).  If you want to try and work on graphomotor skills, you can have the kids use a stylus (I've been using the Cosmonaut lately and love it) when using the app.  You can also have the kids write out the objects on a piece of paper as they find them to work on improving their handwriting skills.  One more thing I like to do is after the kids complete a puzzle on the iPad, I have them do another one in this great Hidden Pictures puzzle book that I have.  There are a bunch of these workbooks out there but I like this one because they have a bunch of black and white pictures that you have to take a handful of stickers and put them on top of the object when they find them.  This adds a greater challenge for those kids who are doing really well with the app.

Unlike the older version of the app, the updated one acts more like a subscription plan.  You sign up and each month a new set of puzzle packs are available.  When you first download the app, there are already 60+ puzzles!  You unlock puzzles as you complete others and there are even special items in the puzzles that need to be collected.  One of the things I like is how there are different modes to choose from so you increase or decrease the level of difficulty/challenge for each kid you work with.  The three modes of play to choose from are:
Free Play-find the hidden objects in whichever order and in however long it takes you
Timed-find all the hidden objects before the timer runs out
Directed-you find the hidden objects in a the order in which they are listed

Oftentimes, parents ask me for app recommendations that would be good for the whole family.  If you are looking for an app that would be good to facilitate social skills and collaboration with a sibling or a friend, this is a great one.  While it can be played  individually, it's also perfect for working as a team to find all the hidden objects.  The kids can take turns finding something or you can have them find one and then they have to give a hint to their friend in order to find the object that they found.  This is great for working on improving language and organizational skills for those kids you know who struggle with these things.

As I have been getting to know the app, I have to admit that I have been sucked into playing  it all by myself for long periods of time.  It brings me back to my childhood in the best possible way.  It's been fun to play this at work and at home and makes me happy that something this simple still brings hours of entertainment to kids today.  If you are on the lookout for a new app for your little ones, I highly recommend Hidden Pictures.  It's not only something that will help strengthen your child's visual skills, it's an app that you won't mind playing with your children.  If you have any questions or want to know more about the Hidden Pictures app, I am always a click away and love hearing from you all!

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!

Coloring...Not Just For Kids!

I wrote a long time about about coloring books and often refer to my favorites in some of my posts.  I

love having a good selection of coloring and activity books in my office and at home.  One thing that I have discovered is that coloring isn't just for kids these days.  I will often join the kids I work with or my own daughter when she is coloring.  I do this for several reasons:

*if I am engaged in a coloring activity, I find that the kids will color for longer which ends up building up their grasp strength and endurance.  It also helps on increasing a child's attention span

*I will often mess up or ask a child for their suggestions on what colors I should use to help them understand that their pictures don't have to be perfect or that they shouldn't get too frustrated when coloring

*I find coloring to be one of the most calming and organizing activities.  Not just for kids, but for anyone.  

In this post, I am not going to focus just on kids coloring/activity books, but also ones that are good for older kids and for adults who may love to color.  Coloring with your kids is a great way to stimulate conversation and imagination skills.  It is a wonderful way to build confidence and self-esteem...when a child completes a picture that they have worked really hard on, they feel really good about themselves and want to show it off to their people.  There is no greater source of pride for my own daughter when someone compliments her on her work and then hangs it up.

Some of my favorite coloring and activity books right now are the following:
Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest-these two books by Johanna Basford are more than just coloring books.  They are also coloring adventures that take you on a journey through a beautiful garden and an enchanted forest to discover what is in the magical castle.  The pictures are all in black and white and have so many little details to color in.  In addition to coloring some of the most magnificently drawn pictures, you have to find objects hidden within each picture.  I also like that some of the pages have mazes to go through and pictures to complete.
While these books are most definitely for older children, they are definitely something that could be done together with your child.  Having them look at the pictures and tell a story based on what they see is great for building up their language and imagination skills.  You can play a game of I Spy while looking at the pictures to find some of those hidden objects.  I first discovered these beautiful books when shopping at my local toy store, Norman and Jules, but you can also find them at the bigger bookstores and other speciality toy/bookstores.

Color Me Calm-this is a book that was designed for busy and crazed adults.  At a time where life gets busier and more complicated each day, we find ourselves to become more stressed and overstimulated by work and family obligations.  Created by art therapist Lacy Mucklow and artist Angela Porter, Color Me Calm has about 100 different coloring templates that were created specifically to get a person to color themselves to a calmer and more relaxed state of being.  The book is broken down into seven therapeutically-themed chapters including Mandalas, Water Scenes, Wooded Scenes, Geometric Patterns, Flora and Fauna, Natural Patterns and Spirituality. The intention of the book is for adults to put pencil to paper and get themselves into a state of creativity and relaxation.  Some of the pictures could be appropriate for younger children, but this is definitely intended for older children and adults.


Daydream Doodles-I've been looking through the shelves at Barnes and Noble and other bookstores non-stop lately trying to find new coloring and activity books for not only the kids I work with, but for my own daughter who has officially turned into one of those kids who can't stop drawing and coloring.  While I love to see her imagination come to life on paper, it isn't always so easy for her and she needs some jumping off ideas.  Throughout this book, there are several different kinds of activities.  You can color in pictures, complete different kinds of pictures or draw your own patterns on objects.  This coloring book is definitely more appropriate for older children (they suggest 6 and older).  In addition to working on improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills, it is great for working on creative thinking and imagination skills.  I like that you can also work on language skills while the kids are completing their pictures.  You can also work on improving executive functioning skills be encouraging them to talk about what they are going to draw, how they are going to do it, etc..

Usborne Big Book of Drawing, Doodling and Colouring-I am a huge fan of all the Usborne activity books.  They have a wide range of coloring and drawing books that will spark the imagination of children.  This book is especially awesome because it has a wide range of activities in one book.  There are pictures and patterns to color in and complete, various scenes for children to color in and add their own details and pages that will teach your child how to draw things step-by-step.  The book is filled with a ton of modern and stylish pictures ranging from monsters, animals and food.  I have found that many of my kids, even those who typically resist any kid of drawing/coloring activities, love looking through this book and finding the "right" picture for them.   My favorite pages are those that teach kids how to draw different animals, people and objects step-by-step.  The directions are easy to follow but also leave plenty of room for kids to use their imagination and add their own details to pictures.  This book promises to be fun not only for your children, but for the adults who want to color and draw with them!

Here are a few handwriting/coloring tips to keep in mind when coloring with your children:
*always encourage a child to hold a writing instrument properly.  Broken crayons or short colored pencils are an easy way to get a child to hold a writing instrument with a tripod-like grasp. Some of my favorites are the Faber-Castell Jumbo Triangular Colored Pencils, Flip Crayons by Handwriting Without Tears and the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner Markers.
*if you are working on increasing upper body strength, have children color on an elevated surface like an easel or tape the paper to a wall.
*let kids do what they want with colors....let them choose whatever color they want for what they are doing without telling them what they should do.  Coloring should be an activity that allows kids to express themselves and expand their imagination skills.  They want to color an elephant pink...go for it!
*try and encourage a child to stay in the lines when coloring, but don't make a big deal about it if they don't.
*work on building language skills by having children tell you a story about their picture.  Encourage them to elaborate and talk about the details by asking them meaningful questions.

With summer just a few days away, I'm finding that parents are asking me more about what they can do for their children to keep working on their fine motor and visual skills while they are taking a break from therapy.  Coloring, drawing and activity books are a great and fun way for kids to keep working on skills that have been addressed in therapy during the school year.  So many parents want to be more involved in their child's therapy but complain that the kids won't "work" for them.  Coloring is a great way to hide the therapy piece.

The books I suggested in this post are definitely geared more towards older kids, but there are many other books out there for younger kids.  If you want to read about books that are better suited for younger/pre-school aged children, check out this post here.

Do you have any great coloring or activity books that I should add to my library?  I'm looking forward to nights of coloring with my little girl this summer and would love to test out some new ones.  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all.

Summer hAPPiness

It seems like just yesterday I was writing about the school year beginning.  Somehow, this year has
gone by faster than seems real and I am doing summer scheduling and helping families who will be out of the city for the summer come up with activities to keep their kids busy and learning.  I have several kids on my caseload who will take the summer off but need to remain a bit focused on what we have been working on in occupational therapy all year so when they come back we don't have to spend too much time reviewing things.

Every year, parents ask me what they can do with their kids over the summer.  They don't want to spend too much time focusing on academics but they also want to make sure that their kids don't lose any of the skills that they have worked so hard on acquiring over the course of the year.  So many of the families I work with spend a lot of time traveling so I like to give them a list of apps that they can work on while in the car, planes, etc..

It's a proven fact that kids are motivated by an iPad.  I can't tell you the number of things I have been able to accomplish and get kids to work on when presented to them in app form first.  For those of you who read my blog, you will know that I don't believe that the iPad is the end all and be all of things.  When used in conjunction with more hands-on activities, it can be a tremendously motivating tool.  There are so many great apps out there that can work on a ton of occupational therapy skills, especially handwriting and visual motor/perceptual skills.  I highly recommend setting up a folder on an iPad for each of your kids with the apps that are best for them.  I think it is also important to note that using an iPad can not only be good for learning, but can be good for encouraging social skills and language development.  Kids should always be supervised when using the iPad...not only to make sure that what they are playing is appropriate for them but also so adults can step in and encourage kids to be social if they are using it together.

Whenever appropriate, I have my kids use a stylus when using the iPad.  This helps on working on fine motor skills, especially proper grasping skills when using writing instruments.  My two favorites are this crayon stylus by Fred & Friends and this mini stylus pen by Kikkerland.  Both are the perfect size for little hands!

Here are a just a few of my favorite apps and a brief description of what they will work on:

LetterSchool-one of my favorite and definitely my go-to app for handwriting.  Whether you want to begin working on teaching children how to write their letters or if you want to review what they already know, this is the best app out there.  It comes with three options:  uppercase, lowercase and numbers.  There are two levels of play for lots of practice.  For each letter and number, you work through 3 games (tap, trace and write) in order to earn stars.  Once you have completed both the silver and gold levels of play, you can then unlock the opportunity to do free-form writing.
Toonia Differences-I blogged about this awesome app by Toonia a couple of weeks ago here.  This app is similar to those Spot the Differences games you have may have played at some point.  You have two pictures side by side that are almost exactly the same and you have to find the 8 things that are different about the picture.  This is a great app for working on improving visual perceptual skills, especially visual scanning and visual attention.  You can read more about this app here.
Toonia Storymaker-another great app by Toonia.  This one is a fun and educational app that encourages children to be the author of their own story.  They are allowed to choose their own characters and scenes to tell their own story.  They can change colors, shapes, size, posture and emotions while creating their story.  This app encourages creative thinking, sequencing, organization and focus and attention.

Dexteria Jr.-I've had this app on my list of favorites for a long time.  This occupational therapist created app is a set of hand and finger exercises that help develop fine motor skills and work on getting kids reading for handwriting.  It's great for children as young as 2 years old and can be motivating enough for those as old as 8-10.  There are 3 games with multiple levels of play in each game.  Squish the Squash works on pointing skills; I am pretty strict with the kids about using their pointer finger during this game.  Pinch the pepper works on developing in-hand manipulation skills, specifically pinching using the thumb and pointer finger.  The last is game is Trace & Erase and kids work on graphomotor skills by tracing lots of different lines and shapes.  Once they are done tracing, they have to erase the lines and then the built-in camera will take a silly picture of the kids.  It's a simple game that works on visual motor and visual perceptual skills as well as improving focus, attention and concentration.
Pepi Play-it's hard to choose just one of the apps by Pepi Play.  I have all of their apps and they are big favorites with the kids I work with.  They are incredibly interactive and within each app, there are several games for them to play with.  Right now, my kids are really loving Pepi Bath 2 and Pepi Doctor.  Pepi Bath 2 has 6 different bathroom or cleaning situations.  It's the kid's job to help their character (3 to choose from) get all cleaned up:  they may help them go to the bathroom, get cleaned in the bathtub or get their clothes cleaned after some dirty play!  In Pepi Doctor, the kids help their character "get better"; they may need to help them get better from a cold, after falling off their bike or scooter (I ask the kids to tell me what they think happened to the kid and how they got hurt) and getting lots of scrapes and dealing with an aching tooth.  These apps are just two of the several that you and your kids will love playing together!
Tiggly-Tiggly has created two interactive games and several apps that work on fine motor, visual motor/perceptual, eye-hand coordination, early literacy and math skills.  Tiggly Shapes are rubberized shapes (circle, square, triangle and star) that children can use for learning and play with three different Tiggly apps.  The shapes have a soft plastic cover and silicon touch points that interact with the iPad screen.  They are incredibly durable and can withstand crazy toddlers but gentle enough that they are safe for the iPad screen.  Read more about Tiggly Shapes here and find out all therapeutic fun your kid will have with them.  You can read more about TigglyMath in an early blog post here.  Rumor has it that Tiggly will be releasing a third learning system next week....just in time for the summer!  I can't wait to see what they have in store for all of us.  It's sure to be both educational and fun!
Endless Alphabet/Endless Numbers-Originator Kids is another wonderful studio creating fabulous apps for kids.  My two favorite are Endless Alphabet and Endless Numbers.  Endless Alphabet is a fun way for kids to get ready for early reading by being introduced to new words.  Kids have to match the letters of the word and then get to watch a short little video with some really cute monsters once the letters are all placed in the right spot.  Endless Numbers is a really fun way for kids to learn numbers, sequences and quantity.  It is incredibly interactive and fun so the kids don't even realize that there is a tremendous amount of learning going on at the same time.  These are just two of the great apps by Originator.  Be sure to check out all the others, especially the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head Create and Play apps!

Bugs and Buttons /Bugs and Bubbles/Bugs and Numbers-Little Bit Studios may be one of my favorite app designers for children.  First of all, the games are fun and educational at the same time.  Each app comes with 18 different games which means that your kids can be entertained for a really long time.  The likelihood of them getting bored quickly is pretty slim which leads to lots of learning as the explore all the mini games.  Check out this blog post here that talks about just how amazing Bugs and Buttons (original and Bugs and Buttons 2).  If you want a real bang for your buck, then I highly recommend any and all of the apps by Little Bit Studios!
Avokiddo Apps-I wrote about this amazing company extensively in this post from March 27th.  So far, there are 5 different apps to choose from and they work on a variety of skills ranging from learning the letters of the alphabet to recognizing emotions to problem solving and several executive functioning skills.  The graphics are just amazing, the music is soothing and because of that, the kids I work with are totally motivated to play, explore and learn when using them.  I know when apps are really amazing when the kids I work with constantly ask for them and that is what happens with all of the apps by Avokiddo!

So, these are just a handful of the many apps I would recommend for summer learning.  As I was going through my iPad that is chock full of wonderful apps, I had a hard time choosing which ones to share with you all.  I ended up picking ones that kids are most likely to be independent with....they won't have to ask their grownups for too much help.  I also chose ones that I thought would be good for kids to play together in order to promote important social skills like turn-taking, compromise and conversation skills.

I would love to hear from any of you with some of your favorite apps.  If you have specific questions about apps that would be good for your children or ones that would work on specific goals, I would be more than happy to help you find the perfect ones.  I am always a click away and love helping parents and professionals identity apps that are better than others.  It can be a daunting experience going through the thousands and thousands of apps out there and since I have done so much research, let me be the one to help you as you figure out what would be best for your child.

Two Thumbs Up!

Good, simple and fun games are surprisingly hard to come by these days.  Too many games require batteries, make lots of loud sounds and can end up over-stimulating so many of the kids I work with. Obviously, the most important thing I look for in a game is that the kids will have fun.  After that, I look at the directions and make sure that they are kid-friendly and that they can be adapted for a variety of ages and skills.  Lastly, I begin to think about all the occupational therapy goals that can be worked on while playing the game.  

Thumbs Up, by Blue Orange Games (makers of Spot It and several other wonderful games that sit in my work closet), is one of those games that you don't think will be that big of a hit until you start playing it and then you just don't want to stop!  The goal of the game is simple:  be the first to stack different colored rings on your thumb based on the order shown in the challenge card that you pick up.  Sounds easy, right?  From personal experience, I can tell you it is way harder than you think.  First of all, try taking a kid who has sensory processing and body awareness issues and tell them they have to place all these rings on their thumb...and that they need to keep their hands in a hands up position for the whole game.  It's probably the biggest challenge I have witnessed with the kids I have been playing it with.
"That's your pointer finger" and "Tuck those fingers in" have never been repeated more often in my life than the last few days.  The other challenge is that each card is very different from each other.  You have to really take a moment or two before starting to collect your rings to look at the card and get a sense of the order.  So many of the kids I work get excited/anxious and just dive into a game without thinking about the most organized way to do it.  I have found that for the kids I have been playing it with, it has been helpful to play a round or two together and talk out strategies before beginning the actual competition.  I actually have gone through the cards and picked out the ones that I think the kids I am playing with will be successful with.  For the younger kids, this is a great opportunity to talk to them about colors and matching and you can play the game with them without dealing with competition part of it.

One of the best things about this game, especially if you do any kind of therapy that takes you into homes or schools, is that once taken out of the box, it takes up very little space and weighs almost nothing.  It's can be thrown in a bag and not take up much space at all.  As we are all dreaming of warmer days, it is a great game to take with you to picnics and on vacations.  It's not just for kids...I promise grownups will love to play it too!

In addition to what I have already discussed, Thumbs Up can work on the following occupational therapy goals:
Improve Grasping Skills-the rings are very thin and I encourage my kids to pick them up using their "pinchers".  As they get into the game, it's harder for them to focus on what kind of grasp they are using because they are so focused on winning!  I've actually working on improving grasp strength and grasping skills by having the kids clean up the rings using Zoo Sticks.
Improve Focus/Attentional Skills-it's super easy to get distracted while playing this game.  I noticed that the kids I played this game with were more focused on how I was doing that they kept losing track of where they were and what they should be looking at.  They were hyper-focused on winning that they would become distracted and lose track of where they were.  After that happened a few times, I had to remind them that they needed to keep their attention/eyes on their challenge card and not be so worried about what I was doing.  For a competitive kid who really wants to win, this proved to be quite a challenge, but a very important lesson.
Improve Visual Skills-so many great visual motor and perceptual skills can be worked on while playing this game.  You need to be able to visually track from the challenge card to the stack of colored rings and then put it on your thumb.  You also need to be visually organized to look at the challenge card and find the number and color you need to pick up.
Improve Social Skills-great game for 2-6 players which means it could be perfect for those of you who run social skills groups.  Since it is a fast-paced game that doesn't require much set up, it's perfect to have in your bag of tricks when your group needs a little something to get you going.  From start to end, the game lasts about 10 minutes (you can change that based on the kids you are working with).  I've been playing against the kids I work with and maybe haven't been trying as hard as I can to allow them to win, but kids aren't going to play that way.  If working in a group, you can use this game as a perfect opportunity to talk about how to be a good vs. a bad loser, being a good sport vs. a bad sport, etc..  If you want to, you could pair kids up into teams and have them work together to be the first to get all of their rings stacked (one can pick up the rings as their partner calls out the color to them).

Blue Orange Games continues to make quality games that keep kids learning and having fun at the same time.  I found Thumbs Up at a great toy store located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan called Fantastic Kids Toys.  Be sure to check out your local toy stores and support those small businesses who work so hard to keep your kids entertained.

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!

So Much To Color...So Little Time!

I know we live in a technological world.  I am part of that techno world and love using my iPad in my work world because it is motivating and exciting and can do a whole lot in helping many of my kids meet some of their occupational therapy goals.  With that said, there is little that makes me as happy as finding an awesome coloring/activity book.  While there are a ton of wonderful coloring apps available for the iPad, nothing will ever take the place of using crayons or markers to make a beautiful picture.  I have a work closet full of them and a shelf at home dedicated to coloring books that I do with my own daughter.  When I find a good coloring/activity book, I buy many of them and encourage friends, family and colleagues to do the same.

When I find a good coloring book, I get giddy.  I wish I could say it was because I am only thinking about how much the kids at work (or my kid at home) will love it.  In reality, I am thinking about me and how much fun I will have watching the kids interact with the coloring books.  And maybe I am thinking about how much fun I will have looking through the book and doing some coloring of my own in some of my free time (hah...what is that?!!??).

I am fortunate to live in a city that is overflowing with awesome stores.  More fortunate that so many of those stores are targeted towards my love of children, toys and having fun.  Recently, I have found myself obsessed with two coloring/activity books and feel like anyone who works or has children should have them.  Not only are they super fun, they both have educational and therapeutic value that will make them a perfect addition to your work/home collection of toys.

Lots of Things to Find and Color by Usborne Activities

I can't get enough of this book.  More importantly, my kids at work seem to be enjoying it as much as me!  When I first saw this book at West Side Kids, I thought my daughter Quinn and I would have fun with it.  When I opened it up and saw looked through each and every page, I realized that not only was it great for my kid, it would be great for so many of my kids at work.  This is not your ordinary coloring book.  While there are plenty of opportunities to work on improving your coloring skills, there is so much more here.  Each page has a different picture or theme and are perfect for boys or girls.  Maybe it is a spread of fairies or cars, maybe it is a bunch of yummy looking food or an under the sea scene.  Whatever it is, they are adorable!  Each page has specific instructions for a child to follow such as finding all the fairies holding wands and coloring them a certain color or look at a picture of a food item, find its match and color it the same color.   If you look at the picture below, you will see that not only does it give you specific instructions on what to look for and color, it also leaves a part of the page free for you to fill in with your own pictures.  So not only is this good for working on improving coloring skills, it is also great for improving a child's drawing and creativity skills.  I love that once the kids are done following the directions, they can then be free to do what they want with the rest of the images that are not colored.  I have noticed that my kids are excited to do what they need to so then they can be free to use whatever colors they want to!

This particular coloring book is great for working on visual perceptual skills and improving focus and attention.  I love that a child has to look for specific items; they are required to scan the pages to find what they need to.  For some of my kids, this is a tremendous challenge and I have to give them specific instructions on how to look for the picture by starting at the top and using their finger to help guide them.  This also requires a child to look at details; many of my kids will rush through and begin to just color anything that looks like what they are supposed to be looking for just to be finished.


This book is great for preschoolers and younger school age children.  With that said, some of the older kids on my caseload love it as well.  Okay, let me honest here.  I LOVE it and love doing it alongside my kids at work.  I find that coloring can help my children slow down and become more focused and attentive to other tabletop activities.  For many of my children who struggle with handwriting, I will start off with a coloring activity as a warm up.  It's great to do something fun and something they can be successful with prior to something that is more challenging.

The Colouring Book by Herve Tullet

My friends at Norman & Jules have a great selection of books and when they stock a coloring book, I rush up to pick it up.  They don't mess around with their toys and the same can be said about their coloring book choices.  They tend to have coloring books that you don't see at a lot of other toy stores.  I love how they think outside of the box when they pick something out for their customers.

This is a great coloring book for the older children on my caseload.  Like the book mentioned above, it's more than just a coloring book.  Many of the pages have special instructions for you to follow.  For example, there is a page with a bunch of numbers on it and it asks you to color in only the even or odd numbers (which is why this is more appropriate for older children).  There are pages that ask you to follow particular patterns or others that ask you to look for a certain shape/picture and color them all in the same color.  

All of the activity books by Herve Tullet are great.  I especially like to use them for my kids who have more difficulty with being creative or have a hard time thinking outside of the box.  His books are funky and sophisticated and make my kids really think about what they want to do and how they want their picture to look.  I like to look through the books before working with a child and figuring out what page(s) would be best for each child based on the goals I have with them.  The variety in pictures and activities makes it great for finding something that will motivate a child you are working with and allow them to be successful.  To me, it is most important to push my kids to do things outside of their comfort zone but also make sure that they will be successful so their self-esteem and confidence is not compromised.

In general, all coloring books are a great tool for occupational therapy and meeting fine-motor and visual motor/perceptual goals.  The books mentioned above are just 2 of the many that are out there. They can work on so much including:

Improve Grasping Skills-many of the kids on my caseload need to work on improving their grasping skills when holding a writing instrument.  Sometimes they need to be really motivated to work on this.  I find when I get the right coloring or activity books, the kids I work with are more likely to want to spend time working on something that is challenging for them.  I like to make sure that I have plenty of options available when it comes to writing instruments.  I like to use broken crayons that are only a few inches to try and encourage the kids to use a tripod-like grasp.  Sometimes I will use rock crayons; they are the perfect size for our little ones who are using more immature grasping patterns on writing instruments.
For my daughter's fourth birthday party (with a unicorn theme), I discovered this great Etsy shop.  Scribblers Crayons is the brain child of Randi, a mom who makes a bunch of fantastic shaped crayons. If you are looking for ways to motivate your child to color, take a look at her page and see if there any of her designs would make your child more excited about coloring.  I like the star and the heart shaped ones the best!
Improve Visual Motor Skills-coloring/activity books are obviously great for working on visual skills.  Whether it be improving eye-hand coordination when coloring in the lines or using visual scanning to find the hidden things on the page, these books can be a fun way to work on a skill that may cause a child frustration.
Improve Modulation/Regulation-coloring is a great activity to do when you want to work on modulation/regulation.  Many of my kids will scribble furiously only have paying attention to the boundaries of what they are coloring.  I like to challenge my kids to try and slowly color and remain in the lines as much as possible. This sounds easy, but for many of the kids I work with, it takes a lot to slow down and do this with accuracy.
Improve Executive Functioning/Organizational Skills-some of the pages in both books are tricky and require a child to be organized in their work.  It may require them to read through all the instructions before doing their work.  For my older children who might be working on improving homework organization, I will have them read through all the instructions and gather all the supplies that they need before beginning.  This can be critical for some children to be independent and successful with the task at hand.  
Improve Focus/Attentional Skills-I love a coloring book that doubles as an activity book.  For many of the kids I work with, it's a struggle to get them to just color and they do better when there are things to do.  I like being able to tell the kids that they have to do a certain number of things before they can switch tasks.  This keeps them focused and helps them to understand what is expected of them.

I know that there are hundreds of great coloring and activity books out there.  I haven't blogged about these kind of books in a while but if you check out this blog post here, you will see that these books are still amazing.  As a matter of fact, I still use and recommend them to my clients. Honestly, once a good activity book, always a good activity book (this is mostly relevant to books that are not created for a particular movie or character).  Do you have have any great books that you can share with me and my readers?  I am always on the lookout for good books to have both at home for my daughter and for work purposes.   Please share your favorites with all of us!  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all with your ideas!