Three Cheers for Lazoo!

When I first began this blog, I wrote about my favorite coloring books.  Included in that were a series of  activity books by Lazoo.  They were a staple in my therapy closet then and still are now.  So how excited was I when I discovered they now had a series of apps for the iPad?  So far there are 4 of them and 3 of them are free which is always a bonus.

I just downloaded these but already am in love with them.  More importantly, my 3 1/2 year old daughter loves them.  They all keep her attention and engaged (which isn't so easy since she is a kid that likes to be on the go ALL THE TIME).  I can't wait to test them out with my kids at work next week.

I'm going to attempt to briefly review each of them here.

Lazoo Zoo

It's snack time at the zoo and all these animals are hungry and wanting to be fed!  There are 11 different animals to feed and fun things happen to them depending on what you feed them.  For example, the giraffes spots will change depending on what you feed him or the ape whose hairstyle changes when you have fed him too much.  For my speech therapist friends, there are lots of opportunities here to work on expanding language with kids and work on story telling.


Magic Stickers

I have the activity book of this and LOVE it!  I love the book version of this because you can work on fine motor skills and creative skills at the same time.  Makes kids think outside of the box and can really encourage a lot of language from them at the same time.  For me the problem always has been that once you complete the page, that's it.  So the fact that there is an app for this makes me so happy.  There are 8 different backgrounds that you can decorate with over 50 stickers to choose from.  There are suggested stickers for each background but you can use whichever one you want to.  You can decorate a piece of broccoli or a loaf of bread any way you want and then you can make it come to life.  Bonus feature to this app....you can create your own stickers!

Let's Color
What's better than have a coloring book where the pages come to life?  I can't think of anything much better!  The app comes with 18 different pages and there are additional ones you can purchase.  
For many of the younger kids I work with, they struggle with figuring out where to start a picture.  Sometimes I will give them ideas based on their interests but this can still be difficult for them.  I like that the picture gives you a starting point to jump off from.  And there are no wrongs here which is always important.  For example, there is a picture of a little boy playing a trumpet and the app reads "What COULD come out of a trumpet?".  The child can choose from different colors and "writing instruments" and go crazy.  For some of my more unorganized kids, I may have them talk me through what they are thinking about drawing, how they will draw it, etc. in order to get them more organized and focused on their drawing.  Once the child is happy with their picture, they press go and their picture comes to life.  One of the things I like about this app is that once the picture is done, you have the option of saving it and emailing it to the child's parents.  Great way for a parent to know what they were doing in therapy but also a great way for children who may have language issues to talk about their picture and tell a story.


Squiggles
This activity book by Lazoo is still one of my favorites.  The concept is so simple but can foster such creative thinking, especially in many of the kids I work with who struggle with that important piece of being a kid.  There are 8 pictures with scenes that you need to complete by adding a squiggly line to bring them to life.  For example, there is a page with a bunny asking you to draw squiggly clouds so it can rain and water her flowers.  You can begin by tracing the clouds already shown and then the kids can make their own.  They can use whatever color they want and whichever tool they want (chalk, crayon or a ketchup bottle to name a few!).  There is a picture with a bunch of cars and you have to draw the exhaust coming out of the pipes.  Once you are satisfied with your picture, hit play and watch your picture come to life.  The squiggly rain clouds start raining and the flowers start to bloom.  The cars race back and forth on the screen.

I can't really choose my favorite app because each one offers something so unique and different from the others.  What I do know is that each one is motivating and encourages creativity and imagination skills.  For many of the kids I work with, this is something difficult to bring into our therapy sessions so it is always nice to find something that can do that in a motivating and fun way.  I also like each of the apps make a child think outside of the box.  They make them look at the pictures and see something different than what it is.  For example, they tell you to look at a head of broccoli and imagine as a tree and fill it up with birds, flowers, etc..  I am sure many of you can relate to this:  many of the kids I work with are creatures of habit, routine and can be too literal at times.  It is so difficult for them to have a different perspective about things and this is a fun way for them to begin to look at things a little differently.

These apps can also work on the following occupational therapy goals:

Improve Eye-Hand Coordination-fun way to work in improving eye-hand coordination for those little ones who struggle with this skill.  In the Lazoo Zoo app, there is a series of foods for a child to choose from and they have to pick that out and then drag it to the animal.  They need to make sure they are putting the food in the right place or else it won't do what it is supposed to.
Improve Visual Motor/Perceptual Skills-these apps are chock full of ways to work on improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills.  A child must visually scan the screen in order to pick out the stickers/writing tools/colors.  They must visually track when dragging the stickers over to the animals in the Zoo app.  They need to maintain their visual focus on the objects they are coloring in and you can require that they need to remain in the lines or they will have to try it again.  You can work on tracing skills by having them trace some of the images already on the screen.  I am sure there are many, many more that I am leaving out but I think you get the picture.
Improves Graphomotor Skills-each of the apps can focus on improving handwriting, drawing and other graphomotor skills.  You can require children to include certain shapes and lines in their pictures before they are allowed to do free drawing.  For your older kids, you can ask them to write some letters in the picture as well.

Improve Fine Motor Skills-I plan on having my kids do this at times with the iCreate crayon stylus to work on improving their fine motor and grasping skills at the same time.  For my younger kids, who avoid handwriting activities, I can get them to do so much of the same stuff on the iPad but with much less complaining.  The rule for them though is that if they don't use the stylus, they don't get to play the iPad.  For those kids who have difficulty with isolating fingers for fine motor work, the rule can be that they are only allowed to use their pointer finger to drag stickers over, draw lines or color in the pictures.  This sounds easy, but I can't even begin to count the number of times I have to remind kids to only use their pointer finger when using the iPad!
Improve Attention and Focus Skills-each of these apps require a different kind of attention and focus.  It may be important to set boundaries and guidelines with the child you are working with prior to them beginning.  For example, I can envision many of my kids just wanting to draw one line here or there and then making it come to life.  Or they may get bored with what they are doing and ask to move onto another page.  Sometimes what works best for me with any handwriting or drawing app is to say that they need to spend a specific number of time on their drawing before doing something different.  I also like to require that they use a certain number of colors and shapes (this clearly depends on the child's individual goals).  I like to see how long they can do things independently but if I see their attention starting to go, I will try and guide them in order to complete it entirely.  Not only is it important for a child to follow through on what they start, it is a real confidence and self-esteem booster.
Improve Bilateral Coordination-when my kids use the iPad, I make sure that I can always see two hands.  One hand has to be on the iPad doing the work and the other must be holding the iPad in order to keep it from moving around.  Way too often, I see the kids using the iPad zoning out with one hand just hanging down doing nothing.  These are often the kids who need to be reminded to keep both hands up on the desk when participating in handwriting or drawing activities.
Increase Upper Extremity Strength-I can't wait to test this out with my kids on the net swing!  So many of my kids complain after just seconds of lying prone on the net swing.  However, when I place the iPad in front of them, the complaining decreases significantly.  These apps are motivating enough that I believe it will keep the kid's attention and they won't even realize they are getting tired on the swing.
Improve Social Skills-while these apps are great to do 1:1, they can also be used in small groups.  I find that kids tend to take suggestions and ideas better from their peers at times.  Or that they are more willing to try something new and different if they see a friend doing it.  Other social skills that can be addressed are turn taking, improving frustration tolerance (a friend may want to put a different sticker on that broccoli tree and you need to let it happen) and flexibility (a child may have an idea of what the final picture should like but they have to be flexibly and allow their friends to add whatever they want to the picture).

I hope that you all enjoy these apps as much as I am already.  I can see them becoming a presence in so many of my therapy sessions.  I would love to hear what you think about these apps and how the kids you work with are liking them.  I am always a click away and love getting feedback and suggestions from you all.

Ready...Set...Draw

Sorry for the hiatus.  Getting into the swing of things this school year has proven to be a bit tricky.  Lots of new things going on work-wise for me that has me working around the clock at times.  Throw in Halloween and I feel like I have lost all control of my own life!

This time of the year can be dangerous for a toy hoarder like me.  SO many great things arriving each day at all my local toy stores in preparation for the holidays and I get sucked into the stores to see all the great things coming in.  The best part for me this year is that my own daughter is at an age (3 1/2) where she may really benefit from all this shopping.

One of my new favorite finds so far is the Ready, Set.... Draw! books by Peter Pauper Press.  Peter Pauper Press is a publisher of books, stationary and gifts for all ages.  They happen to have a tremendous line of kids products that include, but are not limited to, picture books, magnetic games, origami sets and a series of drawing books.  Ready, Set.... Draw! books are great, especially for those of you who have kids who are interested in drawing but struggle with it.  I know that I have several kids on my caseload this year who really want to draw pictures, but can't get started and then are disappointed with the final product because it doesn't look the way they wanted it to.  Ready, Set.... Draw! books are great because there 6 steps for each picture in order to complete them.  You have the option of tracing each step and then underneath the six steps, there is a scene that you can draw the picture step-by-step.  There a bunch of different themes, including princesses, dinosaurs, sea creatures and a Christmas themed book. Definitely something out there for every child and his or her interests.  

As on occupational therapist, I am constantly on the lookout for drawing books that are appropriate for the kids I work with.  So many of them look like they will work, but then when I spend some time looking through them, there may be too many steps so I don't purchase them.  My kids at work are more successful when the steps are clear and not too overwhelming.  Sometimes, the pictures that the children are supposed to be creating are just too small which makes it difficult for them to copy.  These books are a great size  and each step has a limited number of instructions which allows a

Occupational therapy goals that can be addressed using the Ready, Set.... Draw! books are:
Improve Grasping Skills-make sure that you provide the child with crayons, markers or colored pencils that will encourage an age-appropriate grasp. While the goal of this activity is clearly to follow the steps to draw a picture, it is always important to encourage a proper grasp.  For younger kids, break crayons into small pieces so they can't fist the writing instrument.  For older kids, use a grip on the writing instrument in order to get them to use a more appropriate grasp.  While the book comes with 4-double sided pencils, you can use whatever is best for the child you are working with.
Improve Visual Motor/Perceptual Skills-in order to make the completed picture, one must follow the steps provided.  They must look at the picture and copy what they see.  They need to look at the shapes and place them in the correct places; if not, the picture will not turn out to be what they are expecting it to.
Improve Organizational Skills-if you have a child who has difficulties with organizational skills, this is a great book for them.  Many books have step-by-step directions, which is great for improving a person's ability to organize themselves.  If a child isn't focused and keeping their attention on the task at hand, they can become disorganized and lose track of what step they are on and then they have to spend a lot of time fixing mistakes or getting themselves back on track.
Improve Attention and Focus-in order for the picture to come out the way it is intended to, you must focus and pay attention to the details.  You need to focus on the shapes that need to be drawn, where they need to be added to and their position in the drawing and on the piece of paper.  If you stop paying attention, you may end up making a mistake and having to erase some of your work or having to start from the beginning.
Improve Confidence/Self-Esteem-one of the things I focus on more than anything during my sessions with all of my kids is improving their confidence and self-esteem.  It's important for a child to have a good sense of themselves and the work that they do.  I find that when a child is able to draw a picture and tell a story through their pictures, they feel much better about themselves.  I also find that they work harder on other graphomotor skills, such as coloring and handwriting activities.  Additionally, a while a child is working on building their confidence and self-esteem, they can work on improving their creative skills.
Improve Social Skills-since I run social skills groups, I am always looking for the social benefits of games and activities.  While this would be hard to use in a larger social skills group, if you work in a group of 2-3 kids, you could definitely use this book to improve turn taking skills, improve frustration tolerance and working on encouraging and helping out a peer.  If given the right support from the adults, this could be a great way to work on being a good friend/helper to a peer.

The Ready, Set.... Draw! books are not only great for therapeutic purposes, but also for the parents who want to give their children more opportunities to be creative and tech-free.  I have featured drawing apps on this blogs and used many drawing iPad apps in my private practice, but nothing is as important as teaching your children how to draw using paper and crayons.  I will be the first to talk about all the benefits of the iPad and other technological devices, but nothing will ever take the place of something created by the hands of those little people we love.  My apartment is covered with the pictures Quinn has drawn for us and each of them has their own story.  They tell us something about her at that time of her life.  For those kids who struggle with drawing and being creative, the Ready, Set.... Draw! books help them become more confident and help them to organize their work in a way that may encourage them to take creative/artistic risks in the future.

I was able to find the Ready, Set.... Draw! at a local toy store in Park Slope called Little Things.  Before going online and searching Amazon and other big stores, check out your local toy and book stores to see if they carry these items.  While it is important to support the small businesses in your hood all year long, I find that doing it this time of the year is even more important.

I hope to be better in the next few weeks about blogging and sharing holiday gift ideas.  I am beginning to work on my annual gift list which has to be done early this year since Hanukkah starts on Thanksgiving this year!   I am always excited to hear from my readers so if you have any questions about gift suggestions or ideas of what I should include on this year's list, please email me and let me know what you are thinking.  I'm always a click away and eager to hear from you all!

Un-bee-lievably Fun Word Game!

Since most of the kids I work with are between the ages of 3 and 6, I tend to blog about items appropriate for that age group.  I do have a handful of older children on my caseload and most of them come to me to focus on handwriting and fine motor skills.  So it is important to me to find fun games or activities that will motivate these older kids to work on this challenging activity.  I want to make sure that our time together is fun but also spent working towards achieving goals that will help them be more successful in both school and at home for academics.

A  few weeks ago I spotted Speedeebee! by Blue Orange.  Ever since discovering and blogging about Spot It by the same company, I have been drawn to their products.  Besides being super portable (which is great for those of us who do home care or work between a couple of offices), it is a fun game that can work on a variety of occupational therapy goals.  I also love that many of their games can be adapted to allow for success for whatever child I am working with.  I also like the fact that the game can be different every single time you play it.

Speedeebee! consists of 50 cards containing 150 challenges and 4 alphabet dice.  On each of the cards there are three challenges to choose from.  Some examples of the many challenges are:
**Name something you love to do, starting with one of these letters (throw all four dice)
**Name something you love to eat, containing one of these letters (throw all four dice)
**Find a word containing two of these letters (throw the red and green dice)
I think the questions are great and make kids think, but aren't all so challenging that they won't be successful.  And I think it is nice that they have a choice of 3 so they can find a question that they are comfortable with.  There is a lot about the game that sets the kids up to not only have a good time but to be successful.  The fact that a child gets to pick out a question means less stress for them during game play and unfortunately, playing games can be something that produces a lot of stress in the kids I work with.

There are two different ways to play the game (although with my kids I don't always play by their rules)
Challenge Mode:   Place 20 cards in the middle of the playing area face down.  The remaining 30 cards are not used for the rest of the game and are returned to the storage tin.  The first player holds all 4 dice  (great for fine motor skills and improving in-hand manipulation skills), picks the top card from the deck and picks one of the 3 challenges on the card and reads it out loud to the group.  Once all players understand the challenge, the person who selected the challenge will roll the dice and as quickly as possible, all players attempt to complete the challenge using the letters rolled.  Whoever answers first takes the card and a new turn is started.   This continues until there are no cards left in the draw pile and at the end, the person who gets the most cards is the winner.
Freestyle Mode:  Set up the game the same way you would if playing with the Challenge cards, but rather than reading the challenges on the cards, the players are required to make up their own.  The first person to complete the challenge/answer the questions correctly gets the card.  The person who has the most number of cards at the end is the winner.

Here are a few occupational therapy goals that can be addressed when playing Speedeebee!:
Improve Handwriting Skills-while the game is meant to be a language game, I have adapted it to be able to work on improving graphomotor skills.  Instead of having the kids shout out their answers, I have them write their answers down on paper.  Whether they are working on print or cursive, I find this to be a motivating way to work on a skill that is typically challenging for them.  I actually did this with a 9 year old girl I work with who needs to work on handwriting and endurance; she was totally engaged for much longer than she would have been if I had just had her practice words or other random sentences.  She actually asked to play longer when I said it was time to put the game away!  I encourage the children to write whole sentences and use proper grammar.  Depending on their handwriting goals, you can work on grasping skills, building up writing endurance,
Improve Social Skills-as I have already mentioned, this is actually a game that is meant to be played in a group.  If you are looking for a good game for a social skills group or to have at your disposal for family game options, this is a great game.  If you a group of younger and older kids, you can pair them together (since this is more appropriate for kids who are 7 years of age or older) and have them work as a team.  This could also work on improving frustration tolerance for those older kids who get annoyed with the younger ones.  I know that the point of the game is to be the fastest to answer the questions, but in my adaptation of the game I encourage the kids to take turns and allow all friends to be able to have an opportunity to answer the questions as well.  I find that in my social skills groups, there tends to be one or two kids who dominates play which discourages other children from taking risks.
Improve Executive Functioning/Organizational Skills-many of my older kids are also coming to me to work on improving their executive functioning skills.  The most common aspect of executive functioning I work on is improving organization skills for improved performance in school or at home with homework.  For my older kids who are fluent readers, the first thing I make them do is read the directions to themselves.  Once they have read them, I ask them to repeat the directions back to me...I will interrupt them if they forget something or mess them up.  I also make them set the game up and if they do something incorrectly, they have to read the directions again and fix their error.

I love games that can be adapted to be appropriate for a variety of children and their varying needs.  Speedeebee! is one of those and while I intend on adapting it when necessary, it is also a great game the way it was created.  I have a feeling that my speech therapy friends will love this game and am definitely interested in hearing their thoughts and opinions.  One thing I would like to figure out is a way to make this game work for my preschool population, particularly the social skills groups I run with my colleagues.   Any thoughts or suggestions from you my readers on how to do that?  I love hearing from you and am always a click away.

Pinch It To Believe How Great It Is

When I think about how much has changed since I became an occupational therapist over ten years ago, I think about the iPad and how this piece of electronics has added to my practice.  While I know there are many of you therapists out there who don't use iPads or technology in their work, I know there are just as many of you who do.  I make a concerted effort to not rely on it too much and be sure to use it minimally and only for certain kids.  My goal is to use it as a reward or to work on skills that may be more challenging and need more motivation to spend the necessary time on it to make a difference in his/her skills.

Every once in a while I stumble on an app and get so excited.  I belong to this awesome group on Facebook for pediatric occupational therapists and it's been such a great resource.  I've used it to find clients who are moving and need to find therapists in their new town or to helpf find specialty therapists for clients I currently work with.  The best thing though is that we are able to bounce ideas and suggestions off of each other and because of it I have discovered some great toys, activities and apps from these other great therapists.  One of the things I have recently discovered is the app Pinch Peeps by Everplay Interactive.  While the game is simple (in theory), there are so many occupational goals that can be addressed during play.

The point of the game is to pinch two similar creatures together before they explode.  It sounds easy, but it is a fast moving game and it moves faster and faster so focus and attention is crucial.  Before the iPad, I had a hard time working on this skill without it being boring for the kids.  How long could you ask a kid to pick up small beads from a table or to pull little pegs out of a pretend birthday cake made out of putty or playdough?  For me, it wasn't long before the kids got bored and wanted to move on or would just avoid this activity entirely.  A few months ago, I blogged about Dexteria Jr..  This app was a huge hit with my kids from the beginning and continues to motivate them to work on their fine motor skills.  I am sure there a bunch of apps out there I don't know about (if you know of them, please tell me!!) and Pinch Peeps seems to be one of those I will be relying on all year long and telling parents about.  I try and use this game right before a handwriting activity as I find that once you warm up those hand muscles through games like Pinch Peeps, the hand is warmed up to hold a writing instrument.

A child must find the matching peeps and pinch them together.
Starts off easy and gets increasingly more challenging

Here are just a few of the occupational therapy goals that can be addressed using the Pinch Peeps app:
Improve Pinching Skills-clearly, if you want a game to work on improving and encouraging pinching (a crucial prerequisite skill for graphomotor skills), this is your game.  The whole purpose of the game is to work on pinching skills by finding the matching peeps and pinching them together. As you get better and better, there will be challenges such as pushing the bombs away from each other with your fingers instead of pinching them together.
Improve Eye Hand Coordination/Improve Visual Perceptual Skills-in addition to pinching, you have to be sure that you find the matching "peeps" so it makes this app perfect for targeting visual perceptual and matching skills.  At first, there is only one pair to match but as you go on, you get more creatures to match at a time.  Eventually, there are challenges (avoiding bombs, obstacles and such) which require you to really focus on the visual cues on the screen.  And this is great for working on eye-hand coordination skills because you have to scan the screen to find the matches and then use your hands in order to pinch the matches together.

In addition to the regular part of the game, there are
challenges such as these throughout

Improve Focus and Attention Skills-one of the great things about Pinch Peeps is that it moves quickly which requires a child to really focus and pay attention to what is happening on the screen.  If they aren't paying careful attention, they will match the wrong peeps and they will lose a life.  If they don't pay attention to the obstacles that are placed on the screen (bombs need to be pinched away from each other or a bar will show up in the middle of the screen and you have to pinch the bombs together by avoiding touching the line)

Improve Upper Extremity Strength-I love killing two birds with one stone.  Whenever it is appropriate, I will put my kids in the super hero (aka net swing) to play with the iPad.  Sometimes my kids tolerance for lying in the prone position is minimal and it requires a tremendous amount of encouragement from me for them to stay in the swing for even a minute.  Give them something interesting and motivating, and I can get them to stay on that swing for ages.  They don't even realize they are tired or how hard they are working because they are so focused on the game.  Pinch Peeps is a perfect game to distract kids from doing other things.

While you have to pinch the peeps together, you need to
pay attention to the bombs and pinch them apart
before they explode

Executive Functioning/Organizational Skills-for the older kids on my caseload, organization skills is something that I try and hide into our work.  I feel like when I am all on top of them and forcing them to do it, it becomes more of an argument or stress inducing thing.  With this game, I have my kids watch me play the game for a little while and tell them to pay close attention to what I am doing because I will have them tell me the purpose of the game and the instructions based on what I am doing.  This helps them organize themselves before they begin the game; helps them regulate their actions and prepares them for success with the game.  It's also a great way to see how well a child can understand visual cues/directions (this game doesn't give verbal directions, instead there is a little video (that I mute) to watch that gives you all the directions.  Depending on the child, I will have them repeat part or all of what they saw back to me.

I am loving this game and love that it is sold (and by sold, I mean it is free!  You just have to deal with this annoying thing before you start the game of a popup ad.  Be sure to "x" out of the ad and avoid a trip to the app store before each game begins.) as a game for everyone, not kids with special needs.  I'm not gonna lie...I have found myself playing this between clients and have fun with it.  I am pretty sure if I were to put this on my niece's iPods, they would love it too and they are typically developing 5 and 8 year olds).  There is enough of a challenge that it can be played by everyone.  I love the added dimension of matching the peeps so a child can work on more than one skill at a time.

If any of you are looking for a new (and cheap) game to add to your iPad repertoire, Pinch Peeps is a perfect one.  It offers the just right challenge that I am sure you are all looking for when working with your kids but allows the kids to have a good time at the same time.  No matter how great an app is, if the kids don't have fun while playing it, then it just won't have the lasting power if there isn't an element of fun to it.

I would love hear from you guys and your thoughts on this game.  Does anyone have any other games similar to this that might encourage pinching and other fine motor skills like Pinch Peeps and Dexteria Jr.?  I am just a click away and looking forward to hearing from you with other fine motor app suggestions.

Just Scratching the Surface

In general, I have been a big fan of scratch art for as long as I can remember.  I have memories of making my own scratch paper as a child in art class using crayons and a special kind of black paint.  It was magical scratching away the black paint and see what was underneath.  So when I discovered Scratch Art I was psyched.  Over the years, the products have evolved from drawing pages to stickers, fashion books, and key chains (to name a a few).  It makes me happy that Melissa and Doug continue to develop great products that I am happy to suggest to my families.

I have always had some form of Scratch Art in my closet at work but didn't use it as much as I had wanted because it tended to be too challenging for many of my kids, especially the ones that required a lot of imagination and creativity.  Recently, when looking through the Scratch Magic Art products at a local toy store, I discovered the Safari Animals Mosaic book.  I immediately purchased it and began using it with my kids, both younger and older.  I was happy to see that kids of all ages and abilities were successful in the activity and motivated to keep working on it until they completed it.

What sets this book apart from their others is that many of them will give a template but then you have to use your imagination to fill them in.  For example, the fashion design one will provide you with the outline of a dress or a shirt and then you have to figure out how to design it.  While this can be fun for a child where creativity comes naturally and easily, it can be stressful for children who lack that skill and they may lose the motivation to complete the activity.  The Safari Animals Mosaic book provides you with clear instructions to scratch all shapes that have a dot on them.  For so many of the kids I work with, something as simple as that helps them as it is clear what is expected of them.  They don't need to worry that what they are doing is right or wrong (even though when my kids do the other types of scratch art I am constantly telling them there is no such thing as right or wrong when it comes to imagination) and just focus on scratching out the correct shapes.

Here are a few more occupational therapy goals that can be addressed when using the Safari Animals Mosaic book:

Look at this amazing tripod grasp being used
by my little friend.  

Improve Grasping Skills-I am not sure if you guys have similar experiences, but I find that my kids tire of handwriting activities to improve their pencil grasp skills.  Or maybe you have kids who are able to write their letters and all that fantastic stuff but they need to work on endurance and using the proper amount of pressure on a writing instrument.  If that is the case, this is a perfect activity for that child.  I work with a 7 year old girl who knows how to make her letters and is able to write beautifully but slowly because she uses too much pressure on the writing instrument.  She was getting bored with the handwriting activities we were doing during our sessions.  I introduced the Scratch Art Mosaic Color Reveal Book to her a few weeks ago and she flipped!  I was able to motivate her to use a proper grasp when holding the wooden stylus and she was able to realize on her own that when she scratched too hard, her hands would tire and she wouldn't get as much done.  Without much prompting from me, I could see her begin to use the proper amount of pressure and was able to complete the whole picture in one session (she was very motivated to be able to keep it and show her mom who was coming home later).
**I find that the wooden stylus can be too thin for some of my kids and am trying to figure out a way to improvise....any thoughts??**
Improve Visual Motor Skills-if you have a child who needs to work on their visual motor skills, this is a great activity.  This requires a child to visually scan their work for where they have to scratch.  It requires them to remain in the boundaries of each shape.
Improve Modulation/Regulation-the fact that their are lines and boundaries requires the children to control how fast and where they are coloring.  Often times, the kids are observed to scratch all over the place as fast as they can.  For this activity, I do not allow that.  I want them to learn how to slow down and focus on the details.  It is important that they learn how to color one thing in at a time and to complete it before moving onto the next area.  If they can do it with this activity, then they should be able to generalize that skill to coloring books or other coloring activities.
Improve Focus and Attention-What I love about this particular Scratch Magic product is that it requires you to focus on what you are coloring.  For my older kids, I am definitely harder on them about scratching away the whole surface and trying their  hardest to remain in the lines.  I may tell them they can't move onto the next shape until there is almost no black left on the one they are working on.  I want them to really focus on completing something instead of rushing through the activity.   For my younger kids, I may encourage it but not as much as the older kids.  A sign of attention and focus improving is how long they will stick with the activity before asking to stop.  For many of my kids, this ends up being a multi-session project.  I like to keep track of how many shapes they fill out from session to session and share with the kids how they are able to color more in each time.

There are just a few of the many goals that can be addressed using Scratch Art Safari Mosaic and other Scratch Magic products.  Do you have other goals that you have worked on that you want to share with us?

I'm not sure about all of you, but when I start the school year, I like to have new items for my kids.  I find that my returning kids definitely have their favorites and will ask for certain activities, but love the idea of finding out what is new in my closet or work bag.  The Scratch Art Safari Mosaic is a perfect addition to your toy chest if you are looking for something new and motivating for your kids.  It's also a great book to recommend to families who want to follow through on what you are working on during therapy without the kids feeling like they are never getting a break.  A child can be doing this at home with mom and dad or with his/her siblings and working on developing a proper grasp, building grasp strength and working on improving his/her endurance for graphomotor activities.

Have any of you found any other products like this that would be good for me to look into?  There are so many great Scratch Art sets out there and I am sure that I'm missing something great that could be used with my kids.  I love hearing from you guys and am always a click away.

Remember to check out local toy stores to see if they carry Scratch Art Safari Mosaic and other Scratch Magic products.  I know in my neighborhood, I can find tons of different books and sets.  Small businesses count on our business and I always feel better when I purchase from them.

What's in Your (OT) Closet??

I may be in a bit of denial about summer ending and school beginning in the next couple of weeks.  I love the quietness of the summer; the chance to regroup and prepare for a kids returning for another year of therapy and welcoming new ones to my caseload.  I think I get as anxious as the kids those first few days!  So much paperwork and getting to know new kids, get used to my new schedule and all the worrying about not having a full caseload yet.  Too much for my mind to think about but I guess since it is only two weeks away from happening, I have to start thinking differently and getting excited about it!

A few weeks ago, I was happily forced to clean out my overly stuffed closet since the gym I work at was prepping for renovations.  This is something that I should do more often but avoid like the plague.  I found so many things that I hadn't used in ages because they were buried and others that hadn't been used because they weren't worthy using anymore.  As the new school year begins, I thought I would share my top 5 items in my closet that are consistently used and recommended to others.  I am hoping that I can get some ideas from all of you on your favorites and if there is anything I should be getting for this upcoming school year. I love to use the new school year as an excuse to introduce new things to not only the kids I work with, but to me.  I get bored of doing the same things over and over again and imagine that the kids feel exactly the same way.

Here is my list of things I couldn't live without in my closet along with the goals that are worked on using them.

1.  Theraputty-I think it's safe to assume that all us occupational therapists have at least one or two containers of theraputty in their closets.  I use it daily to work on increasing grasp and hand strength, improving bilateral skills and improve in-hand manipulation skills.  Most of the time, I hide little objects (Mancala animal pieces, Perfection shapes, money, etc.).  For the younger children, I use little pegs and have them place them into the putty and pretend to put candles on a birthday cake.  After they put them on, we working on grasping skills by having them pull them out (I encourage them to use their pinchers to remove them).  I have used the green medium-soft the most from Southpaw Enterprises.  While researching different types this year, I heard about Discovery Putty from Fun and Function.  I am about to place my order for the new school year!  Not only do I love the packaging (so easy to throw in a bag for you therapists who travel from place to place), I love that they already have lots of fun things hidden in the putty.  I have a feeling this could be much more motivating for some of my kids who really struggle with the green theraputty.

2.  Mechanical Pencils-I have experimented with a ton of mechanical pencils over the years but none compare to the Cadoozles Daisies or the Zebra #2 pencils by Zebra.  They are the perfect size for smaller hands and are the right width if you have a child who uses a pencil grip to work on proper grasp.  Mechanical pencils are great to work on improving the amount of pressure kids use when writing.  A lot of the kids I work with have a hard time modulating the pressure they use when holding writing instruments, often pressing too hard causing their hands to tire quickly.  If their hands tire quickly, they will have a harder time writing for longer periods of time which is inevitable as they move through the grades.  When using mechanical pencils, if you press too hard, the lead will break.  It takes a little time, but eventually kids figure out the right amount of pressure to use.  You can order these pencils online or check out local stationary stores.  I know that the toy and stationary store on 72nd Street (between Broadway and Columbus) carries them.  I have also seen them in the bigger stores like Staples and Target but my preference is to support small businesses first.

3.  Kumon Workbooks-as I am sure everyone has noticed lately, there are a million different kind of educational workbooks out there.  I walk into Barnes and Noble and am consistently overwhelmed by the number of choices I have.  In the end, I always end up going with the Kumon books.  I love the variety of subjects that they cover and find that my kids (including my own 3 1/2 year old daughter) are motivated by them.  I discovered them years ago when looking for good cutting workbooks and immediately fell in love with the books.  The pictures are fun and most importantly (for cutting especially), the quality of the paper was far superior than other books I have used in the past.  This is especially important for cutting because if a child already struggles with cutting and the paper is flimsy, they are going to continue to struggle.  Kumon continues to impress me by adding to their lineup of books.   However, I will always suggest the cutting, coloring and pasting/gluing books to parents.  A few years ago, I discovered their Play & Grow Workbooks which are great for older preschool/younger school age kids because they can work on their cutting and coloring skills while making a story.  I found these two books to be really motivating for some of the kids who really struggle with these skills.  As you can see in the image above, there are so many books to choose from.  The other nice thing is that they have books that are totally appropriate for younger kids and once they complete those, they have more challenging books to move up to.  While you can find these books at larger book stores, check out local book or stationary stores as I have found that they tend to carry them as well.  Again, Toy and Stationary World on 72nd Street has a large variety of these workbooks.

4.  Fiskar Scissors-I have tried dozens of scissors in my career, but Fiskars are definitely the best.  They are comfortable for the kids and I rarely hear a child complain that they are uncomfortable.  They can be used for lefties or righties (although they do have dedicated left-handed scissors available) and they come in a blunt or pointed tip.  I find that the pair shown in the image to the left can be used with my pre-schoolers and school age children.  If you happen to have a child with larger hands or work with older school age children, Fiskars does have larger children scissors.  You can easily find Fiskars at drug stores, school supply stores and larger stores like Target and Staples.

5.  Perfection (the game)-out of all of my games, I think Perfection is the one I use the most.  There are so many occupational therapy goals that can be worked on with it and the kids never seem to tire of it.  The most obvious of goals is to improve visual perceptual skills such as matching and visual attention.  I like to put my kids on the net swing and have them lie on their bellies so they can work on increasing upper extremity and neck strength at the same time.  As I mentioned earlier, I also will take the pieces and hide them in theraputty so they can work on increasing grasp strength at the same time.  If you have a child who needs to work on grasping skills, Perfection is a great game to use as the pegs sticking out from the top is ideal for using a pincer grasp.  The funny thing about this game is that I rarely use it the way it is intended to (placing all 25 shapes in the right spot in 60 seconds or less).  Every once in a while I will have an older kid who wants to beat the clock, but for the most part I adapt it to work on other goals so the timer part of the game hardly gets used!  Check out your local toy stores if you are looking for this game.  It's still a popular game and is pretty easily found.


So, here are my top five items in my closet.  I am excited to hear from all of you with your ideas and suggestions.  I would love to start the new school year off with some new and exciting toys, games, supplies that will help to motivate my kids and make them excited about coming to therapy.  Please don't hesitate contacting me if you have questions or want to share your ideas with me.  I am just a click away and love hearing from you all.

And here's wishing you all a happy new school year!

Rainbow Brights!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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