All You Need Is Love

As a child, Valentine's Day was just like any other day.  As a family, we didn't do much to celebrate the day.  We would make homemade cards to give all our classmates, but my sisters and I weren't one of the girls that got called down to the office to have flowers delivered to us from our dad.  Now that I work with children (and have one of my own), I try and do some fun things related to the holiday with the kids I work with during our sessions.  

Looking for some cute activities to be used both at home and during your sessions?  Here are a handful of ideas for your little loves.

1.  Sweethearts Sorting-using a pair of Zoo Stick chopsticks, empty a box of candy Sweethearts and have a child sort them by color.  This works on improving grasp strength, visual motor and visual perceptual skills.  Depending on a child's skill level, you may limit the number of colors to increase the chances of success.  For those children who are able to read, you can have them sort by the phrases written on each heart.  

2.  Valentine's Day Yarn Hearts-I don't know about you, but I don't ever know what to do with those wire hangers I get from the dry cleaners.  Here is a simple idea that will make a perfect gift for a loved one.  You will need yarn (of any color) and a wire hanger.  Take the wire hanger and bend it into a heart.  Begin wrapping the yarn around the heart.  You may need to wrap around a couple of times in each place in order for the yarn to stay in place.  This is great for working on visual motor and bilateral coordination skills.  

3.  I Love You To Pieces Heart-I made this card with my daughter a couple of years ago and it was simple, fun and made those she loved feel very happy.  This is a great activity because it can be graded depending on a child's skill level.  For a young preschooler, give them strips of colored paper and have them tear them into small pieces.  For older preschoolers and school age children, draw lines on colored paper, and have them cut out the strips and then tear the strips into pieces.  Once they have all their small pieces, they can glue them onto a heart.  This project is great for working on a variety of occupational therapy goals, including bilateral coordination (tearing paper) and improving cutting skills.

4.  Cereal Hearts-using Cheerios (if you want to be more healthy) or Fruit Loops and a pipe cleaner, you can make a cute heart for someone you love.  A fun way to work improving grasping, beading and bilateral coordination skills.  Depending on the skill level of your child and what cereal you use, you can change what you want from each child.  If you have a younger child who is working on improving fine motor skills, you can keep it simple; put all the cereal in a bowl and have them place them on a pipecleaner.  If you are working with an older child, use a set of Zoo Sticks and have them take out a certain number of cereal.  Want to throw in an extra challenge, using Fruit Loops you can have a child follow a pattern as they place them on the pipe cleaner.

5.  Paint Chip Bookmarks-I have seen so many great projects with those paint chip samples that you find in the paint section of hardware stores.  I have used them to practice cutting and color recognition in the past.  If you grab a bunch of the pink samples (which I plan on doing tomorrow), you can make some really cute bookmarks.  In addition to the paint chips, you will need a heart hole puncher and some pink ribbon.  Have the children punch a single heart on each color/rectangle and one in the middle of the top rectangle.  Help them string the ribbon through the top hole.  Great for working on increasing grasp strength, bilateral coordination skills and color recognition (you can do this with any color paint chip sample).

Here are just a handful of ideas that will not only end up being cute, they are easy and require very little supplies or setup.  While I have tried some of these, I look forward to testing out the new ideas with my kids at work and with my daughter at home.  Who out there has some great Valentine's Day craft ideas that they have had great success with that they can share with me and my readers?  Would love to have a bunch of ideas to choose from in the next few days.  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all.  Share the love with us please!

May you all have a love-filled Valentine's Day with those you love!

  

The Doctor's In The House

For those of you who follow my blog, you will know that finding a new app to use at work brings me a tremendous amount of joy.  I have begun using my iPad more and more at work because I find it to be a truly motivating thing for the kids I work with.  I can get them to do things and work on skills that they might otherwise resist if it wasn't coming to them in the digital way.  A while back, I blogged about Pepi Tree by Pepi Play.   Pepi Play is a Lithuanian based company that develops apps for children.  I have all three and they are each amazing and unique and kids have a great time playing with them.  This company's philosophy is simple: they believe a good app should teach a child something but it doesn't necessarily have to be educational in form.  Having fun is the most important thing to them and they are doing a great job accomplishing this will all three of their apps.

Recently, I discovered Pepi Doctor.  Like their other apps, it is highly engaging and keeps my kids at work entertained for long periods of time.  Actually, this app has been been great for my almost 4 years old daughter who has recently started to be a little more fearful of going to the doctor.  Pepi Doctor is a medicine-themed role play app where children get to take on the role of doctor.  There job is to help cure patients Amber, Eva and Milo of a variety of diseases and ailments.  Some of their doctor responsibilities include helping cure them of a cold, fix an aching tooth or put back together some broken bones.  Within in each patient, there are 5 sub-games so kids are kept busy for a long time.  Take a look at this video to get an idea of what you are getting.   Pepi Doctor is perfect for preschoolers but I think that young school age children will also enjoy and benefit from it.  

My daughter is loving this game and I am really enjoying playing it with her and the kids I see at work. For Quinn, it has been a good way to talk about being a doctor and begin to decrease her fears associated with going to the doctor.  For my kids at work, I think my favorite aspect of the game is how many visual motor and visual perceptual skills can be addressed.  I find that my kids tire easily of puzzles and need variety when working on visual skills.  There are so many visual motor/perceptual activities and the kids are having fun while doing them.  For example, a child can work on visual tracking when pulling the thorns out of their patients hand and throwing it into the garbage can.  They can work on visual perceptual skills by fixing their patients broken bones by putting them together properly (mini puzzles). These are just a couple of many, many examples.  

In addition to what I have already mentioned above,  Pepi Doctor can also address the following occupational therapy goals:
Improve Fine Motor Skills-when my kids are playing this, I force them to use their pointer finger in order to work on improving hand strength and finger isolation.  This sounds so simple, but so many of the children I work with who have a poor grasp (both for picking up small objects and on writing instruments) have great difficulty with this.  There are many opportunities to work on this with this game like when you have to pull the thorns out of their hand and when placing bandaids on them.  
Improve Grasping Skills-as I mention often when talking about apps, I try and encourage my kids to use a stylus when they can.  Sometimes the kids I work with are resistant to work on proper grasping skills but using the iPad and finding different ways to work on this skill helps.  Here is a link to the stylus I recommend for the kids I work with.  The crayon is the perfect size for their little hands.  
Improve Upper Extremity Strength-I like to have my kids use the Ipad while lying on their belly either in the net swing, in a barrel or while lying over a bolster.  I can typically get them to spend more time in this challenging position for much longer if they are engaged in something as highly motivating as  Pepi Doctor.  Not only does this work on increasing upper extremity strength, it will work on increasing neck strength/control.  
Improve Attentional Skills-for my younger kids, I work on increasing their attention to tasks by getting them to focus on particular activities within the game.  For example, while they are trying to help their patients get rid of a tooth ache, they need to brush/clean their teeth.  Instead of brushing the whole mouth at once, I have them do one tooth at a time; they are not allowed to move onto the next tooth until the other is completely clean.  This can be hard and for my children who have modulation and regulation difficulties, they need a lot of reminders from me to stick to one tooth at a time.  
Improve Social Skills-this is a great game to play in small groups or dyads.  They have to work on taking turns and being flexible with friends choices.  For example, when choosing which patient to treat, someone may not get their first choice and they will have to be flexible and play the game in spite of that.  It's also a great game to help expand social conversation between children since going to the doctor is something that all children do.  

I hope that you and your kids have as much fun with Pepi Doctor as I am both at home and at work.  Do any of you have any other great new apps you want to share with us?  I know that I am always looking for new ones that will not only work on occupational therapy goals, but keep kids engaged and excited to learn.  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all.  

Let's Wok and Roll!

I am sure we all have games or toys in our collection that have been there forever.  They are the ones that you aren't sure about when you buy them and then you get them and you wonder what you did before.  Wok n Roll is one of those games for me.  I bought it on a whim years ago and have used it on a weekly basis ever since then.  Not only is it a favorite of mine, it is a favorite of my kids.

A child holding onto the chopsticks with 3 fingers

Wok n Roll is a great game for many reasons.  Not only is it a fun game for the kids to play, it works on a ton of occupational therapy goals at the same time.  It can be played in a group as large as four children or individually.  My favorite thing about the game is that it can be easily adapted to a child's skill level so it can be used with children as young as 2 years old and all the way up to school age children.  Wok n Roll is a battery operated game that shakes and moves around.  The goal of the game is to get all your food into the matching bowl as quickly as possible.  Over the years, I have adapted the game and the expectations for the children depending on what we are working on in therapy.  For my younger children or those that have to work on building their grasping skills and fine motor strength, I won't turn the game on to have it shake and just focus on holding the chopsticks correctly and getting the food into the bowls.  When kids are first playing, they need to be reminded to open and close the chopsticks; I have learned the hard way what happens when a child squeezes the chopsticks too hard-flying plastic food can be very difficult to find!  As the kids get older, I will add the challenge of turning the wok on so it moves around while they are sorting the food into the bowls.  One doesn't realize how difficult this is to do until they actually try it.  This is a perfect game to work on helping a child who has a decreased frustration tolerance because that shaking causes the food to fall out of the chopsticks.  I also love using this game to work on increasing attention span and focus.  Once the game is turned on, I encourage a child to find a piece of food to pick up and not give up.  It may require them tracking where that food moves around to in the bowl and not giving up until you have successfully picked it up.

In addition to what was already mentioned above, Wok n Roll can work on the following occupational therapy goals:
Improve Grasping Skills-the chopsticks are great for working on increasing grasp strength, fine motor control and grasping skills.  For children who have an immature grasp when holding writing instruments, it's important to find fun ways to work on encouraging a proper grasp in a variety of ways.  When using chopsticks, be sure to have your child use 3 fingers (the same number a child should use when holding crayons, pencils, etc.).

Improve Bilateral Coordination Skills/Crossing Midline-when a child is using this on their own, I encourage them to hold the chopsticks in one hand and hold the shaking wok still with the other.  This encourages them to use both hands in a coordinated manner which is important for other graphomotor and fine motor skills.  To encourage crossing midline, I purposely but the bowls on the opposite side of their body so they are forced to cross midline when putting the food into the correct bowls.  
Improve Matching Skills/Color Recognition-a great way to begin on simple matching skills and color recognition.  Because this game can be so easily adapted to a child's skill level, you can use it with even the youngest of clients.  I have had my younger kids who aren't ready for the challenge of chopsticks work in developing grasping skills by using their "pinchers" (pointer and thumb only) to pick up the food and place them in the correct bowl.  A child who has difficulty recognizing and identifying colors can work on that skill by being asked to name each color as they place it in the matching bowl.

Working on crossing midline

Improve Executive Functioning Skills-for older children who need to work on organizational skills, you can require them to set the game up and tell their peers the directions for proper playing of the game.  You can require them to put the food in the bowls in a certain order to work on sequencing and organizing their work.
Improve Upper Extremity Strength-once a child knows the rules of the game and seems comfortable, I start increasing the challenges.  One way of doing that is by adding a strengthening component to the activity.  I like to have the kids lie on their belly on the net swing and complete this task.  They are not only working on improving the skills mentioned above, they are able to work on increasing upper extremity and neck strength at the same time.  Sometimes getting my kids to work on upper extremity strengthening can be difficult but if they are engaged in a motivating and fun fine motor or visual motor/perceptual activity, the "work" is hidden from them.
Improve Social Skills-this game is great for individual play but even better for group play.  I don't think I have a game that makes kids laugh as hard as they do when they play Wok n Roll.  For the older kids, I turn it on and make it shake and that cracks them up.  This is a great game to work on building a child's frustration tolerance with their peers and to work on how to be a good sport during games.  Being a good sport means letting your friends have turns, using kind words during play and not only being a good winner, but also being a good loser.

As I write this up, I am reminded that I should probably pick up one or two as a backup.  So many of the great games that I have used in therapy for years and years keep changing (Perfection and Wack a Mole both changed their designs and no longer as good as they used to be) and are then impossible to find.  I have seen Wok n Roll in some of the local toy stores in Park Slope and Manhattan but also on many websites, including Amazon.com which I have linked to.

I would love to hear from some of you about your favorite games that you use during your therapy sessions.  Not only do I want to hear for me personally so I can add to my game collection, but also want to share with parents who are always asking for activities to do at home.  I especially love games that can be adapted for a variety of skills and can have challenges added as they gain skills so if you have any recommendations, please share them with me and my readers!  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all.

More Than Just Statistics

In addition to being a full-time occupational therapist and mother, I am also proud to be a founding member of The Meeting House, a recreational based after school program for school age children with social special needs.  It's an amazing place that provides a place for some of New York City's most awesome kids who have a tremendous social motivation but need the support of professionals in order to be successful in social situations.  In addition to our after school program, we offer a monthly weekend event which provides opportunities for our children to generalize the skills that we teach during the week.  It also gives them a chance to go to some of the coolest kid's spots in New York.  We have been to a lot of really great places in the last year and a half, including Our November event was at the Museum of Mathematics near Madison Square Park.

Now, I know what you are thinking...how could a math museum be fun?  I was wondering the same thing but had heard such great things from friends and colleagues who had been there in the past.  I am so glad we gave this museum a chance because it was really great and our kids had the best time.  They didn't want to leave when our event was over, which is pretty telling.

As we enter the colder months, I know there are a lot of people who are looking for things to keep their kids busy outside of the house.  I can't say enough about this place and guarantee that you will have just as much fun at this hands on museum as your kids will.  You can spend hours here without being bored and there is plenty of different exhibits to keep children of all ages occupied.  One of the things I like best was the size of the museum.  It is only two floors so manageable and if you have an older, more independent child, you can let them explore on their own a bit or with a friend while you hang with the younger ones.

There are so many great exhibits at the Museum of Mathematics and the best part is that each and every one is interactive and hands on.  Even better, this is a perfect place to work on a zillion occupational therapy goals without the children even realizing they are working!  If you have read my other posts, you will know how much I love hidden therapy.

There are over 30 exhibits at the museum.   Each of them is unique but all are fun.  Here are a few of my favorite exhibits and what kind of therapeutic  

Coaster Rollers:  Glide on a rounded triangle down a track on rollers that are not ball but acorns and other lumpy shapes.  Great for working on upper extremity strength and bilateral coordination.  If on with a friend, they need to work together to get all the way to the end of the track.

Tessellation Station:  create tiling patterns called tessellations using unusual magnetic shapes.  Pictured to the right, you can see some of the cool creations kids can make using the different shaped magnets.  Works on increasing upper extremity strength (since it is on a raised surface), visual perceptual skills (having to fit the magnets together), color recognition and improves creativity.  I loved this so much that I had to buy the monkey magnets pictured to use in my private practice and at home.  I was psyched when I walked into the museum gift shop and saw these for sale.  They are a bit pricey, but they are incredibly well made and unlike anything else I have ever seen.

Square Wheeled Trike:  take a smooth ride on square wheels.  This was definitely the highlight for the kids at The Meeting House.  It's one of the first things you see when you walk into the museum and clearly gets kids attention because who has ever seen a bike with square wheels?  This exhibit works on improving overall body strength and motor planning.  There are two sized bikes so even your little ones can enjoy this cool activity.

The Human Tree:  strike a pose and see your body replicated as the trunk, branches, and sub-branches of a tree made of you. Move around and watch as the tree morphs producing a surprising array of effects.  Great for working on motor planning, improving upper extremity strength bilateral coordination.  Our kids at TMH did this in groups of two and each child had an opportunity to be the leader and their friend would have to do the same movement that their friend did.

I am excited to go back to the Museum of Mathematics with my own daughter who will be 4 years old in March.  While she may not understand all the math elements, she will be able to participate and interact with all the exhibits.  I have already recommended this place to many of the parents I work with and they have truly loved it.  If you are in NYC and need something to do with your kids, I highly recommend you check this place out.  While there, be sure to check out their amazing gift shop.  I could have spent hours and a whole lot of money in there.  They do have an online store with many of the items they have created, including these tessellation monkey magnets.

Have you been to the Museum of Mathematics?  I would love to hear what your favorite exhibit was.  I am only a click away and love hearing from you all.

Once Upon A Time

With just 3 days before Christmas (how in the world did that happen?), I am sure there are many of you still on the lookout for last minute gifts.  If you have a child on your list who loves creative play and listening to stories, this gift I am about to write about was made for them.

Yesterday, Quinn received one of the most adorable gifts from her bestie Liv and it has immediately become one of her favorites.  Storytime Toys has designed three toy house and story sets for your preschooler (young school age children will love these as well).  Quinn got the Three Little Pigs story but I ran out this morning and purchased the Hansel and Gretel set as well for her to open on Christmas morning.   She insisted on putting together the Three Little Pigs set as soon as we got home and played with it for hours.  The image below shows all three of the sets: Three Little Pigs, Hansel and Gretel  and Goldilocks and The Three Bears.

There are a ton of things to love about these sets, both for kids and their grownups.  For the kids, they are colorful and easy to manipulate.  Once they get the hang of putting the pieces together, they should be able to put them together on their own, or with just a little help from their big people.  They can follow the story provided in the book or they can make up their own stories.  For adults, each of the Storytime Toys sets is made of super durable materials that will take the abuse that your child(ren) are sure to give it.  They come with a sturdy box that you can store all the pieces in after your little storytellers are finished playing.  This is a bonus for all families who have more toys than they know what to do with, but an even bigger bonus to people like me who live in tiny apartments with WAY too much stuff.  Quinn was asking for a giant dollhouse from Santa this year, but we just don't have the square footage in our place for such a thing yet.  This is a great compromise for our household (especially since Quinn is a giant fan of fairytales).

In addition to all of the pieces for the houses, including people and accessories, each set comes with a book with the story included.  This is a great way to work on improving focus and attentional skills and play skills in children who may struggle with that.  This is a toy that I think every single one of my speech therapy friends should have for their offices.  One of my favorite things about each book is that they with a couple of DIY activities related to the set.  For example, in the Three Little Pigs set, there are instructions to make mud puddles and picture frames to hang on the walls of the pigs houses.  I am sure that there are a bunch of other ideas that you can come up with on your own to go along with each of the stories.

In addition to what has been mentioned already, the following occupational therapy goals can be worked on when playing with the Storytime Toys toy house and story sets:
Improve Fine Motor Skills-putting the pieces of each of the houses together helps to work on improving both increasing grasp strength and in-hand manipulation skills.  There are some small pieces that need to be together which is great for encouraging children to use a fine pincer grasp during play.  I will be sure to remind the kids to use a fine pincer grasp when pulling the pieces apart after they are all done playing.
Improve Bilateral Coordination Skills-in order to put these sets together, you will need to use both hands at the same time.  You may need to remind your child to hold one piece stable while putting the other pieces into place.
Improve Visual Motor/Perceptual Skills-each set comes disassembled.  Putting them together is a great way to work on improving visual motor and visual motor skills.  The kits don't come with step by step instructions, but by looking at the picture on the box, it is easy to figure out how to put them together.  For your younger kids, they may need more assistance with this but be sure to try and get them to problem solve and figure it out on their own before doing it for them.  This could also be a great way to work on building a child's frustration tolerance when presented with more challenging activities.
Improve Language Skills-like I have already mentioned, this toy set is perfect for all my speech therapist friends.  It is a great way to work on expanding a child's language and vocabulary skills.  The Three Little Pigs set is also great for working on breath control because you can have the kids work on blowing the houses down while following the story.  I am sure I am missing at least a million other speech and language goals that can be worked on with these sets.  Maybe if any of you out there reading this are speech therapists and want to comment on what goals you work on while using these sets, please message me and I will add any and all suggestions.
Improve Social Skills-this is a great way for children to play together.  Not only can they put the sets together as a team, they can then act out the story after it is all put together.  I am excited to try this with one of my preschool social skills groups.  I love the idea of having them work together to put the whole thing together, but then to act out the story as a group.  I am already trying to brainstorm the fine motor or arts and craft project that can be done at the end so they can take it home and be able to tell their parents what they worked on during group.

I am already trying to think about all the kids I can get these sets for.  I am thinking how nice these would be for some of my friends who have an older child and a preschooler....they older sibling could be the one to read the story and help the child put the houses together.  A great activity to encourage play skills at home especially for those parents who worry about their kids relying on electronics and television too much.

So if any of you are still trying to figure out what to get that special little one in your life, I think this would be a perfect gift.  I have seen them in two stores so far, Little Things in Park Slope, Brooklyn and Tinker Toys in Woodstock, NY.  If you go to this link here, you will find a list of all the stores that sell them.  I know how convenient it is to buy things from Amazon, but remember what a difference each of your purchases make to all these independent toy stores.

If you have any of these sets and want to share some craft activities to go along with them, please share them with us.  I love hearing from each of you and have gotten such great suggestions that I am able to use both at work and at home.  I am always a click away and check my email all the time!

Kids Can Be Comics Too!

Many of my blog posts are directed towards the preschoolers that I see.  I can't seem to stop myself when I see great toys for preschoolers because I have a preschooler of my own at home and can get double usage out of the toys that I purchase.  This doesn't mean that I am not constantly on the lookout for great toys and activities for my school age children.  Last week, I picked up the most amazing activity after I saw a Facebook post by Norman & Jules, my favorite toy store in Park Slope.  I was sold by just seeing the picture for the mu Magnetic Comic Strip Kit that they posted.  I couldn't get there fast enough and when I did, I was delighted to see that there were two kits.  I quickly purchased both the Original and the Aquamarine series and rushed off to see my 9 year old who was going to love them.

There are so many things to love about this toy.  I love anything that requires a child to use their imagination; more importantly, I love a toy that requires imagination AND no electronics.  I feel like so many kids depend on electronics these days and while I do use them during my sessions with kids, I like to do as much hands on work as possible.  Many of the older kids that are on my caseload are seeing me to work on handwriting and organizational skills so it is much more important that work on the iPad is kept to a minimum.  These magnetic comic strip kits are a perfect way to work on handwriting, organizational skills and other executive functioning goals.  They can be used on a fridge or any other magnetic surface but can also be used on the floor or a table.  

Each kit comes with over 20 different magnets.  There are also blank magnets and speech bubble magnets included in each kit so the comic creator can add their own pictures and write their story out.  Depending on the age and skill level of the child you are working with, you can come up with specific requirements for their comic strip.  For example, you might tell a child that they need to use 8 magnets that are provided and then use a certain number of blank magnets and speech bubbles.  For those school age children who have difficulty with organizing his/her work and thoughts, giving them those specific instructions might help them be more successful with this activity.  I have already tried it with some of my kids and have noticed that when I let them do what they want without any direction from me, they have more difficulty focusing and keeping their story flowing.  Like many of us, simple directions and guidelines will often guide us to be more successful in almost all of our work.

Here are a few more occupational therapy goals that can be worked on using the mu Magnetic Comic Strip kits:
Improve Grasping Skills-this is a great activity to work on handwriting and for those kids who have a poor grasp but love comics, can be easily tricked into working on holding that marker the correct way if they are doing something fun.  While each set comes with their own dry erase marker, I also would have these smaller sized dry erase markers on hand; remember that sometimes the shorter a writing instrument is, the more likely you will see an expected grasp.
Improve Organizational Skills-so many of the school age kids I work with are struggling with organizing their work.  They have fantastic, I mean REALLY fantastic ideas, but get so distracted that they don't get their point across the way they intended to.  Sometimes they are so anxious to just get it finished and share it that they forget to focus on the important details that keep a story flowing.  Try and have the children you are working with pick out a certain number of magnets before even beginning and then have them talk through their idea before they even begin writing and drawing.  With time, you can take away some of the prep work but to begin with, it is important to help guide our kids and give them good organizational skills that they can not only use with this activity but with their homework and schoolwork.
Improve Graphomotor Skills-this is a great activity to work on both handwriting and drawing skills. In addition to having a variety of awesome magnets, you have 4 blank magnets and 2 speech bubbles to fill in on your own.  When I have used these, I have asked that the child be sure to write a certain amount of sentences and draw a certain number of pictures.  They must make sure that whatever they draw relates to the magnets that they have chosen.  For many of my older kids, they are so worried about being perfect and right that they avoid most drawing and handwriting activities.  I find that when they are given specific instructions in addition to being able to be creative, they can be more successful.
Improve Upper Extremity Strength-I often have children with decreased upper extremity/hand strength work on a raised surface to work on strengthening those muscles.  It tends to get harder to ask a 8 or 9 year old to work on an easel because they think it is childish.  Have the children you are working with put these on the fridge while standing up....make them put their magnets up as high as they can without it being a strain.  They will be so busy creating that they won't even realize that they are working on building up those arm muscles!
Improve Social Skills-this is a great activity for a dyad or small group of kids to do together.  They can come up with a story as a team and each be designated one speech bubble and two blank magnetic squares.  The most important thing is that they work together to come up with a story and do all they can to stick to the story at hand so that when they are putting it all together at the end that it makes sense.  This may require compromise and flexibility...something that so many of the kids we work with struggle with.  

As I mentioned earlier, I purchased my sets at Norman & Jules in Park Slope.  If you can't get to the store in person, then be sure to check them out online.  I promise you that you will find more than you intended if you spend enough time in their store or on their website!  In addition to having an amazing selection of toys, books and craft sets, they donate a portion of all their yearly sales to The March of Dimes in honor of their daughter and her friends who were all born prematurely.

I would love to hear from you and am only a click away.  I love the idea of using comics for my older kids who need to work on handwriting, drawing and executive functioning skills.  Do any of you have any other great create your own comic kits to share with me and my readers?    I love hearing from all of you and really appreciate all your comments and suggestions.  They not only help me but also benefit all the kids I work with!

Keep Those Little Turkeys Busy This Thanksgiving!

Here's wishing you and yours a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving.  And for those of you who celebrate Hanukkah, may it be a joyous one.

I am thankful for all of you for reading and following my blog.  I hope that I have been able to add some fun to your lives with my suggested toys, games and apps.  

As Thanksgiving day approaches, I know we are all busy planning our meals and getting ready for friends and family to come and spend the day with us.  Need something to keep your little turkeys occupied while prepping for the Thanksgiving Feast?  Here are a few activities that you can easily prepare for them before hand

Instead of using this picture, use blank card
stock and have them write a name and add
a Thanksgiving sticker

1.  Thanksgiving Placecards-Do you have a child who needs to work on handwriting?  Put them in charge of making the Thanksgiving placecards.  Provide them with a list of names to copy and some stickers to decorate the placecards with.  

*works on improving graphomotor, grasping, visual perceptual and organizational skills.  Better than all that though is how proud your little one will feel when they look around the table and see everyone sitting behind the placecard they created especially for them

2.  Create a Thanksgiving Thankful Tree-have your kids cut out leaves (that you have already drawn out on construction paper) and have them write down what they are thankful for.  Give your children the job of going around to all of your guests and having them write down what they are thankful for as well.  Using Crayola Window Markers, draw a tree on a large window or a glass door and have your children tape them on the tree.  

*works on improving graphomotor, grasping, visual motor/perceptual skills, improves speech and language skills (asking people to fill out their leaves) and improves organizational skills

I love this traditional hand Thanksgiving
turkey....brings back so many
early memories 

3.  Handprint Thanksgiving Turkey-I vividly remember this arts and craft project from my childhood and since becoming an OT, I have done it with my kids at work year after year.  Depending on the age and skill level of the child, I change the expectations.  For my younger children, I will trace their hand and assign a color for each finger/feather.  For my older children, I make they trace their own hand and then figure out what colors they want to use.  They can cut the handprint and then glue it onto a piece of paper.  If you have a houseful of guests coming and need your little ones occupied for a bit, give them each a handful of names and ask them to make them special holiday cards that they can hand out to your guests as they arrive.
*works on fine motor, coloring, cutting, graphomotor, bilateral coordination and visual motor/perceptual skills

I love these napkin rings made from empty
toilet paper tubes.  They use buttons but you can
use any odds and ends kind of materials to
make something special for your guests.

4.  Homemade Napkin Rings-if you have some empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls lying around, reuse and recycle them to make some homemade napkin rings for your Thanksgiving table.  The possibilities are endless and you can let your children's imagination run wild by providing them with the correct supplies.  Use stickers, markers, buttons, glue, tissue paper, etc. to create unique and special napkin rings for each of your guests.
*works on improving fine motor, grasping, graphomotor, bilateral coordination and visual motor/perceptual skills.  Again, your children will feel so proud when they look around that table filled with all the people they love



Again, I wish you and yours a very happy and healthy holiday season.  I can already feel the excitement in all of the children I work with and look forward to the upcoming weeks.  Do you have any wonderful holiday craft ideas to share with me or my readers?  I know we are all looking for ways to keep our kids involved in the holiday season and would love to hear from my readers with any ideas they would like to share with me.  I am just a click away and can't wait to test out some of the great ideas you have!