Springing into Spring!

Living in New York City and working with kids, I happen to have a real mix of kids who celebrate different holidays.  Since I grew up in a home that celebrates Easter, I happen to have more ideas on how to incorporate Easter themed activities into my sessions with the kids who also celebrate.  As I have lived here longer, I have had to come up with ways to make all my activities work for all kids.  If you read my blog regularly, you know that I love the holidays and how they allow for some creativity and change in my routine during my sessions.  Not only is it good for me to have new things to do, it's really good for the kids I work with.  They are so motivated by a totally new activity and makes them work harder during our sessions. Additionally, they love being able to do things that they can take home and share with their parents, siblings, friends, etc..

Here are a few of the things I will be pulling out this week.  For some kids, the activities will be Easter related and for others, it will be to celebrate the arrival of Spring.

Eggercise Hunt-one of the kids I work with has a thing for plastic eggs.  When he does a great job with something that is especially challenging for him, his mother rewards him with a surprise egg.  When looking in the stores this week, I saw the plastic eggs and was trying to think of a way to use them in my sessions.  After a little while, I decided that I would have a bit of an egg hunt with them at the gym.  I have 12 eggs and in each egg I have an activity hidden inside: 12 fine motor activities and 12 gross motor activities.  I have a feeling that the kids will have so much fun looking for the hidden eggs that they won't even realize that they are working.

Pompom Art-one of the things my kids love the most is when they get to take something home to share with their parents.  I try and do things that can be done quickly in the beginning of a session and hopefully be dried in time for them to take it home with them.  If not dried, I always take a picture of the child with their project and send it to their parents and then they can take it home with them the next time.  This week, I will be letting kids choose between an Easter egg or a spring flower picture that they get to paint with pompoms.  I like to have the kids paint with the pompom attached to a clothespin so they can have more control of what they are doing.  It is also a great way to work on encouraging an appropriate grasp on a writing instrument.  This activity is also great for working on improving eye-hand coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills.  I like to use washable paint or ink pads for this activity as the colors tend to pop more and obviously, they clean off of little fingers, clothes and tables easily!

Cupcake Liner Flowers-this is something I have seen done a bunch of times but haven't really tried until now.  Using large muffin or cupcake liners, you can have kids practice cutting and coloring.  I like to give the kids I work with broken crayons to color with as it encourages a more appropriate writing grasp.  You can also find little stickers to decorate the flower with which is a great way to work on improving grasping skills.  If you want to add a challenge, get coffee filters and have your kids color them and then cut out the petals. It means coloring a larger surface and having to practice cutting a little more. Once colored and cut, you can add a stem using a pipe cleaner.

Fingerprint Art-nothing says spring to me more than flowers, chicks and bunnies.  Many of the kids I work with don't have the skills to draw these things so I have to find ways to simplify it for them.  I've always been a fan of Ed Emberley....as a matter of fact, I wrote about one of his newer books Gumdrops, a few weeks ago. Using fingerprints and drawing a few simple lines, kids can have more success with drawing.  If you celebrate Easter, you can make bunnies and chicks all over a piece of paper and make a card saying "Hoppy Easter".  If you don't celebrate, you can have the kids make a spring themed card using all the same animals.  One of the nice things about this particular craft is that it can be finished quickly so it can be taken home that same day.  For my older kids, I have them fill out the card so they can practice writing at the same time.

With  many of the kids I work with on vacation this week, parents are looking for things to do with their kids to keep them busy.  All of the activities I have suggested are easy to complete at home with a bunch of friends or with siblings.  If you happen to be near a Target this week, you should check out their bargain bins....you would be surprised by you can find for a steal.  I picked up a few really cute spring stamps that will be a big hit with the kids this week.

Do you have any fun crafts or activities that you do with your kids?  Ones that don't require a lot of supplies or take too much time to complete?  I would love to hear from you if you have anything I should add to my sessions this week.  I am always a click away and love hearing from each of you!

Happy Spring!

Snow Day!

With the anticipation of the impending snow this weekend, I thought I would focus today's post on both outdoor and indoor activities you can do with your little ones.  We know that kids love being outside playing with the snow...making snow angels, going sledding, building snowmen and snowball fights are the obvious ones.  But we all know that as soon as your kid has to use the bathroom or they get cold, they want to be inside STAT!  Once they are inside, us parents are all worried about what we will do to keep everyone sane the rest of the day.

Below, I have shared some of my favorite winter activities that you can do with your kids.  All are fun and have a therapeutic value to them.  Whether it be building overall body strength, working on improving fine motor skills or encouraging cooperative play and social skills, they are all fun and don't require much more than things you will find at home or outdoors.

1.  Wanna Build a Snowman?-if the forecast is correct, many of us will have enough snow to make a snowman!  Snowman building is a great activity for so many reasons.  It's perfect for encouraging working as a group with your friends or siblings.  Also great for working on improving upper body strength, body awareness and encouraging creativity.  If building with little kids, use this as an opportunity to talk to them and teach them about all the different body and face parts.

2.  Snowball Games-kids love making snowballs!  Who am I kidding....everyone loves snowballs!  Sometimes snowball fights can get out of control so you have to think of solutions for that not to happen.  How about setting up targets for your kids to throw snowballs at instead of at each other?  Or how about a snowball catch where you see how many times you can toss it back and forth to each other before it falls apart?  There are lots of fun things you can do with snowballs that doesn't have to be throwing it at another person.

3.  Make Hot Chocolate-nothing tastes better after spending hours outside playing in the snow than a cup of hot chocolate.  Let your kids help you make the hot chocolate.  Whether you have them scoop the chocolate powder into the mug and let them stir or make hot chocolate from scratch.  Check out these great recipes from this PopSugar post a couple of winters ago.

4. Blow Bubbles in the Cold-when the temperature drops below 32 degrees, really cool things happen with bubbles.  Try and dig out some of your bubbles that you have hidden somewhere waiting for summer weather and bring them out into the cold.  See what happens when you blow them and catch them with the wand!  You and your kids will all be amazed by what happens.

5.  Tic-Tac-Snow-use a stick to make a giant tic-tac-toe board in the snow.  Collect some branches to make Xs and pinecones or rocks for Os.

6.  Snow Ice Cream-this may be harder for us city dwellers, but snow ice cream is an easy and fun activity to do with your kids.  You will need:
1/2 cup half & half or whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 cups clean snow
Blend the milk, sugar and vanilla together until the sugar dissolves.  Mix the 4 cups of snow and stir until the mixture is the consistency of ice cream.  Eat plain or add your favorite toppings!

7.  Paper Snowflakes-if your kids need to warm up and you aren't quite ready to plop them in front of the television quite yet, how about having them make their own snowflakes.  I remember spending hours and hours as a kid making paper snowflakes.  I loved how you could do it again and again and like a real snowflake, no two snowflakes were ever the same.  As I have been on the hunt for fun winter themed activities for my  kids at work, I stumbled upon these name snowflakes on Childhood 101.  It takes a little bit of practice and definitely better for older kids but once you get the hang of it, you will be obsessed and want to make one for every single person you know!

8.  Craft It Up-there are a lot of fun and simple crafts that you can do on these snowy days.  I don't know about you all, but I happen to have a little girl who could craft all day long and doesn't need snow days as an excuse.  Some of our favorites are:
Make Homemade Playdough
Valentine's Day Crafts
Homemade Snow Globes
Washi Tape Crafts
Coloring and Activity Books (click on the link to check out my post from the holidays for ideas)

9.  Send out Postcards/Write a Letter-one of my sisters has a job that takes her all over the USA.  One of the things that she has started with all the kids in her life is to send postcards from wherever she ends up.  My daughter looks forward to this mail and learning about new places in our country.  One thing you can do with your kids is have them pick out a friend, cousin or other family member to write a letter to and tell them all about their snowy day adventures.  It's not only a great way to work on handwriting but also a great way for kids to recall and talk about what they did with people who may not have been home to enjoy it with them.

10.  Get Physical-if your kids start to get a bit stir crazy and need to get some energy out, think of all the great games that you can play inside to get them up and moving.  I tend to suggest to parents that they have a secret stash of games that they take out on cold or rainy days.  I especially like ones that encourage movement in kids.  Here are some board games/activities that are you can save for these kinds of days:
Twister
5 Little Monkeys On The Bed
Kids on Stage
Zoom Ball
Simon Says
Charades
Hide and Seek

While I know that I will be outside as much as I can, I do know that I will need to have backup plans to keep my own daughter busy and not attached to an iPad or television once we are inside.  I can't wait to begin some new snowy day traditions with her now that she is older and doing so much more.  Do you have any favorite snowy/cold day activities, crafts or cooking/baking activities that you do with your kids?  Would love to hear what kinds of fun and creative things you all do!  I'm always a click away and love hearing from you all!

Stick It To Me!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's The Most Boo-tiful Time of The Year!

Let's face it, Halloween is a really fun time of the year.  Not only do the kids love it, grownups do too.  The gym I work in is all decorated for Halloween right now and the kids have been squealing with delight when they see all the pumpkins and ghosts.  As a therapist who works with kids, I find this a great time of the year for fun craft projects.  Kids LOVE Halloween and all that comes with it.  Here are a few crafts that I have done and will continue to do with the kids at work over the next couple of weeks.  I try and choose ones that don't require a ton of supplies or time to complete so the kids can take them home and show off their completed project to their families.  

Pipe Cleaner Spiders-a few weeks ago, my daughter and I were walking around our Brooklyn neighborhood and saw a fence all decorated for Halloween.  The spiders that were attached to the fake cobwebs were so cute and upon careful inspection, we realized we could easily make these at home.  It's a simple project that only requires two supplies:  medium size beads (we have been using wooden circle and square shaped beads) and pipe cleaners (I LOVE the Eeboo pipe cleaners that come in all kinds of beautiful colors).  For each spider, you will need 4 pipe cleaners and one bead.  Decide on the length of the legs (we have made large mommy and daddy spiders and smaller baby spiders at home); if you are making a smaller spider, you can cut two pipe cleaners in half.  When the pipe cleaners are your desired length, put them all together and string them through the bead all at once.  Separate and bend the legs and your spider is done.  My daughter likes to put googly eyes on her spiders but you can use permanent markers (adult supervision required of course) to add details to your spider's face!  This activity is great for improving bilateral coordination skills, eye-hand coordination skills and improving grasping skills.

Paper Pumpkins-there are easily thousands of paper pumpkin ideas out there.  I like this pumpkin craft because it is great for working on cutting skills.
Supplies:
-orange paper
-scissors (regular or zigzag)
-pipe cleaner
-hole punch (make sure that it is easy enough for the children you work with to use this independently.  Some hole punchers can be very difficult to use)
Before the kids begin this project, I use a ruler to divide the paper into an 1 or 2" think lines (depends on the child's skill level) so they can cut the paper.  Make the lines thicker for kids who have a more difficult time with cutting.  Once the strips are cut, have the child use the hole punch and put a hole on either end of each strip.  I like to place an X or a dot on each end for the children to have a target.  Take one of the pipe cleaners and twist a loop at the end then thread one side of each strip of the paper.  After all of the pieces of paper are threaded, then thread the other end of the paper onto the pipe cleaner.  Twist the top of the pipe cleaner in a loop to trap the paper in place.  Take the paper strips and spread them out until they form a pumpkin.  Take a marker or stickers and add eyes, nose and a mouth.

 

Paint Chip Puzzles-I won't lie, I have gone into Lowes and
Home Depot many times for something for our house but always leave with paint chips to use at work.  They are great for working on color recognition.  They are also amazing for working on improving cutting skills.  The thickness of the samples are great for kids learning how to cut.  Take a look at this wonderful Halloween project...I can't wait to try it with my kids in the next couple of weeks.
Supplies:
-Halloween colored paint chips (square/rectangle shaped)
-permanent markers (adult supervision required!)
-scissors
Depending on the age of the child you are working with, you can adapt how much or how little they do.  Make pumpkin, ghost or monster faces on the paint chips.  Once you are done drawing on the paint chips, cut the chips into your desired number of pieces.  If you are working on improving cutting skills with a child, turn the chips over and draw lines on the non-colored side and have them cut the puzzle up.  
This activity is great for working on visual motor and visual perceptual skills, cutting skills, drawing skills and can even work on color recognition.

Halloween Sensory Bags-the kids I work with love making sensory bags.  They are an easy project and inexpensive.  For many of the kids I work with, Halloween can be overstimulating and cause anxiety.  Have them make one of these bags and keep them in their trick-or-treat bag to use as a fidget when they start to feel anxious.
Supplies:
-Green, Orange and/or Purple hair gel
-ziploc freezer bags
-miscellaneous craft supplies like googly eyes, pompoms, etc.
-plastic spiders
I love this project because it is an easy one for kids to do all on their own.  Have the kids pick out the color gel they want to use and squeeze enough into the bag that it will cover fill the whole bag when laying flat.  Place the googly eyes, spiders, pompoms in the bag and seal it tight (parents, make sure the bag is completely sealed before letting them play with it to avoid a giant mess!).  If you want to add to this activity, grab a pair of kid's chopsticks and have them put the spiders, eyes, etc. into the bag to work on grasp strength.

These are just a few of the millions of Halloween projects you can do with your children over the next few weeks.  I look forward to any holidays because it gives me a chance to switch things up with the kids I work with and find new ways to work on their fine motor, visual motor/perceptual and other skills.  Kids love to take their projects home and show off what they are practicing at therapy.  I try and find projects that are easy enough for parents to do at home with the rest of their family.  For some of my older kids who are working on higher level skills (organization, motor planning, executive functioning skills), I like to send them home with the supplies they need in order to complete the project and have them teach someone else how to do it.  This is also great for building up their self-esteem and confidence which is something so many of the kids I work with lack.

Do you have any fun, easy and quick Halloween craft ideas?   I would love to have more ideas to test out over the next couple of weeks and I am sure my readers will as well.  If you have any great ideas, please share with us all!  If you have any questions or comments, I'm always a click away and love hearing from you all.

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!