So Much To Color...So Little Time!

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

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

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

Lots of Things to Find and Color by Usborne Activities

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

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


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

The Colouring Book by Herve Tullet

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

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

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

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

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

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

Free App Friday...Who Knew?

This will be a short post, but one that I think many will appreciate.  Not sure how I hadn't heart of it before, but there is a great website,  that offers a Free App Friday blog. Smart Apps For Kids is a website dedicated to helping people find the best apps out there.  They will help guide you by age, subject and skill you are interested in working on.  today's list.  While many of them are not ones that I am familiar with, I was excited to see some really good ones on there that are already on my iPad and enjoyed by many of the little ones I work with.

For example, Drawnimal by YAYATOY is on there.  This is a great app that can work on not only introducing children to the letters of the alphabet but encourage drawing skills.  Many of the kids I work with have a desire to learn how to draw and I have struggled with the best way to teach them.  I have this on both my iPad and my iPhone.  I have had better success with it using my iPhone but am looking for the writing surface to use in order to use the iPad as I think it is more interactive and exciting for my younger children.

Another one on today's list is Shiny Bakery.  My daughter loves Shiny Party and the characters in this game are the same.  Alice the Zebra has opened her own bakery and she needs your child's help.  A child has to follow the recipe and then help her bake cookies or cakes and then decorate them.  This app is great for working on developing a sense of numbers, expanding a child's creative juices and improving problem solving skills.

There is an app I have been very excited about that is also mentioned on today's list but is not a free one.  However, I think that the $.99 will be well worth it for Bug Art by one of my favorite app creators out there, Little Bit Studios.  While I have not had a chance to use Bug Art, I continue to use Bugs and Buttons 1 and 2, Bugs and Bubbles and Bugs and Numbers on a daily basis with my kids at work and my own daughter loves them as well.  Bug Art is described as an app that allows your child to free paint whatever they want to create.  They can learn to draw with interactive tracing or design their own bugs.  Using their bug creation, they will then be able to play, explore and challenge themselves in a different games and environments.  Their are 13 other bugs included in the game that your bug can compete against in mini games.  Like I said, I haven't played this game but am sure it won't disappoint.

For those of you who are constantly on the lookout for new and exciting apps, keep the Free App Friday list by Smart Apps For Kids on your radar.  I know that I will be checking in every Friday to see what apps I can find.  I love a bargain and there are lots on here.  Do you have any other app lists that you subscribe to and can recommend to all of us?  Please share if you do.  I am always 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!

It's All About Teamwork

As a therapist, I wear many hats.  I do all the 1:1 private practice stuff at two sensory gyms in NYC (Heads Up and SAGE).  I am a co-founder of the most amazing after school program, The Meeting House, for school age children with social special needs.  And I run smaller social skills groups with a speech therapist I have had the joy of working alongside for years now.  Professionally, I can't think of a luckier therapist than me.

With all of those different hats I wear, the toys, supplies and equipment I need varies from setting to setting so my eyes are ALWAYS open for new and fun things that would be appropriate for each place.  Yesterday, while walking around the UWS trying to kill some time between clients, I found myself in Stoopher and Boots, a super cute kids store that carries not only adorable clothes but also a great selection of toys.  I'm super excited for the new game I picked up and think that many of you will love it as well, especially you parents of multiple children or therapists/educators who tend to see groups of kids.  Stack Up by Peaceable Kingdom is a perfect game for preschoolers.  It is great across the pediatric disciplines as it covers goals for occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physical therapy and educational goals!  I can't think of many other games in my very large and overstuffed closet that do that.

Stack Up is a cooperative game that focuses on having all the players work towards the same goal as opposed to being first or the winner.  The object of cooperative games is that you focus on working together and not as individuals.  Nobody is made to feel left out or made to feel as though they didn't do a good job.  The point of the game is that in order for you to win, you need to be part of a group and play with your friends, not against them.  Cooperative games have becoming increasingly popular since I began working in schools about 10 years ago.  I love them because I find that for some of the kids on my caseload, they spend so much time working 1:1 with grownups that they lose out on opportunities to play with their peers outside of the classroom and may present with difficulties playing games appropriately.  I am lucky enough to work in an office with other occupational therapists and speech therapists.  If the kids are appropriate for one another, we will put aside some time to play a game together; this is great for all those involved.  For parents who want to encourage their children to play together more peacefully, this game is perfect!  Sometimes parents tell me they have a hard time letting their kids play games together because it leads to so much fighting and upset when somebody loses.  This could be a good solution to the sibling game-playing blues.

In addition to what I already talked about, here are a few more goals that can be worked on while playing Stack Up:

Improve Eye-Hand Coordination-this is a fun way to work on eye-hand coordination without the kids even realizing they are working on it!  My favorite kind of activity...one that can be super fun but help reach some of those occupational goals.  A child requires eye-hand coordination to put the stick in the hole of the block and then they need to carefully look at where the block goes and how to stack it on top of the other without it toppling over.  Sounds easy but when you have kids do it at the same time, it can be quite tricky for them.
Improve Frustration Tolerance-cooperative games are a good way for kids to work on improving their frustration tolerance.  Not just towards an activity, but in regards to working with another child. This is such an important skill for kids to develop but not always an easy one to work on.  Children who have good frustration tolerance will most likely play better with their friends.  

Improve Color Recognition/Matching Skills-another great aspect about this game is that you can use it for younger children who are still in the early stages of learning their colors.  As you spin the spinner, you land on 1 of 4 colors; you can use this as an opportunity to not only learn colors but to work on matching and sorting colors.  For younger children who aren't quite ready to play the game, you can use the opposite side of the board and have them sort colors onto the right colored square.
Improve Social Skills-I find it is very difficult to teach a child the importance of team work and not always having to be the winner.  So many of the children I work with think that if they win, they are the best.  I love that the concept behind this game, and all cooperative games, is that the way to win is by working together and making decisions as a group, not just on your own.  There are a lot of collaborative games out there but many are geared towards older children and, oftentimes, don't always hold the interest of the kids.  I love that this is easy to understand and even easier to adapt for whatever the group of children are able to handle.  This game is also good for encouraging conversation amongst friends which many of my kids need to work on.
Improve Motor Planning-depending on how you play the game, you can add a physical component to the game.  If you land on a challenge when you spin, you pick up a card with some kind of physical challenge (the whole group should perform this).  For example, my favorite challenge is to do a jumping jack and freeze in a legs open position.  The kids found this to be really funny and we were able to work on a skill that is sometimes hard for them.  Other challenges include standing on one foot, giving a friend a high five and holding it for 5 seconds or making silly faces.  All of these things may sound easy to you but for children with motor planning difficulties, it can be quite challenging and they may avoid trying it.  This game motivates the kids to try it in a really fun way.

I am really excited about trying this game out with the kids signed up for my social skills group in the fall.  I am also anxious to check out a few more of the games that Peaceable Kingdom has created.  The other cooperative games they have on their website look like they will be a lot of fun as well. In addition to more cooperative games, they have regular board games, card games and sticker sets.  I'm impressed not only with the quality of the product but with the thought that has been put into creating the game.  I am sure their other games and products will prove to be equally as wonderful.

Do any of you have cooperative games that you can recommend to me and my readers?  I would love to start the fall with a few new games to use during my sessions at the gym and also for my social skills groups.  Please share your ideas with us all!  While this game is targeted towards the younger kids, I also work with older children both in my private practice and at The Meeting House and would love a few more games for that population.

As always, I love hearing from my readers and am just a click away.  Looking forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions for other fun and motivating cooperative games.

It's all in the Pop(sicle)

With summer and the heat here, I thought it was time to write about an awesome popsicle maker that the whole family could enjoy.  Last year, I was looking for a way to make my own popsicles.  I am an avid baker and thought that it would be a great activity to do with Quinn who had recently begun to show an interest in cooking and baking with me.  When I went into William's Sonoma, I spied the Zoku Quick Pop Maker and knew I had found what I was looking for.  This year Quinn is a full fledged baker and I think we are going to spend a lot of time this summer experimenting with different tasty recipes to keep us cool all summer long!

The Zoku Quick Pop Maker is the perfect accessory to make a tasty and healthy summer treat.  Not only that, on days like today, they will be super refreshing.  The process if very simple and easy for little ones to be actively involved from beginning to end.  The first step is to make room in your freezer for the pop maker (I have the two pop maker but you can get one as small as one or as large as three at a time).  Place it in your freezer for at least 24 hours making sure it is lying even.  Once frozen, place the sticks into the pop maker....make sure they are properly lined up as this will help when removing them from the maker.  Pour the juice into the pop maker and watch it freeze....it's a little like watching water boil but I think the end result will be more exciting for your little one!  Once the pops are done, you use the handy dandy pop remover tool to magically remove them from the mold.  The last, and in my opinion, the most important is to eat your delicious creation.  I am fairly certain you will have a pretty proud prince or princess on hand after their creations are completed and they get all kinds of positive feedback from everyone who eats them!

The maker comes with a handful of recipes that you can test out.  If you are not a member of Pinterest, I suggest doing so immediately.  There are hundreds of recipes for you to try that people have pinned.  In the middle of writing this blog post, I got an email from one of my favorite blogs, Red Tricycle (another must sign up for especially if you are in the NYC, Chicago, LA areas.  They do have a national edition totally worth signing up for no matter where you live), featuring 20 popsicle recipes.  While all aren't meant for this pop maker, you could easily adapt the recipes for this appliance.  This is a guaranteed good time for not only your child, but you as well.

Some of the occupational therapy goals that can be addressed when using the Zoku Quick Pop Maker are:
Improve Sequencing and Organization:  if you have a child who presents with difficulties with sequencing and organization, you can take the steps of this activity and have the child put it in order prior to beginning the actual making of the popsicles.  Go through each step and talk about what supplies you may need in order to get your child organized and prepared.
Improve Eye-Hand Coordination:  depending on the recipe you choose, you may need to cut up fruits which requires good eye-hand coordination.  When pouring the liquid ingredients in, you will need to hold the cup with the liquids in one hand and hold the popsicle maker with the other.  If you have a child who is struggling with choosing a dominant hand (but know they may do better with one over the other), encourage them to use that stronger hand.
Improve Following Directions:  if you don't follow the steps and directions, your popsicles won't turn out the way they are supposed to. This is a good opportunity to talk to your child about the importance of following a recipe.  Many activities that kids are presented with are similar to recipes in that if you don't follow the "recipe", the final product won't turn out the way it is expected to.  
Improve Bilateral Coordination Skills:  when pouring ingredients, it's important to encourage your child to use two hands; one should be used to hold the cup and the other should be used to pour.  In addition, if you are using fresh fruits, they may need to be cut up or sliced.  This is another great opportunity to work on using both hands in a coordinated manner.
Improve Eating Skills:  I am sure many of you have worked with or are the proud owners of picky eaters (myself included).  By actively engaging your child in the process of making food, you may have a positive impact on their willingness to try new foods.  And when you present something to them in this manner, it will be more fun.  I find that kids are more likely to try new foods when they are more involved in the actual process of making it.
Facilitate Social Skills:  cooking is a great social activity.  It is a great opportunity to work on taking turns by dividing up the ingredients and having children take turns putting them in.  After the popsicles are finished, set up a table for the kids to eat them and encourage conversation.  Maybe you will need to lead the conversation but have it based around making the popsicles and then let the conversation go from there.


In addition to all the other things I mentioned above, this is a great way to begin teaching your children about foods and making healthy choices.  Go to the grocery store together and pick out the different ingredients so they can truly be part of the entire process.  Talk about how healthy fruits are and how they provide your body with the power to grow and become stronger.  I don't know of a single kid who doesn't respond well to the idea of becoming as strong as a super hero!

The only downside is that the maker takes up a chunk of space in your freezer.  If you plan on using it all summer, just be prepared to have a reserved space for it in there.  The great thing about it is that the actual freezing process of the popsicles is about 7 minutes so there is instant gratification for you and your kids.

As previously mentioned, you can get the Zoku at William's Sonoma.  I have also seen it in local kitchen stores in my neighborhood.  As always, I am a big believer in supporting small businesses when possible.  If you have a kitchen supply store in your hood, be sure to give them a call before going the Amazon or big box store route.  They truly appreciate and count on every sale they make.

I would love for you to share how you use the Zoku with your kids.  Do you have a recipe you would like to share with us?  I would love to hear of any fabulous new recipes that you may have and I am sure my other readers would as well.  I am only a click away and love hearing from all of you.

Stay Cool this warm summer!

Stella!!! and Sam

My iPad is full of apps.  I have actually had to go through and delete some to make room for the new and improved apps that I have discovered lately.  I am a tough critic for apps but my 3 year old daughter Quinn is a tougher critic.  If she likes a new app then I know that I have hit the app jackpot.

I discovered Stella and Sam a few weeks ago after I blogged here about another zinc Roe app, Doodlecast.  History has told me that if a company makes one good app, there is most likely another great one out there by them.  History has proven itself correct.  Stella and Sam has not only kept Quinn occupied for hours, it has motivated so many of the kids I work with at my gym to do things that they are usually resistant to.  

Stella and Sam is a series of stories featuring a brother and sister who go on various adventures in the snow, rain and at night time.  Each story has a couple of chapters and and after each chapter there is a hands on activity to go along with it.  What I love about this app is that the story moves at a good pace and the conversation is slow enough that they can really follow and understand the story.  Also, the art work is beautiful which makes it easy for the grownups who may be playing along to not get too annoyed.

Increase Attention Span/Focus-I love that this app requires a child to listen to a story in each chapter and then complete some kind of related activity after you hear the story.  A child is forced to sustain their attention through each story in order to do something interactive.  Sounds easy, but can be quite challenging for younger children.

Improve Sorting/Matching Skills-in one of the stories (Go There Square), you have to sort and match the leaves of a dandelion.  This is just one of the many examples throughout the various games that you can work on this skill.

Improve Visual Motor/Visual Perceptual Skills-the mini games after each chapter vary but often incorporate some kind of visual motor or visual perceptual skill, such as matching, connect the dots, etc..

Improve Grasping Skills-many of the games can be completed using a stylus which will help in encouraging an appropriate grasp.  As mentioned before, the Fred and Friends crayon stylus is one of my favorites.

Improve Visual Tracking-a few of the mini games are perfect for children who need to work on visual tracking.  There is a game associated with Cocoons and Caterpillars, pictured here, that requires a child to take a butterfly through a field and fly through the flowers.  When they hit each flower, their wings change colors and patterns.

Increase Upper Extremity Strength-as I do with many iPad activities, I have the children play this while lying prone on the net swing.  This way they can work on making those neck and arm muscles stronger while having fun.  It's amazing how much longer I can get a child to stay in this challenging position when they are engaged in something so fun and motivating.

These are just a few of the skills that can be worked on when using the Stella and Sam app.  Have any of you used this in therapy or with your own children?  What story or game is your favorite?  I love that as Quinn plays this game, she says things like "Momma, I want to have a rainbow come to me".  Her imagination skills are expanding and I feel like she is looking at nature and the world with a different set of eyes.  While this game is ideal for preschool age children, I think that your elementary age child will enjoy it as well.

I would love to hear from you about your thoughts about Stella and Sam.  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all.

Don't Let the Pigeon Run This Blog

Mo Willems writes some of my favorite children's books so when I heard that there was an app featuring the Pigeon from his books, I had to test it out.  What I love most about this app is that I have just as much fun playing it as the kids do.  There are some that are totally entertaining for them but painful for the grownups who have to play with them.  Definitely not the case with Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App.  This app is not cheap ($5.99) but worth every penny you spend on it.  

This game is a hit at the gym with my older preschoolers and younger school age kids and I would recommend it for kids between the ages of 3 and 8 years old.  There are three modes of play so you can increase the challenge as they become used to the game and the expectations.  

The first mode of play (Egg) is best for the little pigeons in your life.  Mo Willems has a few stories that he has read and they come to life.  For any kid who is familiar with any of the pigeon stories, they truly love seeing their little friend come to life.  

The second mode (Chick), which is better for younger children and children who may have difficulty with expressive language, requires a child to help narrate a story by choosing answers read to them.  A child goes through and answers a series of questions with 3 choices for each question.  What's great about it is that there are pictures to choose from so a child who has difficulty with auditory processing can answer the questions by relying on the visual cues presented to them.  Once all those questions are answered, the story is read back to them.  

The second mode (Chick)which is better for younger children and children who may have difficulty with expressive language requires a child to help narrate a story by choosing answers provided.  A child goes through and answers a series of questions with 3 choices for each question.  What's great about it is that there are pictures to choose from so a child who has difficulty with auditory processing can answer the questions by relying on the visual cues presented to them.  Once all those questions are answered, the story is read back to you.  

The third mode of play (Big Pigeon) is for children who can answer questions more independently.  In this part of the game, children have to answer questions, without any visual cues.  Best part, they answer into the iPad speaker so their voice is recorded.  When the story is complete, it is read back to them with their answers mixed in there.  I can't tell you how much the kids love this part of the game.  In some ways, it is like a Mad Lib game because you don't know how your answers will be used in the story until you hear it read back to you.  The laughs that I have heard from these stories is worth every cent I spent on this app.

The last feature I love about the game is that you can work on following directions and graphomotor skills in the Draw the Pigeon portion of the app.  Mo Willems himself takes you through a step by step guide of drawing the famous pigeon.  The completed picture drawn by your child is then incorporated into the stories that are read back to you.  The kids get such a kick out of seeing the picture of the pigeon (or whatever else they may have decided to draw) as their story is read back to them.

There are so many goals that can be addressed with Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App.  And they can be done in a fun way so the kids don't even realize that they are working.  I will list a few below.

Improve Attention/Receptive Language-a child must listen to the questions being asked and come up with appropriate answers.  I am all for allowing a child to be silly but if I know that they present with processing difficulties, I want to be sure that I know they are listening and paying attention to the questions asked of them.  If they insist on being silly, I will tell them that they have to answer 3 questions appropriately and then can answer the next one however they want.

Improve Modulation/Regulation-this can be worked on by making sure a child answers questions in a slow and clear voice.  I have observed some of my kids getting so excited that they rush through the answers and then they have to re-do their answer.  If the iPad doesn't get your answer, they will make you repeat it until they do.  I try and explain this to them before they begin answering the questions, but sometimes they have to learn by trial and error.

Improve Upper Extremity Strength-like with many of the apps and games I have spoken about on this blog, I am a big fan of having children play them while they are lying on their belly in a net swing.  So many of the kids I work with have decreased upper body strength and resist activities that work on this.  With motivating apps and games, they can be so motivated and focusing so much that they don't even realize their bodies are getting tired!  That's a win-win situation, right??

Improve Grasping Skills-when playing with the drawing portion of the app, encourage your child to draw with a stylus.  This will allow them to work on developing a proper grasp.  For some kids, they also have more control and ability to follow the directions when using something that resembles a writing instrument and not their fingers.

Improve Social Skills-I have used this with a group of children with great success.  This app is a perfect opportunity to work on having children take turns, be flexible when a peer might answer a question differently then them and being part of a group in order to accomplish a goal.  This might sound easy, but so many of the children I work with in group settings have a difficult time giving up control  and letting everyone have a say in something.  Be sure to explain the rules and expectation and what the consequences of not following them are.  I find that that helps the whole thing go much smoother for everyone involved.

I have a feeling that you will all become fans of this app.  And if you weren't a fan of Mo Willems before this, you most certainly will be after.  Like I have already mentioned, Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App is great for the whole family.  You will have fun playing it together and I promise you that you will spend a lot of time laughing as you do.

If you have any questions or want to tell me your favorite part of this app, send me a note.  I am just a click away and would love to hear your success stories while working with your kids.  Do you have another occupational therapy or speech goal that can be met that you would like to share.  I love learning from all of you out there and look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks for reading!

Just Spot It!

Sometimes the simpler the game, the better.  I can't tell you how many games I have purchased because they looked awesome and I thought the kids would love them.  Come to find out that upon opening them, the directions were too complicated for me to follow let alone teach it to a group of children who may present with processing and/or learning differences.  To me this is one of the most frustrating things about purchasing games without it being recommended by someone else or having watched in action.  So when I found out about the game Spot It, created by the amazing company Blue Orange Games, I had to run out and buy it.

I was introduced to Spot It this year from my speech therapist colleague, Jessica Pangretic. We used it with our school age kids during one of our social skills group and I can't believe I deprived all my kids at work and at The Meeting House the awesomeness of this game until this year!  Spot It and Spot It Junior are now just part of my therapy and I love that there are a variety of ways to play the game so kids of all different abilities can be successful in it.  One of my favorite things about this game is that it is small and portable and can easily be brought anywhere with you, unlike many games out there today.  Instead of giving your child an iPhone or iPad to entertain them in the various places they need entertainment, try this game.  It will keep them entertained for a long time!

Spot It seems simple enough when you first play.  You have a deck of round cards that have either 8 (regular Spot It) or 6 (Spot It Jr.) different objects on it.  Each card has one match to another card....no exceptions.  I know for a fact that sometimes it doesn't feel that way but it's the truth! Check out the image to the right and I think you will have a better idea of what I am talking about. While I tend to stick to the traditional way of playing, if you look in the tin, there are a few different suggestions on how to play it.  

One of my favorite ways to play this game when at the gym is to have the kids lie on their stomach while in the net swing.  Not only can you work on all the visual perceptual and attentional skills while playing the game, you can also work on increasing upper body and neck strength.  Since the kids tend to be so focused on the game, they don't even realize that they are working on making their bodies stronger!  

Here are a few more occupational therapy goals that can be addressed when playing Spot It or Spot It Jr. :

Improve Visual Perceptual Skills-being able to find your match and do so in a timely manner is the name of the game.  Matching is a visual perceptual skill that children may have mastered with puzzles and such, but this game really ups the challenge as the cards are each different and you just can't predict what card will come up.
Improve Visual Tracking-when searching for your match, you must carefully track from your card to the other.  If you do this in an organized way, you will have an easier time finding your match in a timely  manner.  

Improve Social Skills-this game can be played with up to 6-8 players so it is a great game to play in social situations.  I have even used this with children playing in pairs, matching a child who has strong visual skills with a child who may struggle more, in order to work on building team work.  As always, teaching a child how to be a good winner and loser is always important.  

Improve Modulation and Regulation Skills-I have seen children so eager to win and get rid of all of their cards first that they will just blurt out an object before even looking.  I gently hand the card back to the child and ask them to really look at the card and find the match. 

Improve Attention Span/Focus-depending on a child's attention span, I may not use all of the cards at once when first introducing this game.  I want them to be successful and feel good about themselves so I may just use half the deck and as they get more comfortable with the game, I will add more cards to the pile.  You can measure a child's increasing attention span/ability to focus by trying to keep track of how many times you may need to tell the child to keep their eyes on the cards.  I tend to see wandering eyes when children are challenged by visual activities, especially new ones, and requires me to tell them over and over again to keep their eyes on the activity at hand.

For all of you therapists, teachers and parents looking for a fun game that can be entertaining for you all, I highly recommend adding Spot It and/or Spot It Jr. to your toy box.  Not only is it fun for all, it can work on so many skills without your children even realizing it.  To me, that is the best part of the game.

I have found the game in many local toy stores but you may also find it at Barnes and Noble or Whole Foods.   As always, I encourage you to support local toy stores.  I am sure if they don't carry it, they would be happy to order it for you.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.  I am just a click away and love hearing from you all.  

One Potato Head, Two Potato Heads, Three Potato Heads More!

I was all set to write about another of our favorite iPad apps this morning when Quinn and I discovered a new one from the creators of Endless Alphabet, which I wrote about two weeks ago.  Callaway Digital Arts has done it again with their Mr. Potato Create & Play iPad app.  Even though we have just downloaded it, we have already played with it a ton.

Who doesn't love Mr. Potato Head?  I think we can all say that we have spent hours playing with one, either as children, with our children or with the children we work with.  This classic toy is always a part of my therapy supplies at my gym and can work on so many skills.  The toy version of Mr. Potato Head is great for working on bilateral coordination, eye-hand coordination, sequencing and a bunch of other things.  It's great for learning body parts and body awareness.  Plus, the kids love it.

Mr. Potato Head Create & Play app definitely doesn't take the place of the actual toy but for kids who need some motivation to work on some of the more challenging skills mentioned above, this is a great place to start.  There are a lot of things to love about this app.  First of all, it is free.  TOTALLY FREE!  When that happens, I am used to a lame app that you can play with for a little while before feeling like you have to purchase all the costly in-app purchases.  Not this one.  When you download the app, there are only a couple of options that resemble the original Mr. Potato Head but there are dozens of other Mr/Mrs. Potato Heads to download immediately.  Some of the free downloadable options are an alien, ballerina, pirate and cowboy.  Not only that, there are a variety of different scenes that you can choose from to place your completed Mr. Potato Head in.  In those scenes, Mr. Potato Head will do a bunch of different things.  For example, the space alien will fly in the air and lose all of his body parts before landing back on the moon and having them fall right back into place.  There are so many opportunities to interact with the game and work on speech and language skills at the same time.  I have a feeling that my speech and language and special education friends will love this app as much as I do.  


Here are a some more specific occupational therapy goals that can be worked on with Mr. Potato Head Play & Create:

Body Awareness-putting the body parts onto Mr/Mrs. Potato Head will help a child become more familiar with their own bodies.  I will most likely use the iPad app along with a real Mr. Potato Head to add a multi-sensory approach.

Graphomotor Skills-in conjunction with the iPad app and the regular Mr. Potato Head, you can have your child work on drawing the face and body parts onto a blank Mr. Potato Head picture.  This way you can work on handwriting and drawing skills at the same time.

Visual Motor/Visual Tracking-you have to look around the whole screen and find the different body parts and visually track in order to get them into the correct spot on the body.

Number Recognition/Identification-there are a bunch of different scenes you can download for your completed Mr/Mrs. Potato Head to interact with.  On the bottom of that screen, there are 5 choices so you can work on number identification and recognition by asking them to touch a certain number or tell you the number they are going to touch before they do it.

Language Skills/Sequencing-this app is great to use to work on building a child's language skills.  The object of the game/app is simple enough that you can add more expectations by encouraging your child to use their words to tell you what they are doing.  An even bigger challenge, have your child place the pieces in in a certain order.  For example, tell them to start with the top of the head and move down to the feet to work on sequencing.

Social Skills-this app is great for working on encouraging appropriate social skills.  If used in more of a group like setting, you can work on taking turns, asking a friend for help, working together to choose the Potato Head you want to put together, etc..

Updates/Additions-one of the great things I noticed about the app is that you can already tell that there will be updates and additions to the app.  Looks like there will be new characters and scenes to download in the near future.  It will be quite difficult for your child to get bored by this game if they continue to update it.

I already know that this app will end up becoming part of my daily play routine with Quinn and look forward to trying it out at the gym with the kids I work with.  I can already see them lying on their bellies while on the net swing playing this game.  We get to work on building upper extremity strength and head and neck control while they are having fun so it won't seem like so much work!  I love when I can sneak the hard work in without them even realizing it!

I hope that you all enjoy this app and would love to hear your thoughts about it.  I can't say enough about how great the apps are by Callaway Digital Arts and can't wait to see what their next awesome app will be.  As always, I am just a click away if you want to email with any questions or comments.   Have a great weekend!

This Game is Nut-Tastic!

I tend to have a hard time finding board games that are good for younger children.  As an occupational therapist, I am constantly on the hunt for a game that will work towards achieving goals but not be too complicated that they can't be successful without maximum support from a grownup.  When I was putting together my annual holiday toy list this year, I found a great board game that met my sometimes unrealistic expectations:  The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel game.


The goal of the game is quite simple so even your youngest of children can follow the directions.  Each player has a tree stump with five colored holes on it.  Whoever fills the tree stump up with all 5 of the different colored acorns first is the winner.  You may be attacked by a sneaky squirrel who steals one of your acorns or the wind  may blow your acorns off the tree stump and you have to begin again.

There are a lot of things to like about this game but lets just begin with the packaging.  It's a very sturdy box that can withstand the brute force of a wild 3-year old Quinn.  The best part about the box is that it is doubles as part of the game.  Open the box and turn it over and you will see a tree to hold all the acorns.

One of my favorite parts of the game is the adorable squirrel grabbers that you use to pick up the acorns.  The cuteness of this little guy can distract the user (in my case, many children who have grasp strength weakness and poor motor control) that they are working on getting stronger. Talk about sneaky!  Another way to work on strengthening is by using the spinner.  I encourage the kids I am working with to make sure they are only using their pointer and thumb when flicking the spinner.  This sounds easy but can be quite difficult for a child with fine motor delays.

Here are a few more occupational therapy goals that can be focused on when playing this game.

Matching-you can work on matching skills as you put the little acorns into the tree trunk.  Make sure that your kids are putting the acorns in the correct color hole.  If they aren't, stop the game until they do.

Color Recognition-this game is a great way to begin introducing young ones to some of the basic colors.  For those kids who know their colors already, this game is great for generalizing the skill in different mediums.

Social skills-it is never too early to begin teaching your child the social skills that are involved in game playing.  Turn taking, not cheating, cheering a friend on when they win, not bragging and not being a sore loser are a few of the social skills that can be focused on when playing this game.  Personally, I think it is very important that a child learns how to be a good loser.  Nobody wants to play games with a child who must always win or gets upset when they lose.

Visual tracking and visual motor skills-you can work on these skills in many different ways when playing this game.  For example, a child has to scan the "tree" with all the acorns to find the color that they spun.  They use visual motor skills when they take the acorn out of the "tree" with their squirrel grabbers and bring it into the correct hole in their tree-stump.

Focus/attention-playing games is a great way to increase a child's attention span and ability to focus.  It is important to encourage a child to to finish the game they are playing, even if they are having a hard time.  If you know your child has a hard time completing games, you may start the game by having them only have to put 3 acorns in and build up to them being able to play by putting all 5 acorns in.  As a child's attention and focus improve, you may want to add more distractions in their environment, such as music since this will eventually happen to them as they get older and are in school.

One of the best things about this game is that my husband and I have fun playing it with Quinn, which rarely happens with her games.  I also know that my 4 1/2 year old and 7 1/2 year old nieces love playing The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel game as well.  I love when I can find a game that is meant for typically developing children and can incorporate tons of occupational therapy goals.  While I may have talked about the therapeutic benefits of this game, it is a game that is intended for all children and not just those who may struggle with any of the things mentioned above.

If you are looking for this game, ask your local toy stores if they carry it or can order it for you.  I got mine at Barnes and Noble but try and shop small business before the big box guys if possible.   I want to see these hardworking and dedicated shop owners survive and do my part to ensure that.

I hope you and your sneaky ones enjoy this game as much as we are.  I am excited to try out some of Educational Insights other toys and products.  This is a company that is really invested in making really good games that will teach your child something new.  Do any of you readers have a favorite Educational Insights game I should get for Quinn's upcoming 3rd birthday?   I would love to hear from any of you with with your questions or comments.  I am just a click away and always happy to hear from you.

EZ as 1, 2, 3

This is mainly a toy blog, but as an occupational therapist, I spend a lot of time helping children in becoming more independent.  Not only in play, but in their self-care skills.  Children who are able to independently get dressed will be more confident and become less reliant on grownups to do things for them.  As a parent, I love that my almost 3 year old daughter insists on dressing and undressing herself. Things may be on backwards and her legs may end up in the wrong holes in her underpants, but she is proud of herself.

A couple of years ago, I read about EZ Sox and began to tell everyone I know who has children about them.  They are not only adorable, but they are brilliantly designed.  They are a pair of cotton socks that have two loops on the top.  A child can easily grab onto them and stretch the sock to get them over their toes.  There are a variety of patterns, but I love the animal prints because it gives children a clear visual as to where the top and the bottom are.  I also think that

The first thing a child has to do when they come to my gym is to take off their shoes and socks.  Since many of them have a goal of being able to independently remove them, this is a great opportunity to work on it every time they come visit me.  In the last couple of years, when I see a child struggling with socks, which is quite often, I share EZ Sox with them and they are always so happy with them.  For many of my children who have decreased grasp strength, just putting socks on can be very challenging and frustrating.  Not only are these socks cute, they are stretchy enough that children with fine motor difficulties can quickly get the hang of them.  And when a child is able to master putting their socks on without help, they are often more eager to start working on the more difficult dressing/undressing skills like buttons, snaps and zippers.

These socks are not just for children who have fine motor difficulties.  They are great for toddlers who are just beginning to learn how to dress and undress themselves.  My 7 year old niece still uses them just because they are so cute!

If you have any questions about this or anything else, remember I am just an email away.