A fine motor favorite that goes for miles!

I can’t take credit for this activity as I got the idea while visiting Forest Hill Playschool.  The teacher in the class used Cheerios to place on the skewers, which is an excellent activity for working on pincer skills, as well as eye-hand coordination.  I always worry about allergies and wanted to be able to use it with a number of children, so I substituted the cereal pieces for plastic rings.  To make it more difficult, we added paperclips. The paperclips worked nicely, because my wooden sticks weren’t exactly skewers, but were more like tall, skinny Popsicle sticks.  Therefore, the children had to turn the paperclips just so, to get them to fit the end of the stick. The funniest thing was how long the children attended to this activity.  Once they finished a stick with one color of clay on the bottom, they wanted to try another one with a different colored ball of clay at the bottom. 

Michelle Yoder, OTR/L

Marshmallows aren't just for S'Mores! Create a sensory bin right from your pantry!

Marshmallows, flour, coconut shreds and plastic non-frozen ice cubes provided several different “feels”.  At first, the marshmallows were dry and spongy.  After some poking and squeezing, they got sort of sticky.  They loved poking their fingers through the ends of the marshmallows! 

Exploration of the marshmallows provided nice hand strength, too, as they kids squished them into balls.  Sifting the flour between their fingers was calming, and promoted quiet time. 

The children enjoyed searching for the colored cubes among the marshmallows as they sort of felt the same, being somewhat squishy and the same shape. Some of the children enjoyed sorting the cubes by color, while others were challenged to build structures from the model.  

The coconut shreds sort of got lost in the mix, but did provide a nice olfactory component, as they provided a pleasant smell.  Some of the children said it smelled like “sun lotion”.  I took the bin home after school and my seven year old had just as much fun!  

Create your very own fall sensory bin that kids will love!

It's back to school time for me, too!  That means I'll be making a sensory bin each week to take to my schools!

The first one of the year had a fall theme.  Since some of the children are new to me and to OT, I kept it dry this week, as usually that is easier to handle.
Under the piles of various colored leaves, I hid all sorts of fall colored and themed objects:  apples, oranges, acorns, leaves, and pom-poms. The children sorted them by color into the sorting tray.
Once they got the hang of that, we moved on to finding two objects at a time; first find a green one, then a red one. Finally, we counted all of the "treasures" they found.

Even though it's dry, touching the various textures can still be challenging for some children.  If they're initially resistive to exploring, give them tools to use, then work to using their hands. You can give them salad tongs, tweezers, science tongs, spoons, etc. to scoop out the "treasures".

Add another component by having the children go on a leaf hunt to find their own real leaves for the bin.  That will give it a whole different feel with crisp, crunchy leaves!  Some may even crumble in their hands, adding another tactile component!

While sensory bins tend to be tactile in nature, bring in all of the senses when you can!  Promote heavy work and motor planning by having them perform animal walks or climb trees to get to the leaves.  Even raking is fun for them! I was at my son's school for gardening day and raking was the favorite "job" of the day! Have them rake the leaves into big piles and jump into them! Consider the smell, too! Pine needles and pine cones could add a nice touch to this fall themed bin!

Happy Fall Ya'll and stay tuned for more tactile "finger fun"!

Michelle Yoder, OTR/L

Because we know that you're on the go!

I made this simple activity as homework for one of my little guys.  He happened to be working on his diagonal lines.  That week we focused on the letter x.  

His mom brought it back the next week and said I should share it with all of you.  She carried it around in her diaper bag (she has a newborn too!) and by the next week forming diagonals was simple as pie for him!

All you need is a paper bag, red, green and black markers, Wikki Stix and some wooden craft sticks or popsicle sticks.

Make a green line at the top to indicate where he should start.   Measure the length of a Wikki Stick at a diagonal and then add the red line so that he has the baseline boundary.

I like to use  different colored Wikki Stix just to aide in the visual discrimination of the two lines.
We worked from corner to corner and corner to corner.
We did "Rainbow writing" with many different colors of Wikki Stix and formed the X over and over again.

To add another kinesthetic property, we also used wooden craft sticks.
On the opposite side of the bag, I provided the same green and red lines as top and bottom boundaries (this will carry over to the Fundanoodle method once we take it to paper).
Because the sticks are shorter, I provided black, vertical boundaries on the sides.
Again, we worked from corner to corner and corner to corner!


After he masters X's, move on to letters like V, M and N! All you need are a few more sticks!

Michelle Yoder, OTR/L

This is what happens when two OTs go out to dinner...

We all get bored waiting for dinner, right?!

 Use the napkins and make some origami! Have your child copy your design and then see what she can come up with on her own!

Take a look around the table and use a variety of media! Sugar packets make nice details on a house.

Origami has several benefits:

• Motor Planning
• Sequencing
• Eye-hand coordination
• Attention to detail
• Spatial-temporal skills
• Bilateral motor coordination
• Fine Motor Coordination and dexterity
• Problem-solving
• Creativity

Who can make the prettiest bouquet?

This is just like the dog that we use to test children with Lucy Jane Miller's Miller Function and Participation Scales (M-Fun)

This is our attempt at duplicating the fish on the M-Fun!

Stop the food fights and try origami, instead!
Do you have any interesting strategies to occupy the kids at restaurants?

Michelle Yoder, OTR/L

Five Favorite Fidgets for Back to School Success

Magic Loops

Fidgets are great for kids and grown-ups to keep our hands busy and foster attention and concentration.  My office manager uses a variety of fidgets at her desk to sustain focus at the computer or while she is on those long phone calls with insurance companies.  The kids love walking by her desk to see her latest strategy. 

Tangle Jr.

For school, silent fidgets are important so that other students are not distracted.  Fidgets can be used at the desk during instructional periods or when students have to quietly sit still at circle time.  They can be a great strategy to sustain attention for homework, too.

Boink

I love when I walk into a classroom and see a bin of fidgets that the students have access to when they feel the need to fidget.  Or, some children like to store their fidgets in a pencil box in their desk.  Talk to your students about what might work best for them. Encourage all students to use the fidgets, but be sure to set expectations and rules for fidgets.

Fidget Pencils

My five favorite (silent) fidgets are:

1.    The Fidget Pencil

2.    Tangle Jr.

3.    Boink

4.    Inside Out Ball

5.    Magic Loops

Inside Out Ball

Flower Power!

About 17 years ago, when I worked for Easter Seals, I treated a girl named Jennifer who had Rett Syndrome.  I loved working with Jen. She had the best smile and awesome thick hair.  Her family was wonderful, too.  When I left to open up Touchstone, I lost touch with Jen and her family, but I think of her often.

Today, while getting a coffee, I found a stack of bookmarks sitting at the counter near the cashier.  The cute flowers, bright colors and the word believe caught my attention. "Believe in the power to cure Rett Syndrome" it said.  I flipped it over to see RettGardenofHope.org; growing hope for girls with Rett Syndrome. Once again, I was reminded of Jen and the hope her family had for her.

So, what is the Garden of Hope? I know that you've seen the puzzle pieces for Autism awareness and the shamrocks for MDA.  Well, this is the same thing, but with flowers for Girl Power! (Rett Syndrome is a genetic, neurological disorder that affects mostly girls.) You can start your own Garden of Hope at your church or school to help find a cure for Rett Syndrome!  Go to gp2c.org to find out how you can help raise awareness and support research for Rett Syndrome.  They have already discovered that re-introducing a protein that the brain needs may help reverse the symptoms!  So, put on your gardening gloves and sew some seeds!

Tell me about your Garden of Hope or how your girl power has helped a child!

Michelle Yoder, OTR/L