I got some craft sticks which are the size of popsicle sticks and we colored them with permanent markers.  I had the kids make several so that if they got lost, they would still have one.  Maybe we can get all of the kids to want one too.

It really makes the writing more legible when the spaces are there.  Now to get the kids to use them.

Materials:

• popsicle sticks
• markers

DIY Lycra Swing

• Next, here is a simple way to promote the use of the more affected arm in a child with hemiplegia. Abby from Notes from a pediatric occupational therapist,  simply uses a safety pin to hold the unaffected arm close to the body. Check out her post about using a safety pin. 

• Next, we have 10 Fun Ways to Use Straws from Embrace Your Chaos.

Straws are a household object that can have many uses for developing motor and sensory skills.  Go check out the top ten ways to use them in therapy.

• And finally we have Dots and Numbers from Autism and More by Ashley.

Help your child develop number concept. This activity is great for a child with autism because it is short and structured.  She has some cards to print out with numbers and dots on them to match.

When writing, all the letters have to touch the dirt, and the baby/small letters need to go up to the bottom of the lava line.  The tail letters can go below the dirt safely, and the tall letters can go above the lava safely.  Then if the letters that aren’t supposed to go below the dirt go down there, they get attacked by the worms.  If the letters that aren’t supposed to be tall go above the lava line, they get burned by the lava.  No letters are supposed to go in the sky, so they will get attacked by the bees.  You have to erase the letters that get attacked and do them again and keep them safe.

There are three sizes to the paper, a kindergarten size, medium ruled, and skinny ruled.

The Lava paper makes it fun to try to get the letters perfect so that they don’t get burned, eaten, or stung.  You have to be careful that it is not too fun because then the kids start making mistakes on purpose just so the worms will eat them.

Materials:

• Lava Paper
• Pencil

Skills:

• Fine Motor
• handwriting

It looks pretty cool for kids who have the control to hit the different areas of the ipad.  The switch interface is not cheap, but there aren’t any cheep ones that I know of.  The app is free and included.

I made the frog picture in photoshop, and then cut him in half.  I then used a low temp glue gun and glued the separate halves onto the clothespin.  I then glued a piece of pipe cleaner along the edges of the part that opens to give it stability.  I will probably make another one and laminate it before I glue it together so that it will be stronger and last longer.

I also wanted to have a receptacle inside of the frog so that the kids could feed it and the “food” would have a place to go.  I tried gluing a silicone baking cup inside, but it wouldn’t stick, so I made a little holder inside using pipe cleaner and felt.

I made a circle out of the pipe cleaner, and then cut a circle of felt larger than the pipe cleaner circle.  I cut notches around the edge of the felt, and put it inside of the pipe cleaner circle.  Then I folded the edges of the felt over the outside of the pipe cleaner and glued them down with the low temp glue gun.  Once that was done, I glued it inside the frog just under the clothespin.  It worked exactly how I had hoped.

Great bimanual hand strengthening by having to open the frog’s mouth by pinching the clothespin and feeding him the flies with the other hand.

Here is the pdf file for you to print of the froggy.

Materials:

• Frog printable
• clothespin
• glue
• pipe cleaner
• felt

Skills:

• fine motor
• finger strength
• bimanual

from Your Therapy Source – www.YourTherapySource.com by Your Therapy Source Inc

Your Therapy Source posted an activity that came from an idea on Pinterest about changing up puzzles.  Basically, using any picture or text that you would like, you can create a twisting puzzle.  Go visit them to see how to do it.

How to make an adapted crayon

from Notes from a Pediatric Occupational Therapist by Abby

Abby showed how she adapted a crayon for a student with a poor grasp.  Go check it out.

Making a Torn Paper Owl – ‘Whooo’ Can Benefit

from Starfish Therapies by Starfish Therapies

Starfish Therapies posted about making an owl out of torn paper.  Go check out the post.

10 Fun Ways to Use Cotton Balls

from Embrace Your Chaos by dmoore

Embrace You Chaos posted about the ways to work on fine motor skills and 10 ways to use cotton balls.  A cotton ball is a great household item that can be used in many ways to entertain kids, while also working those little muscles in the hand, providing great sensory input, and challenging their creativity and motor planning skills.  Go check out the full post.

I started the blog for a couple of reasons, one was to find a connection with other therapists, even if it was virtual.  The other was to help and reach people that may not have direct access to a therapist.

I feel like I have achieved these goals and more.  Blogging about activities has given me new enthusiasm for work.  Everyone gets a little burned out with work once in a while, and there are times where I ask myself if I am really making a difference.  I can often get that reassurance through therapy sessions, but sometimes it is more elusive.  Writing out activities has made me want to continue coming up with new and interesting things.  I don’t get stuck in a rut as much with doing the same activity over and over.  No one wants me to blog about the same thing over and over.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t do new things every time, but I am definitely always thinking about how to change things up.

My hope for this blog is that it stimulates creativity in those reading it as it has stimulated the creativity in me while writing it.

How has your creativity been stimulated lately?

Finding money hidden in the theraputty

In this activity I had two different colors of silicone muffin cups, and the same colors of pom poms.  Instead of just sorting the colors, You have to pick up a hand full of pom poms, and place the right color in the right cup.  To give a challenge, you tell the student which color to do next so that they are not just putting the next easiest one in. 

Simple materials can be used in so many ways.  If you don’t have colored muffin cups, you could just draw different colors of circles on a piece of paper to delineate the space that the pom poms are supposed to be placed in. 

Materials:

• colored pom poms
• colored muffin cups, or a colored circle on paper

Skills:

• in-hand manipulation
• fine motor

Here are four articles that caught my eye this week.  I wish I could share more, but I do on my facebook page.  This is only a little snippet of each article, so you need to head on over to their sites to read the whole thing. 

Adapted Paper for Math

from Notes from a Pediatric Occupational Therapist by Abby

Difficulty aligning numbers when completing math assignments is one of the most common handwriting related problems I see when working in the schools. Today I’d like to share some adaptations that I’ve used successfully with students.
I found a great website that allows you to make your own graph paper for free! It definitely takes some playing around with the dimensions to get the squares the size you want, but it is worth it in the end. I’ve created small, medium, and large graph paper.

Go visit Notes from a Pediatric Occupational Therapist to read all of the information >>>>>

OT iTool Kit Tip and Trick #2 – Taking and Using Screen Shots on Your iDevice

from OT’s with Apps by Carol Leynse Harpold, MS, AdEd, OTR/L, ATP

This Tip and Trick #2 – Taking and using screen shots on your iDevice was prompted by a question from Fiona about how to take a screen shot. This is a tip and trick that is so useful I thought I would post it in the case users are unfamiliar with this feature.  Here is how you take a screen shot on your iPad or iPod:

Go Visit OT’s with Apps to get the full tutorial >>>>>

Tummy Time – Its a Ball!

from Starfish Therapies by Starfish Therapies

Ok, I am a big proponent of tummy time and I have discussed why I think its important in Tummy Time: The Cornerstone of Movement and Tummy Time: What’s the Big Deal.  I have also provided suggestions for ways to incorporate this in Strategies for Tummy Time.  I now have a new approach!  I am beginning to work on a video series for a set of ‘How To’s’ for parents who are looking for ways to help their kiddos work on their motor skills and milestones.  The first video is for tummy time and shows how to use a therapy ball to help your kiddo work on tummy time.

Go visit Starfish Therapies to read all about it>>>>>

DIY Weighted Lap Bag

from Starfish Therapies by Starfish Therapies

I have a feeling I’ll be posting more things from now on that the OT’s I work with come up with because they get to do make all the fun things!  Also they like to tell me about the things they make and/or do so that I can write about them.  This is a project that was started a year ago, got lost in piles along the way, and rediscovered and completed this past weekend.

Many kids do better when they get the sensory input provided by a weighted object.  Often this can look like a weighted vest or a weighted blanket.  An easy way to make your own is to buy a stuffingless toy for a dog and take the squeaker out (or a stuffed one and take the stuffing and squeaker out).  Then fill it with aquarium rocks, beans, rice, etc to provide the weight.  Sew up the end and voila you have your own sensory tool.

Go visit Starfish Therapies to read the whole article >>>>>