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 >>>>>

I adjusted all of the games so that the writing is a little higher so you can place the hot glue line lower in the box. This game is one that I “borrowed” from Karen at (B)e(LO)n(G) OT, and has a path of letters. I just call it the letter game. You roll the dice and move your clothespin the requisite number of spaces. Then depending on the kid(s), I have them either write the letter, write a word that starts with the letter, or write a sentence that has a main word in it that starts with the letter. This week I had some kids try to write the biggest word they could think of that started with the letter they landed on. At the end of the session, we counted up the number of letters that each student had used, and the one with the most letters won a prize. Talk about motivation.

To Make the board:

You need to print out one of the clothes pin games. The free printables are the blank game board to play 4 in a row pdf, the letter game pdf, or the dreidel game pdf. You print out the 4 pages of each game board and then trim them and tape them together to make the full size 12×12 game board. They are made in this size because when I made them smaller, it was visually confusing when the clothespins were on the board. It was hard to tell which square you were on and they were all scrunched up together. The bigger size is much easier to play.

Once you have your game board completed (I usually tape it to a piece of scrapbook cardstock too), Then you slide it into a 12×12 size scrapbook sheet protector. You want to have the extra plastic that is used to put the sheet protector into an album at the top. The opening can be on the right or left (I am right handed and find it easier inserting the boards when the opening is on the right). Then you can put a strip of hot glue in the lower section of each row. It should be above the line, but in the lower area. Once the first layer of hot glue has cooled, you can place another layer. It takes 3-4 layers to get it tall enough for the clothespins to clip onto.

The layers of glue can be sticky when the clothespins are put on them. I put some mod podge over the glue layers, and it made it smooth and almost too shiny. Then I put on one more layer of glue because it needed it. There are more games that I made which I am selling as a digital download.  They are Ice Cream Sorry, checkers and chess, Slides and Ladders, 1st and 2nd grade sight word matching, shape and color bingo.

Materials:

• Scrapbook page protectors (size 12×12)
• Hot glue gun
• Clothespin games downloads (see above)
• Dice

Skills:

• Hand and finger strengthening
• Turn taking
• Motor planning

OT iTool Kit Tip and Trick #1 – Creating a Visual Schedule (Sequence) in your iPad Photo Album

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

They demonstrated at a training how they have been creating Albums to show sequences of tasks or events, scheduled tasks (yes, just like using a visual schedule) for students using photos taken on the student iPads with iOS 5.  Although we have some  First Then apps on some of the iPad, not all of the devices were provided the app. But being the mother of necessity they created their own way of producing a visual sequence of photos for their students.

How did they do that?? Clever, but easy…

In your Photos icon using iOS5, you have the availability of viewing pictures in Photos or Albums. Select or tap on Albums.

Click over to read the rest…..

How to make a weighted glove

from Notes from a Pediatric Occupational Therapist by Abby

Despite my mom’s best intentions and efforts, I do not know how to sew. I came up with a no-sew way to make a weighted glove. The glove I used was too large for the student I had in mind, so it didn’t work out as well as I had hoped, but I thought I’d share it anyway.
The idea behind a weighted glove is similar to a weighted pencil. A weighted glove can provide additional sensory input to the hand for children who need the extra input to be more aware of the position of their hand. I don’t often use weighted gloves because they are expensive and lack research to support their use, but every now and then I get a challenging student that I’m willing to try just about anything.
What you’ll need:

• velcro
• some washers
• a mitten/glove (I found these at Target. I love that it has a button to hold the flap part back and what little boy doesn’t want a Lightning McQueen glove?)

Click over to read the rest…..

Marble Painting – More Than Just a Cool Piece of Art

from Starfish Therapies by Starfish Therapies

Ever since I discovered Pinterest I have been bombarding my OT’s at work with ideas that look really fun and purposeful.  The idea I was the most excited about was the marble painting from Play Based Learning, so when one of the OT’s decided to try out this activity for a kiddo to encourage bilateral hand use because he doesn’t like to use 2 hands I was so excited to hear about it and see the final result!  Luckily it was a success as you can see from his finished art work.  And, even better the OT was able to realize other great skills this activity provided the opportunity to practice.  I thought I would share them:

Click over to read the rest…

I made this huge road map on a new fabric shower curtain that I had lying around (don’t ask why I had a bunch of fabric shower curtains – that was another project). I made the roads out of black duct tape, put pieces of blue duct tape beside the roads to represent houses, and used some white duct tape to write the names of the roads and the numbers of the houses onto. I wasn’t sure when I started whether the duct tape would stick well enough, but I can now officially say that it does. It stays on the fabric very well, and I have folded and unfolded it many times with it staying well stuck in place. I am sure that I can’t wash it though.

The game we play is having the kids be a pizza delivery person, and they have to deliver the pizza to the right house. I write out directions to get to one of the houses, and the kids then have to read and follow the directions. The directions are simply right on Shell St., Left on Hill St., etc.

This was a challenge for most of the kids that I was working with, and it helped them work on right and left, following directions, and reading the directions. After I wrote the directions, I had the kids write out directions for me to follow. This task was even harder than following directions. It was very difficult for them to write the street in the order that was needed to follow rather than just jumping ahead to the end.

I will be doing this activity many times this year as it will take the kids a while to really incorporate all of the concepts into the task.

Materials:

• Large piece of fabric
• Duct tape (black, white, colored)
• Pen

Skills:

• Direction following
• Sequencing
• Writing
• Reading
• Right / left directionality

To make the clothespin game board, you will need a stiff material. I used coroplast ( White Corrugated Plastic ), which is an awesome material to work with. It can be made out of foam core as well, although the foam core is not quite as sturdy and long lasting as the coroplast.

You will also need a retractable X-acto knife, or other craft knife, a hot glue gun, a long ruler for cutting, and a cutting mat so you don’t ruin the table when cutting with the knife.

Some of the cuts require that you only cut part way through the material, which is why a retractable blade is useful.

I was able to get my coroplast at a plastic store (yes, they just sell plastic supplies), but you can get it from sign shops and on the internet. The base needs to be 14 ½ inches square, so the sheet of material has to be larger than that.

The first thing you need to do is cut your material to 14 ½ inches square. Then you have to cut half-way through the material at 1 inch in from the edge on all sides. Then on alternating corners, you need to cut all the way through the material so that it can fold all of the way up.

You can then fold up the sides and glue them or duct tape them into place to form the bottom of a box.

The next part that needs to be cut is the inside rungs for the clothespins. When I cut them, I cut a piece 14 ½ inches wide, and then cut half way through at 1 inch in from the end on the two opposite sides.

You then need to cut into half inch strips so that each strip has the scoring on each end. You need to cut 10 strips.

To glue the rungs on, you bend the ends at the scored lines, and squeeze some hot glue to the ends. I place mine so the flaps are facing toward the top of the box. Then you position the rung so that its edge is level with the box top, and the rung goes across the middle of the spaces of the game board below.

Make sure the rung is at the top, and not resting down on the game board since the games need to slide in and out.

On the box base, you need to pick one side, and cut through at about 3/8ths of an inch from the bottom so that the side will open out. This end will be the top, and you will slide the game boards in here. Once the box base and rungs are ready, you can put one of the game boards in (the 12×12 size inside a clear page protector), to use as a guide for the spacing when gluing the rungs on.

The Game Boards

To put together the game boards, you can do 1 of 2 things. You can print out the 12 x 12 inch picture file at Costco or another photo processing place where they will print in that size. If you want to print it on your home printer (which is what I did), you print out the 4 regular 8.5 x 11 inch pdf pages. Then you cut them and tape them together to make the larger board. I then taped the finished board onto a piece of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper with double stick tape, and slipped it into a 12 x 12 inch scrapbook page protector.

Using the page protector makes it easy to slide the game boards in and out, and I can place two games in back to back.

I have made 11 games for the clothespin board so far, and they really are great for working on those fine motor skills and finger strengthening, while having a fun and motivating activity at the same time. The games that I have made are:

• Slides and Ladders
• Shape and Color matching
• Ice Cream Sorry game
• Four in a Row  (free printable)
• Checkers or Chess
• The Dreidel game  (free printable)
• The Letter Game  (free printable)
• Shape matching
• Color matching
• First grade sight words matching
• Second grade sight words matching

To go with them, there are chess pieces to velcro onto the clothespins, and colors and shapes to put on the clothespins for matching, and the first and second grade sight words.

The games can be used without the clothespin board by using small game pieces to move around the board. You can use pom poms, erasers, or small toys. Pom poms make good game pieces because you can still incorporate the clothespins by picking the pom poms up with the clothespins while playing the game.

Materials:

For the Game Board

• Sturdy material (coroplast, foam core)
• Sharp xacto knife
• Hot glue gun
• Duct tape (optional)
• Cutting mat
• Strait long ruler
• Game boards
• Scissors, tape,
• 12 x 12 inch scrapbook page protectors
• 12 x 12 inch scrapbook paper or cardstock

To Play the Games:

• Game boards
• colored clothespins
• may need velcro
• dice

Skills:

• Fine motor
• Finger strengthening
• Hand strengthening
• Motor planning
• Visual perceptual

Meet flat potato head. I made some potato head parts on the computer and printed them out on magnet paper. Copying a facial pattern can be more natural than copying shapes patterns. I have some other magnetic shape patterns that I made last year.

Here is the potato head parts pdf to print out if you would like to play with the flat potato head too.  You could also just print out the parts and have students cut them out and glue them together to make a potato head.

Materials:

• Potato head printable
• Magnet paper (optional)

Skills:

• Fine motor
• Visual perceptual

These Connecta Straws are great for working on fine motor skills, and they use a lot of 3 dimensional visual perception. You can cut some of the straws shorter so that you have the sizes you need for what you want to make.

There are designs included to copy, or you can make a design for the student to copy. We made some letters and worked on a helicopter. It can be difficult, but is rewarding because the shapes look very cool when done.

These are great for working on fine motor skills as you have to place the pieces into the straws.  They are a visual perceptual challenge because you have to visually figure out how to get the connectors into the hole, and what pieces need to go where in order to make the object that you are making.

Materials:

• Connecta Straws

Skills:

• Fine Motor
• Visual Perceptual
• Bimanual skills