OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Today we’re making a shape collage! We’ve called this “Roll a Shape”:). To play you’ll need dice and a piece of paper with shapes assigned to the numbers. After that, you’ll need a piece of paper, a pencil, and markers or crayons. Coming up with Telehealth plans can be tough because everyone has different things, but these are things that most people should have. If you don’t have regular dice, I’m sure you can borrow from a game and if the dice just has colors you can assign shapes to the different colors!

Once you have all the materials needed you can start rolling and drawing:). This is a great activity for your Kindergartners and First Graders. The more shapes you add, and the more overlapping you do, the better the picture so enjoy working on those fine motor skills:)

Pro-Tip: to incorporate more bilateral work, make sure your child uses two hands together to shake up the dice and make sure they’re using their helper hand to hold the paper as they draw!

Stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Today we’ve made an “I Spy” game using dried rice, a plastic bag, and small items laying around the house:).

This activity can be used to achieve a number of OT related goals. First, you’re using your eyes to scan and look around the bag to find the items you need. This helps strength those tiny muscles around your eyes to help skills like reading and writing.

Second, this is a great activity to get out after big movement play around the house or outside. This will help calm your child so they can transition to the next activity like school work or a meal. If your child is having a difficult day, visual input can be very calming and regulating and this may help during those times.

To play, you can have the child call out what they see (Pro-tip! If you have an older kiddo, they can write down what they see) or you can have the items written down and the child has to find them in order and check them off.

Bag ideas!

1. if you have letters/numbers, throw them in and have your child practice writing the letters or numbers they find!

2. hide animals!

3. hide cars!

4. hide legos!

Stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

For this activity all you need are some toothpicks and play dough. For the super challenge you’ll also need a ruler or a tape measure.

This is a great activity that works on visual motor skills, fine motor manipulation, hand strength, and executive function skills. This is an activity I’ve been doing with my older Telehealth kiddos (Kindergarten and up) with a lot of success. It’s fun and challenging and the kiddos don’t even realize all the great skills they’re honing in on.

You can use the pictures I created or you can create your own. By having the child copy your design, they’re working on their visual motor skills, a skill necessary in writing. Using the play dough and toothpicks is a great way to build fine motor manipulation and hand strength. The super challenge is a great way to tap into those executive functioning skills and have your child come up with and execute the building of a tower that will hopefully win!

There you go, you too can have some OT FUN with play dough and toothpicks. Stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

So if you’re like me and don’t have fancy kid tongs at your house (like with most of my OT materials, I did not think to grab them before I left the office to hunker down at home-cue eye roll), or are nervous about ordering things from Amazon right now, fear not! You most likely have wonderful tools that can elicit some pretty fantastic fine motor skills! Here’s a bit about how we might use what we have pictured!

1. Chop sticks! If you have these lying around then you have a pretty fantastic fine motor activity. You can use the chop sticks to pick up small pieces to a game, cotton balls, pom poms, or balls of play dough-BONUS-you can make “food” out of play dough with which you can use the chop sticks. Chop sticks will elicit those fine motor manipulation skills and some pretty nice finger isolation as well. This will help your child when it comes to manipulating a pencil and writing. Improving hand strength leads to less fatigue when writing so add the play dough in whenever you can!

2. Cooking tongs! These are great for building hand strength. Much like with the chop sticks you can add them to any game with small pieces. If you have a sensory bin (sensory bins full of cotton balls, pom poms, sticks/rocks/leaves, dried pasta would work best just because they’re bigger and easier to grab) you can add these, plus everything else pictured, to manipulate the small items:).

3. Forks and spoons! If you’re working on using a fork and/or spoon at mealtimes, why not bring it out to practice with during play? You can add forks and spoons to any sensory bin or you can use play dough and make pretend food that they get to pretend to eat! Trying to learn to use utensils during play takes a lot of the stress away from trying to learn at mealtime. I’m a big believer that children will do well if they can so if they’re not using the utensil at mealtime, it’s probably because it’s hard for them. Take all that pressure off and teach during play! As your child becomes more comfortable with them I bet you will naturally see them start to use the fork and/or spoon.

4. Spoons! If you’re looking to work on upper body stability and control, you can always put cotton balls on the spoon and have relay races, much like you might with an egg. If you don’t have cones for relay markers at your house you can flip mixing bowls upside down and use them instead!

Stay say and healthy and enjoy!

***If you’re looking to purchase some tongs during this extended hiatus from outside life, my favorites are Jumbo Tweezers and Handy Scoopers, both can be found on Amazon!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Today we’re turning a family dinner into an OT’s dream:). For many of us, we’re stuck in the monotony of life and what better way to mix things up than to have a fun family dinner (even if you’re just serving up leftovers and/or delivery, because we’re all just doing our best to survive). You can gear this activity towards your child’s needs no matter how old they are, here are a few ways that you can achieve OT goals while prepping and getting ready for a family dinner!

1. Setting the table! This is a great time to bust out those cloth napkins and work on those visual motor skills. Visual motor integration (visual motor skills) involves effective, efficient communication between the eyes and the hands, so that you are able to copy, draw or write what you see. This is so important when it comes to writing and a great way to practice would be to fold napkins! You can fold one and have your child copy you and then switch, they fold and you have to copy them:).

2. Name cards and/or menus! This is a great way to work on handwriting. For the name tags you can also work on folding paper so that the name cards stand up like a tent:). For the menu I might suggest having your child write one and then photocopy if you can, if not, one is good enough to share and you can prop it up somewhere on the table so everyone can see!

3. Following a recipe! This is a great way to work on fine motor skills (measuring, dumping, stirring, pouring, etc.), reading, and sequencing skills. Ask your child if there is something that they would like to cook/order/reheat and then promote them to Head Chef and you can “assist”, this might be very motivating for them.

4. Utensils! This could also be a great time to work on your child’s ability to use a spoon, fork, or knife. My advice is always model first and encourage but not mandate. For example, if your child has a more difficult time using a fork, start out slow, ask them to take just one bite using their fork and then they can go back to using their hands/spoons/preferred way of eating. Once they feel more comfortable with one bite increase the expectations. Always applaud and cheer on, positive reinforcement can go a long way.

5. Cleaning up! You can work on following multiple step directions with set up and clean up. For example, “Hunny can you put this cup by the sink and then throw this napkin away?” That’s a functional and perfect 2 step direction. Feel free to bump it down to one step or up to three!

Stay safe and healthy out there and I hope you enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Today we’re working on writing letters WITHOUT paper and pencil. Look, there’s a lot going on and if your child is giving push back when it comes to using paper and pencil then don’t, save yourself and your child from anymore torture! There are other ways to work on letter writing:).

Other Writing Ideas:

1. writing in dried rice or pasta or dried beans

2. making letters out of play dough

3. building letters using household items (legos, throw pillows, wine corks—I mean we all have more of those these days, right?!)

4. building letters with snacks-make an A out of apples, or S out of strawberries!

5. tear paper (using regular paper, magazines, newspapers, etc.) and build letters with the paper tearings, you can even glue it down and make letter collages

When using these other ideas just make sure that you’re talking about how to make the letters as you’re doing it. For example, with the rice and cookie sheet, I started at the top and “made a big line down, jumped back to the top and made another big line down and then used a small line in the middle”. As long as the terminology remains the same (I use Handwriting Without Tears, but feel free to use whatever terminology your child does at their school), this is just as effective as using paper and pencil.

Stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

This is the letter “A” on a Post-it on my wall. Why is there a letter “A” on a Post-it on my wall? Well for one, my painter’s tape and construction paper are all at the office (apparently I decided neither was important to grab before hunkering down at home-cue eye roll), second, it’s because we’re going on a letter hunt! If you have a child who is working on letter identification or letter writing then this activity is “write” (haha-get it?) up your alley!

To play all you need to do is hide letters all over your house. You can use Post-its, you can use construction paper and painter’s tape, you can also use magnetic letters and tape them around the house, you can use whatever you have! Not only will your child be working on letter identification and/or letter writing, but they will be moving as well, something we can all use a little more of these days.

Once the letters are hidden, you can tell your child which letter to find or they can identify letters as they find them. As you find them, you can write them! If your child is resistant to pencil and paper, that’s OK! Grab a cookie sheet and throw some dried rice or pasta or beans in it and they can use their finger to make the letter in the dried food on the cookie tray! There is a visual of what this can look like on another “OT FUN at Home” post should you need it:).

Pro-Tip! If your child is working on site words or spelling words, they can easily be substituted for the letters.

Stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Today in “OT FUN at Home” we’re working on our handwriting by doing a few Mad Libs! Mad Libs are a great way to make writing fun. I’ve looked online and found a few links to websites that have printable Mad Libs, including one that has a Mad Lib fortune teller (brings me back to my childhood!)-check out the first site for this gem:).

Stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

http://www.madlibs.com

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/239253798929951085/?nic_v1=1ake8SxixBWZhcE1w4KP5Sq59cCdJZPyJ%2BwsNpXvchJN3g2IZwbB6eks3sVz%2FiQKmd

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/173247916901069629/?nic_v1=1aUD7aGkn3s9e1IFKWwPRwt1YyHK%2FhcVxcgH9WiZkdM9Ec9hUOLFn%2Bk50%2BssCwc%2F%2Fv

https://www.kittybabylove.com/birthday-mad-libs/

https://www.freehomeschooldeals.com/free-fall-fall-mad-libs-for-kids/

https://www.woojr.com/mad-libs-worksheets/school-mad-libs-recess/

https://www.woojr.com/mothers-day-mad-libs/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/26247610306090980/?nic_v1=1ae%2F69EestufKRUDnThjRGRXRcNQGVQJWBN8nE3T3Qw2DgJecyXvTSqr2UjWQcgT96

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Today we’re playing Tic Tac Toe, but with a twist! Instead of using the traditional “X” and “O”, we’re using all sorts of letters! To play each player has to pick a letter, any letter of the alphabet, and then stick with that letter through the game. This is a great way to practice upper and lower case letter formation! This is also a great way to work on problem solving and planning ahead, something that might be trickier for your more impulsive kiddos. Not only are we working on letter formation but we’re practicing how to hold the pencil as well:).

Pro tip! You can use site words as well OR if you want to work more specifically on hand strength use different colored play dough/therapy putty (like each player picks a different color) and then roll a ball (or square or triangle or any shape your child wants to make) and put it in a square on your turn!

Stay safe and healthy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

These are my laundry baskets. Not only are they great for carrying the endless loads of laundry to and from the upstairs, but they’re also a great way to give your sensory seeking child some heavy work (proprioceptive work)!

If you have such a child, or even if you’re looking to burn off some pent up energy or just to get a few minutes to write an email or cook dinner, then listen up! We call this game, “The Shopping Game”. It’s a game that I found in “The Out of Sync Child Has Fun” by Carol Kranowitz (If you don’t have this book yet, I would highly recommend purchasing it) and it is perfect during this time of social distancing.

In addition to the crash pad duvet we suggested a few weeks back, this is a great way to get some proprioceptive input while in the home. To play, first you fill the laundry basket with heavy groceries like rice, oatmeal, bags of dried beans, bottles of water, or cans of any kind. Then you set up a “shopping center” for your child. The laundry basket acts like the cart and your child can push the, already heavy, cart around while picking up the other necessary groceries you’ve put out for them (you can always hide them to make the activity last a little longer). The other “necessary” groceries can be things like throw pillows, fidget toys, books, DVDs, and/or any other toy that you have.

This would probably work best on a rug or carpeted floor, I’d be worried about scratching up your hardworking floor, though maybe you’re not?

Pro tip! Not only are you giving your child the heavy work they’re looking for, but your child is also using their visual scanning skills by scanning the room for the groceries. If you make “coupons” (pieces of paper with the items pictured) ahead of time you can work on matching!

Stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Today we did “metronome” writing. This is an activity that is perfect for your Second and Third Graders. First you have to establish the code. Make sure that your child is able to do all the movements that are selected and definitely see if they have any movement ideas!

Once the code is established you can work on writing simple words (sight words!!) or even sentences. After the word or sentence is written, then the fun of movement begins! Not only does this work on handwriting, but this also works on those visual scanning skills (very important for those little readers!).

Stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Today we made play dough! This was a “no cook” recipe and made with all kitchen ingredients so it’s OK if you have any accidental/exploratory bites. I should mention that there is some cream of tartar in this recipe.

What you’ll need:

1 1/2 c. flour

1/4 c. salt

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

1 cup hot water

4 tablespoons of oil

food coloring

Here’s how we made it:

1. First we mixed 1 and 1/2 cups flour, 1/4 c. salt and 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar.

2. Then we heated up 1 cup of water in the microwave and to that we added 4 tablespoons of oil (we used Canola) and food coloring

3. We then mixed it all together and kneaded it for a little with some added flour

Now what to do with it!

1. Make letters!

2. STEM activity using plastic eggs(or tooth picks)-how tall of a tower can you build in 5 minutes using play dough and eggs

3. Use to strengthen hand muscles as you squeeze and pinch

4. If you have a budding reader on your hands, you can have your child read the directions and make the play dough at the same time. Great for visual scanning and sequencing.

This is a great activity for young kids and old kids alike!

Stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Today we’re working on letter recognition and letter building. This is a great activity for your preschoolers and even your Kindergartners.

I created this bubble letter “M” and then I looked around my son’s playroom and found items to fill it with (in this case it was legos and plastic eggs). I used an “M” because it’s the first letter of my name, but feel free to use whatever letter you want, you can even use site words! Once your child builds the letter you can have your child write that letter if that’s what they’re working on.

For this craft, all you need is a piece of paper and a marker and then leave it to the child to decide how to build the letter!

Stay safe and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Today we made our very own kinetic sand! Not only does this actually feel like kinetic sand, it’s also edible in case you have small hands that still like to put things in their mouth like I do:).

This is a great sensory activity for young and old. You can add some toys in and it can morph into imaginary play like a construction site, a bakery, or a sand castle. If you have older kids you can have them make the sand themselves to work on following directions and sequencing.

Here’s the recipe!

1 cup of flour

1 cup of cornmeal

4 tablespoons of olive oil/canola oil (I did half and half)

And there you go! A great activity to play outdoors because we all know it’s tough to be inside all day:).

Stay safe and healthy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

This activity is really geared towards the young ones (I’m talking like 10 months to 2 years)., but can be scaled up for just about anyone!

This is jello (or whatever organic variation Whole Foods had) and in it are some of Max’s favorite things, his cups! When he wakes up from his nap we’re taking this puppy outside and playing with it! He can dig out his toys and eat the jello and I don’t care how messy it gets because A) we’ll be outside and B) it’s quarantine, anything goes at this point. But from an OT standpoint it is all about exploration so I’m excited to see how it goes!

For older kiddos you can hide letters inside and have your child write the letter as they pull it out. You can do a color sort and you can have a piece of paper next to the container with patches of color on it and then your child can find a toy and match it to the color. Really, any variation will be perfect!

As with any sensory experience, I would recommend laying a blanket down first and then have towels nearby to make a quick clean up!

Stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Well, I think it’s safe to say that most families are now participating in “Distance Learning”. Good luck and Godspeed.

This also means that you may be in the market for some movement break ideas. The whole idea of a movement break is to allow your child a chance to move their body and refocus. If you have plastic eggs laying around the house then you have a super fun way to introduce a movement break!

I’ve used my plastic eggs in a variety of different ways, I’ve used them as strict movement breaks and I’ve also used them to work on following 2-3 step directions (to help with sequencing and motor planning). Here are some ideas for movement breaks:

1. jumping into pillows

2. jumping jacks/stride jumps

3. high knees

4. hugging self/pillow

5. stomping feet

6. running in place

7. animals walks

8. wall push ups

9. chair push ups

10. jumping up and down

11. yoga moves (downward dog)

12. forward roll

13. wiggle dance (basically they can move around however they want to “get the wiggles out”)

14. freeze dance

15. stretching-can be different from a yoga move

16. neck rolls

A good movement break lasts 5-7 minutes so several eggs can be used. to help transition back into the work you can have your child take a few deep breaths or play with some putty or play doh for 2-3 minutes and then re-engage in the work.

You can also use the eggs to meet goals like writing,-you can put writing prompts in the eggs, or math-you can put math problems in the eggs:). All in all they are a pretty versatile item!

Stay safe and healthy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Today we’re talking about water play and things you can do with your younger one and things you can do with your older one! One is all about providing sensory input and exploration and the other is building hand strength using fun water play toys!

Yesterday was a beautiful day! So nice that Max and I decided to enjoy some time outside in the water! Now, Max is almost 14 months so really he’s interested in kitchen tools like the whisk you see in the picture and empty spice containers (if you have a young one and haven’t ventured into this play choice, I highly recommend it!).

For the young ones, water play is all about the sensory experience and exploring so this was right up his alley. Max made a total mess, we had to change his clothes afterwards, but he loved it and we enjoyed this play for almost 30 minutes, with a few breaks to play in the grass:).

But if you have a three year old or older, please note the squirt bottles. The squirt bottles are a great way to build hand strength! If you look closely, you’ll also see that my son is holding a jumbo eyedropper. Now, he is not using it correctly, he’s too young, but again, they are perfect for your three year old or older! Eye droppers and squirt bottles are great ways to work on building hand strength and fine motor sequencing.

Eye droppers: https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-LER2779-Jumbo-Eyedroppers/dp/B00AQUREB2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1YXTT33JEKUOE&keywords=jumbo+eye+dropper+for+kids&qid=1585613746&sprefix=jumbo+eye%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-1

The water bin is also a great way to get your child outside and into some good old fashion sensory play! You can have a fancy water table, or you can use a plastic bin like I did:).

Please stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Are you looking for ways to provide vestibular input to your mover and shaker at home? Providing input similar to a swing at a clinic can be tough, but have no fear, if you have a blanket, bed sheet, comforter, duvet, or even a towel, then you’re halfway there! Now all you need is another person to help you hold either end of the blanket and swing your child:).

When I was out and about doing home visits, this was my “go to” to help families get that much needed vestibular input for those movers and shakers. We would usually fold the blanket in half and then make sure that the child is lying down for safety. Once the child was in the correct position we would lift them up and swing them back and forth.

If you’re by yourself, you can always lay half of the blanket on the ground, have your child lay down, or sit and hold on, and you can pull them around hardwood floors. Not swinging, but still linear vestibular movement! Fun fact, this is actually what I did with my son to help him get motivated to crawl, he would lay on his belly and I would gently pull the blanket around:).

Other fun things to do with blankets:

1. Parachute!

2. Build a fort (if you have a child who gets overwhelmed or sensory overloaded quickly, then a quiet, dark fort is the perfect place for them to regroup!)

3. Roll your child up like a burrito for some proprioceptive (deep touch pressure) input!

4. Play “peek a boo”

Stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

Today’s activity is a sensory bin! My little guy, Max, is almost 14 months old. Which means I get nothing done ha. Not true, I get things done, just double the time it used to take me😂.

I’ve been waiting for the day that I can introduce sensory bins (he still likes to eat things so I’m waiting for that urge to die down). Sensory bins are a great way to stimulate your child while you do a few things around the kitchen, or fire off a few emails, or sit and play with your child, whatever you’re interested in doing with the time!

For me, this morning, I just wanted to make breakfast and then unload the dishwasher, so I pulled out some kitchen utensils and threw in some ice and Max loved it! He had a great time feeling the cold sensation and using the kitchen tools to play with the ice. It was also great visual motor practice as he was putting the ice into the holes of the cupcake tin.

All in all this bought me five minutes!

My general rule with sensory bins are to start them once your child has stopped putting everything in their mouths, usually between 15 months and 2 years. With every sensory bin I love to include fine motor components, a personal favorite would be empty spice containers, kids love these! But tongs are also a staple and you can get regular tongs (jumbo tweezers) and scissor tongs (handy scoopers) on Amazon:).

Sensory Bin Ideas:

water

water beads

ice

yarn

wine corks

oats

cotton balls

pom poms

beans

rice

rice/beans

dried pasta

Pro-tip: put a towel or a sheet or a blanket underneath the sensory bin to help catch any run aways. Stay safe and healthy and enjoy!

OT FUN at Home

OT FUN at Home

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” -Mr. Rogers

This can be a scary time for everyone, and maybe you and your child are looking for ways to help or to at least to express some gratitude to those who are directly helping others.

Today’s “OT FUN at Home” activity involves expressing gratitude to the doctors, nurses, hospital technicians, and anyone else who is currently being exposed to this virus regularly in order to help others. This specific blog will be updated as necessary. I currently have two contacts 1. a hospital in Boston and 2. INOVA Fairfax. I have inquires out for Georgetown, and a few local grocery stores. While I do not have anyone’s individual teacher’s address, feel free to send them a note telling them how much you miss them. And iIf there is a profession I’m forgetting, please, please let me know and I will happily include!

If you and your child are wondering what you can do, why don’t you practice those handwriting skills and write a few thank you cards and let those on “the front line” know you’re thinking of them. One of my contacts specifically said to address the notes, “to the MICU nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, social workers and the rest of the team”, so we have a lot of people to thank!

Contacts:

1. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

MICU A and B

One Deaconess Road

Rosenberg 7

Boston, Ma 02215

Attention Kristin Russell, MICU Nursing Director

2. Volunteer Services

Inova Fairfax Medical Campus

3300 Gallows Road

Falls Church, VA 22042

3. Medstar Georgetown University Hospital

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Attn: Jennifer Thoren

3800 Reservoir Rd. NW

Washington DC, 20007