Occupational Therapy Fun for Kids

Fun Holiday Present Ideas to Make Hands Stronger! Hand Strength Fun

Ideas to Help Prevent Holiday Meltdowns Here is a link to a blog post with lots of ideas to help Avoid Meltdowns! especially during the Holidays!

Does Your Child  Have Trouble Falling Asleep? You might want to try using a weighted blanket. The deep pressure from a weighted blanket can be calming and help your child to sleep. Here is a link to a website so you can read all about the benefits of a weighted blanket . There is also some criteria to determine if your child would like to use a weighted blanket.  Weighted Blankets

 Click on the link below to learn all about Sensory Diets:  http://www.yourkidsot.com/blog/a-sensory-dietnothing-to-do-with-food

Here is a Post from The Your Therapy Source Blog ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING. ,  FUNCTIONAL SKILLS FOR KIDS ,  GROSS MOTOR SKILLS ,  HANDWRITING ,  PEDAITRIC OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ,  PEDIATARIC PHYSICAL THERAPY GROSS MOTOR SKILLS AND HANDWRITING GROSS MOTOR SKILLS AND HANDWRITING The gross motor skills involved in handwriting mainly refer to the postural control that is required for writing.  Efficient control of the larger muscle groups in the neck, shoulder and trunk is necessary to maintain stability in order for the fingers and hands to move to complete the handwriting task.  As children develop, control and stability begins at the trunk, progressing to the elbow, wrist and finally the hand.  With normal development, fine motor skills are developed from gross motor skills.  For example, a baby will first learn to swat, then reach, then grasp and then manipulate a toy.  Children need to develop the proximal muscles (closer to the center of the body) of the trunk and shoulder g

I'm always looking for ways to sneak skill development into my kids' interests. Cooking in the kitchen is an opportunity for a wealth of learning and development experiences.  Think about all of the steps: * Turning pages of a cookbook (fine motor work and pre-reading) * Pulling the ingredients and tools from various heights, cupboards, and drawers (motor planning, problem solving, graded motor movements, body awareness, core strengthening, visual motor skills...) * Washing fruits and veggies (tactile sensory) * Chopping, dicing, grating, peeling (tool use, motor planning, fine motor strengthening, dexterity...) * Scooping, pouring, spreading, stirring (proprioceptive experiences, motor planning, fine motor control...) Then, consider the sensory benefits of using food as a calming or alerting tool that meets sensory needs. The list of therapeutic benefits that happens in the kitchen goes on and on! I'm excited to share a couple of resour

Working Memory Working memory is the skill of remembering something for a brief period of time so that you can use it. For example when your copying something from the board to write on your paper or remembering  what steps you will need to complete a math problem.  Playing card games works on the skill of working memory because you need to remember who has a certain card or in what order cards are played.  Try games such as Go Fish, Old Maid, Memory, Hearts, Crazy Eights  How to play classic card games Have Fun!

Origami In addition to the sheer  fun  of the activity, origami helps students with: fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination following directions focus math skills (fractions, symmetry, geometry) spatial reasoning problem-solving skills Why Origami   This article explains how origami can help your child's developing brain.  Here is a link to make a simple origami dog. Origami dog Here is a link to make a simple origami cat Origami Cat  There are many you tube videos and many books that you could find at your library. Enjoy!

Here is a link to a cute video that will help you and your child use your computer without straining your muscles and joints. How to use your computer and not get a pain in the neck!

 Putting your child's spelling words into a word search helps them develop visual perceptual skills. Your child is learning to scan and look for details. Your child is developing figure ground skills, the ability to find something in a busy background. This skill will help them to look for details in a story to answer comprehension questions.  You or your child can type the words in using this fun site. You can change the font and the size of the word search. You can pick just having the words go up and down without diagonals. You can add coordinates too and use the coordinates to give your child clues as to where to look for the words. If your child is typing remind them to use two hands on the keyboard and to space with their thumb. Here is the link:  http://www.armoredpenguin.com/wordsearch/

Puzzle Fun! Playing with puzzles helps develop important skills that children need in school and life.  Read all about it by clicking on these links. Research study on benefits of puzzle play Skills One Can Develop with Puzzle Play Spread out a jig saw puzzle on the coffee table and have the whole family put it together.  Here is a puzzle app where you can make a puzzle out of your own picture.  http://learninginhand.com/blog/2013/7/15/make-and-share-jigsaw-puzzles-with-up-in-pieces

Mechanical Pencils can help improve handwriting skills. Here are some tips from the blog Sugar Aunts Sugar Aunts Blog Use a Mechanical Pencil to help with common handwriting problems A  mechanical pencil  can help with both of these common handwriting issues.   When a child writes so hard that they break the pencil tip or smudge the words, using a  mechanical pencil  can help kids become more aware of the pressure they are exerting through the pencil.  If they try to push too hard on the mechanical pencil, the very thin lead will break.  The mechanical pencil requires a child to press lighter.   Children can learn to monitor the amount of pressure used and it will provide feedback on modulation of pressure. A pencil with  .7mm lead  or a  .9mm lead  is better to start with for heavy writers. A  mechanical pencil with a built in grip  can help as well. When a child presses so lightly that you can not see the written work, a  mechanical pencil  can help because the thi