Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Winter is certainly upon us and what kiddo doesn't love a good snowman?  Here's an idea for playing with the "snow" inside any day of the year!  Draw a snowman on large paper and laminate it or cover it with clear Contact paper.  Hang it up on an easel or tape it to the wall.  Now put on that favorite smock because the "snow" is actually shaving cream!  Fill a small container with shaving cream and let your kiddo "paint" the snowman.  This is a super fun sensory task but it's also fantastic for doing some work on a vertical surface, which helps to improve upper body strength and stability, important for pre-writing/writing skills.  Kiddos can erase and paint again by using a small wash cloth to wipe the surface clean.  Yet another great upper body task that incorporates using large muscles to help strengthen the shoulders for fine motor work.

Kiddos love this activity and it will only cost you a couple of dollars. Enjoy!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Ice Cube Painting

It was "Winter Week" in preschool this week with all sorts of super-duper winter activities!  There was the "ice skating rink", pretend snow in the sensory table, snowman games, "Break the Ice", and painting with ICE CUBES!!  Oh yes, painting with ice cubes just happened to be the Special Activity of the day and it was a real hit.  Food coloring was added to the water and frozen in regular ice cube trays.  The kiddos wore gloves (always tricky getting those little fingers where they belong!) and then created their designs by "coloring" with the different colored cubes.

 








You could modify this activity by using various ice cube trays with different shapes and sizes or colors.  One little hint to share is to have some extra gloves because they do get wet as the kiddos color.  Very simple and very FUN!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Mmmm...Mmmmmm....The Gingerbread Man

"Run, run, as fast as you can....you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!"  Kiddos LOVE that story and they love everything gingerbread at preschool!  The classroom never smelled so yummy as it did during this week's special activity making little gingerbread men on paper.  The children were given a paper with a gingerbread man shape and used a glue stick to fill the shape with glue.  Then it was time to shake, shake, shake some cinnamon on the paper and when they shake off all of the extra cinnamon, they were left with a cute little gingerbread man!  

Note the "visuals" on the red paper that provides my little friend with 3-step picture directions he can follow by himself. The picture posted doesn't provide you with a very clear view of the directions so I'll tell you that the directions are to (1) Write your name; (2) Glue stick; (3) Sprinkle cinnamon.  Everything "written" in pictures and easy to follow.  "Visuals" are an EXCELLENT way for children to learn and follow directions.  They work wonders! 

Mmmm, Mmm....when all of the masterpieces were hung in the hallway, it smelled like a Preschool Bakery!  Super simple and the kiddos loved it.



Another fun gingerbread man activity this week was building a giant "cookie" at the easel.  The giant cookie cutout was hanging on the easel and the children added velcro pieces to complete their designs. 

Mmm...Mmmm GOOD!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Deck The Halls...

Deck the halls with holiday lights....Fa-LaLaLaLa...LaLa-La-La!  Thankfully for you there's no volume button for this post so you'll have to sing it yourself :-)   When I arrived at school today, the halls WERE decked with these festive holiday lights that were adorable and oh so very OT-ish! The students had to CUT out the lights, COLOR the letters, and STRING the lights together by LACING in and out of the holes they made using a HOLE PUNCHER.  Whew!  Those little fingers were workin' for this one and the kiddos were proud of their efforts.  Younger students admired the fun colors and holiday "lights" in the halls.  A whole bunch of them hanging together on the wall simply "lit up" the halls!   Here's a little peek~~

This is a good one to try at home too where you can challenge your little elves to hang LOTS of lights!  For pre-readers, the lights can be cut and laced without letters or you could spell out names of the children.  I've never met a kiddo who doesn't love to decorate for the holidays so take advantage of that enthusiasm!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L



Pumpkin Pounding

You have to love preschool teachers for being so darn creative!   This week the children had an opportunity to do a little pumpkin pounding using golf tees and a small hammer.  There were 2 large pumpkins and a bunch of golf tees in a jar (they even had practice opening a jar) and the children could pound as many golf tees as they wanted into the pumpkin. Kiddos can even create patterns or designs if they want!

Of course no builder is complete without his

 SAFETY GLASSES!  

I love this activity for encouraging bilateral hand use and fine motor coordination.  There is even some hand strengthening involved and visual motor skills to get the hammer to hit the tee.   The best part is that kids are super motivated to do any activity that involves a big pumpkin!



Happy Fall!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Happy Fall!

Fall is such a wonderful time for children to see, smell, and touch the wonders of nature!  Miss Paula is one of my preschool teacher friends who took her class on a nature walk to find some special "treasures".  Each of the children carries a bag and collects leaves, twigs, and acorns.  When they return to class, the children have a large piece of paper where they lay all of their treasures.  An adult uses clear contact paper to cover the items so that they kiddos can proudly display their Autumn collage. 

Children learn from ALL sensory experiences!  This simple activity awakens the senses and teaches kiddos about the beauty of Autumn.  Looking at a pile of leaves from a distance is different than picking them up and seeing how leaves come in all shapes, sizes and colors.  So simple and yet so FUN!   Happy Fall!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L 

Lovin' Letters

You've heard me say that it's just so important for kids to practice letters in lots of ways BESIDES using a pencil.  OT's call this a multi-sensory approach and it helps for kids to use ALL of their senses when learning.  The kindergarten students at one of my schools are learning the alphabet and their teachers did a great job using a multi-sensory approach!  Students were given large paper cut outs of all of the capital letters.  They painted the letters and then glued on items that start with that letter.  For example, the letter B has lots of BUTTONS:

Letter C is decorated with COTTON and CANDLES:

And while letter Q can be a challenge, this student used Q-TIPS!

The students used all sorts of creative items to glue on their letter paintings.  The various items will help the children learn and remember the letters which in turn will improve literacy and writing skills!   If you want to practice at home and don't want a whole hallway of big letters, you can modify the activity and use smaller letters to find just 1-2 items for each letter. Maybe put a funny hat on the child.....we'll call it the "Thinking Cap"......and search the house for items that match the letter.  Lots of fun!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Pinch, Pinch a Rainbow

I was looking at paint samples over the weekend and all of those pretty colors got my wheels turning!  I stopped by the dollar store and picked up a $1 pizza pan and some clothespins.  A hot glue gun and 15 minutes later, I had a colorful rainbow wheel to use with my preschool students!

Besides the fact that I love COLOR, my primary purpose was actually to get my kiddos practicing their 3-finger grasp with clothespins.  Pinching the clothespin strengthens fingers and helps to develop a 3-finger grasp that's important for writing skills. 

This was such a simple game to make and the children loved it! They worked together to match the colors and clip all of the clothespins.  There could be lots of other variations on this game too---besides colors, you could match letters, numbers or sight words.  Whatever the theme, just keep pinchin'!!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L 

Your Name in GLITTER!

I've never met a kiddo who doesn't love GLITTER!  As I've stated in earlier posts, it's really important for kids to practice letters in LOTS of ways and not just with a pencil.  This activity helps children to get more familiar with letters and also works on hand and finger strength. 

An adult prints the child's name on a piece of cardstock and then have the kids "trace" the letters using glitter glue.  It takes some muscle in those little fingers to be able to squeeze out the glue and manage the coordination to keep the glitter on the lines.  When the tracing is complete, sit it aside until the next day so that it's good and dry.  Once dry, the letters are raised up and the child can trace the letters with his finger.  I found this great bucket of 50 glitter glue tubes at a local craft store.....look at all of the colors!  With my Sunday paper coupon, it was only about $5.00 for this bucket of fun! 

This activity could be done with other letters too or with shapes.  If the child isn't able to do the glitter glue himself, an adult can glue and the child can practice the tracing once it's dry.  OR if your goal is simply improving hand strength and muscle development, then don't worry about learning letters and just put out a fun bucket of glitter glue in lots of colors and let the child create a beautiful picture!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Finger Puppets!

I found these fun little finger puppets today and I think my students will love them!  They are 3 cute little bunnies that fit right on your fingertip.  I thought they would be fun for fingerplay songs and impromptu puppet shows that encourage creativity.  There might be a favorite book about bunnies where these will come in handy too.  Finger puppets help to develop finger coordination that is important for writing and cutting.  There is some bilateral hand use required too as the child works to get each puppet on a finger.  Anything that gets those little fingers working is a GOOD THING!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Kiddie Kabobs

Looking for a fun fine motor activity that will also get your kids wanting to eat healthy?  Kiddie Kabobs have long been a favorite at my house! All you need are some wooden shish-kabob skewer sticks, a cheap buy at any grocery, and some fresh fruit.  The skewer sticks do have a point at one end so you'll want to be sure there is adult supervision but the kids will want to try this themselves.  Provide a variety of fruit that is simple to skewer such as grapes, strawberries, banana slices, melon, blueberries, and raspberries.  Mini marshmallows and cheese cubes work great too!  The kids can load up the skewer sticks with their favorites and then feast away.  It's a sure bet they'll want to go back for seconds!  Picking up the fruit to place on the skewer stick encourages a three finger grasp and requires some coordination.  You can add some challenges by counting how many pieces are on each skewer or making patterns with the fruit (such as strawberry, grape, grape, strawberry, or a color pattern).  Yum! Yum!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Beat the Heat

Summer won't officially arrive for a couple of days but the heat is certainly upon us!   The record high temps this week had my children looking for some creative ways to beat the heat.  As an occupational therapist, I love to have kids involved in fine motor activities that develop hand muscles, strength, and coordination.  What could be more fun on a hot day than getting out the squirt toys?!   Water guns and squirt bottles are ALWAYS a hit with kids of all ages AND are a great way to develop hand muscles.  Besides the fun of squirting each other and mom and dad, kids can be in charge of watering flowers and plants everyday.  It's a job they will be happy to do each and every day and they won't even realize how they are developing hand muscles necessary for all of the writing and cutting they'll do once school starts again in the fall. 
The local dollar store is a great place to find lots of colorful and inexpensive squirt toys.  Have fun!


Jen