Chalkboard Tape!

I recently had a few extra minutes to stroll the aisles of Staples and came across THIS!  For about $5.00,  I grabbed a roll of the chalkboard tape and dry erase tape to use in all sorts of places with my students.  I LOVE IT!  There is now a strip of chalkboard tape on the table in my OT room at school and my kiddos "sign in" when they arrive as yet another way to practice letters without them realizing that they're working on IEP goals.  Of course the only chalk they can use are from the little container on the table that holds several pieces of tiny pieces of chalk.  Remember my trick about using small crayons to help kiddos develop an efficient grasp for holding a pencil?  Well the same trick can be used with tiny pieces of chalk!  There aren't any chalkboards left in our school building so this is a great way to bring back some good 'ol chalk activities in an easy and inexpensive way.  I also added a piece of chalkboard tape to the desk easel that some of my students use to add the benefit of writing on a raised surface.  The tape can be cut to any length that works for you, goes on easily like a sticker, and peels off just as easily if you don't want it to be permanent.  The good news is that I've had it on the table for over a month now and unless one of my fidgety friends picks it off the table on purpose, it stays right where it's supposed to! 

The dry erase tape is just as much fun and easy to use as the chalkboard tape!  I have a 3 inch binder that I carry to class with me if I'm working in the classroom with a student, so I added a strip of dry erase tape on the binder for my kiddos to practice letters and numbers or to provide a model of a letter or word as an added visual.  All of my students love when there's something new to try and I'm loving this find too!  This tape can be used just about anywhere, so get creative!  It could go on the wall for vertical surface writing.  It could go on the floor for some weight bearing while writing.  It could even go on the underside of the desk/ table while the kiddos lay on the floor and do a little "DaVinci" writing! Get creative and have fun!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Lots of Activity at the Activity Table

My new favorite toy for my 8 month old baby is his activity table! I wanted one to encourage standing and found it to help with so much more. Keep in mind that these little tables can be a bit costly when you purchase new...anywhere from $40-$75 dollars depending on the brand, so I headed to our local child consignment shop where I found a very gently used LeapFrog brand table for only $10! This girl LOVES a bargain so that price most definitely helped this table earn a "favorite" spot in my book.

First of all, Liam likes getting his chunky little legs up straight and tall to stand and play with the lights and buttons on the table! He's only 8 months old so he needs close physical supervision as he will tumble right over (or backwards) when he gets distracted or tired. He still leans into the table and it helps to have it pushed up against the couch so it doesn't get away from him. Within the next few weeks, his standing practice will lead to "cruising" practice as he learns to take some steps around the table while holding on.

It seems that most brands have removable legs on the activity tables so for little ones who aren't quite standing, you can use the table top on the floor. In this case, I actually boosted it up just a bit on a pillow so that he could reach the buttons better. I've found this to be a great way to practice dynamic sitting balance as he tries to reach across for all of the lights and sounds but still has to try to maintain his sitting. He's getting much better at this!

Instead of removing ALL of the table legs, I can also remove just 2 to make more of an inclined position. This is another option for sitting to encourage higher level reaching and eye-hand coordination. He can also be placed on his tummy which is ALWAYS an OT's favorite position for babies! In this picture, he is on his tummy over the pillow, mainly for comfort so he'll play here a little longer. He had started on his tummy without the pillow before I added some cushion. Ironically, once he was on the pillow, he was quickly enticed by the TAG on the pillow and of course had to check it out! Who needs all of those lights and sounds when you can chew on a tag, right?!

This was well worth my $10 investment! Liam is strengthening his motor skills and is quite entertained as well. Did I mention that words and songs can be played in English OR Spanish? Put it all together and it makes for a very happy baby (and mommy)!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

25 Ways to Practice Letters WITHOUT a pencil!

While I am enjoying summer break in a major way and not quite ready to think about school yet, I DO love when kiddos continue to learn, learn, learn whether they are in school or not!  Sitting down with a pencil and paper may not be the most appealing activity in the middle of July however there are plenty of other ways to practice letters and tons of fun doing it!  Here are 25 ideas to get you started ~~

1.  Sidewalk chalk
2.  Finger paints
3.  "Painting" with a paintbrush and bucket of water on the sidewalk
4.  Wikki Stix
5.  A salt tray
6.  "Do-a-Dot"

7.  Shaving cream!
8.  Dry erase board
9.  Scented crayons
10.  Glitter glue
11.  Sticker "dots"

12.  A rice tray (and you can color the rice with food coloring!)
13.  Window markers
14.  "Write" with a stick in the dirt
15.  Bathtub crayons
16.  AquaDoodle or Magna Doodle
17.  Popsicle sticks
18.  Tear pieces of paper and glue on letter models

19. Frootloops or Cheerios

20.  Make some homemade play-doh (loads of recipes online) and roll into letters

21.  Ziploc bag filled with hair gel and sealed with tape

22.  Paint on an easel

23.  A small chalkboard

24.  Yarn

25.  Letter lacing cards

Learning can be so much FUN!  With a little creativity, your kiddo will be all ready when school starts again in a few weeks!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

3-D Collage

Well it's been nearly a month since I've posted something new.....for any of you who work in schools, you know that life gets crazy by this time of year with new referrals, re-evaluations, and IEP's.  Some how, it all gets finished, right?!

In the mean time, I wanted to share another fun fine motor task that preschool teacher Miss Angela set up for her little darlin's.  She calls it "3-D Collages" and the kiddos LOVED it!   Each child had a paper plate and were offered a variety of "things" to decorate the plate for an original 3-D collage. 

You could use just about anything you want to recycle or re-use for this project. Here we have some toilet paper rolls cut up into smaller pieces, strips of sand paper, mini-muffin cups in bright colors, small styrofoam balls, colorful streamers, and some coated wire. Let me tell you, it is not easy to poke a small wire through a paper plate but when you're a little person who really wants that wire in there, you find a way!   Some great skills are required to tape, glue, poke wire through stryrofoam, tearing paper streamers, and getting everything to STICK!  

Some designers had a theme (can you tell we had a dusting of snow that day?)

Some opted for a simple design....

and others couldn't walk away from adding more "beauty" to the design!

This was a very simple and inexpensive project that encouraged creativity and worked lots of fine motor skills.  There is no "right or wrong" and everyone walked away with an original piece of art!

Give it a try today!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Get a GRIP! [part 2]

"What can I do to FIX that?!"   That's the question I get a lot at this time of year as kids head back to school and teachers meet their new students who hold a pencil with all sorts of "funky" grasps.  As you read in my earlier post "Get a Grip! part 1", the goal is to have students hold a pencil or crayon with an efficient grasp that minimizes hand fatigue.  Most commonly, this will be a 3-finger grasp with adequate wrist extension (roughly 30 degrees extension at the wrist instead of having the wrist flexed forward and curled down).  If you took a look at pencil grasps this week, you probably know that LOTS of kids do indeed have "funky" grasps.  So how CAN you fix this?  I've got a SUPER EASY solution for you! Start by breaking all of those new crayons you just bought for back to school.  I know this can put some people over the edge....who doesn't LOVE a brand new box of crayons?!   While brand new crayons ARE a joy of back to school, using small pieces of crayons will be a quick fix for kiddos who have less than efficient grasps. 

You'll see that some of the pieces are pretty small but small is fantastic for correcting grasps!  Give it a try~~when you use a small piece of crayon, it FORCES you to use an efficient 3-finger grasp. 

 

The same idea can be accomplished with very small pieces of chalk on the chalkboard or with sidewalk chalk.  I used to joke that my kids would be so surprised when they got to school and saw that new crayons are so "big"!  

I found these cute little stacking crayons in the dollar bin at Target.  It's a stack of bunny heads and you can stack them or take them apart and color with each individually.  They are small but the kids love coloring with the bunnies. You can find similar stacking pencils for kids to use for writing too.  The dollar store is usually  a great place to look!

I hope you'll give this a try : )  Using small crayons and pencils helps ALL children with fine motor development but especially those with poor grasp patterns.  I recommend this to early childhood teachers who are "on the front line" for a child's fine motor development.  Poor patterns form early so providing kids with techniques and tools early will lead to a happy writer down the road!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L 

You're RIGHT! Or is it LEFT?

Does your child struggle with left and right?  Are they getting ready to go to school but still need to establish hand dominance for writing and other fine motor tasks?  Take a look at my posting on First Grade Connections to find some helpful tips!

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

Scribbles to Shapes

As children start to take interest in doodling with a pencil or crayon (typically around age 2), there is a developmental progression that eventually leads to early writing skills.  Keep in mind that this progression refers to 'copying' which means the child looks at a picture of the line/shape and imitates it (as opposed to watching someone draw the line/shape and then trying to do the same). The developmental order for most young children is:

• Horizontal line
• Vertical line
• Circle
• Plus sign (cross)
• Square
• Diagonal line
• Triangle
• Diamond

All of the lines and shapes are important for learning to write letters and numbers and the developmental progression helps to explain why some children can write their names earlier than others.  For example, while "LEO" will copy horizontal lines, vertical lines, and a circle, "SAM" will need to be able to copy more complicated diagonal lines to be able to copy his name.  Both names have the same number of letters, however, "SAM" will need more time to develop pre-writing skills to be able to copy the curvy "S" and the diagonals for "A" and "M".  I guess this could be one more thing for expectant parents to consider when choosing a name for their baby =)

Jen Dermody, OTR/L

5 is Fun!

I remember when my kids hit age 5, it seemed like my babies had turned into full blown big kids! They were heading to kindergarten and spending much of the day away from mom and I just hoped they were ready.  Five year olds get excited to be like the "big kids" as they start their school age adventures.  What skills should a 5 year old have to be ready for kindergarten?  Here are a few developmental milestones to look for:

• Connects dots
• Draws a recognizable body with at least 5 parts (body parts out of proportion)
• Builds a block pyramid
• Hand dominance is well established
• Uses a mature grasp on a pencil/crayon
• Copies 1st name (might have letter reversals or missing letters)
• Uses paste/glue independently
• Colors in the lines
• Copies a triangle
• Uses fork and knife appropriately
• Manages toileting/clothing (may need assist with fasteners)
• Cuts curved lines and shapes with scissors

Children develop at different rates and these milestones are simply a guide.  Some 5 year old children  will have mastered these skills BEFORE turning 5 and others might not master the skills until they are 6 or older.  If you have concerns about your child's development, please talk to your pediatrician and your child's teacher.  When we all work together, our kids succeed!



Jen

Fabulous 4's

Being "4" IS fabulous!!  Fine motor skills typically expand significantly for 4 year olds and you might have some adorable artwork starting to decorate your home.  Providing 4 year olds with a variety of tools such as crayons, scissors, playdough, blocks, peg games, and sidewalk chalk will help your pre-K star get ready for more challenging fine motor tasks.
What fine motor developmental milestones can you expect from your 4 year old? Here are a few:

• Traces first name
• Prints some capital letters
• Uses a tripod grasp to hold a pencil or crayon
• Color in the lines
• Cuts out large shapes such as a circle or square
• Completes simple puzzles
• Draws a square
• Pastes and glues appropriately
• Undresses and dresses self with assistance--will likely need assistance with fasteners
• Buttons and unbuttons large buttons
• Able to pour from a small pitcher

Children love to be praised for their accomplishments!  When they feel good about what they've accomplished, they often want to do it again and again.  This is how they learn! Improving fine motor skills takes repetition so encourage your child to explore and try new activities.

Look at Me, I'm 3!

You've survived the "terrible 2's" and now it's on to the "thrilling 3's"!   As you probably know by now, 3 year olds like to "do it myself" and are eager to try new tasks and improve their skills.  Parents often want to know what to expect as typical development for their child at all ages, so here are some 3 year old milestones to watch for:

• Scribbles
• Copies a circle and plus sign
• Feeds self
• Washes hands
• Undresses self and helps to dress self
• Drinks from a regular cup
• Completes a 6 piece puzzle independently
• Builds a 9 block tower with 1 inch blocks
• Begins to snip with scissors

This is a time for children to begin learning correct grasping patterns for prewriting tasks and a chance to get some gentle guidance from parents and teachers to form good habits for early writing.  This might include hand over hand assistance to "get started" with writing and coloring, or a verbal reminder to "use your helper hand to hold the paper when you color".   Allowing your 3 year old to "do" for herself might mean that you need a few extra minutes to get shoes on or wash hands, and it might mean cleaning up a mess when a cup gets spilled at dinner.  The payoff is worth the efforts as you'll have a Little One who begins to develop confidence and is motivated to try new skills. 

Jen