 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. Kindergartners get little time to play. Why does it matter? This was the title of a recent article that I shared on the YKOT Facebook Page. Read the article here. The concern is the downward pressure with preschools and day care centres feeling like they need to do “school readiness” or even “kindergarten type work” which is very academic and developmentally inappropriate. Parents often are led by child care educators and are impressed by the "school readiness" offered. I have seen it many times over in the places where I visit. 3 and 4 years olds become frustrated that they have to form letters. The educators become frustrated that they children aren't doing what they are told. I become frustrated! Before I get myself into hot water; I will say that this not the case for all child care centres and all preschools... But the downward pressure is real. Occupational therapists believe that there are fundamental skills a child needs BEFORE they start writing. These pre-writing skills include the development of the whole child from postural control, gross motor skills, sensory modulation, strength, body awareness, fine motor and cognitive skills. The preschool years are important for learning through play and developing connections. Connections with their parents, siblings, friends and others in their life. The development of these skills will assist a child with their school readiness and yes this includes dynamic control of a pencil and the visual spatial skills needed to form letters and numbers. As an occupational therapist I encourage the development of pre-writing lines and shapes through drawing.  Drawing is a wonderful early childhood experience that is a simple as providing a blank sheet of paper and drawing tool. So many children I see are not provided with the opportunities to experiment and make mistakes. They go from scribbling to writing letters without the important in-between steps of working things out, drawing around shapes (like plates and fingers) and decorating cardboard boxes. Pre-writing generally occurs in a developmental sequence. It begins with scribble and then imitating lines (horizontal, vertical, circle). Further pre-writing lines include diagonal lines, a triangle, a square and cross shapes. Have a look at my fluency patterns for more ideas ---> FLEUNCY PATTERNS. Modelling is a wonderful way to show children how to experiment with lines and shapes. Children learn through participation how lines can be orientated in different ways to achieve different outcomes. They learn that with some control they can depict things from their every day experiences. You don't need to be an artist. Simple lines and shapes is the perfect place to start. Take your child's lead as to their interest. Do they like trains - draw a few rectangles for carriages and circles for wheels; encourage them to draw lines and shapes to decorate them or draw straight lines for train tracks. Do they like rainbows and unicorns - experiment with different colours to fill a page with a large rainbow. Not sure where to start? I have created a printable resource that includes "draw with me" pages of some simple images and 30 pages to "finish the drawing". The full "DRAWING PRE"-WRITING LINES AND SHAPES" printable set encourages your child to experiment with lines and shapes to complete differently themed pages. The themes include drawing snake patterns, a gallery wall, hats, ice cream and more. There are 25 themed pages with an additional 5 seasonal themed pages. You may show your child how to draw certain lines and patterns. Encourage them to experiment with size (draw something wider, draw it longer, draw it smaller), experiment with colour and experiment with different drawing implements. Whilst your child may enjoy colouring these pages, this was not the intention. Colouring encourages pencil control, however drawing lines and shapes will encourage visual spatial awareness which is beneficial for future writing. "Drawing Pre-writing Lines and Shapes" provides opportunities to trace, draw and experiment. Do encourage your child to go beyond tracing and colouring… and to experiment with drawing! It may be purchased from the YKOT shop or via Teachers Pay Teachers.  Do you enjoy drawing with your child? What is your favourite thing to draw together?   Cindy is a registered occupational therapist practising in Sydney, Australia. She has two growing children who are a constant source of inspiration and learning. Cindy loves working creatively to help children to reach their potential, finding opportunities in everyday living and making learning fun. She is also addicted to making printables (even when they take a long time to complete). Cindy is the author of the Occupational Therapy blog Your Kids OT. Read more articles from Your Kids OT at https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog Cindy is a member of the Functional Skills for Kids Therapy Team. They have together published THE HANDWRITING BOOK, THE SCISSORS SKILLS BOOK and THE TOILETING BOOK. The information on this site is general in nature. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. You may also like:
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 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. My Facebook newsfeed was (and continues to be) full of them. Viral video after viral video. Advertisements are selling them. OT group members can't stop showing theirs. They certainly have been the buzz of the last few years! I'm talking about "sensory paths" seen in school hallways. No idea what I'm talking about? Have a look at these awesome examples:
Why the popularity? Was it to pretty up school hallways to impress parents? Was it a gimmick to sell a new product? Let's start with the name. "Sensory Path" provides some clues as to the reasons occupational therapists and teachers like this idea so much. To be truly accurate, the paths created were "sensory motor paths". Occupational therapists get excited to see students moving. Opportunities for both proprioceptive and vestibular input for children have reduced with the reduction in school recess and lunch breaks. With more accessible technology (at school and home) and reduced "play time", children are not getting the natural movement opportunities that they would have experienced in play. Children are expected to sit longer at their desks in classrooms (yes this is a generalization) so that teachers can address the curriculum. Some teachers are great at incorporating movement and brain breaks in the classroom to help students with concentration and attention. Teachers know that students need opportunities to release energy and move. This is especially true for sensory seeking children who may fidget in the classroom, stand up at inappropriate times, have difficulty sitting on the floor or are generally disruptive. Read more about how brain breaks can help with concentration HERE. "Sensory paths" encourage students to jump, spin, hop, balance, frog jump, skip, crawl, perform push ups, bear walk and perform other large body movements. These movements provide an opportunity for proprioceptive (feedback to the skin, muscles and joints through weight bearing and pressure) and vestibular (movement forward/backward/around) sensory input. These activities can have a calming affect for some children and can also help some children to be more alert. These paths are a series of lines or pictures for children to move along. Children may walk toe to toe along a zig zag line. They may jump from one spot to another. They may follow the curved path or place their hands on hand prints. They may walk sideways. These all encourage visual coordination with parts of the body (eye/hand or eye/foot). It encourages spatial and body awareness as they navigate through the different aspects of the path. Many of these paths incorporate the alphabet or numbers to encourage identification, order and learning. Counting and simple mathematics have also been incorporated into many paths. The "hallway" concept makes use of potentially unused spaces in schools. There is no restriction with the weather and can easily the movement can easily be incorporated into transitions between rooms (eg. moving between the classroom and the library).  A new take on an old concept! Occupational therapists and physiotherapists (physical therapists if you are in the US) have been incorporating these concepts for years! You can too! These are low-cost options. Some are temporary so you can change the layouts and set it up wherever you might be. You don't have to stick to hallways! Here are some easy ways to DIY your own sensory motor path.
 Watch some of my OT kids in action with this video! Email subscribers will need to click on this link to see the video via Youtube or click back to the Your Kids OT website/blog to find it online. Have you created your own sensory motor pathway? I would love to see yours! Tag me on IG @yourkidsot with #yourkidsot. Would a sensor motor pathway work in your school hall? Could you make one at home? 
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 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. Inner thigh muscles? That's an unusual subject to have in the heading of this blog! When we consider core strength and stability, most people usually jump straight to the abdomen, pelvis and back as areas to develop. These are important but did you know that the inner thigh muscles (adductors) are seen as the "pedestal" for the spine to rest upon? The five muscles of the inner thigh work to pull the legs across the midline (the imaginary line dividing our bodies into left and right). Read more about inner thigh muscles here and here. As adults, we can jump on the adductor machine at the gym and work on our inner thigh muscles. We can stand on one leg and move our leg in and out. We can lunge and do all sorts of things to help our inner thigh muscles. How do we make exercises fun for kids? PLAY! We find ways to make exercise novel and fun! Here are three fun ways we can work on strengthening inner thigh muscles and build core stability with lots of variations for each one too. 1. Ball between the knees. Place a ball between your child's knees whilst they are standing. Ask them to walk, waddle or jump squeezing the ball with their knees but not too much otherwise the ball will pop out. Some children may have difficulty moving with the ball so one step back is simply to stand with the ball between their knees and hold it there for a few seconds.
 2. Butterfly Wings Whilst sitting on the floor, ask your child to place the soles of their feet together and hold them with their hands. Their legs and are making "butterfly wings" which can move towards the floor with a little bit or pressure from your child's hands or elbows to "flap". Encourage your child to take a deep breath in and out.
 3. Squat to stand elevators! Squats are a wonderful exercise for kids of all ages (adult kids included). Make it fun for kids by making them "elevators". Get your child to deliver items from the floor to a table by squatting down to reach the item and lifting them onto a table.
 Strengthening your child's inner thigh muscles will help them to become more aware of these muscles. I'm not too concerned about isolating just the inner thigh muscles and I expect that they will usually tighten their abdominals and bottom muscles at the same time during these activities. This all works towards stronger postural and core stability. The inner thigh muscles (adductors) are connected to the pelvis. An extra bonus to working on these muscles is that this also helps the pelvis to be stable which is needed for toiletting. It is very difficult to help kids to work on "pelvic floor muscles" like adults do; however working on surrounding muscles can often help children to be more aware of their "bottoms". Don't forget to check out the new book "The Toilet Training Book" which is available NOW with special launch prices for both hard copy and e-copy editions. Read more about "The Toilet Training Book" HERE. What are your favourite ways to work on core stability with kids? Have you considered inner thigh muscles too? 
 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. Today is the day! The Toilet Training Book is now available! Throughout our years of practice as paediatric therapists, we’ve talked with tons of parents who have been trying for weeks, months, and even years to help their kids get toilet trained. It can be an uphill battle for many families, one that can often result in frustration and even heartbreak. That’s why we felt so strongly about creating this resource. We wanted to share all of our best tips, strategies, and information about toileting and toilet training in one place so parents, teachers, therapists, and others would have it at their fingertips when they need it.  We believe that The Toilet Training Book contains the single most important secret to toileting and toilet training for kids - knowledge and information that helps you meet kids right where they are developmentally to create a positive toilet training experience. The Toilet Training Book includes the following sections and chapters: Toilet Training Support and Tips
Special Toileting Guides for:
Equipment List The Printable Pack
 Who is The Toileting Book for? The Toileting Book is the perfect resource for:
Can I print pages of the book and share with the families I work with? There is a section at the end of the book that we encourage professionals to print and share with parents and caregivers. In fact, these pages are now available in one easy-to-print document along with the book when you purchase your ebook now! When you purchase the book, you may share these pages with the families and caregivers you work with. However, we require each professional to purchase their own copy of The Toileting Book. You may not share the entirety of the book with colleagues. Limited-Time Offer! For one week only, we’ll be offering The Toilet Training Book at a discounted price PLUS a downloadable, easy-to-print pack of toileting and toilet training resources from the book! Those who purchase the hard copy, email your receipt to functionalskillsforkids@gmail.com HARD COPY AVAILABLE ---> Click here to purchase on Amazon. EBOOK VERSION ---> Click here to purchase the E-book version. EU/UK RESIDENTS ---> Click here to purchase your E-book version. Thank you so much for your excitement and enthusiasm about this resource that finally allows parents, therapists, and other professionals to meet kids exactly where they are developmentally to support toilet training success! If you’re not sure where to start with potty training, if you’re overwhelmed by the process, if it’s your first time toilet training a child, or if you work on toileting with kids with special needs - this will be an invaluable resource for you! Don’t miss the limited-time discount on The Toilet Training Book! Grab your copy today! CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOU TUBE! (EMAIL subscribers will not be able to see this email within their email). 
{Guest Blogger} Introducing "OINKLET": A Short Film about a Pig with Sensory Processing Disorder27/4/2019  Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. Sensory processing can be complicated to understand. Over or under sensitivities to sensory information can make this world a challenging place for some. I'm so pleased to introduce "Oinklet" ... a short film about sensory processing disorder directed by Vian Al-Baiati to you. This film is a sweet depiction of friendship and a few simple ways to help someone who is over sensensitive to touch, light and sound. Thank you Vian for sharing this with Your Kids OT readers! For more information about sensory processing ---> Your Kids OT Sensory Processing Landing Page Happy Occupational Therapy Month! My name is Vian and I’m honored to a write a guest blog post about my recent short film. For the past few months, I've been working with an animator to produce a short film about Sensory Processing Disorder to promote awareness and acceptance. I realized that there are so many wonderful and informative blogs about SPD, but there aren’t many movies or animations about it. Therefore, I wanted to produce a cost free film that could be understood by anyone around the world despite any language or financial barriers to spread SPD awareness. I started writing the script late December of 2018 and then I was able to hire an animator early January of 2019. After writing 5-6 pages detailed script, the animator and I communicated on a daily basis for four months to design a 2D animation that will allow audiences to understand that children with SPD have difficulties with organizing and responding to information that comes in through the senses. The brain’s response will enter fight, flight, or freeze as a protective response which explains the reason for the children’s reaction to certain sensory stimuli. This short film features a protagonist pig named Oinklet, and his journey with Sensory Processing Disorder. Oinklet is a bright boy, but his sensory challenges and his reactions to certain sensory situations are often misunderstood by others. The film displays Oinklet as oversensitive to touch, light, and sound while he's undersensitive to our sixth and seventh senses (vestibular and properioception). Oinklet's brain has difficulty organizing and responding to information from the senses which causes a neurological traffic jam. Oinklet's mom finally understands his behavior after she meets another mom with an SPD girl at a birthday party. Hopper (a bunny) becomes close to Oinklet and tries to accommodate his sensory needs to facilitate participation in everyday life activities. Email subscribers may not see the video below. Please use this You Tube Link: https://youtu.be/1e-EQFZh6AM and don't forget to give it a THUMBS UP!
Read more articles from Your Kids OT at https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog The information on this site is general in nature. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. You may like these products:
 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. It's time to go! Where's your hat? Did you remember your library bag? Do you have a smooth morning routine? Do you wish that you could record your voice and press play each morning? Does your child seem to need daily reminders about what they need to do to get ready for school? Children (and adults) have a capacity to meet challenges and achieve goals through high level cognitive functions called "executive skills" (Dawson and Guare, 2010). Our executive functioning allows us to plan, organise our behaviour, have sustained attention and persist to complete a task. We can manage our emotions and monitor how we think about a situation; making adjustments as necessary. Some children may struggle with one or more aspect of executive functioning. Dawson and Guare (2010) categorise executive functioning skills into those which help to select and achieve goals; and those which help to create a way to achieve those goals. 1. Executive functioning skills to help select and achieve goals.
2. Executive functioning skills to help create a way to achieve goals.
 Poor executive functioning skills can affect the morning routine! A visual checklist can provide a way to help children to address the "select and achieve goal" part of getting ready for school in the morning. I have created these checklists (boy and girl versions) to be made into "lift the flap" resources where the child can lift the flap to say "done" once a task is completed. As everyone's school routine is different, I have also included "my week at school" blank visual schedule. This can be used in conjunction with the "lift the flap" resource. I need this visual schedule ---- > LIFT THE FLAP MORNING ROUTINE Here are a few tips for introducing a visual checklist or timetable...
Would you like more information on executive functioning? Check out this FREE e-course by my friend Colleen at The OT TOOLBOX! --- > I want to know about executive functioning.
How are mornings in your home? Do you have any visual checklists in place? What is working for you? 
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 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. Technology has come a long way in recent years. Whilst face to face learning is great... there are many benefits to online learning and professional development. As a sole trader in the private sector and as a mum; I've appreciated the convenience of doing training in my own home at a time that suits me! Online learning has also opened doors to training from around the world which is amazing! Different countries and different states within those countries have varying standards and requirements for professional development so it is best to check with your local registration board. For my fellow Australian colleagues; you can find the OT board registration standard for continuing professional development HERE. The Australian minimum competency standards for new graduate OTs can be found HERE and can help guide professional development goals. Here is a list of online learning opportunities for paediatric OTs (and some would also be suitable for parents and teachers). Take note that some are only available at certain times of the year. Some organisations offer a rotation of webinars and courses. Some online opportunities are paid and some are free. Some opportunities require membership with an organisation prior to access. Associations and Educational Websites
General:Paediatric OT
Standardised Assessments Sensory Processing
Self Regulation
Executive Functioning
School Age
Autism
Dyslexia and Learning Difficulties Are you a supporter of online learning? What is your favourite course or webinar that you have participated in online? Save this page so you can find it when you are looking for continuing education. Pin it or share it with your colleagues! Definitely worth keeping as an OT reference. Yes, you are right... I always do things that I find useful myself. I love having all these opportunities listed together for my OWN reference! Let me know what you think! Do you have any further recommendations to add to this list?   Cindy is a registered occupational therapist practising in Sydney, Australia. She has two growing children who are a constant source of inspiration and learning. Cindy loves working creatively to help children to reach their potential, finding opportunities in everyday living and making learning fun. She is also addicted to making printables (even when they take a long time to complete). Cindy is the author of the Occupational Therapy blog Your Kids OT. Read more articles from Your Kids OT at https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog The information on this site is general in nature. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. Resources you might like:
 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... counting sheep doesn't always work, does it? Do you struggle to help your child to sleep? Do they stay asleep through the night? Today I would like to welcome Diana Fitts and occupational therapist and writer at The Sensory Toolbox. She shares with us 4 Smart Sensory Sleep Tips. Thanks for joining us Diana! Full night’s sleep? Sleeping in? Lazy weekend mornings in bed? If your child has sleep issues, these are phrases you probably haven’t heard for a long time. Sleep is something we take for granted when it’s going well but becomes an emergency pretty quickly once it takes a turn for the worse. What’s often taken for granted is the huge role that sensory factors play in the ability to fall and stay sleep. This applies for all of us, whether we’ve been diagnosed with a sensory issue or not. Remember the last time you tried to sleep in the middle of summer when your AC was broken? I bet it didn’t go so well. Our senses are consistently sending information to our brains during the day, taking in data about what we see, touch, taste, smell, and feel. By the time we go to sleep, we need our brains to settle down, which means we need to lessen the amount of information that our senses are sending our brains. This lets us relax and eventually fall asleep. So, how do we do that? Here are my top sensory tips for a better night’s sleep. 1. Prime Your Child’s Brain No, this isn’t as “mad scientist” as it sounds. Our brains are designed to recognize cues. Similar to Pavlov’s dog whose mouth waters when he hears a bell, our brains take in sensory information and prep our bodies for our next actions. We hear our favorite dance jam and we get energized; we smell our favorite tea and feel relaxed; we enter a classroom and we’re back to our high school days and feeling anxiousabout a test. While these connections often happen by accident, we can create them as well. Essentially, we can use environmental cues to tell our brains and bodies how to behave. Start by choosing a song, audiobook, bedtime story, essential oil, lotion, soap, etc that your child likes. Start playing or using this chosen object every single night as your child goes to bed and drifts off to sleep. While it will take some time, your child’s brain will start to associate their chosen object with sleep. The audiobook will play or the essential oil will spray and your child’s brain will know that bedtime is coming and it’s time to relax. 2. Be an Environmental Sensory Explorer With your child’s unique sensitivities in mind, go into your child’s room at night and take stock of all of the sensory experiences you encounter. Some good questions you can ask are: --how many sounds do I hear and how loud are they? --how many lights are there and how bright are they? --what do I smell and how strong is it? --what’s the temperature like? --how many covers is my child using? Once you’ve collected as much sensory information as possible from your child’s room, start eliminating as many sensory experiences as you can. Even if your child isn’t super sensitive to sensory input, any sensory information that enters your child’s brain during the night is information that could excite them and pull them out of their sleepy brain space. Start experimenting with different sensory experiences and see how your child responds. Maybe they like for the room to be cold; maybe their chosen object is classical music and that’s the only sound they can tolerate while sleeping; maybe they need a light sheet instead of a heavy comforter. Even small sensory tweaks can make a big difference in your child’s night, so don’t take anything for granted. Yes, even the sound of the bathroom fan down the hall can make a difference! Only remove or add one thing at a time though so that your child doesn’t get overwhelmed.  3. Have a Traveling Comfort Object At this point, you may be saying, “all of this is great, but there are times when my child needs to sleep away from home, and I can’t re-create the perfect sensory experience they have at home!!” Have your child choose a comfort object they can snuggle with whenever they’re sleeping, at home or away. In addition to priming the brain for sleep, this comfort object will give your child a sense of normalcy, even if they’re sleeping somewhere new for the first time. 4. The Same Thing that Helps Your Child Fall Asleep May not Help Them Stay Asleep Your child may lull into sleep under fluffy warm covers with their favorite music playing. A few hours later though, they may get too hot and annoyed by the music, leaving you with a cranky kid in the middle of the night. If your child is having success falling asleep, but can’t seem to stay asleep, consider all of the factors you can. Are their pajamas sweaty? They may have gotten too hot. Is the radio playing a loud song? They may have gotten annoyed by the sound. Does the room reek of aromatherapy? The oil diffuser may have been set for too long. The great thing about our technological age is that everything comes with timers. If your child loves music, smells, and fluffy covers as they fall asleep, set the music to turn off after 20 minutes, only add enough essential oils to the diffuser to last an hour, set the AC to turn on after a few hours. While this may take a lot of problem solving and planning up front, it may help your child sleep through the night. Sleep will never be an easy thing. There will always be ways to shift and adapt to make your child’s sleep routine better. Finding the right components may not happen quickly, and that’s ok!There are a lot of stops and starts when living in a sensory world, but there are also a lot of people here to help you through it. Do you have a child who struggles to go to sleep? Have you considered these sensory tips? Are there any others that have worked for you?
Read more articles from Your Kids OT at https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog The information on this site is general in nature. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. You may like these products:
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​Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. ​​​
The sun on our backs, the waves at our feet, books on the beach, cold drinks, long summer days... ahh the summer school holidays have been a wonderful time to relax with my children, re-charge my senses, reflect and plan for the year ahead.
I have even had some time to devote to this blog! January is all about getting resources ready for the new school year. For each new year and each new OT child; I provide a workbook to record things we do each week. This often works as a communication tool with parents when they are not present for sessions. This year I have combined some of my most used resources together at the beginning of the workbook to provide an introduction to OT and a reference to look back on. I have created separate "school age" and "preschool age" pages. ​ 
The "school-age" pages include...
The "preschool" pages include:
I plan to use these "cheat sheets" with my new Kindy kids who are having difficulty with pre-writing and pre-scissor skills too! I created these pages for my own use but I'm sharing them with you too. Not an OT? You may want to use my "cheat sheets" at home or display them in your classroom! You are welcome to distribute them to individual children or families in your class. Please re-direct your colleagues or friends to this page to get copies here for themselves! GET YOUR COPY OF MY OT WORKBOOK PAGES-----> USE THE FORM BELOW Join our FREE e-newsletter!Subscribe to get your copy of OT WORKBOOK PAGES! This form collects information we will use to send you our newsletter with our latest posts, products and special offers. Already subscribed? Don’t worry you won’t be added twice! 
My friend Jaime at MissJaimeOT is introducing a Manipulation Dot Packet to address fine motor skills in a fun way! This printable packet has been designed to be use with whatever fine motor trinkets you have on hand - pom poms, stickers, coins, bingo chips, beads, you name it. You can print it over and over and the possibilities are endless!
You can work on a huge list of goals: developing hand dominance, crossing the midline, in-hand manipulation and translation, grasping skills, separation of the two sides of the hand and increasing speed and coordination of upper extremities. This is a must-have printable for any therapist who has limited time and supplies. I can't wait to use my copy! Plus.. the progress tracking sheet allows you to easily keep track of your child's abilities over the course of a therapy session or the whole school year. Parents can grab a page and incorporate the week's spelling words while giving their child a fun motor activity to boost manipulation skills. Teachers can set up the pages for a quick and easy "motor centre" that easily incorporates maths and literacy. How awesome is that?!! The Manipulation Dot Activity Packet is available for sale at $7.99 US until Saturday January 25th (midnight EST- US time). You can get your packet here ----> Manipulation Dot Activity Packet Don't forget to get your FREE copy of my OT workbook pages too using the form above! Do you have your own OT workbook pages or "cheat sheets"? I would love to see them! Show me on IG and tag #therapyideas! ​ 
 Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start! You can see I've had a relaxing holiday when I quote "The Sound of Music"! Today is all about getting back to the very beginning. For OTs the way we look at a child stems from our training. I've already referred to this in a previous blog about the OT assessment process. Today I want to introduce (or re-introduce for those who have already seen it) the Pyramid of Learning by Taylor and Trott (1991). Before I continue, this diagram is published in "How does your Engine run? A leader's guide to The Alert Program for Self-Regulation" by Williams and Shellenberger. (Read more about the ALERT program HERE). Permission to publish this diagram here at Your Kids OT was obtained by Maryann Trott directly in October 2018. The Pyramid of Learning is a way of looking at the whole child. The very foundation of the pyramid is a child's central nervous system which is closely linked to their sensory systems. Adequate sensorimotor development is built on adequate registration and processing of sensory information (from the tactile, vestibular, proprioception, olfactory, visual, auditory and gustatory systems). Sensory motor development includes postural security, awareness of two sides of the body, motor planning, body scheme, reflex maturity and ability to screen input. This then supports perceptual motor development including eye-hand coordination, ocular motor control, postural adjustment, auditory language skills, visual-spatial perception and attention center functions. These are the underlying supports needed to help children achieve the pointy end of the pyramid (ie. daily living activities, behaviour and academic learning).  Children are referred to occupational therapists for various reasons. Most of the time our referrals are functional problems that is affecting the "pointy end" of the pyramid. For example, a child has difficulty with dressing, a child has difficulty completing a handwriting task, a child is having difficulty with attention. It is then the role of the therapist to see if there are underlying issues that need to be addressed. Can the therapist help the child gain new skills, modify a task or the way the task is performed or does the therapist help the child to compensate for the difficulty? This is all part of the clinical reasoning that a therapist figures out. Children may have difficulties with one or more of the areas of development but this may not always affect their ability to complete functional tasks. For example, a child may be tactile sensitive but they are able to cope with wearing clothing so there is no functional issue. We do not address underlying issues for their own sake. For example, we do not address reflex maturity just so that there is reflex maturation. If the reflex maturation is affecting a higher level issue (eg. hand dominance for handwriting is presented in a child who switches hands constantly, has weak hand strength, has difficulty crossing the midline .... then reflex maturation may be considered together with all other aspects affecting hand dominance and handwriting).  Therapists use play as both way to address therapy goals and a goal in itself. Read about "Why is my child just playing when they see an OT? What to know about some of these underlying skills?
Ask your occupational therapist if you have questions about the pyramid of learning! Ask your occupational therapist if you have concerns about your child's ability to perform functional activities! It is almost back to school time in Australia and I'm busy collating my resources ready for term 1. You can see some of them in the links below and I'll be sharing my FREE workbook pages next week. Until then, 
Reference: Taylor, K.M. and Trott, M. A. 1991 in Williams, M.S. and Shellenberger, S. (1996). “How Does Your Engine Run?”® A leader’s guide to the Alert Program® for self-regulation. Albuquerque, NM: TherapyWorks, Inc.
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AuthorHi, I'm Cindy and I am an Occupational Therapist. I enjoy working creatively with children to see them reach their potential. Read more about me here. 
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Disclaimer: The information on this site is general in nature and should be used for educational and entertainment purposes. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. This blog does not replace formal therapeutic professional advice given by a health professional or medical practitioner. Reviews and endorsements of products will only be made based on my expertise and personal opinion; and deemed worthy of such endorsement. The opinions shared in sponsored content will always be my own and not that of the advertising company or brand. Content, advertising space or posts will be clearly identified if paid, affiliated or sponsored. Affiliate links may be found throughout this website in advertising. This means that if you follow through with a purchase from these links, Your Kids OT will receive a percentage of the sale. Your Kids OT undertakes to meet the requirements of the "Social Media Policy" as published by Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Further information about this policy can be found here.
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About me
AuthorHi, I'm Cindy and I am an Occupational Therapist. I enjoy working creatively with children to see them reach their potential. Read more about me here. 
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