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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.
 HAPPY NEW YEAR! A quick look back at 2018 before we move forward with 2019! What you liked in 2018!
What you liked from the archives!  2018 BEST NINE ON INSTAGRAM Best NINE was generated by @2018bestnine_official.
Find more ideas on Instagram ----> Your Kids OT IG page. I share my day-to-day life as an OT over on IG. Quick snap shots of therapy ideas, frustrations with work as a mobile OT and celebrating milestones achieved by my OT kids! Some times I bravely show you a photo of me (usually hiding in my stories). 2018 saw me host a monthly photo challenge on IG at Your Kids Therapy Ideas! There were so many wonderful therapy ideas shared throughout the year. It was also a priviledge to collaborate with other therapy bloggers who were my guest judges throughout the year. A big thank you to ...
Make sure you check out and follow there IG accounts! Here is my first bit of exciting news for 2019....Your Kids Therapy Ideas is continuing as a re-post page! This means that I will be re-posting YOUR therapy ideas throughout the year (with acknowledgement and links back to your page). You don't have to be a therapist to share your ideas! Just follow the page and continue to tag #therapyideas. The second piece of exciting news for 2019 is that I'm taking Your Kids Therapy Ideas to Facebook in the form of a group. This will be another avenue to share YOUR therapy ideas! You can also just join and read other people's ideas. Everyone is welcome to this group (well except people trying to crowd fund, advertise products or jobs). Parents, teachers, therapists, psychologists.... all welcome! This group is newly formed, however I'm excited to nurture it in 2019! Find the group HERE. Don't forget that you can join 16 000 others and follow Your Kids OT Facebook page. You can also join almost 200 000 monthly visitors to the Your Kids OT Pinterest boards too!  Thank you again for your ongoing support of Your Kids OT! If you have any comments or feedback, I always love to hear from you! Looking forward to 2019! 
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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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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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