 Building the roots! A family who I work with used this expression today. As parents we want to build several strong roots for children as they grow and develop. We want them to be rooted to a loving home environment, secure in their relationship with their family, develop social skills to interact with others, understand who they are in the world, connect with their community, etc. As an occupational therapist, we want to build strong roots so that children can participate in functional activities of daily life. Core muscle strength is one of those foundational roots. When children have weak core muscle strength they may have difficulty with simple activities such as their sitting posture on the floor and at a desk. You may find them leaning on furniture, falling off their chair, propping their head up with their hands. Weak core muscle strength may be seen in children who have difficulty with organized sports that involve kicking, standing on one leg, transferring weight or using a bat. You may see a child struggle with agility, balance, coordination and generally look "clumsy". Some children with weak core muscle strength may have difficulties using tools such as pencils, markers and scissors. When core muscle strength and stability is evident, then children will use their intrinsic hand muscles to manipulate these tools in a dynamic way. When there is weakness, we see children compensating by using their whole arm and hand as one unit. This can reduce fluency and lead to fatigue. Read more about core muscle strength:
Gym balls come in different sizes (and a couple of shapes like a peanut)! Try different sizes to depending on the size of your child. We love using gym balls to help build core muscle strength and stability. Try these activities to get started.
These activities are lots of fun and you will also be working on other skills such as bilateral coordination, shoulder stability, neck muscle strength, wrist strength, team work whilst providing sensory input (proprioception and vestibular). Watch our You-tube video to see these activities in action. This video features "Pig the Pug"(aka Master YKOT) who really hopes you enjoy the video. Hit the like button or let us know in the comments if you want to see more videos featuring "Pig the Pug". ---> https://youtu.be/vCd8dJ2BWeA What are your favourite gym ball activities? Do you have songs that you use with these activities? Let me know!   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. HOME 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. 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. Amazon Store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/yourkidsot YKOT shop: https://www.yourkidsot.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html Teachers Pay Teachers: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Your-Kids-Ot You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZUz_5nYEOCkj32DiOCQo4Q/featured Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourkidsot Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourkidsot/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/yourkidsot/ You may also like:
 Listening in the car. Listening whilst going for a walk. Listening whilst doing housework. I'm new to the world of podcasts and it has opened my mind to so many things! Whilst I've been pursuing some personal interests like art history, book reviews and female leadership; I've also discovered some parenting podcasts that have been funny and insightful. There are also so many invaluable podcasts for occupational therapists. I highly recommend "Two Peas in a Podcast" .... Kate and Mandy are Melbourne mums of children with disabilities. They share their experiences as mums on the roller coaster that is parenting multiples with disabilities and special needs. They relay their experiences honestly venturing to discuss topics that are not often talked about. They are not scared to laugh at themselves and are relatable. http://toopeasinapodcast.com.au/. I also highly recommend "In it" which is a podcast by the organization Understood. This podcast explores the joys and frustrations of raising kids who learn and think differently. Amanda Morin and Bob Cunningham host this podcast and interview families (and sometimes even kids) about the everyday ups and downs. https://open.spotify.com/show/6qb0LuxbTPRsQycjfI0fiS Podcasts (like online learning) give people flexibility with time and place; accessing information and testimonies from around the world. I started collating this list for the Australian Paediatric OT FB group where I am an administrator. Please note that many of the podcasts below can be listened to from a variety of platforms and I have listed just one for each podcast. These are listed in no particular order.
Have you been listening to podcasts? Do you have any recommendations? Are you a podcast creator? I would love to hear from you!   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. 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. Email: cindy@yourkidsot.com Amazon Store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/yourkidsot YKOT shop: https://www.yourkidsot.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html Teachers Pay Teachers: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Your-Kids-Ot You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZUz_5nYEOCkj32DiOCQo4Q/featured Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourkidsot Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourkidsot/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/yourkidsot/   Make a cute paper craft activity with me! All you need is some paper, scissors and a marker to decorate the puppet. These origami folding paper "snappers" are so versatile to use in OT therapy sessions. Make them to work on bilateral coordination or motor planning skills. You could make them to build fine motor skills ~ feed the puppets with scrunched up pieces of paper or small balls of playdough. Make them in colours to correspond with the Zones of Regulation (blue, green, yellow and red)! Use the snapper puppets to work on social skills and have them talk to each other. Follow the step-by-step instructions that I have provided in the You-tube video below or use this link ---> https://youtu.be/xxZ4CiEzt3E Use the you-tube video in your Telehealth Therapy sessions. You can pause and rewind the video if you need to repeat any instructions. I always find it best to practice folding activities before I try to teach it to someone else! Let me know if you try out these Origami Paper Snappers. Tag @yourkidsot on Instagram as I would love to see your ideas.   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. 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. Amazon Store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/yourkidsot YKOT shop: https://www.yourkidsot.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html Teachers Pay Teachers: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Your-Kids-Ot You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZUz_5nYEOCkj32DiOCQo4Q/featured Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourkidsot Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourkidsot/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/yourkidsot/ You may also like:
I like jokes about stationery but rulers are where I draw the line!
How are you holding up with 2020? In Sydney, children have returned to school full-time and restrictions are starting to ease for public places, restaurants, cafes and visiting people. We have enjoyed having friends and family visit us but it is a strange time of hopeful optimism with a dash of doubt. Telehealth services continue here at Your Kids OT and I know that this will continue with many of my OT colleagues around the world. I hope to continue bringing you content that would be appropriate for telehealth OT sessions as well as face-to-face OT sessions and home programs. Today lets look at the humble "ruler". I love using a ruler in OT sessions as it is a functional skill that children are expected to achieve in the early years of school. This doesn't mean that is easy for children to do. Rulers require bilateral coordination; using both hands simultaneously in a coordinated way. One hand is the "worker" and the other is the "helper" hand. Some children will have difficulty crossing the midline to use a ruler and others will have difficulty stabilizing the ruler. Read more about bilateral coordination HERE. Rulers can be really helpful to provide sensory feedback for pencil control. Children can "bump" the ruler with drawing and writing skills. The ruler can be positioned along writing lines to give children physical (proprocioceptive) feedback that they don't receive just by looking at the line. I often use the "ruler" to encourage children to work on size and spacing. This might involve drawing fluency patterns like round semicircles or sharp zigzags to space them evenly or work on high and low consistent shapes. To make "ruling a line" more interesting, I have created a FREE PRINTABLE for you (and me - as I always use my own printables in my own OT sessions). This "ruler art" was created for middle schoolers (approximately aged 8-11 yrs) to draw straight lines and create parabolic arches. You could also try this with older and younger children as this is just a guide. You can also achieve the same affect by spacing out dots yourself on paper and connecting these dots (but I have taken this step out for you). Be sure to watch the you-tube video to see me explain how to use these printables and fill in the box below to get your copy. Newsletter readers will need to click HERE to see this blog post online to see the form and don't worry you will only be subscribed once. WATCH --- > https://youtu.be/t_jaahHpgHw Ruler Art!
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In completing the "Ruler Art" pages for myself, I found it involved quite a bit of concentration and mindfulness. Mistakes may be made and that's ok. A few missed dots won't spoil the overall affect. Encourage your kids to try one and experiment with colour!
Try using "stencils" for younger children! This will be a fun way for them to work on bilateral coordination and pencil control skills! Let me know if you try "ruler art" with your kids and don't forge to share this page so others can get their own copy of the FREE RULER art printable! PS. Did you like watching the time-lapse of the ruler art in action! I find it mesmerising! 
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. 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. Amazon Store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/yourkidsot YKOT shop: https://www.yourkidsot.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html Teachers Pay Teachers: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Your-Kids-Ot You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZUz_5nYEOCkj32DiOCQo4Q/featured Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourkidsot Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourkidsot/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/yourkidsot/ |
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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