 Today on the blog, I would like to introduce Laurie Gombash! Laurie is a physical therapist who loves to teach the alphabet through movement and a range of multi-sensory activities. To capture an array of learning variability gives children an opportunity to learn in ways they understand through their senses. Laurie is sharing her latest book, ABC's of Active Learning© with us today! What an exciting resource that would be valuable for anyone working with young children! Thanks for this opportunity to guest blog and tell everyone about my new book, ABC’s of Active Learning©. It's the same 26 letters with a multi-sensory twist that provides a lively and engaging teaching and learning experience! As parents, caregivers, practitioners, or teachers, we realize the importance of early literacy development, but how do we continue to find creative ways to present critical learning skills? More importantly, how do we capture the motivation of our learners who come to us with different strengths and areas in need of continued development? The ABC’s of Active Learning© targets the whole brain through movement activities, organized games, multi-step crafts, as well as multi-sensory pre-writing activities that can be used and graded for learners of all abilities. With the rise of technology dominating so much of the young child's time, this tool takes learning back to the basics, providing organizing movement activities that help to establish a child who is ready to be an active participant in his or her learning!  For example, for the letter M, Our Marching Band by Lloyd Moss is the suggested read.
To challenge children’s phonological awareness, encourage them to say the words that start with the “M” sound. Learning outcomes from Marshmallow lob include eye-hand coordination, phonological awareness, and gross motor skill enhancement. All activities are designed to be fun and motivating, while simultaneously providing rich multi-sensory input, improving motor development and learning. This book can stand alone or be a supplement to The ABC’s of Movement® activity cards. To purchase these products or to find out further information refer to www.ABCsofMovement.com.
 Happy World OT Day! This has also been "OT Week" in Australia! I have been involved in lots of promotion across social media to promote "occupational therapy" in some very exciting events! One of these events has been the "You know you are an OT" challenge! Occupational Therapists (and OT assistants) are special people who are so passionate about their jobs! Here are some of the memes I shared about being an OT.
 There were also some fabulous contributions to the challenge by occupational therapists and OT assistants across the world. Here are some of my favourites:
 I have also been busy this week organising many Australian OT week online events with the lovely Anna from Kids Play Space for the "Australian Paediatric Facebook Group". We also asked group members to answer "You know you are an OT"... Here are some of my favourites!
This is has been so much fun to celebrate World OT day in this way! I hope some of these made you smile or chuckle or just nod your head in understanding! Give your OTs some love this week and let them know that you appreciate them! Cheers to my fellow OTs! 
You may also like:
Magnets are so fascinating for kids! How do they work? What makes them attract or repel something?
Using the fascination children have with magnets ... I created a fun way to learn pre-writing patterns and learn letters too! What do you need? * two-sided plastic frame (I use this frame from IKEA and took out one of the plastic sheets) * magnets * whiteboard markers (and eraser) * felt/glue (optional) The felt and glue are optional. I added a small piece of felt to my magnets to prevent scratching the plastic frame. What do you need to do?
I hope you enjoy this video showing you what you need and what you need to do to learn pre-writing patterns and letters with magnets!
Note: The last time I included a video in my blog post, my loyal newsletter subscribers couldn't see it! Please also find the video available on You Tube at this link !
Why I love this activity!
This activity has so many great benefits! * Pincer grasp - Encourage your child to hold the magnet between their thumb and index finger. * Separation of the two sides of the hand - Encourage your child to tuck away their 3rd, 4th and 5th fingers. * Wrist Extension - As this frame is vertical; your child's hand will naturally be placed in a position of wrist extension. * Bilateral coordination - Encourage your child to use their dominant hand to hold and move the magnet, whilst using the non-dominant hand to hold the frame. * Visual Tracking - Your child should naturally watch the magnet as it traces the pattern, shape or letter. If they can't track visually - check out my variation below! * Shape and letter formation - Use this activity to teach pattern, shape and letter formation as your child will "feel" their hand moving in space as each letter is formed (spatial awareness). This learning through movement is called "kinesthetic" learning. Children can also learn the planning involved with forming patterns, letters and shapes. You may want to add a verbal element so that your child may repeat this to help with understanding the steps involved. The verbal prompt may also help them to plan when they form these patterns, shapes and letters on their own. The development of these skills are so important for handwriting on paper! This activity provides an excellent way to build "handwriting" skills without having your child "just write" for practice. It provides multi-sensory learning, is "novel" and fun! It is really quick to set up (once you gather your supplies). It is also transportable ... perfect for the mobile therapist! 
Variations
For more activities to promote the development of fine motor skills; see this page with a list of my articles on this subject! Does your child love magnets? Do you have an IKEA nearby? I would love to hear if you make any further variations to this activity idea!
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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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