 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:
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 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/  Beans, tomatoes, soup... Most families have tin cans in their home. I have collated some fun ways to work on gross motor skills using tin cans and some markers. These activities encourage the development of core strength, arm and shoulder strength, bilateral coordination, crossing the midline, balance and more! These activities can be easily incorporated in OT sessions as well as carried out at home. You don't need a lot of space and you don't need special equipment. If you don't have tin cans then use what you DO have (eg. plastic cups, bowls, jars or sticks and spoons). Watch the You-tube video for the gross motor activities in action. You can use this link if you can't see the video below ---> https://youtu.be/epFzBX0pdBY Jumping Lay out markers to encourage jumping forward/backward, side to side and straight up/down. You could also try turning a half or full circle (180 or 360 degrees). Try adding a metronome to assist with focus and attention. (Read more ways you can use a metronome HERE). Marker movement Position in either the quadrupod position (like a dog on all fours), a bear (with hands on the ground and bottom in the air) or a plank position (resting on hands or forearms). Place the markers in front of the child and ask them to use their right hand to move markers to the left side of their body and their left hand to move markers to the right side of their body. Tin can touch Try this in a variety of positions. Encourage your child to stay in one position whilst reaching across their body to tap the tin cans (with their hand or foot). This involves "crossing the midline". Once your child tries these touches with one foot then try the other foot too. If they have difficulty balancing, your child could touch one tin can and then rest their foot on the ground. You could increase the difficulty by increasing the number of tin cans they touch before resting their foot on the ground. You can also increase the difficulty by having your child match markers with the corresponding coloured tin can. * Balance on one foot. * Quadrupod position (ie. like a dog on all fours) * Plank Position. * Crab/Table position. Visual Sequencing Encourage visual sequencing by adding coloured paper to the tins and drawing a simple grid of coloured dots to follow. Ask your child to tap the tins in the order of the coloured dots that they see. You could work on memory by covering the visual prompt. You could change the order of the dots or change the position of the tins to vary the activity. Do you have an older child? You could incorporate colour matching or academic skills such as learning the letters of the alphabet or sight words with any of the activities mentioned here. Squat to stand/stand to squat Place the tin cans on a table and ask your child to stand near the table. Place the markers on the floor. Ask your child to squat to pick up a marker and stand to place the marker in the matching coloured tin can. Encourage your child not to hold onto the table as they move up and down. Make sure that they are bending at the knees and not the waist. If you have a cushion or a wobble air cushion, you could ask your child to stand on the cushion to do this activity whilst moving from squat to stand (and versa). You could swap out the markers for balls or pegs. You could also incorporate tall kneeling. Have a look at the photo that I shared on Instagram of this activity. Tin Can Target
Tin Can Roll
 For more gross motor activity ideas: These activities all provide sensory feedback for children to the skin receptors, muscles and joints. Deep pressure input can have a calming affect for some children and can help a child to develop body awareness. Read more about sensory based activities HERE. How do you incorporate tin cans to develop gross motor skills? I would love to hear from you if try out some of these activity suggestions.   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 workingcreatively 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:
 Some children struggle with drawing. They may continue to scribble and have difficulty copying simple drawing patterns. This becomes a concern when the child is 3 or 4 years of age and should be imitating and copying simple lines and shapes (such as a horizontal line, vertical line, circle, square). There are usually some underlying reasons for a delay in pencil control and drawing skills. 1. Difficulty with visual spatial skills. This may include poor body awareness, poor awareness of how they relate to objects and poor visual attention to 2D images/pictures. A "red flag" may be a lack of interest in books and pointing to pictures within books or difficulty copying block simple block patterns.
2. Difficulty with pencil grasp and pencil control. This may be due to weak hand strength, poor fine motor skills or poor postural control. Your child may switch hands constantly, drop the pencil, break pencils or press too lightly. They might draw wiggles instead of straight lines.
3. Difficulty with directional language - 3D and 2D. Some children with language delays will have difficulty with "directional language". This means they have difficulty understanding concepts such as "on", "next to", "under", "between", "behind" etc. When it comes to drawing and writing, an understanding of position or direction on paper is really important for spatial relationships and how lines come together to form pictures and letters. Incorporate "directional language" in play of objects as well as when you look at books or puzzles. 4. OTHER There are many other reasons that can affect a child's ability to draw. If you are concerned about these aspects, seek medical advice for your child. Some of these might include:
 From scribble to meaningful lines and shapes. Watch these ideas via the You-tube video below or via this link ---> https://youtu.be/y1ffJYoHkic 1. Use objects! (eg. playdough, fruit, toys) Place objects to mark out where lines starts and ends. Place objects to trace around. Place objects to mark out what the lines look like and where they go on the page. 2. Use multi-sensory experiences. This not only motivating but can provide feedback to the muscles and joints as a child draws lines and shapes.
3. Use guided drawing. This may initially be imitating your drawing with each step needed to complete a larger picture. I usually start with a face and simple pictures like a sun and a rainbow. You can also use additional prompts like playdough or felt to provide extra help for your child to grasp visual spatial relationships with drawing. Once your child can imitate your drawing or draw from a physical prompt; you can move to drawing from a pictorial prompt. Have a look at these directed drawing prompts from Margaret at Your Therapy Source . 4. Fluency patterns. Copy lines to work on pencil control. Once the basic patterns can be copied, work on even spacing and even heights. Read and purchase ---> Fluency Patterns 5. Printable worksheets. Don't start here. Always start with the options listed above! When your child has developed some of the skills to draw; then printable worksheets become a great way to fine tune pencil control. You can work on colouring between lines. Encourage your child to notice the visual cues such as the edge of the picture so that they aim to stay within the lines. Your child could draw through mazes, join dot to dot pages or trace over lined pictures. Encourage your child to add their own patterns to copy pictures that they see. This will help them to develop visual spatial awareness and pencil control. Read and purchase ---> Pre-writing Lines and Shapes Printable Sheets. Drawing lines and shapes are vital to child development. Don't jump straight into teaching children to write letters and numbers. Help them to build the foundational skills with lots of drawing in the preschool years. Are you looking for more ideas to help your preschooler? Have a look at the 10 week preschool program that I have created that provides a full range of activities to support child development for 3-5 year olds. Each week of the program includes activities for the whole body, hands/fingers and using tools such as scissors and pencils. The program is designed to engage children in their learning. It is suitable for groups of children in a day care or preschool setting. It could be used by OTs or parents with individual children. Find out more --> Animal Theme Preschool Program Well I hope that you have found some ideas that you can use straight away with your children to help them move from scribble to drawing and writing. Let me know if you try them out!   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 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourkidsot Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourkidsot/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/yourkidsot/ You may also like:
 A marble, a small ball, a ball of playdough, a pom pom .... using every day items is important right now for occupational therapists as we work in our telehealth sessions using objects families may already have at home. These activities using a marble are simple, fun ways to develop a child's fine motor skills. As occupational therapists we often address fine motor skills when children have difficulty manipulating tools such as pencils, scissors and glue sticks. Fine motor skills can affect a child's ability to carry out their self care in using a toothbrush, using cutlery, tying shoes laces or manipulating fastenings such as buttons and zippers. The main fine motor areas that an occupational therapist may address include:
Using a marble:
The best way to see these suggestions is via the You-tube video ---> https://youtu.be/be5jLMvXzYk These suggestions can easily be incorporated in OT sessions face to face and via Telehealth. They are an easy way to incorporate finger warm ups prior to writing. You could even try using an eraser (perfect for the classroom - when you return). I also love marble runs and marble mazes! Let me know other fun ways you use marbles to help with the development of fine motor skills.   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 website and blog Your Kids OT and Sensory Diet Activity Guidebook (ebook). 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. Your Kids OT blog - https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog Your Kids OT shop- https://www.yourkidsot.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html Your Kids OT Teachers Pay Teachers - www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Your-Kids-Ot Your Kids OT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/yourkidsot/ Your Kids OT Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/yourkidsot Your Kids OT Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/yourkidsot Your Kids OT Amazon store - https://www.amazon.com/shop/yourkidsot  Teachers Pay Teachers Site Wide Sale! May 5-7th 2020 PROMOCODE: THANKYOU20
 Playdough is inexpensive to purchase and easy to make. It is something that most families have at home and can be incorporated easily into telehealth occupational therapy sessions. Playdough can be used to encourage a range of fine motor skills, play skills as well as shape, letter and number formation. Whilst I'm focusing on letter formation in this article, you can apply the same principles to learning shapes and numbers too. Playdough provides a child with an opportunity to learn these in a hands-on multisensory way. It will help to engage your child in learning too. This is particularly important when providing Telehealth OT services so that they child is not just a "viewer" of the OT on the screen, but an active participant during sessions. Here is an easy-to-make playdough recipe ---> PLAYDOUGH RECIPE Watch how to make playdough ---> Playdough Recipe You-Tube This article is also accompanied by a You-tube video seen below (if you are reading this online) or if you are reading this via my newsletter use this link ---> Playdough and the Alphabet You-Tube Video. When working on letter formation with my OT children, we are usually working in "letter families". Letters are grouped to allow children to learn the motor patterns needed when writing. It is also important to remember that letter formation requires a good foundation of skills including postural control, fine motor skills , pencil grasp and visual spatial skills to name a few. For more information: Read ---> Letter formation families Read ---> Fluency patterns and Drawing Pre-writing Lines/Shapes Read ---> A dynamic pencil grasp: why do we teach it? Read ---> Visual Perceptual Skills required for Handwriting Find all the Handwriting Articles ---> Handwriting Landing Page  Using Playdough for Teaching Letters: Familiarization, Formation, Legibility 1. Playdough and Alphabet Familiarization. If your child is learning the alphabet, unsure of letter names and what they look like... they may benefit from using playdough together with a visual prompt. You can use any alphabet cards or books that you may have to provide assist with alphabet familiarization . These cards/pages can be placed in a plastic display folder or even a ziplock bag to provide a surface for placing playdough on top. Young children can simply tear off pieces of playdough to cover up the letters. You may also incorporate:
2. Playdough and Letter Formation (Starting Points and Direction). Once your child is familiar with the alphabet, you may want to reinforce starting positions and direction of letters to assist them with writing. Playdough "sausage shapes" of various sizes are ideal for letter formation and can be placed down on the table (or printable) in the direction of formation. Children can make the letters on top of a visual prompt, alongside a visual prompt or by copying a model. They can trace the letters they have made with their finger, pinch or poke the letters. You can also add manipulatives such as buttons, beads, push pins, toothpicks to help mark out the starting points and direction of letter formation (with a extra benefit of working on fine motor skills simultaneously). "Letter roads" provide a great visual prompt to be used with playdough, cars or other items to help with starting points and direction. A "clockface" from the "Spalding Method" is a wonder multi-sensory way to provide visual and verbal prompts with letter formation. I have incorporated the use of playdough and a plastic lid to help mark out the starting points and direction of letters. I also find the use of a clockface especially useful when teaching magic c letters, z and e. This may involve initially working on where numbers are positioned on a clock before working on letter formation. Here's what I do with playdough...
Watch letter formation using playdough ----> Playdough and the Alphabet You-Tube Video Watch how to use letter roads ----> Letter Roads You-Tube Video Read ---> Letter Roads Shop ---> "I can learn the Alphabet" Bundle Shop ---> Letter roads  3. Playdough and Handwriting Legibility As children develop skills for letter formation, they may be working on letter size or alignment to the writing line. I use "Earth paper" writing lines to assist with letter size and alignment. I use the single Earth Paper Lined page with a clear visual prompt of three coloured lines - blue (sky), green (grass) and brown (earth/dirt/mud). I use this to encourage children to place their playdough on particular lines (eg. small letters stay on the grass). I also use this together with the letter outlines flashcards on my screen so we can write the letters during OT sessions also. Watch ---> Playdough and the Alphabet You-Tube Video Read ---> Earth Paper Writing Lines Shop ---> Earth Paper Writing lines and Earth paper letter outlines Additional Tips:
Do you use playdough to engage your child with the alphabet? Have you found some new ways to incorporate these ideas in your Telehealth sessions? 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 website and blog Your Kids OT and Sensory Diet Activity Guidebook (ebook). 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. Your Kids OT blog - https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog Your Kids OT shop- https://www.yourkidsot.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html Your Kids OT Teachers Pay Teachers - www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Your-Kids-Ot Your Kids OT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/yourkidsot/ Your Kids OT Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/yourkidsot Your Kids OT Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/yourkidsot Your Kids OT Amazon store - https://www.amazon.com/shop/yourkidsot Watch Playdough and the Alphabet You-Tube Video You may also like:
Finger rhymes, hand actions, hand clapping, body percussion, mime ....
Occupational therapists love to encourage children of all ages to get their bodies and in particular their hands and fingers moving. Without realizing it, children can work on a range of skills in a fun natural way. Some of the benefits include:
How far are other people? How far can my fingers move? What direction can they move? Can my left side move independently to my right? Can they move simultaneously? Can may left arm and leg move together? Can my left arm and right leg move together? Can I move my arm across my body? Can I fix my eyes on the body parts moving? Can I work out all these movements with my eyes closed?
Can I coordinate them with a verbal instruction or song? Can I do this by copying someone else? Can I keep up with a group?
Can I remember the sequence on my own? Can I remember after the modelling has stopped, the next day or the next week? Do I need verbal and visual prompts to help me remember? Do I need someone to physically help me to organize my body?
Can some fingers be hidden away? Can I develop the arches of my hand? Can my thumb demonstrate opposition? Can I move move fingers without looking at them?
These ideas can be carried out at home, in the classroom, direct OT sessions and via Telehealth Occupational Therapy. (You can find more about Telehealth OT HERE)
1. Finger Rhymes and Songs. I loved singing to my kids when they were babies, toddlers and preschoolers. I was accused of being a "walking musical" as I would randomly break into song. I know that this doesn't come naturally to a lot of new parents and you don't have to be a great singer but I do think it is extremely important. Finger rhymes and songs especially in the early years... in addition to all the things I've mentioned above... can help with attachment and connection between parent and child, language development, cognitive concepts (such as learning numbers, shapes and letters). For Telehealth OT, you can sing and model the actions for your child. You could also play a song via a platform like Spotify for you both to sing and do the actions. I have collated some of my favourites for you to play on your own devices or to share with your families. Let me know if you want me to demonstrate some of these rhymes and songs! Watch --->Finger Play Rhymes and Songs You-Tube Video Read and Print---> 42 favourite Finger Play Rhymes and Songs. Spotify Playlist ---> YKOT Spotify Action Songs Preschool Rhyme Bundle --->YKOT shop Preschool Rhyme Printable Bundle. Hand and body movements to song are not restricted to little kids. Older kids may want to make up their own dance or movements to music or use their bodies to make music. There are lots of great You-tube videos that encourage movement. Read more ---> Brain Breaks for Kids. 2. Heavy Work for Little Fingers. This was a series of finger movements that I collated a few years ago to help prepare fingers for fine motor activities or handwriting. These movements include:
For Telehealth OT, you could model these actions for your child to copy. You could also share the pdf on a screenshare or email it to your families to print out. Watch ---> Heavy Work for Little Finger You-tube Video. Read more --->Heavy Work for Little Fingers. Printable Version ---> YKOT Shop Heavy Work for Little Fingers Printable. 3. Spin the Wheel: This wheel was created at Wheel Decide and I have entered a series of body movements. My focus is on crossing the midline and I can share this via my "screen share" function on my Telehealth Platform (Coviu). I spin the wheel for the child on my screen, I read the action and the child can perform the action. Sometimes I need to model the action or the parent/caregiver may also assist the child. For older children, I incorporate two or three movements in a sequence to remember and perform. Note: if you are reading this in my newsletter, you will need to go to my website to access the wheel (click on the little wheel decide logo on the bottom right and this will take you to seeing the wheel on it's own page) . You may prefer not to use the wheel but perform a series of "Simon Says" movements or your own motor patterns to copy. Children will love to also create motor patterns for you to copy. Watch --->Spin The Wheel You-Tube Video.
4. Hand Clapping Challenge. This hand clapping challenge that has been seen on Tik Tok and other social media channels. It is a series of hand actions which will appeal to older children and has been done in groups. I have found a You-tube video (not mine) which goes through the steps slowly---> Hand Clapping Challenge Instructions.
During Telehealth OT, I share the you-tube video on my screen and we watch the steps together. I often need pause the video and give my own even slower version of the steps for my OT child to copy. It is a really great way to work on motor planning, bilateral coordination and memory in particular! 5. Finger Aerobics. I created this simple page of coloured dots that I'm using for "finger aerobics". You can make one yourself or download my version for free ---->FREE Finger Aerobics Printable. I have used this to encourage wrist positioning (laying flat on the table), pointing with the index finger whilst tucking away the other fingers, crossing the midline, visual memory and various finger movements. It requires good visual attention and you can adapt this to be as hard or as easy as you would like. This printable page could also be used with small manipulatives like coins, pom poms, playdough, buttons! You can ask your child to place them on certain colours, move them in groups. keep a few in their hand whilst they place one down at a time. Watch ---> Finger Aerobics You Tube Video 
I hope you try some of these ideas! Let me know if you do and don't forget to watch the you-tube videos to watch me put these in action!
Let me know what your favourite hand and finger games! 
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 website and blog Your Kids OT and Sensory Diet Activity Guidebook (ebook).
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. Your Kids OT blog - https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog Your Kids OT shop- https://www.yourkidsot.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html Your Kids OT Teachers Pay Teachers - www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Your-Kids-Ot Your Kids OT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/yourkidsot/ Your Kids OT Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/yourkidsot Your Kids OT Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/yourkidsot Your Kids OT Amazon store - https://www.amazon.com/shop/yourkidsot You may also like:
 Sensory play is so engaging and encourages hands-on learning! Occupational Therapists love to use sensory play as this is how children learn about their bodies and the world around them. Sensory trays or sensory bins have been a popular way to bring different textures and experiences together for children. Sensory trays are examples of "open-ended" play. This means that there is no set beginning, middle or end... it encourages children to explore, experiment, feel, touch, move their fingers and hands.... even their feet or other parts of their body. Think about traditional sand boxes and water trays... these are examples of sensory trays (or bins). Kids can spend hours exploring different actions like digging, pouring, squishing and poking using these sensory trays. Today I want to share more sensory tray ideas. You can use food items such as flour, rice and salt; however in this current climate where we are conscious about food going to people who need to eat... let's look at non-food sensory trays! I will also give you some tips for helping a child who doesn't like sensory play and how you can encourage them. Before I share my suggestions, if you are a parent and are ready to stop reading/stop watching because you are worried about the mess... just wait! There are lots of ideas for you to "contain the mess". You can:
Tips for setting up your Sensory Trays - Three things to consider
 6 Non-Food Sensory Trays 1) Dirt with leaves and gumnuts. This is definitely one for the outdoors. Add some pebbles, a small spade, a small digging fork or even a small watering can. 2) Shredded paper, Easter eggs and tongs. Depending on how much paper you have, kids could forage through the paper with their hands. They could use the tongs to move the paper away or to hunt for Easter eggs. Tongs and large tweezers are a great way to build hand strength. Encourage your child to hold these in the webspace of their hand (ie. space between their thumb and index finger), using two or three fingers on top and tucking away their fourth and fifth fingers into the palm of their hand. 3) Packaging peanuts and small buttons. This is tray is full of high contrasts because of the brightly coloured buttons and perfect for toddlers or preschools. You can sneak in some fine motor skill development with a pincer or tripod grasp. 4) Pom Poms and Plastic eggs. Encourage your child to use the eggs to scoop and pour pom poms. They can match the eggs together and shake. You could work on colour matching. The shape of eggs make them a perfect way to work on fine motor skills such as palmar arches of the hand, finger flexion and thumb opposition. 5) Shaving cream with plastic toys. This will be a joy for some and bring anguish to others because of the texture of shaving cream. It is definitely one that you could do in the bath or shower for those who love to explore with shaving cream. For those who may be hesitant, you could try placing items on top of the shaving cream and have them poke it with one finger or use something to pick it up (like tongs). You could give your child a stick or paintbrush to swirl the shaving cream. Try moving to smaller sticks and maybe even a toothpick. Add some food colouring for more fun. When your child can tolerate incidentally touching the shaving cream, you can begin to submerge the toy partly in to the shaving cream and then fully. Children will progress with their tactile tolerance and sensitivity at difference paces. For some it can happen within a day and for others it will take months. You can also do a few things before you expose your child to a texture that they don't want to touch. Try deep pressure activities such as throwing and catching a ball, animal walks where the child is putting weight through their hands, try rubbing their hands in a towel or asking them to rub their hands together before playing. Have a towel handy to rub their hands or hold their hands within the towel when they have had enough of touching the texture. You can also encourage them to use different body parts. Maybe they can tolerate the texture on their foot or their elbow. 6) Kinetic Sand with stones and shells. Some children will also have a tactile defensive reaction to sand. You can follow a similar tactic to what I have just mentioned with shaving cream, although there are some adults I know who are still tactile defensive to sand and refuse to go to the beach. Kinetic sand continues to draw my children (who say they are too old for these trays) into play. They have set up for a few weeks now in my office and it is this one that draws them in each time. They love to explore the movement of kinetic sand. Early on when I first started the Your Kids OT blog, I did a comparison between Kinetic Sand and homemade Cloud Dough. Find this article HERE as well as 7 invitations to play with Kinetic Sand. You could easily switch out some of the contents of these trays. Try puzzle pieces with the packaging peanuts, add sight words to the shredded paper, etc. You could have one type of tray set up for the week (eg. shredded paper) and each day set up a different "invitation to play". Monday - shredded paper, magnetic letters and place this in front of the refrigerator. Tuesday - shredded paper, felt pieces and a felt board to place the pieces onto. Wednesday - shredded paper, tongs and puzzle pieces. Thursday - shredded paper, cardboard rolls, small cars. Friday - shredded paper, easter eggs, tweezers.  AND you can incorporate cleaning up as part of the activity. "Lets set a timer and see how much shredded paper we can get back into the box/tray/bin!" If you are interested in learning more about sensory based activities and how they can be incorporated into your child's daily life.... get your copy of my e-book "SENSORY DIET ACTIVITY GUIDEBOOK". Watch my new You-tube series where I show you these sensory trays! ---> https://youtu.be/PusnomDcsuA Do your children enjoy playing with sensory trays? What is their favourite combination?   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 website and blog Your Kids OT and Sensory Diet Activity Guidebook (ebook). 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. Your Kids OT blog - https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog Your Kids OT shop- https://www.yourkidsot.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html Your Kids OT Teachers Pay Teachers - www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Your-Kids-Ot Your Kids OT Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/yourkidsot/ Your Kids OT Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/yourkidsot Your Kids OT Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/yourkidsot Your Kids OT Amazon store - https://www.amazon.com/shop/yourkidsot You may also like:
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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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