In the Miller Function and Participation Scales there is an "origami" subtest that measures this against age appropriate norms. Miller describes the skills needed for this activity to be similar to participation in home activities (eg. folding towels, napkins, clothes or the newspaper) or school activities (eg. turning pages in books or folding paper for art projects). Mr 4 received a terrific book for his birthday recently with over 50 examples for folding paper planes. Whilst he needs lots of help to complete the simple ones, Miss 7 has taken over the book and has loved following the instructions to build a variety of planes. Miss 7 and Mr 4 have spent hours flying the planes {outside, inside, down the stairwell}, decorating them and turning them into characters for stories (mostly Miss 7 with that one). Miss 7 has also attached messages to some of her planes (see the photo). Best of all it is something despite their different interests and abilities that they can do together. Here are instructions for one of Miss 7's favourite planes ... the "acrobatic". Make sure you press down after each step. Do your kids enjoy making paper planes? What is their favourite? Send me a photo of your creations, I would love to see them! Note: This post may contain affiliate links. All photos and comments made here are my own.
Congratulations for getting past the title...are you someone who says "I leave painting for preschool!" or "I don't let my child paint at home"? There is nothing wrong with this. I don't think that I ever painted at home as a young child... However, painting can be great fun and a way for your child to express themselves. Some of the concerns that parents have are "my child is impulsive", "my child has poor attention", "my child will paint a few scribbles and then has had enough", "there is so much effort in setting up and clearing away", "my child doesn't like it".... Any of these ring true for you? Painting at home does not need to be a daunting thing with young kids. The key is preparation and organisation (from the grown up). It may be "saved up" a rainy day activity or for the school holidays when there is less rushing around. Here is a simple painting project for toddlers and preschoolers with a few tips to make it successful for you and your child.
Presenting one colour and one cardboard roll at a time reduces impulsive behaviour. It helps a child with poor attention skills to focus on the one activity. It also helps to provide a clear "finish" point when the roll is covered in paint. The egg carton provides some stability during painting and reduces the amount of "touching" for those with tactile defensive reactions to paint.
So hands up if you shudder at the thought of painting with your kids? I hope these simple tips make it a less daunting activity to consider. It may not be an every day activity for your household but it is possible! Let me know if you step out of your comfort zone for this one.... If you enjoyed this article you may also like... Looking for some "inside" games for these school holidays? Here are two that are simple to make, set up and play at home. Click on the title or photo for the full articles. Let me know if you try these ideas out! I have already mentioned in another post that I encourage all kids (of ages) to draw and experiment with drawing. It is important in helping with visual motor planning and spatial organisation for handwriting. The benefits of drawing for children include:
Drawing Keep in mind your child's age and developmental stage of drawing. There is a great description of drawing development in children at Learning Design.
Are you enjoying freebie Fridays? If you have missed them, you can catch up with the links below: Have a great weekend! We will be celebrating Mr 3 turning 4!
Over time as the pincer grasp develops, it enables the development of intrinsic hand muscles with strength, dissociation of the two sides of the hand, in-hand manipulation of objects, tripod grasp of a pencil and an open webspace. There are lots of activities to encourage your child with their pincer grasp. Here are just a few... You may want to read about some of these ideas here:
Get pinching today! Have you discovered Pinterest? Save this photo to your Pinterest board so you can refer to it later or follow my boards with this link.
Click on the title or the photo for links directly to the relevant website. Get those printer ink cartridges ready! Cutting Skills If you don't like any of these sites, your child may prefer cutting up strips of colour paper, newspaper and shopping catalogues! They may prefer to cut out shapes to make a homemade path (read the post from earlier in the week here).
I do hope you find something from these websites that your child will enjoy (or find a challenge). There are hours of cutting to be had! What do your kids like cutting? Let me know, I love to hear from you! Fun with colours and shapes! Using both hands together can be tricky for some kids! Bilateral coordination is so important in helping children to establish a dominant hand and in working on more complicated skills as your child develops. This simple homemade path of coloured shapes is a great activity for your toddler or preschooler. They can help you to make it {using bilateral coordination of their hands and fine motor skills} and then use it to identify shapes and colours {using their gross motor skills and learning concepts}. What do you need to do? Tracing and cutting are both activities that encourage bilateral coordination of hands. One hand (usually the non-dominant) needs to stabilise the paper and the other hand (usually the dominant) needs to use the implement (ie. crayon or scissors). Your preschooler may need help to trace around the shapes without moving the crayon to the other hand. They may need help stabilising the shape they are holding so it doesn't move whilst it is being traced. Your preschooler will need time to practise and become confident with manipulating the paper to turn as they cut around the shape. They may require some assistance to turn the paper and encouragement to stay on the line during cutting. 3. Lay out your contact paper. Peel back the paper (I did half at a time) and stick down the shapes varying the colours and shapes along the path. How do you use this? This path may be used with an individual child or several children together in a setting. It would work really well in a family day care setting where there are several children in a small group. Great for turn taking, waiting and other social skills. There are many ways to encourage your child with the concepts of shapes and colours. Depending on the chosen activity, it may also promote bilateral coordination of the legs (used for walking, jumping, hopping) and eye/hand coordination.
Although the weather is cooling down here, my northern hemisphere readers might want to get out some water bombs and throw them at the appropriate shapes or colours! Try making this colour shape path with your toddler or preschooler. They will love to see that their tracing and cutting is put to use and can be "played" with. Let me know if you try it out! Here are some of my favourites. Click on the title or the photo for links directly to the relevant website. Get those printer ink cartridges ready! Pre-writing skills I hope you have enjoyed the first "Freebie Friday". Future categories will include cutting skills, drawing and games. What are your favourite websites for "free" printables?
Threading is a fun way for kids to use their two hands together. Older babies and toddlers love to post things into various containers. As they develop skills in posting, they hold onto the container with one hand and post with other hand. Gradually, toddlers are able to manipulate smaller objects and put them into smaller holes. This is a precursor to threading. Threading requires coordination of two hands together. That is, bilateral coordination. One hand holds the "string" and the other hand holds the "bead". The "bead" hand needs to be held steady as the "string" hand moves to thread. The child then needs to be able to grab onto the string as it pokes through the bead with the hand which was holding the bead. There are so many objects that can be threaded (anything with a hole) and there are many things that these objects can be threaded onto (ok...that is really obvious). However, there are ways to help a child to develop threading skills depending on the objects used as the "string" and "bead". Here is a an example of how you can progress a child who is developing skills in threading. Ages are approximate and may vary for different children. Generally I do not attempt to be "cool". There is too much pressure. I do try to make therapy sessions fun and engaging. I try to help my own kids to learn creatively...but "cool"...a tough title to earn....until now! This homemade rewards project will have you as the coolest mum/OT/teacher/dad/grandparent in town. The elements of "winning", of "surprise", of "fun", of "uniqueness" {is that word?}, of "motivating" ... all rolled into one. The best thing is that it is really easy to prepare.
What do you need to do? 1. Mix 1 part dishwashing liquid with 2 parts paints {my measurements were very approximate} in a plastic cup. 2. Paint the paint mixture onto the contact paper {on the clear side not the paper back}. Wait for it to dry. Paint another layer and allow to dry. {Note: You can use a hairdryer if you are impatient. I also found that the paint in the cup didn't dry out - must have been because of the detergent.} 3. Print the Scratch and Win printable (print here) and cut out the tokens. 4. Cut out a small piece of painted contact paper {enough to cover up "reward" on Scratch and Win paper}. 5. Peel off the paper back from the contact paper. 6. Stick the painted contact paper onto the "Scratch and Win printable". Repeat on all paper tokens. You are ready to play! How to use? Well this is really up to you. The printable includes blanks so that you can edit your "prizes" according to your child. I tried to find "non-food" item rewards for my own kids. I also included a few "Special Scratch and Win" tokens. These included activities that we planned for the school holidays. It is also helpful if you choose prizes that your child will not receive at other times or elsewhere. (Eg. If you give your child a piggy back ride everyday then this won't be very rewarding as a prize that is revealed). I suggest that you have a system for gaining your "Scratch and Win" tokens. This will vary according to your child and what you are trying to motivate them to achieve. For Miss 7, she gains a stamp on the calendar for every time she practices the piano. When she achieves 20 stamps she gets a "Scratch and Win". You may want a quicker time frame for your child. Mr 3 is working on eating his dinner unassisted. He gets his "Scratch and Win" after doing this 5 times. We have also agreed that the prizes can be accumulated and don't have to be claimed instantly {useful when planning weekend or holiday prizes}. I plan to incorporate this into therapy sessions. I think this token based system will be really motivating. The "rewards" I choose for therapy are usually a part of the program that I would have already planned to do, however it may involve some choice by my student. For example, choice between "Writer's Hat" or "Imagistory" ipad apps, choice between scooter board or therapy ball activity, choice of multi-coloured pencil or vibrating pen for writing. It may also include a different posture, for example: on your tummy {on the floor}, sitting on a therapy ball at the table, etc. As an added bonus, the actual act of rubbing off the gold paint with a coin is a fantastic fine motor activity. It encourages a pinch grip of the coin and an open webspace (the circle created by the thumb and index finger). See how Miss 7 self corrected in the two photos above to a more open webspace which she found easier to hold the coin and rub out the paint.
So are your ready to be "cool". Despite this long explanation, it is very easy to achieve and one small strip of painted contact paper covers heaps of prizes. Have you thought of another way to use this scratch paint? Share your ideas in the comments below! |
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. SEARCH THIS SITE
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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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