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Let's create with Felties!

1/10/2014

2 Comments

 
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Felties Compendium Travel Set contains over 300 pre-cut shapes of felt in an assortment of colours.  Googly eyes are included too! The travel set has a neat sturdy case that folds up to store these shapes, perfect as the name suggests for taking with you.  A great size to pop into a handbag or therapy bag.

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Kids will love making pictures with these felt pieces!  They may copy a small booklet of designs or make up their own. The case is long enough for 2 children to play with this together. There are certainly enough shapes to be shared.  Put away the scissors as you will not need to cut out any extra shapes!

This is a great therapy tool to take along to therapy sessions.  The Felties Compendium Travel Set  allows you to work on colour, shapes and visual-motor skills.  Can your child copy a pattern?  Can they identify a sequence to complete the picture?  Can they scan the vast number of shapes to find the ones needed?  Can they colour match? Can they use directional language (eg. next to, in front, behind, on top, below, etc)?

The Felties Compendium Travel Set may also be used for story telling and pretend play.  A scene may be built with characters introduced and objects made as a story unfolds.

Whilst Mr 4 and Miss 7 enjoy playing with this at home, I have added it to my therapy bag.  It is compact and there is such a range of skills that can be worked on using these shapes!

The Felties Compendium Travel Set is available from Finlee and Me in a choice of 2 colours.

Have your kids played with felt shapes before?

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Note: I received no remuneration for this post.  I was gifted the Felties Compendium Travel Set by Finlee and Me. All comments, opinions and photographs are my own.

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2 Comments

Fly me up high...homemade paper plane target.

21/9/2014

 
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We still haven't had enough of paper planes at YKOT headquarters.  Now we have a target for aiming our planes and it is a game too!

Did you build the acrobatic plane that was featured here recently?  If you didn't, click here for a link to that post with step by step photographic instructions. 


This homemade paper plane target was inspired by a Pinterest photo posted by Sewing Mama Rae Anna, who made one for her son's birthday party.  

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What do you need?
  • Paper
  • Texta (or any marker)
  • Template for drawing circles (we used plates and bowls)
  • Scissors
  • Masking tape



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What do you need to do?
1. Trace around bowls and plates to form circles. We assigned points to the different holes.
2. Cut out the inside of the circles. 
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3. Hang your paper on a doorway with masking tape.  You are ready to fly. 
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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. texta or scissors).  

Mr 4 continues to need help to trace around the object without swapping hands. He had difficulty cutting the circle out.  Miss 7 also had a little bit of difficulty cutting out the circles because she couldn't be as neat as she had anticipated. 

Both were keen to fly their paper planes into the targets.  It was harder than they thought so the marker placed on the ground moved closer and closer to the target.  Miss 7 was keen to make it competitive with a tally of points.

This is a fun extension activity for those who love paper planes.  It is perfect for indoors when the outdoors just aren't so inviting or a perfect way to spend the school holidays!  

If your child doesn't enjoy planes maybe you could scrunch up newspaper to throw or throw something light like pom poms at the target?

Do you think your kids will like this target?  Don't forget to "pin it" for the next rainy day!

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Enjoy this homemade activity? Try these too...
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Come Fly with Me
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Coloured Shape Path
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This little light of mine

Freebie Friday #5: Printable Games

18/9/2014

 
Welcome to Freebie Friday #5... Printable Games!  A few months ago I had a series of Freebie Fridays (see below for links) found on the web.  I will periodically put together another set of freebies as I collate good ones!

Today, you will find some great paper based games that you can play with your kids (especially your bigger kids). 

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I have to start with some games that I have featured previously at Your Kids OT.  Did you read about these games?
Your Kids OT: Tapatan
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Your Kids OT: Rainbow I-Spy
Your Kids OT :Lego Challenges
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And here are some more by other clever people on the web...
Therapy Fun Zone: Paper Battleship, Cootie Catchers etc.
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A mom with a lesson plan: Lego game
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Picklebums: Catch a bug game
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Pre-K pages: Environmental Print Bingo
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The Notebooking Fairy: Game Board templates (also great to use a motivators in therapy)
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First Grade Garden: Mr Potato Head maths roll
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Here are the previous Freebie Fridays in case you missed them!
  • Freebie Friday #1: Pre-Writing Printables
  • Freebie Friday #2: Cutting
  • Freebie Friday #3: Drawing
  • Freebie Friday #4: Visual Motor Skills


These printable games will keep your kids busy during the school holidays!  Stay safe if you are travelling!

What is your favourite website for freebie printables? Let me know!
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Haven't had enough of Lego?  More games and activities!

10/9/2014

 
Another big thank you to those who participated in the Lego Challenges in the last few weeks!  Remember you can keep doing the challenges yourself with the free printable available from the Your Kids OT Shop! You could even add at timer element if you have a few friends over.

Here are some great LEGO games and activities that I have found on the web for you to enjoy...

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Kids Activities blog: Lego Matchbox Beds
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Kids Activities Blog: Homemade Lego Puzzle Book
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Fun at Home with Kids: DIY Lego kit and free printable activity cards.
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A mom with a lesson plan: Lego Game with free printable game board.
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Chickabug Blog: Lego Party Games
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One Perfect Day: Lego and Playdough Learning
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Hours of Lego fun here!  Which is your favourite?

Enjoy your weekend!
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Lego Challenge Wrap up!

4/9/2014

 
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A big thank you to everyone who participated in the YKOT Lego Challenge.  It has been fun!

Also a big oops from me as I forgot that I will be going on holidays next week {How could I forget, you ask? Well it has been a busy season here!}.....  so I won't be able to run the fourth week of the Lego Challenge! I'm hoping to still post whilst I'm away but I won't be able to collate any photos and access my email.  

Keep reading because you can continue the Lego Challenge at home any time you want to!

Let's see the fabulous and creative entries this week... inspired by books..
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If your kids enjoyed the challenge and would like to keep building, download more free Lego Challenges here!  You could play as a family and challenge each other or add a timer to make things more interesting!  You could even use the challenges at a Lego-inspired birthday party! 
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FREE Lego Challenge Printable!
Feel free to send through any photographs of you and your children building these Lego Challenges anytime!  I would love to seen them ([email protected]).

Thanks again to everyone who played along!

Watch this space for more  Lego-inspired activities!

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7 Invitations to play Kinetic Sand!

2/9/2014

 
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We love kinetic sand but even well loved toys get forgotten and unused.  The simple solution is to set up an "invitation to play".... just a fancy way of saying "set up a few bits and bobs to play with the kinetic sand that your child may not have thought of".

The beauty of setting up an "invitation to play" is to link things together you may have at home (or preschool) already into a theme. It takes just a few minutes to set up and for your child it is like you have presented them with a new toy. The opportunities for play seem inviting and new.  The play is also "open ended" which is a fancy way of saying that there are endless combinations for your child to use the items they have been given.

Here are "7 invitations to play" that I have set up with kinetic sand over the last few weeks.  I like to surprise my kids and set it up for them whilst they are at school or having "quiet time" in their rooms.  Others like to involve their kids in setting up a play scene.  

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My favourite "invitation to play" is the "ice-cream" play.  Mr 4 loves his "dinosaur" play.  Miss 7 just likes the blue glass beads and decorating the sand.  She also really likes those beach umbrellas.

Which is your favourite "invitation to play kinetic sand"?  

What other scenes do you think your kids would enjoy?
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Don't forget to send your entries in for the Lego Challenge!!  Can't wait to see what your kids create this week!

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Cloud Dough vs Kinetic Sand
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Roll roll roll ... the playdough!

Lego Challenge #2!

21/8/2014

 
If anyone has doubted the creativity of kids today then they haven't seen what kids can do with Lego.  The first YKOT challenge was set last Friday to build with 50 bricks {your choice}.  

Thank you to everyone who participated in the first challenge.  I hope you are looking forward to the next one!!

Before we see what the next challenge is, here are the photos of the creations sent to me for challenge 1. Find yours and be inspired by what others have made. They were all fantastic!

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YKOT Lego Challenge #2

Here is how it will work:
Each Friday for the next 3 weeks, I will select a "Lego Challenge".  Encourage your children to build this during the week and take a photograph.  Send in the photograph with a brief description {eg. George, age 6, hovercraft or if you prefer Mr 6, hovercraft} by Thursday 5pm (Sydney time).  I will collate the photographs so your child can see their own creation and have a look at what others have made too.

Rules: 
  • Open to children of all ages.  {This is not a school assignment so it is not about parental help for the best looking creation but parents can help if they want to! Parents you can build your own if you want to but please label as such. If no-one submits a photograph you might just get lots of my creations. LOL}
  • Children can submit more than one photograph per challenge if they want to.
  • Children may use any "brick-like-Lego" to complete the challenges including Duplo, Megabloks, etc.
  • Photographs submitted will become the property of Your Kids OT and may be published on the website, FB and Pinterest.  Thanks!
  • This is non-competitive challenge and is designed for encouraging imagination and creativity! Sorry no prizes and no winner.
  • Email your  photo/s to [email protected]
  • Tell your friends about the challenge!
  • Have fun!!!
This week's challenge is... build a bridge.  
 
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Use the comments below to encourage our young Lego builders! I love how you can see a little of each child's personality in their creations. 

I'm looking forward to seeing your Lego creations this week! Don't forget to come back next week to see a photo of your creation and what others have made.

Did your kids have fun with the first challenge? 

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Are you ready for the Lego Challenge?

14/8/2014

 
Hands up if you are a fan of Lego?  Did you play as a child?

There are only a few of my childhood toys that have lasted the test of time to be passed onto my own children.  My "Cabbage Patch Kid" {Karen Crescenda}, board games, books and a bucketful of LEGO.  Now Karen was completely unappreciated by either of my children but the LEGO is well loved.

A common complaint I hear among my friends {other parents} is about LEGO sets.  Once built, the sets stay built and not played with or broken up and never put back together again.  Is this your experience?  

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Buying a few base boards was a great way to encourage my kids with the imagination part of playing with Lego.   Here is another way .... the YKOT Lego Challenge!!  

Before I go into the details, I have to let you know that I was inspired to do this after reading about LEGO quest (found on Pinterest).  In 2010, a series of quests were given where readers would build and photograph their achievements.  I wish we could have been a part of this quest but my kids would have been too young.

So here it is....

YKOT Lego Challenge!

Here is how it will work:
Each Friday for the next 4 weeks, I will select a "Lego Challenge".  Encourage your children to build this during the week and take a photograph.  Send in the photograph with a brief description {eg. George, age 6, hovercraft or if you prefer Mr 6, hovercraft} by Thursday 5pm (Sydney time).  I will collate the photographs so your child can see their own creation and have a look at what others have made too.

Rules: 
  • Open to children of all ages.  {This is not a school assignment so it is not about parental help for the best looking creation but parents can help if they want to! Parents you can build your own if you want to but please label as such. If no-one submits a photograph you might just get lots of my creations. LOL}
  • Children can submit more than one photograph per challenge if they want to.
  • Children may use any "brick-like-Lego" to complete the challenges including Duplo, Megabloks, etc.
  • Photographs submitted will become the property of Your Kids OT and may be published on the website, FB and Pinterest.  Thanks!
  • This is non-competitive challenge and is designed for encouraging imagination and creativity! Sorry no prizes and no winner.
  • Email your  photo/s to [email protected]
  • Tell your friends about the challenge!
  • Have fun!!!

This week's challenge is... build with 50 bricks.  
This can be any bricks that you select.
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I'm so excited to see what your kids will create!  

Are you {and your kids} up for the challenge? The Lego challenge?
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Visit Your Kids OT's profile on Pinterest.

This little light of mine...

3/8/2014

 
This is a easy activity to set up and perfect for the short winter days we have at the moment. Wasn't yesterday freezing?!! When the sun goes down, set up a homemade "light box" for your kids to play in the dark.

There are several homemade light box suggestions on the web.  You can find some here at Growing a Jeweled Rose, the Imagination tree or Tinker lab.  I simplified my light box even more with no wax paper, no fancy light box shapes, no electricity involved...
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What do you need?
  • A large white or clear storage box (I used an under-bed storage box).
  • Light source (I used 3 battery-operated push lights from Ikea)
  • Shiny bits (I used glass beads, straws, checker pieces and cellophane shapes)

What you need to do...
Turn on the lights, put them in the box and put on the lid....easy!! Done!  Don't forget to turn off the room lights!
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Mr 4 and Miss 7 love playing with this homemade light box. We used things we could find around the house (glass beads, checker pieces and straws).  Mr 4 added his cars on a later play. We also made some cellophane shapes by cutting out holes in black paper and placing different coloured cellophane onto these.  

Our box has ridges in the lid which is not ideal as it is not a flat surface.  If you are looking for a box to use, I think you will get an even broader range of play without the ridges. 

The set-up is so easy that the kids can turn on the lights themselves and find various objects suitable for the top.
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There is something about playing in the dark that kids enjoy.  Try this out quickly before Winter ends and daylight saving begins!  Do your kids love playing in the dark?
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Looking for more easy homemade ideas? Try these...
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School  Holidays Ideas #2

1/7/2014

 
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!
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Homemade Cable Car Play!
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Homemade Posting Box.
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    About me...

    Hi, I'm Cindy ... an Occupational Therapist who enjoys working creatively with children. We work on client-centred principles of respect, connection, regulation before expectation, meeting sensory needs, active engagement and participation, 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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