Cute Chic

Try this cute chic for some spring time art.  Just cut out an oval (have the kids draw one and then cut it out, if they are capable) and cut it in 2 pieces using a zig zag pattern.  Cut out a chic shaped head from yellow paper.  Then put a hinge on the side and have the kids decorate as they like.

Summer home work

School is either out, or soon to be out, for kids.  Summer is a fun, relaxing time, meant to recharge everyone's batteries after the long, difficult school year.  It is important for kids, and adults, to take this time to have fun in the sun and socialize with friends and family.  Go to the pool or park; go on vacation to your favorite destination and just RELAX!  Have a great summer, everyone!
That said, we want to remind everyone that, although summer is supposed to be fun and relaxing, kids can loose almost 1/3 of their knowledge over summer break if not properly stimulated.  Older kids need to read every day.  Go to the library and let the kids pick out the books they want to read.  It does not matter if the book is a step below their reading level, as long as they enjoy it and read it.  Children who can not yet read may enjoy going to the library for story time (most offer these). Parents should read to younger children every day.  Preschoolers should be encouraged to practice their coloring and tracing, as well as cutting skills.  Don't be afraid to give a preschooler children's scissors to cut with (under direct supervision, of course).  Like I tell the parents of my preschool clients- I am not aware of any preschooler cutting off a finger with a pair of children's scissors.  Have the preschooler color with chalk on the driveway.  Allow him/her to help when you make dinner.  Older children can do the measuring when making dinner, or, if old enough, maybe they will make the family dinner (with supervision).  And, don't forget the math skills over the summer.

So, while summer is supposed to be a time of fun and relaxation, it is also important to spend a little time each day practicing what they learned this past year, so don't start next school year already behind.
Enjoy your summer!

St. Patrick's Day craft

Here's a cute St. Patrick's Day craft idea.  The older kids can cut out the strips of paper for the arms and legs, draw and cut out the hearts for the body and draw and cut out the hat.  Younger kids can to do the gluing and have them fold the paper strips for the legs and arms.

Break apart crayons

So, these are pretty cool.  It is a crayon that breaks down into smaller segments.  All the sections come apart so that you can use them as small pieces to facilitate a mature grasp.  The best part- they are from the Dollar Tree.  Give them a try.

Paint with foam

Here's a twist on painting- use foam.  Just mix finger paint with bath foam and you get foamy paint.  What great sensory play!  Not only does it feel different, it has a different smell.  So, give your kids some paper and foamy paint and let them go at it.

Have your kids write letters and numbers in the paint using their index finger.  Remember, the more senses you put into learning, the easier it is to learn. So, use this as a non-conventional way to teach letters and numbers.

pumpkin decorating

It's almost Halloween and time to carve and decorate your pumpkins.  There are so many fun, and creative ways to decorate a pumpkin.  Have your child take a small pumpkin and draw something on it using markers or paint.  Bigger kids can help carve the pumpkin (with supervision, of course).  Have your children dig their hands into the inside to take out all the seeds and goo.  Don't be afraid to get your, and their, hands dirty and gooey.  Separate the seeds to bake for a treat.  Pumpkin carving offers many different fine motor and sensory benefits, so carve, and decorate, away!

Good positioning for handwriting

It's the beginning of the school year and kids are starting the learning process.  Now is the time for teachers/ therapists to assess the children and their positioning at their desks/tables to ensure the best possible positioning for handwriting.  If the desk is too high, or too low, or if the child is not sitting well, handwriting suffers.  So, now is the time to assess your students' positioning to allow them to do the best work they can.  Here are some general rules for optimal positioning:

Desk height should be approximately 2 inches above the student's elbow level


   Feet should be flat on the floor when possible

1-      Smaller students may need a foot stool to stabilize their feet

2-      Smaller students may need higher chairs.

3-      Try to group children by size, if possible, when using multiple tables and make height of table appropriate for the group

The child should be positioned in a 90-90-90 position, or as close to this as possible.  A 90-90-90 position is one in which the hips, knees and ankles are in a 90* angle

The child should be positioning squarely in front of the desk and close enough for easy access.

The child should be sitting upright, not leaning one way or the other


Remember that children grow, so their positioning should be monitored throughout the year and adjusted as necessary.

Make an Ocean

Make an ocean!  Have your child paint a couple of pieces of paper and staple them together to make an ocean.  Then have your child draw fish and crabs and other ocean creatures.  Color or paint them, cut them out  and glue them on the water.  He/she will have his/her own ocean to hang up in his/her room.  Be creative and make all kinds of sea life.  You could look at ocean books to give your child some ideas.

Remember to work on school skills this summer

Yes, we know it is summer, and it is supposed to be time to rest and recharge.  It's a time of easy schedules and time for fun.  However, don't forget to continue working on those academic skills needed for school.  Remember to continue writing and reading.  For the younger children, continue to use those fine motor skills needed for school. Have your child do some cutting every day (or at least once a week).  Draw pictures with your child.  For a variation, take chalk outside to the driveway and draw.  Have the older child write a story about what they have been doing this summer.  They could write a letter to a far away relative.  Be creative so that your child wants to color or write.  Make a mud pile outside and have them use a stick to write, or draw, in it.  Sand is another great medium to write in.  Just be sure to devote a little of each day to some sort of academic/ fine motor activity so that your child does not lose any of his learned skills. 

Hand Dominance

A question that I am asked frequently by parents and teachers is when should kids be forced to choose a dominant hand for writing.  It seems as soon as children pick up their first crayon to scribble, parents begin to wonder whether he/she will be a righty or a lefty.  The older that child gets, the more anxious parents get about forcing a hand dominance.  I tell parents to let your child switch hands if that's what they do.  Some children pick up a crayon and only use one hand from the start.  Others switch hands up until kindergarten, or beyond.  My rule of thumb is this:  let them switch, as long as both are functional, until they either use one hand approximately 75% of the time, or until first grade, at which point it is time to pick (very rarely do children go this long).  Parents and teachers will begin to see a child that switches become much more accurate and sure with one hand over the other.  This will be the sign of which hand will be his/her dominant hand.  When the child begins to use one hand more than the other, and you can clearly see the difference in performance, you can start to reposition the crayon/pencil into that hand.  No worries if your child is 4 and you still don't see this.  Hand dominance has it's way of naturally occuring.

Teaching Young Left-Hand Writers

As the mother of a left-hand writer, I am aware of the difficulty faced when teaching a left-hand child to write, so I wanted to again address these difficulties and offer solutions.  First, lets compare the writing of left-handers and right-handers. Right-hand writers use their elbows as a pivot point to allow for smooth movement across the paper.  The fingers control the pencil while the forearm moves in an arc away from the center of the body.  As letters are written, they are visible to a right-hand writer since the hand moves away from the letters while moving across the paper.    Not so for the left-hand writer if the paper is positioned as a right-hand writer positions his/her paper.  The left-hand writer is not able to use the elbow as a pivot because the paper is slanted the wrong direction.  The entire forearm moves the pencil.  This makes finger coordination difficult if the paper is positioned as a right-hand writer.  The left-hand writer is unable to see the letters since the hand moves on top of them. 
This is especially difficult for the young learner who needs visual prompts to remember what he/she has already written.  Left-hand children who try to write like right-hand children tend to develop awkward grasps on their pencils to allow them to see the writing.  These grasps make smooth writing difficult.
It is very important to teach paper positioning and good grasps to children from the start.  Perhaps group left-hand children together to allow them to see other children position their paper and to allow them to imitate similar peers.  Teach the children to position the paper, pencil and hand to allow them to see the words.  Allow the child to be a part of finding the best position for him/her.  Then, ensure that the child uses a good grasp on his writing tools to prevent awkward grasps that may impact his/her writing as he/she ages.  It is important to teach good writing habits from the beginning, as it can be nearly impossible to change these habits down the road.

Pencil Pressure

Strategies to reduce pressure when writing:

Have a child who uses too much pressure when writing or coloring?  Here are some strategies to try which should help to reduce the pressure used.  Keep in mind, these are not "once and done" cures for this.  You may need to consistently utilize these strategies for a few times/weeks to improve a child's pressure.
1-Place the child's paper on top of a soft mouse pad or towel.  If he/she uses too much pressure, the pencil tip will poke through the paper (try not to use construction paper as it will take more pressure to poke through). Discuss with the child why the pencil poked through.
2-Have the child use a mechanical pencil.  Too much pressure will cause the tip to break. Discuss with the child why the tip broke.
3-Have the child color a picture using a pencil.  Have him/her color part of the picture dark grey, part of it medium grey and part of the picture light grey.  Discuss the different pressures need to produce these colors.  Show him/her the "right" pressure he/she should be using and practice making the medium grey color.

Snowman door

I know it's March, but it's still winter, and we have a snow storm coming this week, so I thought I provide a cute door decoration.  Make a door snowman.  Line the door (or window, or wall) with white paper.  If your child is able, have him/her draw circles for the eyes, mouth and buttons and cut them out.  Have him/her draw and cut out rectangles for the scarf, and a triangle for the nose. A rectangle and a square make up the hat.  Once the shapes are all cut out, have your child glue them into place to make a cute snowman.

Help with pencil grip

 So the goal is to get children to hold their writing tools in a mature, tripod grasp- or something near that.  Some kids have real difficulty achieving this functional grasp, so we use adaptations to promote a better grasp.  Here is one of my favorites.  It is called a Handi Writer.  It angles the pencil so that children can hold the pencil without using a fist.  The child uses his pinky and ring finger to hold the dolphin against his/her palm to keep these two fingers from being used to hold the pencil.  The goal is to use this tool consistently for a few months (or less, if able) to get the child into the habit of holding a pencil/crayon like this,) and then start slowly transitioning to not using it.  Most children, by then, have developed a better writing grasp.  Another adaptation is to have your child use pencil grips to position their fingers correctly on the pencil.

Fun with cardboard boxes

Need something fun to do indoors and have a rather large box around?  Have fun making it into a car, plane, rocket, or bird nest!  Include kids in the planning, designing, and decorating for fun therapeutic time well spent.  They can draw out their ideas on paper before doing it on the box, painting and drawing on vertical surfaces helps improve writing grasp, and it's a fun plaything for a good while!
Or try making your favorite superhero...