We Love Dad! Father's Day Crafts
We did it for Mother’s Day… so with Father’s Day coming up, we’re doing some more craft ideas! This holiday might be coming at a good time for families to wind down as the school year ends and summer approaches. Crafts are a great way to work on visuomotor and fine motor skills post school year, while keeping it play (fun) based.
Tin Can Pencil Holder
Use those recyclables to make a utensil holder! You can use some leftover acrylic paint, make sure there are no sharp edges on the can, a brush, a printed out picture of child, craft sponge and mod podge. Here’s a great tutorial https://buggyandbuddy.com/tin-can-pencil-holder/
Record Coasters
All you need is adhesive craft foam, acrylic paint, paintbrush, pen/pencil, 4 CD’s, and scissors. These adorable coasters make a great gift; Tutorial here https://www.craftprojectideas.com/fathers-day-upcycled-record-coasters/
Dad Rocks Paperweight
Gather rocks from the backyard, and repurpose them into paper weights! You can start with using patterned tape, cut into a tie, then add some faces and fun sayings with black permanent markers. Light colored rocks may work best for contrast. Get some ideas here https://www.hellowonderful.co/post/my-dad-rocks-father-s-day-paperweight/
Lollipop Prize Ribbons
It’s a personalized sweet treat! This one is a little more crafty, with a great tutorial from Lars https://thehousethatlarsbuilt.com/2018/06/fathers-day-lollipop-prize-ribbons.html/
Punny Card’s
You can do a “You’re my Hero” one here: https://www.berries.com/blog/diy-funny-fathers-day-cards-for-dad?r=sbaffiliate&irgwc=1&irclickid=VuC031Q7CxyLUAO07OwzdzZ-UkB1xJwfNwEAVY0&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=impactradius&utm_campaign=10078&utm_content=594771&utm_term=Skimbit%20Ltd.&afsrc=1
A Fruity One here: https://www.frugalmomeh.com/diy-fathers-day-watermelon-card-printable-template.html#_a5y_p=6358128
Would love to know if you have any other ideas!
Sensory Approach to Home
So we’ve talked about sensory processing in previous posts; But we wanted to add some tips for different situations parents may be experiencing!
This is applicable to:
Autism Spectrum Disorders
SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder)
ADHD, Down Syndrome
Cerebral Palsy
Developmental Delays
Motor Delays
Gifted and kids who are Twice Exceptional
Anxiety
Typical children
Just as an overview, kids should typically get a thorough evaluation, and/or neurology consult before being diagnosed. Many children who are SPD and are sensory seekers/cravers, or those with poor postural control may look like they have ADD/ADHD. The issue at times doesn’t stem from the attention. A lot of the times we think these kids are acting out, not listening, or not paying attention. We notice when they get sent to principal's office, trouble with virtual learning, or get labeled the “behavior kid.” But looking deeper into the underlying issue with the help of healthcare professionals will have a more thorough diagnosis.
In order to help children feel more balanced we can create a Sensory Lifestyle Previously termed a “Sensory Diet,” it’s how you incorporate the sensory tools that you have into every day life. Every child is different, so depending on the child’s sensory processing we advise activities and strategies, but its best to learn through trial and error what works best for the child you are working with.
How does Sleep affect your Child?
Sleep can be very important, keeping consistent bedtime routines, comfortable bedding. You can add some calming music or lights, try to have them sleep in their own bed, tents over the bed can be calming, as well as body pillows.
What about Diet?
You are what you eat. If you have concerns about your child’s limited food repertoire or “picky eating” seek out a therapist who is trained by Dr. Kay Toomey SOS Approach to Feeding. It’s suggested that children need at least 10 sources of protein, 10 fruits or vegetables, 10 other/starches for a total of at least 30 different foods
Dinner time tips:
Family style dinner
Make Eating Fun!
Try different textures, colors, smells
Have something preferred for after the child touches or tastes a new food
Always present a protein source, fruit or vegetable, and starch at every meal/snack, plus one preferred food
Don’t allow your child to “food jag” eat the same foods over and over again
If they have chicken nuggets on Monday, they can’t have them again until Wednesday
OT’s Role:
Among the psychosocial conditions, anxiety disorder is the third prevalent mental disorder affecting children aged 3-17 years (CDC, 2019). OT’s are a great resource for therapy for implementing evidence-based mental health promotion, Emotional Regulation, Executive Functioning, Mindfulness, Yoga, etc.
Calming Strategies:
Taking Deep Breaths
Drinking through a straw
Sucking on hard candy
Taking a break
Lowering the lights
Calming music
Warm bath
Talking in soft voice
Slow linear swinging/rocking
Chewing gum
Deep pressure/hugs/weighted vests, blankets
Mindfulness is defined as a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. This is used as a therapeutic technique. This is all about living in the moment and taking every moment just as important as your last.
Want to know more? Email us!
References
Aguilar, Del; Esposito, Phil (2019) “Sensory Processing Disorder and Praxis Skills in Children With Learning Disabilities” The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, Vol. 73, No. 4 2. Liotta-Kleinfeld, Lorry; Beros, Lynsey; Boyer, Andrea; Boggus, Taylor; Ruff, Madeleine; Little, Mary; Sollman, Rachael (2020) “Incidence of and Relationship Between Tactile Sensitivity and SelfRegulation in Six- to Eight-Year-Old Children” The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, August 2020, Vol. 74 3.
Lin, Mei-Ling PhD, OTR/L; Nasser, Alyse; Molina, Cayla; Smith, Emma; and Millar, Kristin (2020). “Mental-Health Benefits of a Mindfulness-Based Prevention Program on Elementary Schoolchildren” The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, August 2020, Vol. 74, Supplement 1 4.
Mulligan, Shelley; Schoen, Sarah A.; Miller, Lucy Jane; Valdez, Andrea; and Magalhaes, Deborah (2019) "The Sensory Processing 3-Dimensions Scale: Initial Studies of Reliability and Item Analyses," The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy: Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 4. 5.
Orley Templeton, OTD, OTR/L1, Lori Charney, OTD, OTR/L1, Heather Bennett, MS2, Molly Betz, MS3, Kelly Byrne, MS, OTR4, Jame Duffy, MS2 (2019). “The Effect of Sensory-Based Strategies and Social-Skill Training on Social Skills Among Preschool Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder” The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, Vol. 73, No. 4
What Parents Need to Know About School Based OT
First, what is OT?
American Occupational Therapy Association describes it as a health profession in which therapists and therapy assistants help individuals to do and engage in the specific activities that make up daily life. For children and youth in schools, occupational therapy works to ensure that a student can participate in the full breadth of school activities—from paying attention in class; concentrating on the task at hand; holding a pencil, musical instrument, or book in the easiest way; or just behaving appropriately in class.
How does it apply to school?
We work with kids of all abilities. Some diagnoses include ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, and in general; children having a hard time participating in the classroom. We can work with children inside the classroom (push-in) or outside the classroom (pull-out). Most kids that I provide OT to will already have had an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that has been receiving services from a young age, and has a system in place that will support them to succeed in schools. Others may receive OT because they are having a specific problem in school. We also work in a team based profession to collaborate with interdisciplinary members, providing consultation to teachers about how classroom design affects attention, why particular children behave inappropriately at certain times, and where best to seat a child based on his or her learning style or other needs. A child might also be referred for OT for other reasons like motor skills, cognitive processing, visual or perceptual problems, mental health concerns, difficulties staying on task, disorganization, or inappropriate sensory responses.
Occupational Therapists tend to be the handwriting experts in school based settings because we specialize in fine motor and visual perceptual skills. OT looks at the child’s skills and other problems (including behavior), in addition to his or her visual, sensory, and physical capabilities. We also take into account the school, home, and classroom environments to find ways to improve the handwriting.
Students with disabilities have been able to benefit from occupational therapy at school since the 1975 passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and even more recently In 2004, the reauthorization of IDEA extended the availability of occupational therapy services to all students, not just those with disabilities, in order to fully participate in school (AOTA).
What is Pediatric Teletherapy?
I still remember the first time I heard about Teletherapy (sessions via video); It was about 5 years ago and a coworker was talking about doing it part time for speech therapy. My first instinct was, how does that help kids?!
Many things that happened in 2020 seemed unimaginable to our 2015 selves, but here we are! There are many pros to teletherapy, I can’t say it’s for everyone but for many families it allowed for a closer educational relationship with the therapist. A huge part of Occupational Therapy focuses on training parents and families to assist their child progression, and doing teletherapy facilitated that.
So let’s go though some activities for great (middle school aged) teletherapy sessions!
Meme writing: You can share a funny picture to start. They can work on typing or writing, and it also works on executive functioning.
Online Games:
Bamboozle.com
https://jeopardylabs.com/
Escape Room: You can share a google doc, powerpoint or a word document. Some activities can be solving trivia, gross motor activities, fine motor activities, locating items.
Fantasy Sports Team: This is great for kids that are into sports, they can choose players. Names and stats can be listed on a shared word document. They can also add mascot, colors, uniforms, stadium name if they like.
Virtual Field Trip: The student can choose country, landmark or venue to tour. They can add pictures and videos to a google slide or power point and present to Field Trip Participants (OT, teacher, family members).
Newsletter: On a shared document, the student can research a topic (ex: sports trivia, gaming tips, recipes) and write a report.
If you need more ideas or you would like to schedule a consult, please email us at smplytherapy@gmail.com.
Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year Activities
Even if you’re not the most spirited person to celebrate; these activities are just another way to get creative with your little one! We have a couple holidays this week- Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day. Two very different celebrations but we figured we’d give you some ideas to have fun this week.
For Valentine’s Day Celebrations
Celery Heart Stamps: Use the ends of the celery stick as a stamp to dip into red or pink paint for a heart felt painting.
Ribbon Valentine: Something about Valentine’s always makes me flash back to Billy Madison getting one from Principal Anderson. Since kids are less likely to be able to pass it along to classmates, make ones at home for family members! You can use pieces of already used ribbon from Christmas to paste onto a heart, for a striped design.
Valentine Name Puzzle: This is a double task; they can make the valentine with their name displayed across it. Then if you draw jagged lines across or even in squares, they can put it back together like a puzzle!
Paper Heart Mobile: Use different colored construction paper to cut outlines of hearts, then attach them upright onto a string hanging from the ceiling.
Valentine Collages: if you have colored tissue paper, and a paper plate- make a collage! Add your own design by cutting the tissue paper into pieces that you can glue onto the paper plate. Then cut out a hearth to display on the window sill.
For the Lunar New Year Celebrations
Red Envelopes: This might be for the older kids, or adult assistance. https://www.firstpalette.com/craft/chinese-red-envelope.html
Paper Fans: You’ll need 3 5X8 inch pieces of paper, two craft sticks and an tiny hairband. Here are some instructions with pictures: https://www.littlepassports.com/craft-diy/chinese-new-year-craft/
Paper Lanterns: This is another activity that will require some adult assistance if for the younger kids. Here is a great how-to site https://www.firstpalette.com/craft/paper-lantern.html.
Printable Chinese Zodiac Animals: Here’s a Free Printable! https://funcraftskids.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/12-Chinese-Zodiac-Coloring-Pages.pdf
For more fun ideas, you can always email us at smplytherapy@gmail.com!
Snow Day Fun!
This blizzard has its pro’s and con’s; adults got their workouts in with all the shoveling, even if they were also target practice for little ones making snowballs. As we’re getting our buried cars out of the driveway, we might want to spend the rest of our times indoors. But when it comes to kids, it can be their favorite part of winter! Snow brings a new set of activities and creativity that doesn’t come so often in the tri-state area. It’s also a plus when kids can make a mess outside and keep it outside for a little while.
Here’s a list to get you started:
Snowman with sticks and stones- You can always go traditional with an old hat and carrot, or you can make it a part of the challenge to find things in the backyard as additions. Finding stones and branches to make eyes, limbs and hair.
Backyard Ice Sculptures- All you need is a water bottle, ice cube trays, water and food coloring. Mix the water and food coloring in a bottle and let them freeze. Once frozen, you can gather the colored ice gems to make sculptures in the yard.
Maple Syrup Snow Candy- This requires some cleaner snow beds; but if you boil maple syrup and pour it onto a bed of snow, it’ll turn to taffy! Use wooden popsicle sticks to keep the maple syrup on and eat.
Snow Sensory Bin- Gather some of your child’s favorite toys and place them in a bin of snow to keep track of them.
Paint the snow- Exactly what you think, use paintbrushes and the lawn is their landscape! You can even adapt with food dye drops and do a more abstract colors scheme.
Homemade Bird Feeders- Use some orange peel halves, fill with snow and put some bird feeder at the top!
I hope these help you get creative! As always, we’re here for your questions, please email smplytherapy@gmail.com.
What is Sensory Diet?
A sensory diet is a set of activities that make up a sensory strategy and are appropriate for an individual’s needs. These are specific and individualized activities that are scheduled into a child’s day and are used to assist with regulation of activity levels, attention, and adaptive responses. It has nothing to do with food!
Why use a sensory diet?
It can be very motivating for a child and help them participate in activities. It's a means to adjust sensory input in relation to an individual’s needs. Based on the the child, we will prescribe some activities to incorporate into your routine. As we evaluate what activities are meaningful and motivating for your child, we will curate a child centered approach that is unique to your child.
Just as a healthy diet consists of a spectrum of foods, a sensory diet is a balanced set of sensory information that allows an individual to function. A person cannot survive on broccoli alone. Similarly, a child cannot thrive with only one type of sensory activity.
This goes for adults and children alike; we all need different types of input in order to feel balanced; part of the reason quarantine restrictions are not great for most individuals. Our bodies and minds instinctively know that varying sensory input allows us to function appropriately. However; children may have a harder time regulating and identifying what their bodies need. That's when OT's come in.
Studies support the use of active participation in multi-sensory activities for at least 90 minutes per week to improve occupational performance (Fazlioglu &Baran, 2008; Thompson, 2011; Woo & Leon, 2013; Wuang, Wang, Huang, & Su2010).
GOALS OF A SENSORY DIET ARE TO:
Provide the child with predictable sensory information which helps organize the central nervous system. Support social engagement, self-regulation, behavior organization, perceived competence, self-esteem, and self-confidence. Inhibit and/or improve modulation of sensation within daily routines and environments. Assist the child in processing a more organized response to sensory stimuli.
If you want to learn more, schedule a free consult with us here