All posts by Guest Blogger

What’s In Your Therapy Bag?

Activities

by Laurie Gombash PT, M.Ed

Are you looking for activities that are portable, fun and that can help your kiddos improve their skills? In this post, pediatric physical therapist, Laurie Gombash PT, M.Ed. shares her three therapy bag  “must haves”!

  1. Body Awareness Fun Deck

The Body Awareness Fun Deck contains 56 cards that feature OTis the OT gorilla in different poses. These cards work on body scheme, spatial awareness, and visual perceptual skills. There are 5 levels of difficulty. Laurie’s Pro Tip: Use these cards at the beginning of the school year to get an idea of how students are doing since the last time they were seen!

  1. Upper Body and Core Strength Fun Deck

The Upper Body and Core Strength Fun Deck contains 52, double sided cards. The fronts have pictures of different upper body activities and the backs have a description of the activity. 

  1. Move Your Body Fun Deck

The Move Your Body Fun Deck contains 58 cards featuring a variety of movement activities.  These cards help improve children’s strength, their balance, their coordination, and their motor planning.

The Fun Deck cards are a great option when doing push-in services, check out these activity ideas. 

Pick, Demonstrate, & Imitate

  1. The therapist or teacher fans out a set of cards from the desired Fun Deck.
  2. Students take turns choosing a card and then placing themselves in the position depicted on the card.
  3. All of the other students imitate the student.

Choice Boards

  1. Secure a desired number of Fun Deck cards to a board (for example cardboard or a portable whiteboard).
  2. Children take turns pointing to the card to make a choice.
  3. The child who made the choice is the leader, leading other students in the movement activity.

Pro Tip: Pointing to make a choice is a great time to work on finger isolation!

The Fun Deck cards are a must have for your therapy tool bag!  They come in a small, sturdy tin making them very portable. They are great for push in therapy sessions and can be used with children of all abilities. In addition, Fun Deck cards can be used across a variety of disciplines including occupational and physical therapists! How will you use Fun Deck cards in your therapy practice?

Fine Motor Tools for Academic Instruction

Fine Motor

by Moira P. Bushell OTD, MEd, OTR/L

With academic demands increasing in the school setting, student’s free time is decreasing and teachers try to create activities and stations for children to practice specific academic skills during class time. Occupational therapy practitioners have an expertise in creating innovative interventions that combine fine motor development activities with academic skill development.

Here is a list of some simple fine motor activity ideas that can be used to support academic learning within the classroom environment. If you get creative you can come up with several  ways to mix and match items to multiply the possibilities. Remember to share with your teachers. 

1. Letter Names
  • Playdoh letter formation
  • Cryptograms
  • Wikki Stix
  • Stickers
  • Hole punching letters
  • Matching on cards using clothespins
2. Spelling
  • Letter tiles to match words
  • Alphabet Stamps
  • Letter beads on pipe cleaners
  • Stacking Legos, Blocks, Unifix cubes with letters on it to make words
  • Catching and spelling letters
  • Velcro letters
3. Number Recognition
  • Using tongs to count items and match to a number
  • Dice games
  • Using a sand tray to write numbers
  • Puzzles
  • Searching for items in rice bin and match to number cards
4. Addition
  • Making math equations with beads on pipe cleaners
  • Creating a 10 frame out of egg carton
  • Stacking blocks to create patterns
  • Putting counters into slotted containers

BONUS!

Adapting many of these to remote learning is pretty easy.  You can even host a scavenger hunt for the students to search their house to gather materials to create kits

The options for integrating fine motor activities into academic instruction creatively is limitless. I’m hoping i’ve listed a new one here for you to try with your students.

Therapro A-Tech Virtual Learning

Activities, Education

by Abbie King, MS, CCC-SLP, ATP

2020 has brought a whole new set of challenges where we as educators need to get creative. Simple low to mid-tech assistive technology tools can make the virtual learning experience less stressful and more productive for all students. 

Here are some simple low tech tips and tricks to make virtual learning easier. 

  1. Use a visual schedule. 
    • Why? Visual schedules allow students to visually see an overview of their entire day. This can help reduce frustration and ease the anxiety relating to transitions.
    • What?  These schedules should include the time each activity is occurring and a picture or word to represent the activity. These schedules can be created using real photos, images, or icons. 
    • Easy Option: For a ready to go option, our new  SchKidules provide these symbol representations for everyday school and home-based activities. 
  1. Make sure your laptop is at the correct angle and height. 
    • Why? When a computer is too low, it creates a tendency for the body to lean forward. This causes strain on the neck and discomfort!
    • How?  One great way to create the correct angle and height is by using a slant board and a piece of Dycem. Place the Dycem on top of the slant board and the laptop on top of the Dycem. The Dycem will create a non-slip surface so the laptop does not slide off. Ahhh…relief from neck pain!!
  1. Break down visually overwhelming information. 
    • What? When using worksheets or printed work, the directions and visuals may be visually overwhelming for students who have difficulty filtering out extraneous visual stimuli.
    • How? We can reduce these visual distractions by using highlighter strips, reading guides, or even laminated index cards. The student can guide these low tech tools across their piece of paper to block out all extraneous material and focus on each sentence they are trying to read. 
  1. Use adapted tools whenever needed . 
    • Why? Students with physical disabilities should be supplied with adapted tools to promote the most independence as possible. 
    • What? Examples of some of these tools include, adapted scissors, EazyHolds, and the Functionalhand. 
      • Adapted scissors allow students with decreased fine and gross motor abilities to independently use scissors. A variety of options exist including scissors on a sturdy base, scissors that open on their own, and scissors that don’t require the user to place their fingers in the holes. 
      • EazyHolds and the Functionalhand allow a student who does not have a functional grasp pattern to independently use a pencil, marker, spoon, stylus, etc.  The Functionalhand can give a student a sturdy grip on objects while allowing the student to use the object at a functional angle. The Eazyhold can be used in conjunction with the Functionalhand to securely hold the handle of the Functionalhand in the student’s hand. Eazyhold can also be used on their own to support independent grasp of everyday objects (e.g., cups, brooms, spoon, etc.)
  1. Provide alternative access solutions when necessary. 
    • What? If a student cannot independently access virtual work, they should be provided with an alternative way to access the material, whether that is on the computer or via printed materials. 
    • How? A BIGtrack 2 trackball, provides a sturdy base with a rolling ball that can be used in lieu of a typical mouse.  

There are many options available to make virtual learning more accessible, we hope you have found a tip or two to make your virtual learning experience successful!