Tag Archives: therapeutic toys

Explore therapeutic toys that support skill development in areas like fine motor, sensory integration, and cognitive processing through fun, purposeful play.

child playing with blue sticky object

Keeping Skills Sharp All Summer Long: Summer 2022 Edition!

Community-Based Practice, Sensory, Therapist Resources, , ,

Allyson Locke M.S., OTR/L & Sarah Glovasky M.S., OTR/L

Summer is fast approaching but that doesn’t mean kids need to lose the skills they developed over the last academic year! Last year, we posted a blog filled with summer activity ideas geared toward preventing the “summer slide”.  As therapists, we know summer activities provide numerous opportunities to develop and keep skills sharp for the upcoming school year.  So we are bringing back the topic with this new post.  New this year are more activity ideas and contributions from Sarah Glovasky M.S., OTR/L! As always, appropriate supervision is recommended!

Get Messy!

Messy play is a great way to develop the sensory skills needed for important school tasks like handwriting and social interactions.  Summer is the best time for these messy activities because they can be done outside leaving the mess outdoors. An added bonus is that it is usually warm enough for a quick wash with the hose before going back inside.  A few ideas to try:

  • Hide objects (like rocks, sticks, or mini animals)  in a pile of mud, shaving cream, or leaves. How fast can you find them? How many can you find in 10 seconds? Not only is this a great sensory activity it helps strengthen the visual perceptual skills needed for academic tasks like reading! 
  • Stomp in rain puddles, roll down a grassy hill, or skip through a soft patch of dirt. These big body movements help develop the vestibular and proprioceptive systems which are so important for self regulation! 

When it is too hot or too rainy to go outside there are still plenty of opportunities for sensory exploration that are a bit less messy! 

  • Make a sensory collage with items found in the recycling bin or use the Sensory Collage Kit! How many different textures can you incorporate? What textures do you like to feel? As a bonus, ripping, crumpling and rolling paper, tissue, and cardboard are all great ways to strengthen the muscle of the hand.  For more ways to use recycled materials check out Second Hand Therapies. 
plastic container scooping water and dumping it into a yellow bin filled with water, an example of an activity for keeping skills sharp in summer
Jug Scoop
From: Second Hand Therapies: Recyclable Strategies & Useful Tools

Make Art!

Art projects afford great opportunities to develop the small muscles in the hand.  This muscle development is critical for academic tasks like writing with a pencil and cutting with scissors. Get creative with your art projects, try:

blue turtle made of playdough with a green shell and colorful dots- an example of an activity for keeping skills sharp in summer
  • 3D Art.  Three dimensional art helps kids build form and space concepts.  Building a fairy castle outside is a great way to learn about size concepts.  Inside, building with blocks, clay or even pillow cushions is a great way to explore how these concepts work.  To add a sensory component try using scented dough! 
  • Tie-Dye Prints: This is a great outdoor activity! First color an old bed sheet or large piece of paper with washable markers. Next use a spray bottle, filled with water, to squirt the drawing. Watch the colors mix and swirl together! Using a spray bottle not only helps build the muscles in the hands it is also great for bilateral coordination! For a smaller scale version, use an eyedropper to wet the paper! 
  • Draw pictures in the dirt or other mediums like pudding (great for kids who like to explore with their mouth!) Use a stick, rocks, or fingers to draw with! We still love the Ed Emberly drawing books when you need drawing inspiration, stencils are another helpful tool! Drawing is so important for early writers and is great for visual perceptual development!

Play With Bubbles!

Many skills can be targeted with simple bubble activities. Eye hand coordination and oral motor development are just a few!  Blowing bubbles is also great for attention and regulation; to learn more about this check out the book M.O.R.E.: Integrating The Mouth With Sensory And Postural Functions. For fun with bubbles, try:

  • Making Bubble Art!  Make bubble paint by putting a small amount of bubbles and a dab or two of food coloring in a bowl (use different bowls for different colors). Use a bubble wand and dip it into your favorite color. Blow the colored bubbles right at plain paper and watch the designs come alive! 
  • Play Catch! Chasing after, stomping on, and catching bubbles are great ways to get some extra energy out. It is also a great way to develop eye-hand coordination and the visual skills needed to complete academic tasks like copying from the board.  To make bubbles easier to catch try using Touchbubbles! 
  • Make A Mountain of Bubbles! For a fun indoor activity, fill a small dish bin or other similar size, shallow bucket with lots of dish soap and a few inches of water.  Use a straw to slowly blow into the water to make a mountain of bubbles.  To really work the muscles in the mouth try a long straw or one with lots of twists like the Krazy Drinking Straws or Connector Straws. 

With these fun activity ideas the learning doesn’t have to stop when school is out. Keep skills sharp and be ready for the upcoming school year! 

Trunks

Adapting Trunks®: Inclusive Strategies for Play and Therapy

Games, Motor & Movement, , , ,

Trunks® is an engaging, interactive game developed by Diane Long, EdD, MOTR/L  and published by Therapro. Adapting Trunks® is easy to do and allows for gameplay for all abilities!

How Do You Play Trunks®?

In this game, players move their bodies, make sounds, and perform actions from memory! Gameplay involves picking an Action Memory Card and performing the action depicted. Six categories of actions are involved:

  • Musical You: Encourages creativity with motor actions that produce sounds.
  • Animal Sounds: Players mimic animal sounds.
  • Animal Motions: Players move their bodies and demonstrate how animals move.
  • Sound Like: Players recall and reproduce commonly heard sounds.
  • Pretend To: Encourages imagination as players pretend to be like someone else.
  • Show How: Involves a step-by-step demonstration of an action requiring the player to create an original sequence.

Trunks involves remembering and performing motor sequences. Players draw a card, look at the given action from the six categories previously mentioned, turn the card over and perform the action from memory. There are visual pictures as well as words on each card. On their next turn they would draw an additional card and perform both actions in their memory sequence, without looking at the cards. When an action is performed correctly, the player gets to keep their card and continue to work toward building a “trunk” (a series of 4 cards that, when combined, create an elephant’s trunk). 

The ability to perform individual actions may differ from child to child. Furthermore, the ability to memorize subsequent actions or sequences may vary as well. For this reason the game was created with many variations that afford enjoyable game play for all ability levels.

What Skill Area Does Trunks® Target?

Working Memory! Working Memory is a necessity for engaging in a variety of everyday occupations, including learning, socializing, and task completion. Sequencing naturally falls under the broader category of working memory.  Inherent to the game is the pairing of multi-modal forms of input (visual cues, reading cues, motor engagement, etc.). Read on to learn how to adapt and modify this game to target other skill areas! 

How Can Trunks® Be Adapted?

Preschool. Adapting Trunks® for this age group is easy to do! Trunks® can be used to target motor planning development for kids in preschool. Choose a card from the deck and ask the kids to complete the action. Things like pretending to lift weights, leap like a frog, and pretend to lick a drippy ice cream cone are good activities to choose. You can also use the Sounds Like cards for the kids to use their voices to participate. This is also a great option when working on oral motor and language skill. What does a train sound like?, snort like a pig, and hoot like an owl are sounds that preschool kids should be able to perform. Having their peers guess the sounds and or actions turns it into a whole group game everyone can participate in. Pro Tip: Pre-picking cards targeting the specific skill or development level of the group is always a good idea! 

Early Elementary Age. Working memory develops as kids age. Building a trunk of 2-3 trunk cards can make the game achievable for the younger crowd. The pictures on the trunk cards are helpful for the non-readers at this age (which many of them are)! Again preselecting cards can be key. If you are working with students who are nonverbal, take the sound cards out. If you are working with children who have limits in mobility, take the jumping and balance cards out. Pro Tip: For students struggling with motor planning, pre-teach and practice the actions on the cards prior to the whole group activity to help bolster confidence!

Later Elementary and Beyond. Target teamwork, this can be a difficult skill for some! Have the kids build the entire trunk, working in teams or as a whole group. Pro Tip: If you need an additional challenge, have the players remember the sequence both forwards and then backwards!

Other Helpful Tips

  • Use as many trunk pieces or make as many trunks as you have time for! For a 10 min group use 2-3 pieces or just complete one trunk. If you have a longer amount of  time, make multiple trunks!
  • Use the extra action cards or don’t! You know the players best. Is the extra challenge needed or will it be too much?
  • Playing the game Trunks is a great opportunity for co-treatments! Physical therapists, speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, and teachers all have skills that can be worked on during this game!

Trunks is a great option for targeting many key skill areas. It’s versatility makes it a great choice for a wide range of ages and ability levels. Check out Therapro’s handy guide, Gear Up for Games, for more great game adaptations and modifications. 

Sarah Glovasky, M.S., OTR/L

Modifying Games to Address Therapeutic Goals

Games, , , , , ,

Games are a useful therapeutic tool; they are versatile, engaging, and so much fun! WIth a few simple modifications games can address a wide range of therapeutic needs.  A few simple modifications can be used for almost every game:

  1. Add Visuals.  Visuals can be anything from simplified directions to communication aids, like “your turn” and “my turn”. Visuals can help those who struggle with sequencing, memory, or communication participate more independently in game play.  
  2. Change the playing position. Playing games on the floor, at a countertop, or with alternative seating helps to increase participation and access.  Playing a game on the floor allows players to play in alternative positions, like laying on their bellies. This position is great for those with postural instability, and helps increase their focus and endurance.  Another option is to use a therapy ball (add a base for stability), Alert Seat, Ball Chair, or air filled cushion instead of a traditional chair.  These types of alternative seating provides movement input which may allow those with shortened attention spans to participate longer and with more focus.  Some games like, Left Center Right, have few manipulatives making these great games to use on scooter boards or swings.  
  3. Modify the Manipulatives.  Some game pieces are just too small, too big, or too difficult for students to access.  One quick fix is to swap out the game tokens for something more manageable like a jumbo dice.  Another option, insert game pieces into putty for a bigger gripping surface.  Other modifications include using a card holder or book holder.  
  4. Manipulating the manipulatives to target hand skills. To encourage a pincer grasp, place smaller game pieces into an egg carton (or similar small container); the smaller space allows for only a few fingers to access the piece, encouraging a two or three finger grasp pattern every time the player picks up the game pieces.  To incorporate hand strengthening and bilateral coordination, use a tennis ball with a small slit cut into it.  Players must squeeze the tennis ball with one hand while using the other hand to insert or remove their pieces.  To target fine motor manipulation with insertion, use plastic containers (your recycling bin is a great resource); cut a slit in the lid and work on inserting game manipulatives into the containers.
  5. Change the game rules to address specific therapeutic goals. If your focus is social interactions, team building, or cooperative problem solving, change game play so players play as a group instead of competing against each other. If you are doing individual treatment sessions instead of group sessions, change gameplay to make it a single-person game.  When time is limited or you have participants who struggle with extended attention and focus, add a time rule where gameplay ends after a set amount of minutes.  When the game is too hard or too easy for players, add more complexity or decrease the complexity.   
Example of modifying a game; tube with cover
Example of modifying a game; coins in a clear tube
A tennis ball with a slit and a coin inserted
coins in an egg carton

With a little bit of creativity, most games can be changed, adapted, or modified in order to use them as a therapeutic tool.  Check out Therapro’s handy games guide to see these modifications applied to some of our great games!