Great Source of Summer Activities for Young Students

One of our staff OTRs (Thx, Lynn K!) sent this excellent website along to her OT buddies:

Letter Learning Activities      by Jamie Reimer

Great hands-on ideas to keep the learning going at home over the long, hot summer.

Memorial Day Cards--A Little Late

We really did these last Friday.  Some kind soul donated these small stencils to the grab-and-take stash in the teacher's lounge...just perfect for me and the long-suffering students I see.

 Let's make Memorial Day cards to give to our families.  What letters do we need?

 How do we plan the letter arrangement so the words fit across the page?

 How quickly do little finger joints become fatigued while tracing within the stencils for 10+ minutes?

Add a design, or two, of your own choosing.

Peace on Memorial Day, or any day, would be wonderful.

Sensory Board Ideas from Pinterest

Sensory Board Ideas

No, I'm not addicted to Pinterest.

Thank you, Amy Gatlin, for collecting these ideas.

Fidget Ideas on Pinterest

Fidget Ideas on Pinterest

I've never seen some of these items; very cool.

Online OT?

Article about on-line OT for Special Ed

I like working 1-1 with students but I bet it's hard to find enough OT practitioners in different spots.

Last "College Cooking" Session for the School Year

What's a de-lish concoction for the final session of the year?  Hmmm...summer is almost here---it's getting pretty hot and muggy in Richmond---how about---fruit pops?!

 Our basic ingredients--frozen strawberries, pineapple and already-mixed orange juice.

 Haven't seen too many right-handed students opening a package in this fashion.

 Pour in about 3 ounces of orange juice.

Add your favorite fruit (for our second batch we realized that we needed to add more strawberries than pineapple, since too much pineapple made the mixture taste too tart.

 Pour the blended mixture into tiny cups for later freezing.  Of course, we all tasted a little sample first.

 Use the power blender to mix up Batch #2.

 More strawberries=more pink-ish color.

One of the teachers sacrificed her ginger ale to add in with the other ingredients.  It also reduces the tartness of the orange juice and pineapple combo.

Our batches went into the freezer, but the hard-working OTR had pre-made some at home for a tasting after the session.

 Not quite popsicle-like, but the frozen fruit pop was goooood.

Our fresh batch went into the same container as the fruit pops I had made at home the night before.  The Saran Wrap is kept in place with a rubberband around the perimeter of the container.  Little slits were made above each cup center and a wide wooden stick was inserted through the top.  A few hours in the freezer and these will be ready to enjoy.

Hopefully, the students will mix up some of these at home over the summer.  Not a bad idea for us grown-ups, either.

More OT2OT Tips on Improving Scissor Skills

Kathryn W. Mason, one of the OTRs on our staff, shared this info on improving scissor skills:

Encourage a variety of fine motor activities like bead stringing, tearing paper strips, play doh, “Simon Says” and water "squirt" toys to encourage hand development which will help with scissor use.

Hand position:

Photo by Kathryn Mason

Hold the scissors with the thumb on top. (Children initially try to cut with the hand palm down until 3 1/2-4 years old.) Place a sticker on the side of the thumb hole, so that the student sees the sticker when the fingers are in the correct holes. The scissors should be on the middle finger bones, not right next to the palm. The index finger should be in front of the loop. The assisting hand should be thumb up to encourage the scissor hand to have the same position.


 Paper Selection and Cutting Progression:

1. Start by cutting straws. This provides a non-floppy item to cut and there is success after just one stroke. Encourage the child to support his elbows on the table rather than having his arms entirely up in the air. This will provide more stability and help him to align the scissors and the item being cut. (The straw pieces can be threaded on string to make necklaces.)

2. Progress to snipping along the end of tagboard, cardboard cereal boxes or other moderately firm paper. Junk mail envelopes are perfect for this use. Thin paper can be folded in half to make it stiffer. Start with narrow strips that can be cut with one snip. As the child gets better at cutting, provide longer strips of
thinner paper, and teach the child to keep his assisting hand at a location where he can keep the paper from flopping.

2. Fold green paper ½ inch from one edge. Teach the students to snip repeatedly to the fold in the paper, making “grass.” Do this as often as you can during art projects.

Photo by Kathryn Mason

3. Make the strip thicker, so the student has to advance the scissors once to cut across the strip. Continue to widen the paper so that the student learns to advance the scissors. Chant “Open, slide, cut.” Also have the student snip to a sticker or highlighted dot so he starts to aim with the scissors.

4. Make thick lines across one inch strips of paper. Help the child to line up the scissors at the start of the line and snip across. Again progress to wider strips of paper, helping the child to remain close to the line.

Photo by Kathryn Mason

More tips to follow!