DIY Moon sand

This is the easiest DIY tactile play you could ever make that is different from shaving cream and rice/noodle bins! All you need: flour and baby oil. That’s it! Mix the two together until you reach the consistency you like the best! Feels very similar to moon sand and if you put it in a container with a lid, it stays good for several weeks! Cheap, quick, and easy! I even made some in ziplock bags to send home with a few kids. Using some old tile spacers, I threw this activity together to work on orienting crosses and Xs, improve tactile exploration and acceptance, improve attention to task and following directions (for example, I would ask my client to place it on a “red X,” etc.), grasping, work on counting and color identification, etc.! We had fun! The ideas are endless with how to use this “moon sand” stuff. What have you don’t with it?!

Toy Tuesday: Hangman

I’m back! It’s been awhile since I’ve written a post… my world has been a little crazy lately! I’m back in action this week, featuring the Melissa and Doug Hangman game! How cute is this?! The letters are pretty resistive, working on finger strength when turning them over. Great game for letter sequencing, spelling and writing simple words, making handwriting fun, and body awareness. Love the size and the ease of storage. It’s compact and easy to carry around. What other fun ways have you used hangman for?

Lacing

I have been brainstorming a way to help my kids understand the concept of lacing. A coworker and I came up with this idea: green for go, red for stop, with a green line to follow with the lace. Starting at the star, push the lace through the green hole, pull it through until it stops, and follow the green line to the next green hole. I haven used it with several kids and it is helping! I plan on making one with only green holes to remove some of the visual cues. Has anyone else tried something fun to help with lacing?

Mardel Monday: ThinkFun’s Amaze

Love this ThinkFun game (and a few others!) 16, interactive mazes, to challenge our cognitive process, executive function, visual motor skills, and fine motor skills. Very challenging, and only recommended for kids who can handle the thinking demands. Great option for challenging older kids!! It’s small, compact, easy to travel with, and easy to set up. The mazes challenges are shown for set-up. Use the “pen” to move through the maze! As you trace through the maze, you’ll find red bars that can be moved left or right to create a new path. So fun!

Fine Motor Friday: Button food

Saw this idea on Therapy Fun Zone and just had to try it! I made my own, but hers are super reasonable to buy. And most likely would stay together better than mine 😉

The kids have absolutely loved these! And they are learning how to do buttons!!! AND enjoying it in the process!

Thank you for continuing to have amazing ideas Therapy Fun Zone!!

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A Fun Way to Tie Shoes

Love this for tying shoes!!

Stacking and Balancing

Hi there everyone! I did this little game with a few of my kids I see in the school and they loved it, so I thought I’d share! I placed the blocks on the beam, and coordinating color cup on the left side of the beam on the floor, facilitating crossing midline. I had the kids walk across, first placing the block on top of the cup, then walk back, moving the block back to the beam. Lots of fun ways to grade and modify this activity! You can use a pedestal beam, or strip of tape; you can choose not to use the grabbers; use more blocks to build a higher tower; mix up the colors to have the child walk forwards/backwards/sideways, the list goes on and on! You can even use the numbers on the top of each block for part of the task. Dice blocks, grabber, and cups (bear counter cups) came from Mardel! Enjoy!