Handmade Holiday Ornaments

Are you ready to have some messy holiday fun? 

These handmade holiday ornaments are so cute and simple to make!

Thanks to my friends at Sew Memphis for sharing this awesome idea! All you need to get started are a couple of plastic Christmas ball ornaments, Mod Podge, scissors, and some colorful fabric scraps.

 

Cut the fabric scraps into small pieces. They should not be any larger than 1/2-inch by 1/2-inch. Pour the Mod Podge into a paper or plastic bowl. For a great sensory experience, dip a fabric scrap into the Mod Podge then smooth it onto the egg using your fingers. If you want your students to work on grasping, you can use a small sponge paint brush to "paint" the Mod Podge on to fabric scraps. Both sides of the fabric should be covered with the Mod Podge.

Keep adding fabric scraps until the ornament is completely covered. Tie on a colorful piece of yarn or ribbon in a loop and and hang it up to dry. Your handmade holiday ornament is ready for the tree!

 Aren't they awesome? 

Dear Readers, If you have found my blog to be helpful, please "like" my Facebook page and follow my blog...I'm trying to get my book published and this would be a great help! Thanks :) 

Music Therapy Holiday Gift Idea!

Are you searching for the perfect Holiday gift idea for a child with special needs? If so, keep reading!

Ryan Judd is a board certified music therapist. He believes that children with special needs deserve to learn and develop in a fun, creative and motivating atmosphere, and his mission is to teach parents, educators and therapists how to use music therapy to help children with special needs learn, grow and thrive! 

His website www.therhythmtree.com is an amazing resource for therapists and parents of special needs children. It includes lots of information about music therapy as well as a videos of fun, interactive, therapeutic music activities!

I was so excited when I discovered that Ryan recently released a Rythm Tree DVD Package! I contacted Ryan and asked his permission to post about his website and the DVD package and guess what? He's offering a 10% discount on the package just for my readers! To order, just click HERE and enter the code JINGLE during check out. What a wonderful gift idea!

Image used with permission from www.therhythmtree.com

The Rhythm Tree DVD Package includes:

• A 56-minute DVD with nine fun and engaging songs that address various developmental goals
• Bonus DVD chapters on:

• How to use effective prompting strategies
• How to make homemade instruments and use them to address therapeutic goals
• How to adapt instruments so that any child, regardless of physical ability, can play them successfully

• A full-length CD with all nine songs included
• A 30 page guidebook that gives you the music and lyrics for each song and includes specific strategies and techniques for addressing developmental goals
• 3 sets of fun and motivating instruments including:

• Two tambourines
• Two pairs of maracas
• Two pairs of rhythm sticks

Thank you Ryan for your amazing music therapy website and for offering a 10% discount to the readers of Pediatric OT Tips!

Making a Difference for Individuals with Special Needs!

I’m starting something new here on Pediatric OT Tips and I’m extremely excited about it! Every two months, I’m going to feature a very special person who makes a difference in the lives of special needs children in a big way. The individuals that will be featured are committed and compassionate and have taken action to open doors for children with special needs, and I’m looking forward to sharing their stories.

Tereson Dupuy-Image from teresondupuy.com

Tereson Dupuy had a problem, and not only did she come up with an idea to solve that problem, she turned her idea into a multi-million dollar business! Tereson’s son, Eden, was born with severe eczema and suffered from chronic diaper rash. After trying every cloth diaper on the market to no avail, she realized that chemicals and the moist cotton from the diapers were causing the rash. Solution…FuzziBunz® cloth diapers! Tereson created a modern cloth diaper, that is soft, easy-to-use, and eliminates chemicals and diaper rash! To top it off, she’s expanding her business to reach all ages to truly bring comfortable products that meet the entire lifespan of an individual.

Not only is Tereson a cloth diaper expert, she also has a passion for business. She established TeresonDupuy.com, which is an amazing platform that assists entrepreneurs in creating successful businesses. Her lessons focus on perseverance, patience, pride and passion – the 4Ps! Click HERE to visit Tereson’s website and learn how to turn an idea that you have into a business.

When Tereson’s son Eden was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, a form of Autism, her family and community were extremely supportive. She also discovered support and information through Autism Speaks, a national advocacy organization dedicated to funding autism-related research and helping families impacted by autism. Read on as Tereson’s shares how she is “giving back.”

 

Image from http://www.fuzzibunz.com

“…in Eden's honor, FuzziBunz® will donate $1 for every "Light It Up Blue" diaper we sell to Autism Speaks. The diapers are the same price as the all the other FuzziBunz® cloth diapers—so I hope you'll simply add the Light It Up Blue diaper to your stash and know that, by doing so, you're helping families like mine cope with autism and that you're contributing to our nation's plight to find a cure.”  Read more about Tereson’s advocacy by clicking HERE to visit her website.

A sincere thanks to Tereson Dupuy for making a difference by supporting Autism Speaks!

Fun Christmas Tree Craft!

It's holiday time and one of my favorite classes at Shilling Farms Middle School is working on a fun Christmas craft and I'm excited to share it with you. This is a great therapeutic activity because it involves folding paper!

Materials needed:
Old magazines
Silver and Green Spray Paint (for adult use only)
Elmer's Glue
Glitter
Painting sponge brush
Pom Pom

Begin by folding each page of the magazine as it's being done in the video. Be sure to bring the first fold as close to the spine of the magazine as possible.

The folding is very time consuming, so it's a good idea to have your students take turns folding. An adult can provide assistance as needed. Once the folding is complete, the tree will look like this:

At this point, an adult should take the "tree" to an outdoor (well-ventilated) area and spray paint the exterior. Once the paint dries, have the students "paint" the trees with a mix of 2 parts Elmer's glue to to 1 part water. See video:

Before the glue dries, the student should sprinkle the wet glue with glitter. Final step: Glue a pom-pom or some other decoration to the top of the tree and wait for the glue to dry. What a nice holiday decoration!

Dear Readers, If you have found my blog to be helpful, please "like" my Facebook page and follow my blog...I'm trying to get my book published and this would be a great help! Thanks :)