Fun Holiday Craft for Kids!

This is a fun holiday craft for kids that is totally cute!  When a child is making this spool holiday wreath, she is working on all kinds of skills, including fine motor skills, bilateral skills, cutting, gluing, and eye hand coordination. This wreath will make a nice gift for Grandma or any other special person!

Follow these simple instructions to make this holiday craft!

Supplies Needed:
Fabric scraps
Empty spools (thread)
Ribbon
Glue
Sturdy craft wire (you can also use pipe cleaners, but they will need to be doubled and twisted so that they'll hold the circular shape of the wreath)

1. Cut the strips of fabric to fit the inside of the spools.

2. Wrap the fabric strips around the spools and glue them in place.

3. Thread the wire through the center holes in the spools and form the wire into a circular shape, and twist the ends of the wire together and tuck them into a spool. 

4. Tie a bow around the bottom or top of the wreath and use a thin strip of ribbon as a "hanger." 
- Hang the wreath on your tree or anywhere in the house as a festive decoration!

Evidence-Based Practice: A Pediatric Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy Study

Efficacy of constraint-induced movement therapy for children with 

cerebral palsy with asymmetric motor impairment.  

Photo Credit: Prawny @ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the application of CIMT to children diagnosed with cerebral palsy (CP-hemiparesis).

Methods. A randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted.  Nine children received CIMT therapy and 9 received traditional therapy.

Results. The children who received CIMT demonstrated significant improvements with motor skills in the affected arm completed to the children in the traditional group. The benefits were still present after 6 months.

Conclusion. Pediatric CIMT resulted in significantly improved motor function in children diagnosed with CP.

Taub, E., Ramey, S. L., DeLuca, S., Echols, K. (2004). Efficacy of constraint-induced movement therapy for children with
     cerebral palsy with asymmetric motor impairment. Pediatrics, 113(2).

Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial of Pediatric 

Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy: 6-Month Follow-Up.

Purpose: The current study compared 6 hours per day with 3 hours per day of CIMT over a 21-day period to determine which client would demonstrate the most gains 6 months after the treatment was implemented.

Methods: This was a multisite randomized controlled trial.

Results: Both groups demonstrated significant upper extremity functional gains as a result of therapy.

Conclusion: The 6 hours per day and 3 hours per day treatments both resulted in gains.

 
Case-Smith, J., DeLuca, S.C., Ramey, S. L. (2012). Multicenter randomized controlled trial of pediatric constraint-induced  movement therapy: 6-month follow-up.  American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66(1), 15-23.

Efficacy of Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy on Involved Upper Extremity Use in Children with 

Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy

Purpose: This study investigated the effectiveness of a "child-friendly" constraint-induced movement therapy on the involved upper extremities of children diagnosed with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

Methods: There were 20 children in the study ranging in age from 4 to 13 years, and the children were divided into an older group and a younger group.  Each participant wore a sling on the uninvolved arm for 6 hours daily over a period of 10 to 12 days.  Therapists who were blinded to the study details conducted assessments of motor skills at the points: after one week, one month, and six months.

Results: Both groups of children made significant motor skill improvements with their involved upper extremities.

Conclusion:  CIMT is an effective treatment for children (of various ages) diagnosed with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

Gordon, A. M., Charles, J., & Wolf, S. L. (2006). Efficacy of constraint-induced movement therapy on involved upper 
     extremity use in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.  Pediatrics, 117(3), e363-373.
 

Cute Christmas Craft for Kids

Cute Christmas Craft for Kids

Supplies needed:

Narrow strips of colorful fabric strips
One pipe cleaner

This is a fun and easy DIY Christmas ornament!  Just start by shaping the pipe cleaner into a circle and secure the ends tightly by twisting them.

Loop each piece of fabric around the pipe cleaner.  (See the video below.)

 Continue until the wreath is full of fabric strips.

Baby Activity Gym: DIY!!!

Baby Activity Gym

This DIY Baby Activity Gym is an easy inexpensive alternative to an expensive activity gym that you would purchase from a store.  Change out the toys to keep baby interested during play!

Materials needed:

-       Three small pool noodles

-       Scissors

-       Ribbon

-       Colorful infant toys

-       A permanent marker

Instructions:

1. Cut one pool noodle in half.

2. With one of the halves of the pool noodles, determine where halfway is and mark it using the permanent marker.

3. Using the end of the other half of the pool noodle, trace the end in order to draw a circle where halfway was marked.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the second half of the pool noodle.

5. Cut both circles that were traced on both halves of the pool noodle making sure to not cut all the way through the pool noodle but just on one side.

6. Cut the second pool noodle in half.

7. With one of the halves of the pool noodle, mark two inches below one of the ends.

8. Using the end of the other half of the pool noodle, trace the end in order to draw a circle where two inches below the end of the first pool noodle was marked.

9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 with the second half of the pool noodle.

10. Cut both circles that were traced on both halves of the pool noodle making sure to not cut all the way through the pool noodle but just on one side.

11. Using one half from the second pool noodle, insert the other end of the half that does not have a circle cut out of it into one of the halves of the first pool noodle where a circle was cut halfway.

12. Repeat step 11 using the second halves from the first and second pool noodle.

13. Cut the third pool noodle in half.

14. Insert one end of one of the halves of the third pool noodle into one half of the second pool noodle where the circle was cut out two inches from the end.

15. Insert the other end of the half of the third pool noodle into the second half of the second pool noodle where the circle was cut out two inches from the end.

16. Using the ribbons, attach infant toys to the top of the floor gym in order for them to hang.

The project above was completed by one of our Master's of Occupational Therapy students at
 The University of Tennessee Health Science Center and posted with permission.