DIY Binoculars for “I Spy” Game

   

I Spy is a fun game that kids love, and it’s great for a variety of skills, such as scanning, figure ground discrimination, visual attention, visual memory, and more. These binoculars are easy to make!

All you need are two toilet paper rolls, some construction paper, string or ribbon, and glue or tape. 

Have the child decorate the toilet paper rolls with construction paper. They can secure the paper to the rolls using a glue stick or tape. Use some tape to connect the toilet paper rolls and tape each end of the string onto the outside of each roll (as seen in the photo) and that’s it! Your child can then use the binoculars to look for different items. Mix it up by telling them to look for items of different color or different shapes. Or you can have them look for a specific item that you name. Just be sure to make it fun and engaging, and your child will have a blast!

 

Activity for Following Directions

This is a wonderful activity to work on following directions with a child! It is also a great way for a child to learn their colors and shapes. Because the child has to peel and place the stickers with accuracy, it is also a great nice activity for fine motor skills. 

All you need is a blank sheet of paper, some colored markers, and dot stickers in a variety of colors. Draw a variety of shapes in different colors. Now all you have to do is give the child instructions such as, "Put the pink sticker on the pink circle, or put the purple sticker on the purple square."

 

The Benefits of Play Dough Play!

     Rolling, squishing, pinching, and manipulating Play Dough has so many benefits for toddlers, preschoolers, and young children. In this post, I’m going to focus on two of those benefits: strengthening and bilateral skills.

     

Developing arm and hand strength is important for growing children, because they are needed for functional skills, such as self-help and fine motor activities. Grip strength and dexterity are needed for buttoning, writing, zipping, and other manipulation tasks. Bilateral skills are necessary for using both sides of the body together in a coordinated manner. This is also called bilateral integration, and it is an important for many activities that your child will carry out in home and at school. If a child has difficulty with bilateral coordination skills, they may end up using one hand alone rather than both hands together, which leads to challenges with certain activities, such as tying shoes, using a knife and fork, cutting with scissors, and buttoning.

     Play dough provide many opportunities to for a child to strengthen their arms and hands and improve bilateral integration. For example, while they are rolling, squeezing, flattening and shaping the dough, they are developing muscles in their little hands and learning to use them together in a coordinated manner!

 

 

 

Making a Difference at th Rachel Kay Stevens Therapy Center!

The Rachel Kay Stevens Therapy Center (RKSTC) at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is a student-run pro bono clinic that provides occupational therapy services to children from birth up to 18 years. Under the supervision of faculty and a licensed occupational therapist, the clinic operates with student leadership and involvement. Therapy services are delivered by students under the direct supervision of a licensed OT. Offerings include consultation, evaluation, individual treatment, and parent/family education. 

The mission of the center is to educate future practitioners, and to empower families through the provision of educational and healthcare services.

 

To make a donation to support the clinic, click HERE. 

Pom Pom Color Matching Fine Motor Toddler Activity

This DIY pom pom activity is easy to make and will keep your toddler entertained while learning lots of different skills. 

Materials Needed
- Pom poms in various colors
- Toilet paper or paper towel rolls
- Construction paper in a variety of colors
- Scotch tape
- A small box
- Sharpie

If using paper towel rolls cut each paper towel roll in half or use toilet paper rolls. Wrap each roll/tube in a different color of construction paper that matches a pom pom color. You can number the tubes if you want to work on counting skills. Tape the rolls to the back of the box side-by-side. It's time to play! Your child can work on color matching, naming, and counting. This is a great activity to work on grasp and release skills, and as your child's skills advance, they can even add a spoon and work on scooping!

Easy DIY Felt Board!

 

This DIY felt board can be used in a variety of ways! I love to use it when teaching a child the different shapes. You can begin by asking the child to point to the shape that you call out by name. It’s also fun to practice matching the shapes.  

Another fun activity is have the child identify big shapes and small shapes, as seen with the triangles in the photo below. 

 

The best part about it is that the board and shapes can be made in 15 minutes or less!

Supplies Needed:
-Felt in a variety of colors 
-A rectangular piece of cardboard (Approximately 11” x 14”)
-A large enough piece of craft felt to cover the cardboard
-Hot glue & hot glue gun
-Scissors

Cover the cardboard with the large piece of felt and glue it in place. Cut out a variety of shapes in different colors and sizes. Now have fun!!!

Obstacle Course Ideas!

An obstacle course is a great activity to work on improving a child’s body awareness, motor planning, strengthening, sensory processing, and ability to follow instructions. When creating an obstacle course for a child, it can be very motivating to follow a theme that is of interest to the child. For example, possible themes are dinosaurs, jungle animals, or outer space. 

An example course might require the child to hop on one foot to a pile of pillows where the child finds a hidden item. Use an animal walk (i.e. bear walk) to go to another destination to complete a fine motor activity. Lastly, walk on a balance beam to the finish line.  Here are some additional skills that can be addressed with obstacle courses.

·      Following multi-step directions

·      Midline crossing activities

·      Work on core strength

·      Running

·      Climbing

·      Fine motor tasks

·      Balance