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Friday, March 15, 2019

Free St. Patrick's Day Coloring Sheet

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I love shamrocks, so I wanted to share this free St. Patrick's Day coloring sheet with you. 
http://drannezachry.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Shamrock.pdf
Any child can color the sheet using crayons or color pencils, and they can also work on their fine motor skills by decorating the shamrock using torn pieces of paper.  Tearing the paper into small bits is good for grasping and fine motors skills. Once the torn pieces are ready, instruct the child to use white school glue to squeeze a small glue dot on each piece of paper before pressing it onto the coloring sheet.  The glue can be messy which can be a great sensory experience!
What a beautiful shamrock!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!



Friday, March 1, 2019

Sensory Writing Activities

Because many of our sensory systems contribute to the process of writing legibly, when a child struggles with handwriting, it may be helpful to incorporate sensory strategies in with handwriting instruction. I call this “Sensory Writing!”  Here are some fun, sensory-based ways to work on handwriting skills.
Shaving Cream Writing: Put a small amount of shaving cream on a surface.  Remember, a little goes a long way!  Then have the child smooth it out across the surface and practice forming basic shapes, letters, or numbers.  Mistakes are not a problem!  Simply erase them with a swipe of the hand!
 
 Rice Writing: Have the child use a marker to color the surface of a paper plate.  Once it dries, sprinkle a layer of rice on the plate.  Now it’s time to practice writing shapes, letters, and numbers in the rice!
Putty Writing:  Roll play dough or therapy putty to form various letters.  Squeezing, pulling, and pinching are all great for fine motor skills, and making the letters helps with letter formation.
Remember, it's important for children to have plenty of opportunities to move throughout the day.  This will help them pay attention, and it warms up their muscles and joints for writing and other fine motor activities!