tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post2690649260950029622..comments2024-03-17T12:02:12.410-04:00Comments on Love That Max : Share your therapy-play tips, win a $50 CVS/pharmacy gift cardEllen Seidmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01433429847255621203noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-59667906714250758132011-03-13T04:21:59.393-04:002011-03-13T04:21:59.393-04:00This is such a great thread! I am an Early Interve...This is such a great thread! I am an Early Interventionist and am glad to find some new ideas to add to my bag of tricks! <br /><br />One trick I didn't see was playing chasing games. My clients with autism, premies, downs, etc love to be chased! I say, "Sam, I'm going to get you!' so they learn to respond to their name, then chase after them once they've made eye contact with me. It doesn't take them very long to turn to their name being called and making eye contact to be chased. When I catch them I put them down close to a wall or piece of furniture so they can pay attention to their surroundings to stop and turn, or stop and move back instead of running into things. This activity is a lot of fun and helps me get my exercise in too!Corrinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04743125417601939245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-28434024433930394902010-03-04T10:10:09.925-05:002010-03-04T10:10:09.925-05:00My 8-year-old son is autistic. We tried (years ago...My 8-year-old son is autistic. We tried (years ago) to encourage tactile play, to help with his sensory issues and fine motor development, but the strange textures and/or smells turned him off.<br /><br />He's become fascinated with marble and domino runs, so we pulled out the marble run kit his uncle got for him a long time ago, some marbles and a box of dominoes. He LOVES making different layouts for the marbles and dominoes to go through. He's getting great cognitive stimulation and practice with his fine motor skills, too. There is also tactile development since each of the three types of items are of different material and texture! :)<br /><br />Now, when he gets out of sorts or overstimulated, he'll go to his room and play with the marbles and dominoes. He likes that it's such a quiet activity, too.Stephen's Momnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-49739174056596764172010-02-26T21:15:42.523-05:002010-02-26T21:15:42.523-05:00When my daughter was diagnosed with a massive hema...When my daughter was diagnosed with a massive hemangioma behind her left eye just a few weeks after her birth, I didn't realize how much that one cluster of blood vessels would effect her entire development for her first year and beyond. At first I was scared of doing something wrong, of allowing that eye to become lazy, or of her development stopping entirely like her body did once she was on medication. It was exhausting trying to get her motivated to do the things her peers were doing and even more so that I didn't have all the information I thought I needed. <br /><br />In my trial and error phase I came up with a few games to really get her using the eye with the mass behind it, and found out that those pirate patches they sell at costume stores are your best friend. We played pirate for hours and hours on end.<br /><br />To get her moving, we played puppy. I was Mama Puppy, naturally, and she was Sweet Puppy and we would crawl (army style at first) around our living room to certain puppy places. It made her far less frustrated when I was crawling with her and the game help distract her from the fact that it was hard work. <br /><br />When she was finally able to stand she had little interest in baby walkers and other walking aides, so we were really lucky that we got to review a baby stroller that she was much more excited about pushing. While learning to walk was a long and hard process, the fact that she got to take her special baby along for the ride made it fun and exciting. <br /><br />She had a hard time rolling a ball and throwing, so we made up "puffs containers bowling" with all our empty plastic cartons and she would get so excited that she could bowl like Daddy.<br /><br />For dexterity, we worked on her sign language and really focused on that for her first 18 months so she would have to use her hands regularly. <br /><br />The payoff? He doctor was convinced she had gone through physical therapy at her last appointment, and was shocked that she had made an almost complete recovery from the issues she was facing just a few short months ago. While much can be attributed to her growing and becoming more active and dexterous on her own, our hours of working with her seemed to have made a large difference as well. And nothing feels better than that!<br />Leanne (at) raveandreview (dot) comLeannehttp://www.raveandreview.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-51241154520984702702010-02-26T14:29:49.686-05:002010-02-26T14:29:49.686-05:00Ty has a ball pit. One that I saw runs hundreds of...Ty has a ball pit. One that I saw runs hundreds of dollars. Ours was less than 20. I got a end of season swimming pool for 99 cents and the balls come in bags at walmart for like 7 bucks. We used a total of 400 balls to fill the pit and we still use the ball pit today and he is 4. All of my nieces and nephews love the ball pit. It helps with sensory, physical and ocupational therapy. He has done tons of things in it.<br /><br />We finger paint on our windows to. I don't care how messy the window is he loves to makes circles and squares on my window and laughs as someone does it from the other side. <br /><br />make your own sensory bags by putting different feeling stuff in a ziplock baggies.nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16943446751465263123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-5740492232796528932010-02-26T02:11:05.610-05:002010-02-26T02:11:05.610-05:00First, its good to know where your child is develo...First, its good to know where your child is developmentally; knowing what he/she can do and can't yet do. Play can use different toys or objects that use what they do know to introduce & move towards learning or discovering new abilities or skills. Many 3-4 year olds like to play copy games, but may struggle with hand & finger skills. So you can make a copy game out of drawing circles or squares. In that way you are "scaffolding" their learning based on existing skills.<br />Probably the most important thing is to create connection. To actually get down on the floor with them and play and have fun.Judy B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09006339968489085022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-35463149538508571662010-02-25T22:57:36.138-05:002010-02-25T22:57:36.138-05:001.My husband and I will play a game where we each ...1.My husband and I will play a game where we each hide in a different part of the house and make noises to help our daughter with a BAHA implant learn localization. <br />2. Mattie is also the official chip bag opener and shoe lace tie-er to work on her hand muscle coordination.She loves having the job and working on her hands without it feeling like therapy.<br />3. We signed Mattie up to be a pen-pal to work on her handwriting.Shelly shellyplus4@gmail.comhttp://www.shellyplus4.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-85696538884886589702010-02-25T19:01:45.388-05:002010-02-25T19:01:45.388-05:00I made my son a toy to help him with texture and h...I made my son a toy to help him with texture and he loves to "pretend" cook with spoons, cups, and measuring cups. I got a big tupperware tote and filled it with about 5 bags of dried assorted beans and a couple of bags of dried rice. You can use food coloring to decorate. He absolutely LOVES it! Also we can't go outside much, so this is a wonderful alternative to a sandbox. It does require supervision that they don't try to eat it, but he is big enough that he knows what no means. He is pretty good about keeping it in the box too. This inexpensive therapy toy has occupied him for lots of time!!kristi penahttp://www.caringbridge.org/visit/cj08noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-29594466895386064792010-02-25T16:18:18.634-05:002010-02-25T16:18:18.634-05:00One of my best friends makes his living taking car...One of my best friends makes his living taking care of autistic children. I have no personal experience with it, but he has told me thru many conversations some of the skills he uses and things he has found that work well for coping. He said one of the best places he ever worked (he works for individual families via state government referral programs) had a quiet room. They had a room that was all white floor to ceiling and carpeted with cushions all over the floor. He said that the family made it just for their son. When the son would get distracted from a goal or over-stimulated, they would take him into that room to calm him or refocus him as there were no distractions.<br />Scott<br />nynekats at aol dot comScotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16400246352371489929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-33964358668279277242010-02-25T15:44:16.922-05:002010-02-25T15:44:16.922-05:00I'm so glad to find this blog through a twitte...I'm so glad to find this blog through a twitter link! My son just turned two and has cerebral palsy, so we haven't gotten that far into the big OT tasks yet. We're still working on sitting up and crawling, and for those I've found the best play therapy to be our long suffering cat Gizmo.<br /><br />http://www.reesedixon.com/2010/01/partners-in-crime.htmlReese Dixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09466863708513122064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-64486848484610191012010-02-25T15:17:46.171-05:002010-02-25T15:17:46.171-05:00My 7yo has some pretty big sensory issues so we pl...My 7yo has some pretty big sensory issues so we play games that are geared towards keeping the noise level down. We play "whisper phone" where we whisper a phrase to the person sitting next to you and they whisper it to the person next to them. <br />The kids love practicing soft touches so we sit behind each other and touch the back of the person in front of us as lightly as you can. the goal is to see how much pressure you can put into the touch without the person feeling it.<br /><br />For my 9yo with ADD, we play lots of relay races outside and add an element of math to it. Put the problems at one end and yourself at the other. Each time he runs down, he has to write the answer to a problem and run back to me. If it's right, he runs down again and does it again. If it's wrong, he has to count to ten before he runs back. The object is to see how many correct answers he can get in 90 seconds.Erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09042944569632036465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-28321096044688940772010-02-25T14:46:57.665-05:002010-02-25T14:46:57.665-05:00I love your blog and enjoy reading about all of th...I love your blog and enjoy reading about all of these amazing and creative activities you are doing with your child. My daughter loves to eat and chew, but sometimes the food comes out the front of her mouth and we've been working with her on biting and chewing. She is really trying hard, and we are trying our best to not make her feel bad for her way of eating. This will take time, but we will continue to say things with love, and never in a critical manner.Esti`http://www.primetimeparenting.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-34661201508558850412010-02-25T12:49:52.009-05:002010-02-25T12:49:52.009-05:00Hi Ellen,
I've read your blog for a few months...Hi Ellen,<br />I've read your blog for a few months, but just officially became a follower. Glad to meet you! :)<br />I read on Team Inspire this morning about your "Play and Activities for Special Needs" discussion. Well, are you in good company or what!?<br />I taught Early Childhood Special Needs for 12 years before having Roa who was officially diagnosed with quadra spastic cerebral palsy at 1 year. I have my Master's in Education with my thesis on "Learning through Play".<br />I am the QUEEN of homemade games and toys. Poor Roa, I must say..or lucky, which ever way you look at it.<br />My personal favorites, you ask? Roa has difficulty with hand opening and grasping. He finds success with fine motor tasks given ribbons, strings, Marti Gras beads, etc (We call them Roa's fancies) Well, I make a variety of container play activities with his fancies. Coffee cans, lunch meat containers, baby food jars- name a container and I'll make a toy! Velcro is a great way to attach fancies to a surface that he can pull off. <br />Also one of his favorites is "Roa's Carrot Patch"- simply an egg carton with holes in the bottom and inserted fabric carrots.<br />You can see the video on Roa's blog- www.rojosjourney.com<br />Thanks for the great discussion and inspiring motivation to play in parents of special kiddos. <br />See you around the Blogger!<br />JenniferJennifer Thayerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06932147476896663497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-75884517383555673832010-02-25T11:38:26.784-05:002010-02-25T11:38:26.784-05:00I do not have kids of my own, but I have two frien...I do not have kids of my own, but I have two friends who have special needs children. One child is autistic and one child has ADHD. I have learned a lot from them and have used this knowledge to interact with both children. One thing that I learned was very helpful with the autistic child was making crayons out of crayons. He has a tendency to strike out violently, so regular crayons become weapons. His mother melts them down in muffin tins and makes them round = no more weapons!<br />Angie<br />one 4 earth at aol dot comangie lillyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08685607855719336544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-79464527138298093772010-02-24T00:39:46.852-05:002010-02-24T00:39:46.852-05:00We play freeze dance to promote gross motor skills...We play freeze dance to promote gross motor skills as well as listening skills. I randomly and discretely hit the pause button to see if anyone moves. The last person (1 of 2) who stays still gets a prize. We recycle prizes, but Mardi Gras beads and pencils are great.<br /><br />One more tip: Wear solid colors like dark brown or black when performing therapy type tasks. If you want the child to focus on the task, not to be distracted by a Hawiian shirt, which can bring a meltdown in some...Shannon Burkert Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11639439809801245231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-48153073656834009412010-02-24T00:32:37.420-05:002010-02-24T00:32:37.420-05:00Oh what a beautiful thread to share tips and learn...Oh what a beautiful thread to share tips and learn from each other. I am a mom of two beautiful kids and here are some of the exercises / fun things that I do with my 4 year old son who has hearing loss, speech delays, gross motor and fine motor skills delay.<br />For Oral motor muscles :<br />1. He loves art, so I take a card stock and put drops of colors on it and water and give him a straw. He loves to blow the color on the paper to make different patterns. It helps him with oral motor muscle exercise. To make it difficult, I move the paper to his left and right and hold him from his back. So he has to extend on his sides to blow - helps with trunk muscle strenghtening.<br />2. We blow lots of bubbles.<br />3. I put yogurt on the sides, top and bottom of his lips and ask him to lick it. Again, helps with the oral motor muscle.<br />4. Slurping like doggies. Give him grapes in a wide shallow bowl filled with 2 - 3 inches of water. And I ask him to slurp it without using his hands.<br /><br />For Speech -<br />1. Silly rhymes - its just absurd words that sound alike. My son still cannot do it, so my husband and I play this game and make him our referee. We say something like lola, pola, kola, sola and then say liki. He has started catching the error now :)<br />2. What am I thinking - I tell him 4 parameters about something I am thinking and he has to guess that. Then it is his turn and he gives me 4 clues and I have to guess what he is thinking.<br />3. We take turns telling stories. It is an imaginative story (whatever we can think of). Helps him with expressing himself and encourages him to use his vocabulary more than the gestures.<br /><br />For physical dexterity -<br />1. I have a ribbon baton (the kind acrobats use) and we just dance silly waving it. He loves to twirl it and make different shapes.<br />2. He loves Dora- so I create three obstacle course for him to conquer before he gets something he wants. His fav- Tie jump rope low between two chairs and ask him to cross it ( I hold his hands).. Put a cushion on the floor and jump over it and then crawl under the bench. <br />3. I inflate balloons and give it to him and ask him to throw it up and keep patting it. It helps him to trace the object with his eyes and also hand, legs and vision coordination.<br />4. We sit with our back touching each others back and take turns pushing and slouching to the song of Row Row Row your boat. It acts like mini crunches and helps his abdomen muscles.<br />5. Hold his hand and make him walk on the dinning bench (helps with his sense of balance)<br />6. We play tug of war a lot.<br />7. I make him sit on an exercise ball and slowly move the ball side to side. He really has to work hard to keep his balance.<br />I can go on and on, but these are some of the things that has always worked for my son.<br /><br />BTW, the word verification code I got is Mater, and my son's current obsession is Disney's CARS movie. Lolz.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17451179955246575638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-59415243341343055912010-02-23T16:47:42.997-05:002010-02-23T16:47:42.997-05:00My daughter likes to draw in the tub using tub cra...My daughter likes to draw in the tub using tub crayons or markers. Drawing on the side of the tub (verticle) is great for the hand muscles. We also work on her ABC's. I'll draw the letters and name them and she repeats them. She loves when I write her name.BrendaWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10655806409348108972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-39523611689576170222010-02-23T14:51:04.536-05:002010-02-23T14:51:04.536-05:00I have a son who is 6 and a 3 year old daughter wh...I have a son who is 6 and a 3 year old daughter who passed him cognitively 2 years ago. It is hard to find things that they like to do together (he is a little afraid of her). One thing that has helped was when she started singing took his hand and danced "here we go round the mulberry bush" -- he did not even mind it when she pulled him down. He laughed and laughed and suddenly, for the first time, he was actually the equal participant in a game! Not parallel play!<br /><br />Our son also likes any game that has anticipation -- so I will sing a song like "all around the mulberry bush the monkey chased the weasel..." and hesitate before the line "POP goes the weasel" and he loves it -- he really anticipates what is going to happen next!<br /><br />Finally, when I was desperately looking for a game for the whole family for Christmas, I found a game that is a set of buckets that you can tie to your waist and a set of small bean bags. The whole family can go outside and run and put things in eachother's bucket or take them out -- and he loves to put things in and take things out of buckets. Lots of fun.<br /><br />Thanks for the contest! I learned a LOT of wonderful tips!Marisanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-60970091303523260552010-02-23T14:11:14.215-05:002010-02-23T14:11:14.215-05:00When my daughter, who has CP, was little, she had ...When my daughter, who has CP, was little, she had no voice. To encourage her to vocalize, we used to go outside at night and "howl at the moon." All my kids enjoyed it. I often wondered what the neighbors thought when we were all outside howling at the moon. It was a great way to combine therapy, fun, and real life!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00361133956685584785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-22887164958406860422010-02-23T13:35:59.151-05:002010-02-23T13:35:59.151-05:00We used to have my son string Cheerios onto a shoe...We used to have my son string Cheerios onto a shoelace to practice his fine motor skills. Then we tied the shoelace into a "snack necklace' and he would wear it and eat his snack for the day.Susan Bearmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14991968368214219371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-13851991345482290632010-02-23T02:10:46.413-05:002010-02-23T02:10:46.413-05:00My daughter needs practice opening her fisted hand...My daughter needs practice opening her fisted hand. I take all my receipts from stores and banks and give them to Hannah to stuff in a box. We spend some stuffing them in her hand and coaching her to open her hand to release the paper. she enjoys crumpling with her good hand and I hope she'll transfer that skill, but she will also enjoy just putting it in and out of the box. She takes long receipts in both hands and raises her arms over her head so bonus points there for shoulder and back stretching.GingerBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09976594257345428901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-3617687789412010862010-02-22T15:29:23.756-05:002010-02-22T15:29:23.756-05:00When my oldest was in occupational therapy, one of...When my oldest was in occupational therapy, one of the tips was to roll him around in a rug before pre-school. We would roll, roll and roll some more to get all those senses working. He had some sensory integration delays and also needed to push against a wall or door to get all the right "juices" flowing. <br />Love the tips!Hillary @ The Other Mamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07001572958600385505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-10174072938284353342010-02-22T12:40:33.115-05:002010-02-22T12:40:33.115-05:00Ok - well, I can't take total credit for this ...Ok - well, I can't take total credit for this because I had some help from the wonderful Anchor Center in Denver, but we make the greatest toys for Cici out of the most ordinary things. My favorite is a sensory/color board, where I take a see-through clipboard, and then hot glue all types of "stuff" on there - battery powered lights, mardi gras beads, bunches of stuff found in the Target dollar bins, pieces of mylar and then she can touch and play with the items - as she has limited mobility and limited vision, this is something that exercises both, and uses things from around the house. She can do it at her own pace, and rest when she gets tired. And I can help position the board in a way where it's easy for her to touch. She loves it!ferfischerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00184449747019920745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-41832198149466527932010-02-22T09:24:57.094-05:002010-02-22T09:24:57.094-05:00We play a game that I call "Ticky Wicky"...We play a game that I call "Ticky Wicky". My son will lay on the floor or the bed (or wherever) and he will tell me with his limited language where he wants me to tickle him. He will say "Toes" and I will proceed to tickle his toes while saying "Ticky Wicky Toes". We go through various body parts. He surprised me the other day and said "everything". This allows for great reciprocal play as well as increasing his vocab and body part awareness. We also play a variation of "This little piggy". When it gets to the part that normally says "this little piggy ate roast beef", instead, we work on remembering something that we ate and we include the location and dessert and whatever we can to elaborate on it. He loves this!Veronicanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-13152985959521900382010-02-22T00:27:09.703-05:002010-02-22T00:27:09.703-05:00Ah, the parent therapy! One of the first things ...Ah, the parent therapy! One of the first things I noticed with our OT was that all of the therapy "tools" were the same toys that you could get at the local toy store. This is not a therapy tip, but is a financial tip, at the end of the year if you have flex benefits left, ask if you can use them to purchase "tools" for your child's therapy. We ended up stocking up on gifts for his birthday one year instead of losing the therapy dollars.<br /><br />My favorite homemade therapy tool is a potato salad container that had been washed out and holes cut in the top. Shoe laces were threaded through each of the holes and we have him use righty to pull them out - it was hours of enjoyment for him & almost no cost.<br /><br />The other therapy we do in the cold Minnesota winters is what I refer to as "McDonalds therapy." There is a McDonalds with a great indoor playground a block from our house. We will bring him there and have him try the tunnels over and over again. It is nice because it is a little harder for him to ask for help, so he is more inclined to try it on his own first.<br /><br />This is a great idea to share our experiences! I have loved reading through other's comments!Kierahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09187614427642053939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-401303964563152307.post-9530111878375529582010-02-21T23:47:21.730-05:002010-02-21T23:47:21.730-05:00Thanks so much for visiting our blog. Love your b...Thanks so much for visiting our blog. Love your blog and all the wonderful ideas people are sharing. <br /><br />We are always working on head control and getting Junior to push stiffen his arms to push himself up while on his tummy. He loves watching my niece play with a skateboard so we got one for him. I then covered it with padding and put him on it on his tummy and used a velcro strap to hold him on. He loved it and it really got him to lift his head and build strength. <br />For sensory issues we do lots of painting. We put paper in a shallow tub and then let him feel and then put in the tub many different types of balls(all with different textures). A huge mess but has really gotten him to try to move those arms. <br />A small inflatable pool filled with pool noodle pieces is also a favorite sensory activity for him. We also add some regular ball pit balls as well as other toys for him to find hidden in the pool noodles. <br />Pieces of pool noodles and a jump rope also work great for motor skills(string the pieces of pool noodle onto the jump rope like giant beads)Juniorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03719754876592849914noreply@blogger.com