A kinetic sand sensory bin is great for sensory exploration and learning. It is a wonderful way to stimulate multiple senses at once, and children can also learn how to tolerate new and different textures when playing and exploring in the sensory bin. Supplies Needed: A medium to large plastic bin Kinetic sand Large buttons Pom-poms Large marbles Blocks LEGO pieces Plastic animals or insects Plastic letters, shapes, and/or numbers Tools such as tongs, large tweezers, a plastic spoon, or a small plastic shovel can be used to dig, stir, scoop, and pull pieces out. or the child can just explore ..read more

Here are a couple of shape matching worksheets that can be used to learn the properties of different shapes. This activity is fun for children who are working on recognizing, naming, and remembering shapes! Your child can color the matching shapes the same color. This is a great way to practice coloring within the lines. They can also simply draw a line to connect the matching shapes ..read more

Sometimes children don’t use enough pressure when coloring or writing. This may be because of weakness in the hand muscles or because they don’t have a good “feel” for. The writing utensil in their hand. Here are some suggestions to help a child use more pressure when writing. Squeezing a stress ball is good for strengthening the muscles in the fingers and hands. Carbon tracing paper can be purchased at a dollar store or on Amazon. Having your child use carbon paper when writing will help them become more aware of how much pressure they are putting on the pencil or crayon. Squeezing and mani ..read more

"Feed the Car" is a fun and easy DIY in-hand manipulation activity and game for children. Playing this game is a great way to work on counting, pincer grasp, in-hand manipulation skills, bilateral skills, and crossing midline  Materials Needed: Toilet paper rolls Pompoms, beads Tweezers/Clothes pin Construction paper Printed/laminated cars Wrap the toilet paper rolls in construction paper and glue or tape in place. Print some fun animated car images, cut them out, and laminate them. Cut out an area that will serve as the "mouth" on each car, and and glue the image to each toilet paper r ..read more

Click HERE to vote for the Tummy Time Trainer!!! Does your baby struggle with tummy time! Unfortunately, many infants dislike being positioned on the stomach for play, but it is critical that they are exposed to tummy time starting from the first days of life. Why? Because tummy time promotes head control, and strengthens the trunk, shoulder, arm, and hand muscles, and all of these are important for the development of important milestones such as rolling over, crawling, and pulling up. Because I see so many babies who resist tummy time, I created the Tummy Time Trainer, which has recently bee ..read more

 You can create a dinosaur board game just like this! Materials: Cardboard Construction paper Clothespins Large die Small plastic dinosaurs Images were downloaded from free online resources Glue Create the game cards by including different activities. Examples are: “Stretch tall like a brachiosaurus; Bad weather ahead! Go back 3 spaces; Add a piece to the puzzle; Stretch like a stegosaurus. Do 5 cat/cow poses.” The object of the game is to make it all the way around the board before the volcano puzzle is complete. This is a wonderful activity that works on taking turns, visual percep ..read more

Check out this DIY reusable slant board that does not require paper to write on! The slant board is made from cardboard, and the writing surface is wrapped with a sheet protector so that it can be written on with dry erase markers, and therefore erased and reused.  Using a slant board for coloring or writing tasks puts the wrist in a slightly extended position which helps a child move their wrist in a fluid motion when forming letters and promotes a more refined pencil grasp. Additionally, a slant board positions the writing surface in the line of vision which promotes an upright postu ..read more

Here is a recipe for homemade therapy putty that every pediatric occupational therapist needs!   Ingredients     
 4-ounce bottle of Elmer's glue
1/4 cup cornstarch 1/4 teaspoon borax
1/4 cup of hot water 3-4 drops of food coloring Directions Pour 4-ounce bottle of glue into bowl Measure 1/4 cup of cornstarch and pour into same bowl Add 3-4 drops of food coloring to bowl Stir until everything is mixed Measure & pour 1/4 teaspoon of borax into a separate bowl Measure & pour 1/4 cup of hot water into bowl with borax Mix the hot water & borax together unti ..read more

As parents, we must have a plan when it comes to disciplining our children. We need to know exactly what we are going to do when our child misbehaves. We may wonder how love and discipline go together. I’d like to share a few guidelines that I've found to be very helpful when comes to discipline. * Discipline out of your Love for your child...yes love and discipline do go together! * Set clear expectations and guidelines, and post these guidelines as your “house rules.” 
* Set reasonable limits and keep expectations age appropriate.
 * Be consistent. Follow through with consequences every ti ..read more

    Image Credit: Carl Jorgensen Parents frequently ask me what their child needs to do to get ready for kindergarten. I like to share this list of 25 “readiness” skills that kindergarten teachers have told me are important for a child to be successful in the kindergarten classroom. Kindergarten Readiness Checklist 1)    Speaks in complete sentences 2)    Listens without interrupting 3)    Follows two-step directions 4)    Begins to share with others 5)    Is able to recognize authority 6)    Un ..read more