Babies and toddlers have a tendency to chew on anything they can get their hands on including their hands! They suck on fingers, chew on sleeves and you may even spot them having a go at their collar. Mouthing, sucking and chewing is considered part of the developmental sequence for exploring and learning in children under [...]
As OT’s we see children with a variety of conditions and concerns. One of the most common issues seen in school aged children includes children who find it challenging to remain focused and attentive. This could be due to a pre-existing diagnosis such as ADD, ADHD, sensory processing disorder, premature birth and/or ASD. (It’s important [...]
Indoor play building a blanket fort. Little M loves the thrill off building a fort and then snuggling up inside with her soft toys. She enters a world of imagination and comfort often reading to her favorite stuffed tiger or playing make belief. She has creative 'license' to use whatever she wants in the house to [...]
Little M and Big Y were recently invited to a Lego party. I was secretly looking forward to it more than they were. From my previous Lego post you will remember that Lego is one of my 'go to' activities and my favourite gift to give. For the Lego party the hostess converted her living [...]
Many families across the globe are starting a new school year and are facing the back to school routines. Mornings can be a time of panic and I have realised no matter how much planning and preparation is involved; morning meltdowns are always lurking behind the front door. The last 10 minutes before trying to get [...]
Get your child to form letters correctly from the get go. It is important for the letter to look clear and legible and also equally important that the child learns to start and stop the letter construction at the correct point. This will make it easier in the long term for fluent and efficient handwriting. Here [...]
The traditional slate chalkboard makes me think immediately of Little House on the Prairie and the original method of teaching letter and number and number formation. In our age of technology; schools have invested in white boards and tablets in the classroom. White boards are easier to clean and both the white board and tablet provide the child with an alternative way of [...]
With this activity you need swings... Add a couple of kids who have used the words 'I'm Bored' ... Fill up a spray bottle ... One child swings ... The other child aims at swinging feet and squirts ... This results in giggles and wet fun. When one child loses interest don't be surprised if the child [...]
I think Lego is the most genius thing ever invented for children. I have memories of spending hours building with Lego. I couldn’t wait to get Big Y his first bucket of Lego and in the first couple years he used Lego as part of free play and his imagination came up with various gadgets [...]
I have been itching to try out salt dough with the kids and wanted to see how pliable the dough is and how practical it is too use with kids. I am now hooked! It is not only easy to make but also provides the perfect dough consistency for kids to work with. I will definitely be using salt [...]
Big Y is 7 and currently required to produce larger amounts of handwriting in the classroom for literacy. The frustration often for children at this age is that they cannot write down their thoughts as fast as they are thinking it and the requirement to write neatly often falls by the wayside as they frantically scribble down their [...]
Little M wanted to create something with playdough. She had recently done a lot of the traditional playdough play with rollers and cutters. I wanted to work on her finger dexterity and bilateral coordination. So I combined the playdough with toothpicks for some construction fun. I helped her by dividing the playdough into equal sized pieces. She [...]
A trip to Wilkinsons for cleaning products often turns into a craft finding hunt. Although the cleaning product aisle is a few rows down, the magnetic force of the arts, crafts and stationery section is often too strong and overwhelming. On this trip I found these adorable ladybird board pins and was thinking of reasons [...]
There are loads of blogs around that have been posting recipes for playdough. This two ingredient playdough found on the Kids Activities Blog website seemed like a good one to try. The recipe requires one part hair conditioner to two parts cornflour. Two ingredients that certainly conjures up visions and feel of soft. I added a few [...]
We have had some lovely weather this past week in London and we usually take advantage of the sunshine by spending time out in the garden. We took out the little splash pool and added colourful plastic clothes pegs on one of those sunny days. To encourage Little M to squeeze open the clothes peg [...]
Mrs Gobble was created to improve finger dexterity. She will make a regular appearance in future blogs where I am using materials such as beads, coins and pom pom's. Good pencil control requires the fingers to move in a coordinated up and down movement. To train these muscles of the hand the child needs to be able to [...]
The contrast of chalk on black paper is a great medium for artwork. However it can look a bit messy and with kids can become frustrating if the chalk smudges as in the picture. A good solution to this is to soak the chalk in sugar water for a couple of hours. For this you [...]
Bilateral Coordination is when both sides of the body work together in a smooth and coordinated way. In this activity I am encouraging Little M to use both her hands to do the same thing together (symmetrical movement) as well as coordinating two different movements at the same time such as cutting with scissors (assymetrical [...]
Magnetic letters are very versatile and a great way for your child to touch and feel a 3D letter. This helps your child imprint the letter into their memory as it gives them a multi-dimensional feel of the letter. This is great for visual memory and to develop letter recognition. [...]
I am a recovering hoarder and to this day still pause for a moment before I throw away my recycling. But I draw the line at cereal boxes. I use each and every one of them as a canvas to the kids painting and drawing. In this activity Little M was keen to do some [...]