08/20/2025
Happy Wednesday everyone! Who knew an elephant craft could be so much fun (and therapeutic)?! 😍🤍
Here are some examples how a simple craft activity can target goals for the following services:
🖐️ Occupational Therapy (OT)
- Fine motor skills: cutting, gluing, coloring, and assembling the elephant craft builds hand strength, coordination, and tool use.
- Bilateral coordination: using both hands together (e.g., holding the paper while cutting or stabilizing the elephant while placing the trunk).
- Visual motor integration:** aligning pieces, pre-writing lines, coloring within lines, and placing parts in the right spot.
- Sensory processing: blowing provides oral sensory input; working with different textures (paper, glue, party blower) can support tactile exploration.
🗣️ Speech Therapy (ST)
- Breath support & control: blowing into the party blower strengthens respiratory support needed for speech sounds and longer utterances.
- Oral motor skills: coordinating lips and tongue for controlled airflow.
- Sound imitation & language: practicing animal sounds (“elephant trumpet!”), expanding vocabulary (trunk, ears, blow, elephant), and encouraging expressive/receptive language.
- Turn-taking & communication: if done in a group, kids practice waiting, asking for a turn with their own, or sharing excitement.
🍎Feeding Therapy (FT)
- Oral motor strength: blowing helps strengthen muscles involved in sucking, chewing, and swallowing.
- Breath-swallow coordination: practicing controlled exhalation helps with safe swallowing and pacing during meals.
- Sensory exploration: experiencing oral input from the blower can help with oral desensitization for kids who avoid certain textures in food.
- Jaw/lip/tongue control: stability and coordination used for blowing also support chewing and managing food in the mouth.