Sue Dacre OT

11/02/2022

Fine Motor Friday
Fine motor skills are skills which require dexterity of the hand and fingers.
We've been having fun this week using different toys and positions to work those important little hand muscles!

29/01/2022

06/07/2021

Something I really value is walking and getting out into nature.
Most of us know the benefits of exercise, and there are some hidden benefits for development

😀 When we walk, especially on an uneven surface, our proprioceptive and vestibular systems get a workout. They have to constantly adjust our body position to maintain balance, adjust to different surfaces and manage up and downhill.

😀 Our visual system also works hard. We look far away and nearer. We focus on things close to us and are able to scan and track objects.

😀 We get to think and imagine. Rocks become dinosaurs and clouds look like rabbits! There's rocks and sticks and every other toy nature gives us.

😀 Kids can practise their pathfinding skills, following directions and looking for clues in the environment.

On Sunday I had a lovely walk on Melville koppies, and I've included some suggestions below of how you can do some fun pathfinding.
Stay safe!

11/06/2021

Every child has an inner timetable for growth - a pattern unique to him.
Growth is not steady, forward, upward progression.
It is instead a switchback trail; three steps forward, two back, one around the bushes, and a few simply standing, before another forward leap.

28/05/2021

For a fun Friday, let's play with the humble pipe cleaner!
I love using this in lots of different activities, and they are usually re-useable.
Some of the skills I can build using pipe cleaners include

😎 Fine motor skills and eye hand coordination - You'll see in the pics below they are great for practising threading and lacing, as they hold their shape better than string or laces.

🤩 Pattern making - pipe cleaners come in many colours and can be formed into lots of shapes, making them ideal for building patterns.

😎 Creative play - as they are so flexible, pipe cleaners can be legs, arms, hair, plants, aliens or pretty much anything you want them to be!

🤩 Regulation - A pipe cleaner is great for a fidgety child when you need them to sit in one place for a while. Children (and adults) enjoy wrapping them around or between their fingers or squishing them, and they're easy to keep in your pocket for when needed.

Have a look at the pics below for a few more ideas. Have a lovely weekend!

27/05/2021

Today we focus on the lovely book 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle, following the author's passing at the age of 91.
This book was a favourite when my own children were little, and its a lovely story for lots of reasons
It's a simple story, that teaches sequencing, quantities, rhythm while we watch our friend the caterpillar get fatter and fatter until he spins his cocoon and emerges as a butterfly.

In one of my sessions this week we had fun making a lovely caterpillar in OT out of stickers, and we even hid him in some cardboard grass. Its a fun one to do over the weekend.
I don't have photos, but its pretty easy to follow. For younger children, describe the steps one at a time, for older children give 2 - 3 instructions and allow them to complete all 3 with minimal prompting
🔴 Take a piece of paper or cardboard and fold it along the long side, about a third up. Ask your child to cut vertical stripes up to the fold. This is the grass

🔴 🟢 Using circular stickers (I've got biggish ones, but even the smaller round ones work fine), make your caterpillar body. It should be just above the fold so that the 'grass' covers it.

🔴🟢🔴 Draw a face and feet on your caterpillar, and let your child add any other decorations they want to.

🔴🟢🔴🟢 If the grass seems a bit complicated, then have a look at the pic below where we've made a lovely caterpillar simply by placing stickers along a curved line.

26/05/2021

An important skill that preschoolers need to develop is good control of the shoulder girdle. Children need strength and stability in their shoulders in order to develop fine motor skills including cutting, threading and writing.
Children naturally develop shoulder control when they crawl, climb, catch and carry. Here are some more activities to build good shoulder control...

🦾 Climbing trees and jungle gyms. Monkey bars and rings are also great for shoulder strength and mobility.

🦾 Wheelbarrow walking (walking on hands, parents hold feet) and crab walking (child facing upwards taking weight on hands and feet). This is a great movement to incorporate into a daily routine when moving from one part of the house to the other.

🦾 Make a baseball bat out of a 2l bottle. Use a soft ball, and start with the bat above your shoulder, hitting across the body. To increase the challenge use a slightly heavier or slightly smaller ball.

🦾 When drawing and painting, do this against a tilted / vertical surface. An easel is great, but I also love to use whiteboard markers on a mirror. Encourage big pictures like tall buildings and rainbows. If you're brave, give them a squeegie and maybe they'll wash a window for you!

Have fun and happy exercising🏃‍♀️

25/05/2021

Today's post focuses on an important skill that young children are developing - Working Memory.
Working memory is an important executive function, where we remember bits of information that we need in order to do the task at hand. An example might be a child remembering a sequence of tasks they have been asked to do, or copying the words of a song they're being taught in singing.
Here are a couple of tips to help a child build their working memory
🐘 Use a multisensory approach - if you're asking them to do something add some actions, allowing them to use their movement as well as auditory system. Use colours or objects to prompt them and allow them to make associations. An example might be simple picture cards which they can use to remember their morning routine.

🐘 Don't step in too quickly to remind them of instructions - if you never challenge their memory, and constantly remind them, they don't have a chance to develop their own memory strategies. If necessary, prompt rather than repeat.

🐘 Ask them to demonstrate or teach you back what you are asking them to do. I will also do this when a child is inventing a game. Younger children could draw this, older children write it down.

🐘 Fun games that stimulate working memory include - simple card games like Uno, Kim's game (use about 1 - 2 items per year of age for preschoolers), Treasure hunts and spot the difference.

24/05/2021

A lovely spiral snake or snail today!

This is a super fine motor activity perfect for children between 4 and 6 years old. In the pics I include tips for how to scale up or down for slightly older or younger children.
Today we're working on
🐍 Fine motor skills
🐍 Cutting
🐍 Sequencing
🐍 Task concept
🐍 Creativity
Once your creature is finished, you can hang it from the ceiling to show off the super spiral.

23/05/2021

For a Sunday let's have a bit of fun with music!
Music is a great stress reliever, and when boredom or cabin fever starts this can really lighten the mood.
▶ Moving our body activates our whole system, and will help with motivation and focus.

▶ Singing and using musical instruments helps us to understand rhythm and sequence, which are critically important skills for reading.

▶ With music and dancing we can connect and express emotion without having to say a word.

▶ If your child is noise sensitive, start slowly, especially with external noise. They will often be more willing to experiment with noise they can generate themselves.

▶ For the children who might get a bit overexcited, finish your jam session with slower music, encourage them to take some deep slow breaths and give their bodies a squish with some pillows to help them calm and regulate themselves.

▶To add a bit of fun, today let's make our own simple instruments and create our own band! The pic below gives you some ideas, but use whatever you have at home. I've made a drum with a bucket and chopsticks, a shaker with popcorn and a plastic bottle and a guitar out of elastic bands and a tub.

I wish you a week filled with kindness x

22/05/2021

The activity children most often ask me to do with them in OT is to play with shaving foam! They love squirting it, squishing it and playing with it. I love it too and here's why...
🖐 It's a great opportunity for developing tactile regulation with a messy but fairly predictable texture
🖐 By spreading it over a wide surface, children can cross their body midlines in an easy and natural way.
🖐 Children can develop fine motor and drawing skills in an easy and non threatening way.

For the younger children, I will usually encourage them to just touch and experience the foam, maybe hiding small items and letting them search for it to develop their tactile discrimination.
For the slightly older ones, we will spread it out, draw people, shapes and patterns.
As children near primary school we might practise number and letter formation.
It can be messy, but as its just soap, it cleans easily, doesn't stain and your children smell wonderful afterwards!
I use regular shaving foam, or sometimes the coloured Fozzie foam. Look at the fun we're having in the pics below.
Sending care to you all x

21/05/2021

Today is a fun activity for spatial awareness. Spatial awareness is first about understanding your own body, then how it relates to the environment around it, and then understanding how external objects relate to each other.
The natural play activities of preschoolers allow them to develop their own spatial awareness. This includes climbing, wriggling, pushing, balancing and understanding what their own body is. When they start manipulating objects, they then innately understand the spatial properties of size, orientation and position.
Have a look at this game which encourages spatial skills, and adapt it to what you have at home.....have fun!