Intellectually, I am aware that “science” does not mean “mixing a bunch of bubbling purple liquids together”. But like, doesn’t it feel like sometimes it SHOULD? We did “science” today in my OT room. (I accidentally referred to us as wizards and our work as potions a couple of times and was promptly corrected.) I … Read more
We discuss: Kelsie’s Training and Approach: Rythea and Cara delve into Kelsie’s background as an occupational therapist, exploring what this means and how it shapes her approach to working with children. The Child-Centered Approach: Kelsie discusses her approach to working with kids, emphasizing child-led methods and its alignment with her non-authoritarian parenting style. She contrasts … Read more
This was from a session in which a child and I were pretending that he was exploring space. We built a space pod out of tents and filled it with cardboard box “panels” on which I drew various buttons. I made sure to make some of the buttons interesting and write various labels on them, … Read more
There was once an occupational therapist working at a school. The occupational therapist had a young teenage boy on their caseload. They were supposed to see the teenage boy to work on handwriting goals. The therapist could work with him for thirty minutes every week. The therapist spent a lot of time thinking of creative … Read more
The child saw a giant cardboard box and suggested it was a pirate ship. Even if pirate fiction wasn’t one of my own special interests, I would have been on board immediately (ha ha, pun intended), but since it *is*, I was all over that idea. I didn’t know where the game would take us, … Read more
A game one of my kids and I made up with my keyboard mat (a gymnastics mat with masking tape on it in the shape of a QWERTY keyboard)… Pick up plastic letters and run, leap off the trampoline, and land on the key on the mat for the letter you have picked up! This … Read more
This is another one of my “big kid” room setups as I lean heavily this year into trying to continue to practice child-led play-based therapy, even with older children (9-15ish). It’s easier for me to figure out how to offer it for young kids, and it’s harder with the big kids, but it’s what I’m … Read more
I shared this image, with the following caption, for the first time two years ago: Getting my therapy gym room ready for the new school year! I put up this sign this year… “In Action Room, we ALL respect ‘No’.” Grown-ups and kids. If a grown-up tells a child “No, we can’t do that,” then … Read more
The kid I’m working with is a hardcore gestalt language processor*. I notice that they’re singing a song while the two of us work side by side on an art project. I can tell some of the lyrics are about characters from Mario, but many of the words are hard to understand. I think, “This … Read more
Child’s favorite activity: searching for something hidden somewhere in the room My goal for child: that they would not feel completely threatened by the concept of writing/drawing/touching a pencil, but begin to see ways in which it could be meaningful My plan: hide a lot of things around the room, make a checklist for those … Read more