I have an old typewriter in my room. I also have a large gym mat with a QWERTY keyboard created on it in tape. Both of these are for the same purpose: to provide play-based, child-led ways for children to learn the layout of a QWERTY keyboard. Typing is an incredible adaptation for young people … Read more
So last week I wrote about my mailbox project with four classes at the schools I work in — 4th grade, 3rd grade, 3rd grade, and 1st grade (or approximately age 9-10, 8-9, and 6-7). I’m going to break down what I wrote for each of the grades, and why. I am not a literacy … 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
Yesterday I finally finished writing 84 cards to all the children in four classes at one of the schools where I work. I’m expanding my mailbox program this year to give it a try. I got one fourth-grade, two third-grade, and one first-grade classes to do it with me! (For those who aren’t familiar with … Read more
A fun idea for the big kids. This one is pretty involved and takes prep time. (You could delegate the steps of figuring out what supplies you will need to an older child who can tackle that challenge!) These are the instructions that I used originally. The gist of what you need is…a blacklight/UV light, … Read more
Here’s a quick little puzzle that I made for some of my OT kids. I have a little “mailbox program” with a few of my kids — sort of a pen pal situation — they have a mailbox in their classrooms and I write them little notes, games, letters, puzzles etc and they write back … Read more
Throwback to one of the activities I did in the past… I brought this giant keyboard mat, set it on different instrumental settings and we drew all over it with dry erase markers while it played music! This gave us the chance to practice drawing/writing while lying in prone on the floor, and drawing and … Read more
I originally recorded this lecture for a group who work tutoring children with dyslexia and other learning difficulties. It’s based on a lot of experiences I’ve had with children getting referred to me in my occupational therapy role, with goals to improve their handwriting. But how can I, an occupational therapist, work within the bounds … Read more
One student used a giant Sharpie and a still-giant-but-slightly-less-giant Sharpie to draw the outline on this big piece of butcher paper. An artistic, abstract, scribble. Same student plus more students helped me make watercolors in a project I’ve talked about before here: we used pliers to break open washable markers that had dried out, harvested … Read more
A few years ago, I was working as an occupational therapist for a group institution/foster home for older children with disabilities. I could basically come once a week and do a group activity that anyone could participate in if they wanted to. It needed to be accessible to a wide range of ability levels. This … Read more