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POTS Top Toy Picks for 2009

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Pre-schoolers

Children 3-5 years old engage in pretend play to experiment different roles.

Their problem solving and fine motor skills are developing rapidly. They love to build and are beginning to follow patterns. Playtime is a natural way to support their development with opportunities to practice these emerging skills.

Melissa & Doug Play Food Sets (www.melissaanddoug.com)

Pre-schoolers are learning to play pretend and will love the variety of foods that they can cook, prepare, and serve just like Mommy and Daddy. Many food sets have a cutting feature so that your child can learn how to “cut” the Velcroed foods and put them back together to make them whole. These sets as well as other sets, such as the Ice Cream Parlor Set and Grill Set, encourage using two hands together, which is an essential skill for children to master at this age.

Wedgits (www.wedgits.com)

WEDGiTS are unique building blocks that are graduated in size. The five block shapes nest and layer in vertical and horizontal positions. Your child will love this open-ended manipulative because WEDGiTS are designed to naturally align or drop into place, offering no wrong way to build and endless possibilities for creative designs. Stimulate your child’s tactile sense with the soft, flocked blocks in the WEDGiTS Weebabu line. Challenge fine motor skills in older children with the mini WEDGiTS. To up the ante, design cards are available (Starter through Advanced Design Cards) so that your child can learn to follow a pattern.

Pix O’s (www.toysrus.com)

Pre-schoolers are developing a mature three-finger grasp that they will need for coloring and writing. Pix O’s comes with a distinctive tool that is shaped like a fat marker. Short, fat tools are better for young children to facilitate a three-finger grasp. As your child’s thumb pushes against the trigger to release the Pix O’s onto the template, he/she is using controlled, dynamic movement. Spraying the Pix O’s with water to set the 2D and 3D designs requires your child to isolate the fingers of the hand to use them individually, providing excellent tactile and proprioceptive input. Placing the Pix O’s and spraying the water are fun ways to strengthen the small muscles of the hand necessary for coloring and cutting.

Elementary Schoolers

Children in elementary school are honing their cognitive and visual perceptual skills and love to play strategic games. They are social, and enjoy group activities and sports are an important modality for building positive social interactions.

Ruk Shuk Game (www.hearthsong.com)

This is a game of balance that challenges visual perceptual skills as players turn over a game card that depicts a rock formation and have 60 seconds to duplicate what they see using 7 game “rocks” they’ve drawn from a large pouch. Rocks are worth varying amounts of points: tallying points on the included scorecards is a fun way to build on math skills. There are 25 formations in all, based on real rock formations from around the world, and includes fascinating facts about each.

Design & Drill Activity Center (www.learningexpress.com)

Children will love using Design & Drill to create their own designs, or follow the activity cards that come with the set to make pictures and patterns. Use a drill bit in the reversible power drill, a screwdriver, or your fingers to secure the bolts in place. Using the tools strengthens the shoulders and elbows while encouraging separation of the thumb and pinky sides of the hand, important prerequisites for coloring, cutting, and writing.

Qwirkle (www.hearthsong.com)

Qwirkle is a game of strategy based on color and shape rather than letters, so both readers and non-readers can play. Each player starts with 6 of the 108 wooden tiles, and players will be challenged to see how many matches can be made with the designs on the board.

Bucket Blast Game (www.hearthsong.com)

Elementary schoolers are beginning to participate in group play and competitive activities. Bucket Blast includes 15 games for indoor and outdoor play that are perfect for group play at parties and get-togethers. It includes 6 colorful plastic buckets, 6 belts to attach buckets to players’ backsides, 24 beanbags, 4 boundary-marking cones, 6 blindfolds, and an instruction book with directions for all the different action-packed games. Gross motor skills will be challenged with tossing, running, and balancing games. They must also strategize and team up for points, which requires cooperation and turn taking among players. Our favorite is beanbag basketball, where you try to toss beanbags into everyone else’s buckets, while trying to keep beanbags from landing in yours.

Can You See What I See? Finder Keepers Game (www.toysrus.com)

No reading is required for this visual game of hide and seek. It will challenge visual perception and figure-ground discrimination skills for parents and children alike. Players turn over a “Find Me” tile and try to find the featured object among your set of “Keep Me” cards. You must look carefully as objects may be hidden and you may have more than one match on your cards.

Blog written by: Aviva Goldwasser, MS, OTR &

Chaye Lamm Warburg, MA, OTR, Director POTS

This entry was posted on Friday, November 27th, 2009 and is filed under POTS Favorite Toy Ideas.

Holiday Toy List 2009

Friday, November 27th, 2009

0-12 Months:

Babies birth to twelve months should be exposed to a variety of sensory inputs, such as sounds and sights, so that they can learn to respond to the world around them in an organized manner. They are also learning to use their hands purposefully and they are beginning to understand cause and effect by exploring and manipulating the objects in their environment.

TinyLove Developlay Activity Center (www.buybuybaby.com)

Developlay is a versatile two-sided toy that can be attached to the crib or placed on the floor. It plays gentle, pleasant music, and has a wide variety of opportunities for pulling, pushing, spinning, and grasping. The blue side offers large activities that are simple for young babies beginning to learn basic control of the hands. The green side has more complex activities that require separation of the fingers, a pincer grasp, and using the fingers in varied ways to help strengthen the muscles of the hand. It features both vibrant colors and simple, contrasting black and white.

JOLLYBABY Sensational Play Park Discovery Gym and Playmatwww.toysrus.com)

This toy includes a playmat, tunnel, and water mat. Flaps on the mat make it appealing for tummy time and toy arches on top make it ideal to stimulate reaching. Added features provide a variety of sensory stimulation. Your baby will love the sound and feel of the crinkly mat and tunnel, and enjoy the wiggly sensation of playing on the water mat. The unique crawl-through tunnel offers additional play opportunities, such as playing Peek-a-Boo.

Infantino Block Party Zebra (www.amazon.com)

Dump and fill toys are great for children this age. This toy features a zebra wagon that can be pushed and four soft, crinkly, textured blocks that will entice your baby to sort, stack, put in, and take out the blocks.

12-24 Months:

Children 12-24 months engage in rudimentary problem solving and can begin to perform mental trial and error. Imaginative play is just beginning to emerge as children start to use one object in a creative way to stand for another.

Imaginarium 150 Wooden Piece Set (www.toysrus.com)

These blocks come in all different shapes and sizes to stimulate your child to construct towers and buildings. Your child can build his own creations, reproduce a building that you have made, or follow a pattern that you start. The cover of the container is a shape sorter. Cleaning up the blocks has never been more fun!

Slow-Roll Visual Tracker (www.lakehore.com)

Watching the balls twist and turn down the maze is great for visual tracking. Your child will be mesmerized by the varying speeds with which the balls roll- some run fast, and others go super-slow.

Measure Up! Cups (www.discoverytoysinc.com)

Nesting cups have always been great for sorting, stacking, and counting. Your child can enjoy scooping, pouring, and measuring in all different places. Scoop beans and rice in the kitchen, or fill them with water in the bath tub. Add some measuring spoons, and your child can “cook” some delicious recipes. After all the fine motor exploration, you can use these volumetrically correct, sequentially numbered cups to introduce important preschool concepts related to volume, size, color and measurement. Build recognition skills too with numbers, trilingual number words, and animal shapes.

Board books will hold up best to drooling and do not tear easily

Our top 4 picks for color, humor, language, and kid-appeal:

    1. Eric Carle
    2. Sandra Boynton
    3. Dr. Seuss
    4. Karen Katz

Blog written by: Aviva Goldwasser, MS, OTR

Chaye Lamm Warburg, MA, OTR, Director POTS

This entry was posted on Friday, November 27th, 2009 and is filed under POTS Favorite Toy Ideas.

Handwriting Without Tears: The Workshop

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

On Tuesday November 3rd, POTS was invited to present a workshop on Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) to the Pre-k teachers at Lubavitch on the Palisades. The teachers were eager and excited to learn about the program. Topics covered included how to use the teacher’s manual and the students’ workbook, the importance of sequence, pencil grasp, as well as how to use a plethora of multi-sensory tools. Numerous activities were presented to teach and reinforce the skills in the classroom. Throughout the dynamic and interactive presentation the teachers enjoyed trying out all the activities and asked many astute questions. Below are the answers to some of those questions!

Q. Do we need to follow the workbook?

A. The workbook is not the most critical element of HWT. Some schools do not use workbooks in Pre-K at all. The workbooks provide additional activities that reinforce proper letter formation and sizing and help make the transition from multi-media to paper. The workbook organizes the letters into groups that follow the HWT sequence and have many additional visual cues that facilitate letter formation. For example, on the L page, there is a picture of a lizard that is facing right because letters and words are written left to right.

Q. Can we use HWT along with a letter of the week?

A. When designing your curriculum, the letters of the week should follow the order of the HWT program. There are 5 groups of capital letters based on how the letter is formed.  Within each group of letters there is some freedom to change the order, but it is important that the motor pattern for the first letter be over-learned to reinforce the formation of subsequent letters in the group. For example, when working on the group that begins with the letter C, the students should over-learn the letter C, they may then skip the letter O and work on the letter G.

Q. Should we follow the letter groups using capital or lowercase letters?

A. As mentioned above, it is important to teach the letter groups in the sequence designated by HWT. Writing instruction should begin with capital letters. Once children have mastered the correct letter formation for capital letters the lower case letters will be easier to learn. Learning capitals first and writing them within a defined space (i.e. a box) will eliminate most letter reversals.   There is a different sequence for lower case letters based on their letter formation.

Q. Can we teach more than one letter a week?

A. If your students are able to write a new letter by mid week, it is fine to move onto the next letter. It would also be beneficial to spend the last day or two of the week reviewing past letters before moving on to a completely new letter or letter group.

Q. What are of the best tools that support the HWT program?

  • Wooden pieces that are used to create 24 letters called: Big Line, Little Line, Big Curve, and Little Curve. By rehearsing the names of the pieces and the sequence they are used in letter formation (i.e. start at the top) the students will be familiar with the letters when they begin writing with a pencil or crayon.
  • Similar pieces come with “Stamp and See Screen”, which is a small Magna Doodle.
  • Wet-Dry-Try reinforces letter formation within the boundaries of a wooden framed chalk board. First the child uses a small piece of wet sponge to erase a letter written on the black board while repeating the directions for letter formation out loud.  For example, for ‘F’; Big Line down, jump back to the top, Little Line across the top, Little Line across the middle. Using a tiny piece of paper towel they trace the letter F to “dry” it, again using the verbal cues, and finally they write the letter F in the shadow with a tiny piece of chalk.
  • Play-Doh is used to create letters on letter cards that fit into a framed board. Again the names of the lines and curves, and the sequence in which they are placed are reinforced.
  • Two CD’s are filled with songs and poems to teach body awareness, reinforce the names of the lines and curves, directionality, where the letters begin, and other key concepts.

Q. Can HWT be used to teach Hebrew writing?

A. HWT has created workbooks to teach handwriting in languages other than English. The Hebrew workbook is for children who are ready to write Hebrew script. The workbook is similarly organized to the English HWT with large script models with the familiar letter. The lessons are planned according to letter formation and complexity, and are a step by step multi-sensory approach.

Q. How long should a lesson last?

A. A typical lesson should last no more than 10 minutes. The lesson can be reviewed again later that day.

Q.  Should HWT be a total class activity or should it take place at Centers?

A. The multi sensory activities can be done during circle time or center time, depending on the complexity of the lesson.

Q. How many multi sensory activities should be used in a lesson?

A. The Teacher’s Guide offers a number of lesson plans and suggested guidelines for using the activities. Each letter page in the workbook has a corresponding page in the Teacher’s Guide with six steps to teaching the letter. Simpler letters usually require 1 or 2 multi sensory activities while more difficult letters such as ‘S’  benefit from  reinforcement using every available activity. By using the Teacher’s Guide in the beginning, the teacher will be exposed to all of the possibilities and can decide which multi-sensory activities best suit her style and her students’ needs, and proceed accordingly.

To find out more information about the Handwriting without Tears program feel free to contact POTS or refer to the HWT website http://www.hwtears.com/.

Dena Rosenberg OT/S,

Aviva Goldwasser MS OTR,

Chaye Lamm Warburg, MA, OTR Director
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 and is filed under Handwriting & Fine Motor Coordination.

Welcome to Holland

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Welcome To Holland

by

Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability – to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It’s like this……

When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.”

”Holland?!?” you say. “What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.”

But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place. It’s slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…. and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills….and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy… and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away… because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But… if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things … about Holland.

©1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 13th, 2009 and is filed under The Special Needs Child.

Tips, Grips, and Kits for Handwriting

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Tips, Grips, and Kits for Handwriting:

Your Questions Answered

On Monday October 27th POTS hosted an exciting and dynamic handwriting workshop focusing on readying children’s hands for writing, for pre-k through first grade. Both parents and teachers attended and everyone received a toolbox filled with materials and activities for writing and drawing, as well as a 26 page manual chock full of ideas. Topics covered included preparing the body for writing, proper sitting position, trunk control, building a dynamic tripod grasp, and upper body and hand strengthening. Within each topic numerous activities were presented to teach and reinforce the skills at home and in the classroom. The participants interacted throughout the workshop and enjoyed trying out all of the activities, especially the edible ones! Teachers and parents left excited to work on handwriting with their children. One teacher stated that her class was going to be able to write by Friday!

As promised, below are answers to some great questions asked at the workshop.

•Q. By what age should my child have a mature dynamic tripod grasp?

  • A. By 4½ years of age children should be writing with their elbows down and their fingers consistently holding a crayon with the thumb and index finger, and resting on the third finger. The “helper hand” should actively hold the paper down.

•Q. Are thinner or fatter writing utensils better?

•Q. How important is coloring in the lines?

  • A. Coloring in the lines teaches children about working within spatial boundaries, which will be important when learning to size and space letters, and write them on the line. It facilitates a sustained grasp on the crayon and helps children learn to regulate pressure. If a child exerts such light pressure on the crayon that his markings are barely visible, allow him to use a magic marker at times. Markers require less pressure and will provide the child with the motivating visual feedback that he needs to encourage him to draw and write.

•Q. What do I do if my child does not like writing or coloring?

  • A. There are many different writing utensils that your child may enjoy using more than the usual crayon or pencil, such as a Ferby pencil (http://www.mylittleducks.com/lyraferby12.html) or chalk. You can create a “writing surface” out of pudding, peanut butter, or cake icing. You can also use sand, or Funny Foam (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VJW5MG). You and your child can take turns drawing a person or making a holiday toy wish list. When using different types of tools, switch off in order to keep your child engaged to enable him to refresh his grasp and guard against fatigue. In school and at home, keep handwriting practice brief, no more than 10 minutes at a stretch, and warm up the hands and body first.

•Q. Are erasers good or bad?

  • A. Erasers are not beneficial for a child when learning to write, because he or she may get caught up in the error and waste energy erasing with excess pressure. Early on it is preferable to cross out and move on.

•Q. Are fine motor skills and writing skills the same?

  • A. Having good fine motor skills is a prerequisite for learning to write neatly and efficiently, but there are many other underlying skills that are needed to ensure good writing skills such as a strong core, good sitting posture, muscle tone, eye-hand coordination and sustained attention.

•Q. Is there a certain order in which children should learn to write their letters?

  • A. Capital letters should be taught first, as they are all the same size, start in the same place, and have the same position relative to the “writing line”. Lower case letters are to complex for beginning writers. They come in 3 different sizes; they start at 4 different spots and have 3 different positions relative to the writing line. Letters should be learned in groups based on how they are formed, such as turning an F into an E. At POTS we find that many children benefit from the Handwriting without Tears method for print and cursive, and Loops and Other Groups (Benbow) to for cursive.

•Q. Does writing go hand in hand with reading?

  • A. A child may begin to form letters before mastering the intricacies of reading, but children learn different skills at different rates. Children need to recognize letters prior to reading, and learning to write individual letters will help the process along. While best practice in the educational literature dictates that reading and writing go hand in hand, the integrated programs that are currently available do not take into account a developmentally appropriate sequence for learning to write. Writing can be a great opportunity to work on beginning letter recognition and sound-symbol association. You can bring these skills into your child’s everyday life by sounding out the letters as you write them, writing the first letter in a name or familiar word, and playing word games.

•Q. Is it okay to use both hands for writing if a child does not have a preference?

  • A. Absolutely not! If a child begins writing with one hand and switches to the other, reinforce the use of the stronger hand. Figuring out which hand is stronger or more dexterous may require the help of an occupational therapist, because this is an important far-reaching decision, and should be made based on an examination of hand use and underlying skills. Some children pride themselves on being able to use both hands. While this is an asset for switch-hitting in baseball, it is deleterious for writing. Develop one dominant hand for writing, eating, and brushing teeth and use the other as a “helper hand”. Switching hands may reflect difficulty crossing midline of the body which has implications for inefficient handwriting, fine motor and gross motor skills.

•Q. When should I contact an Occupational Therapist regarding my child’s handwriting?

  • A. While all kids develop at their own pace, there are certain milestones to be mindful of. At 2 years old a child will have both hands up in the air and randomly scribble while fisting the crayon. At 3 years old she will start drawing a circle and a cross, and the “helping hand” starts to come down. The grasp may be fisted, but it is shifting to the thumb side of the hand. At 4 years old, the child will hold down the paper with her “helper hand” and the elbow will come down. The pencil is firmly in the thumb side of the hand. By 4 ½ – 5 years old, as mentioned above, the child should hold the pencil with 3 fingers only, while holding the paper down deliberately with the “helper hand”. Children who slouch over their desks, hold the crayon or pencil incorrectly, and labor over an activity that should be fun, should be evaluated by an occupational therapist in order to assess the potential impact on their schooling. For better or for worse, children will be judged on their handwriting; therefore it is important to ensure that your child has the underlying strength and dexterity to produce neat, efficient, and legible handwriting.

Blog by: Dena Abrams, OT/S

Aviva Goldwasser, MS, OTR

Chaye Lamm Warburg, MA, OTR, Director
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 and is filed under Handwriting & Fine Motor Coordination.