Sensory Motor Countdown to the Holidays

Here is a twist on the usual countdown to the holidays. This calender for December includes gross motor and fine motor activities for each day leading up to the holiday season. You can get a printable version at Your Therapy Source. Print it out and give to parents or hang up in your home to get children's hands and feet moving during this holiday season. There is a pattern to the calender - gross motor followed by fine motor. Some activities are outdoors. If the weather does not cooperate, just switch a fine motor day for a gross motor day.

Dec. 1: Talk a walk outdoors. Find at least 5 types of fir trees or bushes.

Dec 2: Create your own handmade holiday cards to mail to family and friends.

Dec 3: Go on a hunt and find objects that begin with each letter in the work HOLIDAY.

Dec 4: Use play clay to create a snowman and a holiday tree.

Dec 5: Use rolled up socks to create pretend snowballs. Have a snowball fight.

Dec 6: Play with red and green colored water in the sink or sensory table.

Dec 7: Decorate a tree outdoors with some popcorn garland that you have made.

Dec 8: Knead, roll and bake your favorite holiday bread.

Dec 9: Talk a walk and collect pines cones, acorns or rocks.

Dec 10: Put glue and glitter on pine cones and rocks. Place in bowl as center piece on table.

Dec 11: Go outdoors. Pretend to float like a snowflake and make pretend snow angels.

Dec 12: Make a miniature snowman using marshmallows and toothpicks.

Dec 13: Make you body into holiday shapes such as a tree, snowman, angel and candy cane.

Dec 14: Cut out paper snowflakes and hang in your home.

Dec 15: Put paper plates under your feet and pretend to ice skate.

Dec 16: Paint a holiday tree. Glue on small balls of tissue paper as ornaments.

Dec 17: Turn on holiday music and dance.

Dec 18: Create a paper chain with red and green paper. Hang up as a decoration.

Dec 19: Take a walk outdoors. Find 5 green objects and 5 red objects.

Dec 20: Cut up old holiday cards or pictures into puzzles.

Dec 21: Go caroling. Walk around your neighborhood and sing holiday songs.

Dec 22: Make a homemade gift for someone special. Try a bookmark or key chain.

Dec 23: Prance and run like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Dec 24: Stir, mix and bake holiday cookies!

Motor Development Scores for Very Preterm and Very Low-Birth Weight

The Journal of the American Medical Association reported on infants who were born <32 weeks gestation and weighing less than 1500 grams and motor development. A review of the literature indicated that the children scored significantly lower on the Bayley Scales, the Movement Assessment Battery for Children and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency from birth through adolescence. On the Bayley scales, there was a "catch up effect in the first years of development". The Movement Assessment Battery showed a non significant greater deficit with increasing age from elementary school though early adolescence.

Reference: Jorrit F. de Kieviet; Jan P. Piek; Cornelieke S. Aarnoudse-Moens; Jaap Oosterlaan Motor Development in Very Preterm and Very Low-Birth-Weight Children From Birth to Adolescence: A Meta-analysis JAMA. 2009;302(20):2235-2242.

Independent Sensory Exploration in Standing for Children with Significant Disabilities

Check this video out. I love how they are able to explore the objects by themselves. I do not love the price tag though!

Holiday Soft Tee Giveaway!

We are sponsoring a holiday Soft® Tee giveaway of 5 seamless, tagless, soft cotton tees! Created by a Mom and special educator, Soft® is the first line of inclusive clothing designed with the needs of all children in mind, including those with Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, ADHD, and tactile defensiveness. They use flat seaming and seamless construction for extra comfort, 100% of the softest combed cotton and specially developed Soft Sensory Blends , wide collars, encased elastic waistbands, printed labels (tagless), custom fits, and much more. Their goal is to design clothing that can enhance social skills, sensory organization, concentration, by addressing unique sensory needs, but without sacrificing personal style and self expression. Read more on the company's mission. For more info on their products, sign up for the Soft email newsletter.


Here is how the contest will work. Soft® is offering 5 FREE seamless (flat seaming), tagless, soft cotton tees in any color/size of the winners choice. Look closer at the t-shirts and sizing.

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment below on this blog post.

We will pick 5 winners on 12/6/09. Please check back on 12/7/09 to see if you won. If you do win, you will need to send us your mailing address before 12/09/09 to receive the t-shirt before the holidays. Soft will ship the t-shirt to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Remember, just leave a comment below to enter to win a FREE tagless, seamless, soft cotton tee in any color/size. How easy is that!

GIVEAWAY IS NOW OVER. THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED!

Physical Education and Section 504 or IEP's

There was an interesting news story this week in the Philideplphia Inquirer. A sixth grade boy with diabetes and his parents are requesting daily physical education under Section 504. The parents say that the daily exercise of physical education have helped their son "to maintain his health and alertness" to participate in school. The school has turned down daily physical education and offered other suggestions to increase daily physical activity for the student. This issue is going to a due process hearing.

Please take a minute to vote on this issue at the poll on the right hand side of this blog. Should physical education be mandated on a Section 504 or IEP for a student with a disability?

If a similar issue has occurred in your district please comment below.

Need some ideas in your district to encourage movement and diabetes prevention? Download this free guide from the National Diabetes Education Program.

Playful Pennants - $0.99 Sale!

Get our newest download, Playful Pennants, to encourage fine motor, visual motor and gross motor skills for only $0.99. Here is a sample idea from the download:

Multisensory Lessons - Math

This is the second in a series of posts on creating multisensory lessons in the classroom or home. Go to Simple Multisensory Lessons - Spelling to read the first post. By incorporating various sensory pathways in learning you can help all students especially kinesthetic learners.

Here are several ideas for math lessons:

1. Clapping: When counting, clap hands. Count by 2's, 5's, 10's and clap at each number. Clap at chest level or overhead.

2. Ball Math: Throw a beach ball to a student. Call out a math problem. The child solves the problem out loud then creates a new problem for a different child. The child throws the beach ball to the next kid to solve the problem. C

3. Ball Math #2: Beach balls are very cheap at the end of the summer. Use a permanent marker and write math problems all over the ball. Maybe do all of one family of problems (i.e. all 9 addition problems). Throw the ball to the child. Whatever problem the child has their thumb on must be solved.

4. March around room while doing math facts.

5. Write large numbers outdoors with sidewalk chalk. Create math problems and children run to the correct answer. Try running to only even numbers, odd numbers, multiples of 2, etc.

6. Manipulatives - this one is quite obvious but use manipulatives to give meaning to math and they frequently encourage fine motor skills.

7. Clothes Pin Line - children can hang math problems in numerical order. See video below.


8. Jump Rope: Jump rope while counting or doing math problems.

9. Large Number Line: Draw a large number line with sidewalk chalk outdoors to learn about positive and negative numbers.

10. Movement and Math activities for the whole class

Any one else want to add to the list?