Showing posts with label fine motor skills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fine motor skills. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Fine Motor and Executive Function Skills with a Winter Theme

Fine Motor and Executive Function Skills with a Winter Theme from the Winter Skill Builders Packet Three Free Sample Pages

Fine Motor and Executive Function Skills with a Winter Theme

Do you struggle to find the time to plan out therapy sessions?  These no-prep activities encourage fine motor and executive function skills with a Winter theme.  And… they are FREE!  The black and white pages are super easy to print off and start working with students right away.  This three-page free sample download is from the Winter Skill Builders packet, created by Thia Triggs, school-based Occupational Therapist.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE SAMPLE PAGES FOR FINE MOTOR AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION SKILLS WITH A WINTER THEME

Winter Skill Builders at Your Therapy Source

School-based Occupational Therapist, Thia Triggs, has designed this differentiated Winter Skill Builders digital download to: 
◦ Build fundamental fine motor and executive functioning skills for kindergarten-age kids.
◦ Target specific CCSS literacy and math skills in ways that interest and engage even the most reluctant children.
◦ Provide differentiated yet equivalent materials so you can easily provide the just-right level of difficulty and challenge for a group with diverse skills.

Winter Skill Builders Features:

  •  Teacher’s Guide for each of the six units.
  • Occupational Therapy tips and tricks for explicit instruction, developmental sequence, and breaking tasks into their smallest steps so all children can learn.
  • Specific differentiation tools and support.
  • Specific objectives for fine motor, visual motor, and executive function skill development.
  • Detailed table of contents so you can easily find what you need at a moment’s notice.
  • No-prep, print-and-use printables.
  • 61 pages.
  • Secular winter-themed worksheets.

FIND OUT MORE.

Fine Motor and Executive Function Skills with a Winter Theme from the Winter Skill Builders Packet Three Free Sample Pages

The post Fine Motor and Executive Function Skills with a Winter Theme appeared first on Your Therapy Source.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Fine Motor Skills Linked to Numerical Skill Development

Fine Motor Skills Linked to Numerical Skill DevelopmentFine Motor Skills Linked to Numerical Skill Development

When you walk into any preschool classroom, you will observe children using their fingers to count.  Finger counting helps children to represent numbers and later influences the ability to complete arithmetic problems.  The ability to count usually develops side by side with fine motor skill development.  Many times, when children first start to learn arithmetic it is finger-based.  Previous research indicated links between fine motor skills in kindergarten and concurrent or later mathematical development.  Perceptual and Motor Skills published research to investigate whether the link between fine motor skills and numerical skills in preschoolers is from the involvement of finger representations in early mathematics.

The research study included 81 preschool children who were evaluated for fine motor skills and numerical tasks using receptive vocabulary and chronological age as control measures.  The fine motor skills that were assessed was pegboard task, bead stringing and block turning.  Numerical tasks were assessed using non-finger based (children were not allowed to count with their fingers) and finger-based (children were prompted to use their fingers).  The results indicated the following:

  • a positive and strong correlation between virtually all fine motor skills and numerical skills.
  • only age and finger-based numerical skills were significantly related to fine motor skills.
  • fine motor skills, independent of age and receptive vocabulary, contributed significantly to all numerical skill measures.
  • the fine motor skill link appeared strongest with finger-based numerical skills.
  • age, but not receptive vocabulary, also appeared to be a significant predictor of numerical skills generally and of nonfinger-based numerical skills.
  • age was not a significant predictor of finger-based numerical skills.

The researchers discussed that preschool children with greater fine motor skills are better able to represent numbers with fingers which links to better performance on finger-counting and finger arithmetic tasks.

Reference: Suggate, S., Stoeger, H., & Fischer, U. (2017). Finger-Based Numerical Skills Link Fine Motor Skills to Numerical Development in Preschoolers. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 0031512517727405.

Check out these products to help preschoolers with fine motor skill development:

Hands First for Learning Fine Motor Curriculum and Preschool Units

Fantastic Fingers® Fine Motor Program

Fine Motor Breaks

Fine Motor Skills Linked to Numerical Skill Development

 

 

 

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Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Functional Fine Motor Activities for Kids Using Household Items

Functional Fine Motor ActivitiesFunctional Fine Motor Activities for Kids Using Household Items

Functional fine motor activities for kids are so important to childhood development.  They are the building blocks for higher level skills such as using scissors, drawing, dressing, eating, handwriting and more!  Children need to experience frequent practice with fine motor activities to refine the movements in the fingers and hands before ever picking up a pencil.  Of course, there are plenty of toys to practice fine motor skill development but you can also infuse the entire day with functional fine motor tasks.  Here are 10 functional fine motor activities for kids using items from around the house:

  1. Pick up small pieces of food such as Cheerios, raisins, etc. using thumb and index finger.
  2. Open and close twist ties on bread and bakery bags.
  3. When eating breakfast foods such as a bagel, muffin or roll, pull off small pieces using thumb, index and middle fingertips.
  4. Practice screwing toothpaste cap on and off.
  5. Place lunch money (in coins) on the table and have the child pick coins up, using the thumb, index and middle fingers, without sliding money to the edge of the table.  Or have the child put the coins into a bank.
  6. Place lunch money in a plastic bag with slide zip top and have child seal the bag.
  7. Practice opening all lids (if the child has difficulty opening lid independently start opening it and then have child finish opening it).
  8. Table washing: using a spray bottle with water in it, squeeze the trigger with index and middle fingers while ring and pinky finger hold the bottle neck then wipe off with a towel.
  9. When reading, use one hand to hold the book and the other hand to turn the pages.
  10. Help with food preparation such as crush garlic in a garlic press, using thumb and index finger snap ends off green beans, rip lettuce up for salad, dry lettuce off in a salad spinner, use tongs to dish out salad, rolls or ice cubes and push toothpicks into snacks holding with thumb and index finger.

All of these activities and more suggestions like these are listed in Therapeutic Activities for Home and School.  This book provides pediatric therapists with over forty, uncomplicated, reproducible activity sheets and tips that can be given to parents and teachers. Each activity sheet is written in a simple format with no medical terminology. The therapist is able to simply mark the recommended activities for each child. By providing parents and teachers with these handy checklists, therapists will be encouraging therapeutic activities throughout the entire day rather than time set aside for traditional home exercise programs. This book is an essential tool for all school based therapists to facilitate carry over of therapeutic activities in the home and classroom.  FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION.

Therapeutic Activities for Home and School DOWNLOAD

Functional Fine Motor Activities

 

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Thursday, May 11, 2017

Slide Bag Quiz – Fine Motor and Bimanual Skills

If you need to sneak in some bimanual and fine motor skills practice with academic material, the Slide Bag Quiz is perfect!  I was reading a blog post by Dr. Jean (excellent blog) on individual response techniques and she suggested a slide bag.  It seemed like a creative idea so I gave it a try.  It is actually a high level fine motor and bimanual task as well.  I created a template to make it easy to get started right away.

Print out the templates (see below).  The templates include b versus d (for reinforcement of letter identification to reduce letter reversals), numbers 1-10 and blank templates.

Fold over the bottom of the template so it will fit inside the slide bag.

Cut a piece of cardboard to also fit inside the bag.  This is optional but it does provide added stability.  Without it, it makes the task more difficult to move the slide.

Get started with your Slide Bag Quiz.  The child can slide it down to name shapes, colors, letters, vowels, numbers and sight words.  Create some flashcards and the child can slide to the correct answer.

Watch the video to see the Slide Bag Quiz in action.

Need more activities for letter reversals?  Check out Reversal Repair.  It is a multisensory intervention that includes twelve sequenced research-based activities to help students with persistent letter reversals. This program builds automaticity of oral, phonological, and written use of these frequently confused letters. Reversal Repair was created By Thia Triggs, school based OT.  Find out more information.  

Download the FREE templates for the slide bag quiz by submitting your email below to subscribe to our newsletters to get the latest updates, research articles, freebies and more!  You will be directed the download after you submit your email.

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Friday, April 21, 2017

Wishing You a Happy Mother’s Day Fingerprint Craft

Wishing You A Happy Mother's Day Pictures 2

As a mother of 6 children, I happen to LOVE homemade Mother’s Day crafts.  I also love anything that has a child’s fingerprints, hand prints or a drawing on it.  I created the Wishing You a Happy Mother’s Day Fingerprint Craft template so the children can simply press their finger prints on to the paper to give Mom an adorable keepsake (see below for the download).  Not to mention, children will get some nice practice in for fine motor skills, visual motor skills and tactile input.

Wishing You A Happy Mother's Day 3

All you have to do is print the Mother’s Day Fingerprint Craft template and start adding fingerprints.  If the child doesn’t want to use his/her fingerprints, sponge painting works well too.

Wishing You A Happy Mother's Day 2

If you want to add in some oral motor skills, you could drop some paint on the paper and blow it across the page using a straw (see here for an example of this).

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE WISHING YOU A HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TEMPLATE

Looking for more Mother’s Day activities?  Check out Mother’s Day Movement Cards and Games.

Mother's Day Movement Cards and Games

Looking for more Fingerprint Fun?  Check this out!

Fingerprint Fun

Enjoy and Happy Mother’s Day!

Wishing You A Happy Mother's Day Pictures

 

The post Wishing You a Happy Mother’s Day Fingerprint Craft appeared first on Your Therapy Source.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

ASD: Communication Deficits and Motor Skills

ASD Communication Deficits and Motor Skills

The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders published research investigating the connection between motor skills (oral-motor, manual-motor) and speech and language deficits.  Data analysis was performed examining a registry from children with autism spectrum disorder  (n = 1781), 2–17 years of age, who completed a multidisciplinary evaluation that included diagnostic, physical, cognitive and behavioral assessments.  After adjusting for age, non-verbal IQ, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) medication use, and muscle tone, the data analysis revealed the following:

  • significant positive associations of fine motor skills (FM) with both expressive language and receptive language skills in an impaired FM subgroup
  • the impaired gross motor (GM) subgroup showed no association with expressive language but a significant negative association with receptive language.
  • both GM skills and FM skills were associated with social interactions.

The results suggest associations between communication skills and fine/gross motor skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorders.  This may provide another perspective regarding communication differences across the autism spectrum for use in treatment interventions.

Reference:  Mody, M., Shui, A. M., Nowinski, L. A., Golas, S. B., Ferrone, C., O’Rourke, J. A., & McDougle, C. J. (2017). Communication Deficits and the Motor System: Exploring Patterns of Associations in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(1), 155-162.

FantasticFingersFineMotorProgram

Fantastic Fingers Fine Motor Program -The fine motor program includes ebook, music and instructional videos which is user-friendly, economical and research based. It helps to improve the development of children’s fine motor skills, pencil grip and posture.  FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION.

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Sunday, April 2, 2017

Fun Ideas for Hand Strengthening Activities for Kids

Hand Strengthening Handbook Freebie

Looking for some easy, fun ideas for hand strengthening activities for kids that require little to no equipment and no, extensive preparation?  Check out these free sample pages from The Hand Strengthening Handbook.  Who knew you could do so many fun games and activities with donkey kicks?  How about using rubber bands in some creative way to strengthen the hands?

You can download your freebie below.   You can get more information on The Hand Strengthening Workbook here.

The Hand Strengthening Handbook

DOWNLOAD TWO FREE SAMPLE PAGES FROM THE HAND STRENGTHENING HANDBOOK.

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Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Fingerprint Bees

Fingerprint Fun Bees Freebie

Check out these fingerprint bees!  I love fingerprint art because it is easy to follow the directions and the end result is adorable!  This freebie is from Fingerprint Fun.  There are simple, step by step directions on how to create these buzzing bees.  Print out the page and complete the picture with your own fingerprint bee to create a work of art that is refrigerator ready!  This activity encourages children to practice visual motor skills, fine motor skills and creativity.

Download the Fingerprint Bees activity page.
Fingerprint Fun

 

 

Fingerprint Fun is a no prep, digital download of 25 fingerprint activities with step by step directions. Each page includes step by step directions, a picture prompt and space to complete the fingerprint artwork picture with your own adorable, fingerprint friends.  FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION.

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Monday, February 6, 2017

Shaving Cream Tracks – Fine Motor and Sensory Activity

Shaving Cream Tracks Photo

Shaving Cream Tracks is a fun activity to set up that encourages fine motor skills, tactile input and crossing midline.  You will need plates, toy cars and shaving cream for this activity.  This idea is from Therapeutic Play Activities for Children.

Place the plates in front of the child or one large tray. Squirt shaving cream on each tray. Put a toy car in the shaving cream. Demonstrate driving one toy car in the shaving cream leaving tracks.

Encourage the child to play with each toy car as they are positioned in the picture using the more involved hand. This set up requires the child to reach in all different directions such as midline and reaching across the body to the other side (crossing midline).

If you are concerned about the child mouthing the shaving cream try whipped cream or flour instead.

This activity is from Therapeutic Play Activities for Children.  This digital download includes 100 play activity pages and 12 tip sheets. The play activities encourage the development of fine motor skills, bimanual skills, rolling, crawling, tall kneeling, standing balance and cruising with a strong focus on children with cerebral palsy. FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION

Therapeutic Play Activities for Children Download

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Monday, January 23, 2017

Valentine’s Day Sensory Motor Freebies

Valentine Sensory Motor Packet Freebie

Here are two fun, NO PREP, Valentine’s Day sensory motor freebies!  They are from the Valentine’s Day Sensory Motor Packet.  These two activities are ready to go!  Just print and start practicing fine and gross motor skills.  The Valentine’s Day Brain Breaks is a great group activity to get heart rates up.  The Conversation Heart Challenge encourages fine motor skills and graded control to see if you can complete the challenges in under 2 minutes.

DOWNLOAD THE Valentine’s Day Sensory Motor freebies.

Valentine's Day Sensory Motor Packet

 

Valentine’s Day Sensory Motor Packet – Practice fine motor, gross motor, visual perceptual activities with this NO PREP, fun, Valentine themed packet.  This is an excellent activity packet for in class activities, therapy sessions, Valentine’s Day parties, carry over activities, brain breaks, early finishers and indoor recess. FIND OUT MORE.

 

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Monday, January 16, 2017

Effects of Tablet Use on Fine Motor Skills

Effects of Tablet Use on Fine Motor Skills

Physical & Occupational Therapy In Pediatrics published research on 80 children (mean age = 60.1 months) to determine the effects of touch-screen tablet use on the fine motor development of preschool children without developmental delay. The children were placed in two different groups.  One group of 40 children, who used a touch-screen tablet more 60 minutes per week for at least 1 month, received a 24-week home fine motor activity program using a touch-screen-tablet.  The other group of 40 children, matched for age and sex, who did not meet the criteria for previous tablet use received a 24-week program consisting of manual play activities.  Following the interventioin, the Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency was used to measure motor skills.

Data analysis indicated the following:

  • pretest analysis showed no group differences in motor performance and pinch strength.
  • posttest scores showed children in the nontouch-screen-tablet group made significantly greater changes in fine motor precision, fine motor integration, and manual dexterity.

The researchers concluded using a touch screen tablet extensively might be disadvantageous for the fine motor development of preschool children.

Reference:  Ling-Yi Lin, Rong-Ju Cherng & Yung-Jung Chen.  Effect of Touch Screen Tablet Use on Fine Motor Development of Young Children.  Physical & Occupational Therapy In Pediatrics.  Published online: 10 Jan 2017.  http://ift.tt/2iD8Cgv

Hands First Fine Motor Curriculum

 

The Hands First! Fine Motor Curriculum is a new, comprehensive, evidenced based program backed by preliminary research that demonstrates its effectiveness in helping students gain in fine motor and fine motor foundation (gross motor) skills. Written for preschool, kindergarten and first grade students, this complete program can be utilized by both therapists and teaching staff. Kids love the activities! Administrators are impressed that the program is written as a curriculum that can be implemented by teaching staff. FIND OUT MORE.

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Friday, January 6, 2017

Winter Challenge – Sensory Motor Activity

Winter Packet Free Challenge

Winter Challenge is a fun, NO PREP, Winter themed activity to encourage fine motor, gross motor and visual motor skills.  Just print the black and white page and complete each of the Winter themed challenges.  Can you trace the ski tracks, draw snowflakes, walk backwards, pretend to ice skate, hold snow tube pose and finish drawing a snowman in under two minutes?  Use this activity during a brain break, indoor recess, OT session, PT session and/or carry over of therapy activities.  This freebie is from the Winter Packet that includes 25 NO PREP Winter themed fine motor, gross motor and visual perceptual activities.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE WINTER CHALLENGE

Winter Packet

Winter Packet Practice fine motor, gross motor, visual perceptual activities with this NO PREP, fun, Winter themed packet. FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION

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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Cut, Sequence, Paste and Draw Penguin

cut-sequence-paste-and-draw-artic-animals-freebie-2

Here is a penguin activity that includes scissor skills, sequencing, motor planning, visual motor skills and following directions!  All on one piece of paper (translation: NO PREP activity).  This penguin activity is from the Cut, Sequence, Paste and Draw – Arctic Animals.   Print out this activity and the child can cut, sequence, paste and draw the penguin using the step by step directions.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CUT, SEQUENCE, PASTE AND DRAW  PENGUIN

Need more Winter activities?  Check out these titles:

Winter Visual Perceptual PuzzlesBrain Breaks for WinterWinter Multisensory Handwriting Activities

 

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Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Q&A with the Creators of EazyHold – Flexible Universal Cuffs

Q&A with the Creators of the Flexible Universal Cuffs EazyHold

Once in awhile, a new product hits the market that can be a game changer.  In my opinion, the EazyHold flexible universal cuffs, appear to have accomplished this by helping children (and adults) with physical disabilities.  Since I have a big interest in entrepeneurship, I thought it would be great to hear about the story behind the EazyHold.  Plus, as pediatric occupational and physical therapists day in and day out, we constantly adapt items on the fly.  This product seems to be a simple solution to help children grasp items such as toys, utensils and more so children can increase their independence.  (This post include affiliate links).

Here is the Q&A with Kerry Mellin, one of three sisters who created the EazyHold.

Q: How was EazyHold conceived?

While preparing for a family holiday I grabbed my broom and went to sweep out the barn. But due to the arthritis in my thumbs I was having a really hard time gripping onto the brooms handle and sweep after sweep it only became more painful. I was determined to finish the job though, family was coming soon so I grabbed some duct tape, made a loop across the broom handle and slipped my hand inside. I was really surprised how effortless it felt having this little bit of support over my the back of my hand! I was able to maintain control sweep after sweep with very minimal amount of grip and this little bit of leverage.

Hmm, I wondered if there was anything like this on the market? My only knowledge of ADLs was when I spent a year at Northridge Hospitals OT Center 30 years prior as a volunteer. I remembered the old fabric and leather cuffs, but they were not very adaptable or hygienic. Had they improved?

So later when my sisters were over for the holiday, we started talking about the arthritis the runs in our family and the challenges that we were all having and probably many other people were having and I told them about my trouble that day and showed them the duct taped broom. Couldn’t we come up with a better solution to alleviate some of the pain of everyday tasks by giving a little grip support? We started brainstorming.  We wanted something soft, adaptable and comfortable. So we grabbed a silicon pot holder from the kitchen, cut a couple of holes in it and slid it over the broom handle. Voila!

We decided that very day to innovate a new product that would help people get a grip on objects. (After a bit of research we discovered that there had been no improvements made in the old universal cuffs that I had used 30 years back!) Our idea was to make something that would fit on brooms, paint brushes and outdoor equipment that people might want to use during their daily activities.. Little did we know there was a HUGE special needs community of children as well as adults who desperately needed this long overdue problem solver for utensils, writing implements and even toys!

We got to work the very next day doing all the prototyping making ourselves. We learned to to sculpt clay and make molds. We learned to mix, color, pour and to cure silicone. We designed 20 different sizes and styles of EZs and made about 1000 samples EZs to trial on every ADL we could think of.   And then we really got to work!

qa-with-creators-of-eazy-hold-flexible-universal-cuffs-1

With, boots on the ground we went from school to clinic to therapy center to hospital.  We initially tried to set up appointments with therapists and doctors, but the receptionists had no protocol to fit us in, after all we had no medical background or degrees. So we would camp out in the waiting room until we saw a therapist walk by and we’d ambush them with prototypes in hand and show them how much more effective are little straps were compared to the devices they were familiar with.

 

We dropped off samples to professionals all over Southern California sending them out for trialing at educational facilities, nursing homes, pediatric hospitals and to the parents of special needs children.

We went to flea markets and set up booth with all the things that EazyHold could adapt to and got amazing feedback from from a wide variety of people who told us what they could use it for as well!

The response was pretty profound. We went to the Abilities Expo and were overwhelmed by the positive response by therapists. We starting started getting requests from all over the country for more samples and invites from hospitals to show their staff of nurses and therapists how our products worked. The word of mouth from parents of special needs children was phenomenal. They were so anxious for any new innovation that can help their kids, that the word spread rapidly. EazyHold, the first silicone, universal cuff and grip assist for a child sized hand was available!

qa-with-creators-of-eazy-hold-flexible-universal-cuffs-4qa-with-creators-of-eazy-hold-flexible-universal-cuffs-3qa-with-creators-of-eazy-hold-flexible-universal-cuffs-5

Every therapist and physician we’ve talked with about EazyHold has said of this simple invention, “Where has this product been and why hasn’t it been invented before?” The reality was… It’s a melding of old and new ideas. The old “universal cuff ” made better by utilizing a relatively new material called silicone, which doesn’t harbor bacteria and is easily washed and dried, and so for the first time can be used and reused in care facilities, is soft and stretchy, super adaptable and it fits a much wider range of sizes! From tiny infant hands on a bottle, to an adult on a garden tool.

Q:  Do you manage the EazyHold from start to finish?

As three sisters, we run all the day to day operations, from packaging and fulfilling orders, to marketing and reaching out to therapy centers, schools, hospitals and assisted living facilities. We have been selling EazyHold for a year and a half.  EazyHold  is Trademarked and Patent Pending.

qa-with-creators-of-eazy-hold-flexible-universal-cuffs-2

We have a facebook page and what a joy it is to wake up every day to photos and videos posted by the parents of the children who are using our products to do the things they have never been able to do before. To drink, eat, play music, brush their own teeth!

We receive messages every day saying thanks to EazyHold, my little girl has been able to draw her first Valentine’s Day card. We are seeing children who have never held onto an action figure or a doll now learning to play and explore new learning opportunities. We are hearing every day from excited parents who are seeing what their special needs child can accomplish and achieve independently with this little assistance.

Q:  What is your #1 tip for entrepreneurs?

We invented our product just about 2 years ago in 2014. But because I have sisters whom I love and trust we were able to bring our product to market in a year. So my suggestion is to make sure you have a good team around you for support. Be it financial, creative, or just “boots on the ground” it takes a lot of hard work and commitment, and a team to lift you when you hit a road block and push you forward with fresh ideas and inspiration!

As baby boomers my sisters Merrily and Wendy and I have all had fulfilling careers: Merrily in Early Childhood Development. Wendy in Food services and Art, and myself, Kerry, a Costume Designer for the entertainment industry. Our combined work history and talents have enabled us to innovate and create a new product and business. That while initially born of necessity because of the arthritis in our own hands, has now become a labor of love ,and is driven and thriving due to the intense desire to create useful tools for therapists, teachers, caregivers and parents of children with special needs who deserve the chance to play and learn and create with the joy of independence!

Q: Where can we find the EazyHold

We sell on our website at http://eazyhold.com/ and Amazon.

We also have 10 distributors across the globe.

Facebook:  http://ift.tt/2h2NqxF

Pinterest: http://ift.tt/2gkce5T

Instagram: http://ift.tt/2h2MDwX

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Saturday, December 3, 2016

5 Ways to Play with Mini Erasers

5-ways-to-play-with-mini-erasers

Have you seen all the adorable mini erasers at the Target dollar spot?  They are also frequently at party stores and other dollar stores, too. They are festive, fun and cheap.  Big bonus – they are great for fine motor activities.  Here are 5 ideas to use mini erasers to work on children’s fine motor skills.

5-ways-to-play-with-mini-erasers-3

Mini Eraser Idea #1:  Count the Erasers – Put the mini erasers directly on your printer or copy machine lined up in order.  Make a color copy of the erasers.  Now write in the numbers and the child can start using the mini erasers as math manipulatives.

5-ways-to-play-with-mini-erasers-5

Mini Eraser Idea #2:  Stack Up the Erasers – put the erasers on a tray.  Using tongs or tweezers, can you stack the erasers as high as possible without them falling over.

5-ways-to-play-with-mini-erasers-1

Mini Eraser Idea #3:  Drop Into Slot – using a clean, recycled jar cut a slot in the lid.  The child can drop one eraser at a time through the slot into the jar.  Seems super simple, but trust me, little ones love this!

5-ways-to-play-with-mini-erasers-4

Mini Eraser Idea #4:  Match Up The Erasers – place the erasers in random order on the copy machine or printer.  Make a color copy.  The child can try to match up the eraser directly on top of the pictures that are in all different directions.

5-ways-to-play-with-mini-erasers-2

Mini Eraser Idea #5:  Seek and Find – hide the erasers in some dried beans that match the color of the erasers to make them a little more difficult to find.  Since we had tree mini erasers, we used dried peas and white beans.

What is your favorite activity to do with mini erasers?  And please don’t say erase.  Haha – actually I am not even sure if they do erase!

Print and Play Fine Motor Activities Pack #1Need more fine motor activities?  Check out the Print and Play Fine Motor Pack #1.  This download includes fine motor activities that promote cutting skills, finger isolation and in hand manipulation.  Find our more information.

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