OT-Kids: Beat the heat!!!

OT-Kids: Beat the heat!!!: The sidewalk is so hot you could fry an egg???  Well at least that's how it feels outside here in Connecticut.  New on our blog, written by Kelly Martin, OTR/L

Beat the heat!!!

The sidewalk is so hot you could fry an egg???  Well at least that's how it feels outside here in Connecticut.  Yep we have been blessed with our annual visit from the 3H's (hazy, hot and humid).  I know that the preferred activity in this heat for my family involves sprinklers, the pool and lots and lots of water, but we can only spend so much time lounging poolside until our skin starts to wrinkle and we become completely water logged. 

I asked Kelly to put together a list of activities that children can do this summer in between dives off the diving board and building castles or burying dad up to his neck in sand. Kelly has compiled some very creative activities to get your kids moving and continuing to integrate all those great skills that they acquired during the last year so get out of the water for a few minutes and try these out!

Top 10 summer OT activities- By: Kelly Martin, OTR/L

1. Rolling down hill: Rolling down a hill is a great way to have some fun and get vestibular input. If your child is a sensory seeker and gets easily over stimulated by this input try to follow it up by having them do some active heavy work (ex: wheelbarrow walks or crawling back up the hill).

2. Make a birdhouse: Use popsicle sticks and juice box to create a summer time birdhouse, hang at appropriate height for your child so that they can go outside and put birdseed in it daily!

3. Water plants with spray bottle: Fill up spray bottle and have your child water plants outside, this is a good activity for fine motor manipulation and strength.

4.  Hop scotch: Help your child draw a hop scotch board on the driveway, make the boxes and have them fill in the numbers and write start and finish.  This is a great activity that can be done easily, incorporating visual perception, bilateral coordination, and balance.

5. Create a sensory garden: add fake or real plants/flowers and toy gardening tools to any sensory bin (container with dry kidney beans or rice).  Great for tactile input, executive functioning skills and exploring creativity. 

6. Playing catch: play catch with a medium sized ball, challenge your child by having them stand in one spot (or on a base), throw the ball slightly to the left/right/low and high.  This is a great simple activity to incorporate dynamic balance and crossing midline, not to mention that you will be integrating eye hand coordination as well as upper extremity strength!

7. Blowing bubbles: It may sound simple but blowing bubbles is a great way to incorporate some self-regulation, oral motor skills, eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills.  Take turns with your child blowing bubbles, tell them to point with pointer to pop, if your child is unable to do this, have them clap it to pop it.

8. Get creative! Use (safe) objects in your yard to create an obstacle course with your child, have them walk on a straight line, jump over branches and into hula hoops, balance on stepping stones, crawl under a bench or lounge chairs, climbing over uneven surfaces.  If you have a pool, use toys such as noodles and floats!

9. Outdoor scavenger hunt:  Create a list of things to find outdoors.  Not everything has to be collected.  Have them find a white rock, bumble bee, different color flowers.

10. Target practice: use an old tarp and cut holes in it, labeling each with points, hang on clothesline outside and have your child throw ball or bean bags into the target, this is a good activity for hand-eye coordination and depth perception

    

It's snowing... OT-Kids is now offering FREE OT sessions!!!

So the blizzard has arrived and with it comes not only 18 or more inches of fun, but also a good ol' fashion (and free) OT session right in your own back yard! Bundle the kiddies up and get out doors, trust me you have more sensory input in your backyard right now then I could ever dream of putting in a gym.  Here are some activities (trust me they are all very familiar and easy, and best of all free!!!)

1. Go for a walk- Trudging through the snow provides resistance and heavy work.  It will challenge even the most graceful of movers balance and coordination.

2. Have a snowball fight or play dodge the snow ball- This is great packing snow, so make a pile of snowballs and have fun throwing them at each other.  As your children move to avoid being hit, or as they attempt to hit you with their best shot, they will be working on motor planning, eye hand coordination, upper extremity strength, and endurance and much more.

3. Make Snow Angels- Go ahead, no ones looking. Flop down in the snow and move those arms and legs.  You will be getting some great input and resistance from the snow while working on body awareness, range of motion and who doesn't love rolling around for a minute or two in the fluffy stuff!

4. Build a Snowman- I know you remember huffing and puffing while trying to build the neighborhoods best snowman. Encourage your children to dive right in, The Bigger The Better!!! lifting the heavy snow, rolling a huge snow ball,  packing it down into the perfect snowman shape will all work on strength, endurance, coordination, eye-hand coordination and provide lot of fabulous proprioceptive input to your little ones.  Make sure they add eyes, nose, mouth, some arms and even buttons and a hat to work on spatial relations, body awareness and some wonderful perceptual skills.

5. Dont forget the sleds!!! Who doesn't love zooming down a hill at top speed.  Just thinking about all the wonderful vestibular input gives me the shivers!!! And what makes sledding even better is that after that wonderful ride down the hill the kiddos need to climb back up, talk about some hard work.  Don't have a hill? don't worry! Attach  a rope to your sled and take a run around the yard with your little ones in tow, did they get a bit too much input and are now silly beyond belief? Hand them the rope and requesting a ride yourself, Now that's what I call heavy work!!!

6. The storm has past, now what???  Hand them a shovel and get to work, someone's got to do it, right???