The following are some occupational therapy activities to help improve your child's pencil grasp:
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Tongs/tweezers: let your child use kitchen tongs or strawberry hullers to pick up small objects such as small blocks, ice, pom-poms, sorting pieces, Don't Spill the Beans pieces, etc.
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Eye droppers: pinch to transfer colored water into ice cube trays or make a tie dye picture
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String beads, cheerios, fruit loops, etc.
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Break crayons into small pieces
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Pop bubble wrap between fingers
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pick up raisins/cheerios and put into container
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pinch small clothespins
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toothpick and packing peanut structures - let your child push the toothpicks into the packing peanuts and "build" structures, connecting the packing peanuts together
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wind up toys
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spinning tops
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pop beads
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building with small lego pieces
Craft Activities:
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gluing small objects to make a project - rice, macaroni, corn, pom poms, beans, buttons, fish tank pebbles, sand
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ripping small pieces of paper and gluing them to make a project
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tissue paper art- crumpling paper with fingertips and gluing on project
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push pin art
For more ideas, consult your Child and Family Development Occupational Therapist!
As a pediatric occupational therapist, I have the pleasure of helping children succeed in one of their main occupations - school.
These days Kindergarten seems to be the new 1st grade! Children are expected to be at school for a full 7 hours, learn sight words, have spelling tests, start reading and understand what they read. There is less time for naps, creativity, pretend play, and story time. Therefore, in my opinion, pre-school is a very important stepping stone to getting your child ready for Kindergarten.
Pre-school provides your child with structure and routine, helps foster your child's social-emotional development, and teaches them the foundational skills (i.e. pre-writing skills; letter, shape, color, and number recognition; etc.) they need to succeed in Kindergarten.
Children learn and develop at different rates. Some children require some extra time to develop adequate fine motor, visual motor, gross motor, and social-emotional readiness for Kindergarten. Participation in pre-school and, for some, participation in Transitional Kindergarten (T-K) is beneficial and allows them to flourish in Kindergarten. Other children may need therapeutic intervention to help devlop these skills.
If you and/or your child's teacher notices that he/she is struggling in any area of participation in school, please contact Child and Family Development to request an Occupational Therapy Evaluation. Our company also provides Psychological Counseling and Educational Services as well as Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy services to children who demonstrate more difficulties in these areas. Our team of specialists works closely to determine what treatment will best support your child's development.
Children must go through stages of grasp development before they use a mature pencil grasp.
Stages of Grasp Development:0-4 months old: child demonstrates a reflexive grasp so they do not purposefully release objects they are holding
4-12 months old: grasp becomes more voluntary and child will demonstrate the ability to pinch and hold small objects between thumb and index finger. Child will begin to make marks with crayons and markers
1-2 years old: child will use whole arm movements to color and will hold crayon in a closed fist with thumb pointing up (gross or power grasp)
2-3 years old: child will hold the crayon or pencil with fingers pointed toward the paper (pronated grasp)
3-4 years old: child will hold the crayon or pencil with all 5 fingers to provide stability and control
4-5 years old: child will hold the pencil with a 3 fingered (tripod) grasp with pencil pinched between the thumb and index finger and resting on the middle finger
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It is important to remember to allow your child to go through these developmental stages before you expect them to have a mature pencil grasp. There are many pre-requisites to being able to use a mature tripod pencil grasp.
Pre-requisites to a mature tripod pencil grasp:- strong and stable trunk and core muscles
- strong and stable shoulder girdle
- strong hand and finger muscles
If you have specific questions about your child's pencil grasp, please ask your occupational therapist at Child and Family Development.Stay tuned for activities to help develop a mature pencil grasp!
Stay tuned for activities to help your child develop a mature pencil grasp!
Visual/Fine Motor Skills:- Holds crayon in fist with thumb turned downward
- Enjoys taking objects out and putting them into containers
- Stacks 2-3 1" blocks
- Rolls or throws ball with increased precision
- Places round shape in puzzle
- Helps to turn pages of books
- Begins to point to familiar objects named while continuing to use the index finger
- Scribbles purposefully
Self Help Skills:- Begins to hold cup with spilling
- Begins to hold spoon with a fisted grasp
- Begins to indicate when wets pants
- Takes off shoes
Suggested Toys/Activities:
- blocks
- containers
- nesting toys
- crayons
- 1-3 piece form puzzles
- hammering toys
- manipulative toys such as pegs, shape boxes, dish, cup, spoon
Visual/Fine Motor Skills:
- Continues to put toys in mouth
- Examines toys by transferring them from hand to hand
- Begins to bang toys
- May accidentally pull toys apart
- Begins to imitate simple movements
- Uncovers toy hidden under towel
- Can oppose thumb for grasp of objects
Self Help Skills:
- Begins to try and finger feed
Suggested Toys/Activities: - blocks
- ring stack
- balls
- pop-up toys
- nesting cups
- peek-a-boo
- pat-a-cake
- squeaky toys
Contact a pediatric Occupational Therapist at Child and Family Development for more information about your baby's development.
Visual/Fine Motor Skills:- Excitement (arm movement) when toy is presented
- Plays with own hands at midline
- Plays with rattle placed in hand
- Begins to play with toys independently especially by putting in mouth
- Shakes toys
- Smiles at mirror image
- Enjoys playing peek-a-boo
- Plays with own feet
- When drops toy begins to look to see where it went
Self Help Skills:Suggested Toys/Activities:
- rattles
- mobiles
- busy boxes
- mirrors
- musical toys
- textured toys
- stuffed animals
- teething toys
- pans
- plastic spoons
Visual/Fine Motor Skills:
- fixates on objects placed 12" from nose
- follows objects with eyes
- holds onto rattle approximately 30 seconds
- looks at own hands
Self Help Skills:
- opens and closes mouth in response to food stimulus
- naps frequently
- brings hand to mouth
Suggested Toys/activities:- rattles and other auditory toys
- mobiles
- encourage baby to follow various objects with his/her eyes
- place objects in babies hand to encourage grasping skills
The Child and Family Development website includes a Developmental Chart for children ages 0-5 years.
I have recently been asked by several parents about using therapeutic brushing with their child. Therefore, I wanted to take this opportunity to clarify a couple of things about this technique and the way I understand it should be used in treatment.
The Wilbarger Brushing Protocol, now known as The Wilbarger Deep Pressure and Proprioceptive Technique (DPPT), was developed by an occupational therapist named Patricia Wilbarger M.Ed., OTR, FAOTA. She specifically developed this technique to use to reduce sensory defensiveness. Therefore, it is geared toward children who demonstrate tactile defensiveness. Although children who seek out deep pressure opportunities but do not demonstrate tactile defensiveness may enjoy this protocol, there is a small possibility that it may have negative effects on these children. If a child already demonstrates tactile hyposensitivy or under-sensitivity, this technique should not be used since it will further desensitize the tactile system. In addition, in rare cases, it has caused behavioral changes in children.
Therefore, as an occupational therapist, I highly recommend this technique for children who demonstrate tactile defensiveness as a way to help modulate sensory information and make them less sensitive. However, for children who are seeking deep pressure, I would recommend heavy work or "squishing" activities to help them modulate sensory information. The joint compressions that follow brushing would also be beneficial for sensory seekers.
Please remember to ask your Child and Family Development occupational therapist to teach you how to use this technique correctly before you attempt to use it with your child.
A pediatric occupational therapist at Child and Family Development works on helping to develop your child's scissor skills.
Children can snip with scissors by 2-2 1/2 years of age. Remember to use safety scissors! By 4-5 years of age, a child should be able to cut out simple, basic shapes such as a circle or square.
In order to learn how to cut, you must master the following:
- balance
- shoulder stability
- forearm control
- wrist stability
- grasping skills
- finger isolation
- accurate release
- 2 hand usage
- eye-hand coordination
Progression of scissor skill development:- able to hold and manipulate scissors appropriately
- short random snips
- manipulate scissors in forward motion
- stay within lines (wider lines first, narrower when more control is gained)
- cutting shapes with straight lines
- cutting shapes with curved lines
Activities to work on scissors skills:
- cut with thicker materials that are less likely to bend and tear and that will add resistance and feedback so the child can really feel what he/she is doing
- index cards, post cards, construction paper, foam, brown paper bags, junk mail!
- cut drinking stras, string them to make necklaces
- cut playdoh - make snakes and cut into chunks
- give your preschooler a pair of safety scissors and an old toy magazine and let them cut out their his/her favorite toys
- Use squirt bottles, squirt toys, water guns, turkey basters, tongs, and hole punchers to practice the hand grasp and motions needed for cutting with scissors
Correct scissor grasp: the index finger is used to stabilze the scissors. The middle and ring fingers are used to open and shut the scissors. The thumb is up and the wrist straight.
By about 5 years of age, especially when learning to write his letters, your child should have chosen a hand dominance. Up until 5 years of age, it is typical for children to switch hands when coloring or drawing. This fosters the development of fine motor skills in both hands. However, if your child continues to switch hands when they begin to write, it can interfere with their ability to correctly form letters.
If you find that your 5-year-old colors the left side of the page with his/her left hand and the right side of the page with his/her right hand, it may be that he has difficulty crossing the midline (center) of his body. This could lead to difficulty with the development of bilateral skills necessary for gross and fine motor development.
How do you facilitate midline crossing skills and the establishment of hand dominance?
- Typically, children will demonstrate better grasp and pencil control with one hand over the other. Present a pencil at midline and allow your child to pick up the pencil with whichever hand they prefer - this will likely be his/her dominant hand.
- Draw on an easel or other large surface to encourage your child to make large shapes which will facilitate midline crossing skills
- Use ribbons or even just a finger to draw shapes in the air, making sure your child is moving his arms in all directions (up, down, left, right, diagonal, circular, etc.)
Keep in mind, children develop at different rates and some children may establish a hand dominance earlier or later. If you have specific questions or concerns about your child's hand dominance or handwriting skills, please ask your Child and Family Development occupational therapist.
Listed below are some great resources for sensory processing disorder that I recommend to parents on a regular basis. There are always new resources coming out, but these are ones that I find to be very helpful. For more resources, please ask your Child and Family Development occupational therapist.
Books:Sensational Kids: Hope and Help for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder by Lucy Jane Miller
The Out-of-Sync Child by Carol Stock Kranowitz
The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun by Carol Stock Kranowitz
The Everything Parent's Guide to Sensory Integration Disorder by Terri Mauro
Websites:www.sensory-processing-disorder.comwww.spdfoundation.netProduct Websites:www.funandfunction.comwww.softclothing.netChildren's Books:
Meghan's World: The Story of One Girl's Triumph over Sensory Processing Disorder by Diane M. Renna
Arnie and His School Tools: Simple Sensory Solutions that Build Success by Jennifer Veenendall
Sensitive Sam: Sam's Sensory Adventure Has a Happy Ending by Marla Roth-Fisch
Why Does Izzy Cover Her Ears? Dealing with Sensory Overload by Jennifer Veenendall
When people hear the words "occupational therapy" the first thing that often comes to mind is "job therapy" right? Then how do occupational therapists work with children? Children don't have jobs, so what do occupational therapists do for kids?
A pediatric occupational therapist helps children participate fully and successfully in home, school and community/social situations. A child's occupations or "jobs" include play and school. Through the use of therapeutic activities and exercises, an occupational therapist can help your child perform to the best of his/her abilities across all settings.
So how does it work?
Referral: Often your child's pediatrician, teacher, or psychologist will refer you for an occupational therapy evaluation to assess your child's fine motor skills, sensory processing abilities, and/or handwriting skills. Other times, you as a parent may notice something that alerts your attention and you may seek out an occupational therapist's professional advice on a certain issue your child may be having.
Evaluation: Occupational therapists at Child and Family Development use a variety of standardized assessments, clinical observations, and play based tests in addition to gathering information from you, the parent to evaluate your child. Based upon the results of the assessments and parent comments, the clincian will determine whether or not occupational therapy would be beneficial for your child.
Intervention: If occupational thearpy is not warrented, your therapist may provide you with a home program or refer you to another service.
If occupational therapy is recommended, your therapist will initiate therapy with your child and provide you with home program activities to support what is being done in therapy.
The length of time your child spends receiving occupational therapy services varies greatly and depends upon the severity of a child's needs as well as the rate at which a child gains skills.
If you are seeking an occupational therapy evaluation or occupational therapy services, please contact Child and Family Development today. We look forward to meeting you and your child!
Here are some suggestions that teachers can incorporate into the classroom to help children with sensory processing disorder better participate in the classroom environment. All of the following activities are naturally occurring activities meaning that they can easily be incorporated into the student's daily routine within the school environments. For more suggestions and for specific activities that may work best for your child, please consult with your occupational therapist.
Arrival at school and morning subjects:- Pull putty or use a squeeze ball while waiting for class to start
- Chew on a straw while listening to morning announcements
- Sit on a ball or move ‘n sit cushion
- Take a break for a drink of water before the next subject
- Do desktop or chair pushups before starting work
- Place a stretch band or tubing around the legs or chair for child to kick with during seated work.
- Place chairs on desks at the end of the day or take down at the beginning of the day
- Erase the chalkboard/dry erase board
- Wash desks
- Help rearrange desks in the classroom
Going to lunch:- Push open and hold doors for classmates (heavy work is organizing)
- Pack food with high sensory feedback (chewy, crunchy, spicy, sour)
- Allow student to listen to calming music on headphones while eating
At recess:Encourage active play on the playground (running, jumping, climbing)
- climb on playground equipment
- hang from monkey bars
- participate in sports activities that involve running and jumping
- run around the track at school
- Swinging or spinning activities
After recess/lunch:- Wall or floor push ups with the whole class prior to starting seated work
- Take a break to get a sip of cold water or allow a sports top water bottle at the desk
- Hold a fidget toy in hands during reading or other listening activities
- Chew on a straw, gum or chewy tubing to remain focused in the afternoon
- Take movement breaks during afternoon subjects (run an errand to the office, carry something heavy, cleaning tasks)
- Use animal walks to transition from one place to the next
- Carry heavy objects for the teacher when moving to another room
Transitioning after school:- Weighted backpack (no more than 15% of child’s weight) or fanny pack
- Push open/hold door for classmates
- Chew on gum or a straw
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