Starfish Therapies
Starfish Therapies Newsletter
Jump for July!
July 2013
Volume 55
In This Issue
Updates
Out and About
Letting Your Kids Get Messy
Active Video Gaming
Starfish Updates
4th of July
Happy Summer!

(I realize its way after 4th of July but I figure its at least the same month so we would display our patriotic starfish!)

Blog:
Check out the fabulous Guest Posts we have had on our blog:

And one of our own Guest Posts:

Another Resource:

 

PediaStaff created a Pinterest board for blogs written by Pediatric PT's and OT's.  

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Just For Fun
tie dye  
Tie Dye

Tie Dye is a great activity for the summer months as it can be done outside where messes aren't so bad.  Also, you almost can't go wrong with however you or your child design your creation.  You can tie dye shirts, shorts, towels, bandanas or whatever is fabric and you want to spruce up the look.  It can work on fine motor skills and creativity for your kids and they get the benefit of wearing or showing off something they made.   Here is a tutorial for how to do your own tie dye!

Out and About
Water Playgrounds

As the days continue to get warmer in most places a great way for your kids to cool off while getting outside is to find a water playground.  Here is a list for the best ones in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Depending on the park your child can work on social skills, gross motor skills, and sensory skills (as they get wet).  And of course they get to have fun and keep cool.
Here are some other cities as well for those of you not from the Bay Area:
Greetings!

Welcome back! Enjoy reading for some great ideas for fine and gross motor activities for these last few weeks of summer!

 Great OT Uses for Everyday Items    

 

papertowel

Before placing something into the garbage that would typically go there, check out some of the great things you can make for your kids and what they would help work on. It takes a little bit of time and effort to make but can save you on money and save on some trips to the toy store. Check these ideas out. 

 

Eye-spy bottle: Fill up your clear plastic water, juice or soda bottles with rice. Add small objects such as beads, elastic bands, paperclips, and anything else small that would be fun to find into the bottle with the rice. Leave an inch or two at the top so things have somewhere to move around and screw the cap back on tightly. You can make a list of the objects for your child to find and check off or just let them see how many they can find on their own. You can also fill them up with water, food coloring and add some objects that will float. Yes they will be able to see the objects but as they turn the bottle, the objects will move, as well as make bubbles for their eyes to track.

 

Tin-can telephone: Who remembers this one? Take two cans and use a smooth edge can opener if you have one. Punch a small hole in the bottom of each can and attach a string in between them. Teach your child how to talk into them and then hold it up to their ear to listen. You can work on some auditory games with them in a fun way this way.

 

Toilet paper roll maracas: Take your empty toilet paper rolls and fill them with different items that would make fun sounds (rice, beans, etc). Tape up the ends and then decorate them with fun colors and designs with your kids. They become a fun musical instrument that you can work with on during movement and positional play. "shake it over your head, shake it behind your back, while standing on one foot", etc.

 

Pom-Pom poppers: Take your paper cups and cut off the bottoms. Slide balloons over the bottom, tying the end you normally would to make something to pull. This makes a springy bottom of the cup. You can place pom-poms inside and pop them up just for fun or have the kids try to pop them into another container. This is a fun bilateral hand activity for the kids to play with.

 

Hope you enjoy this list of fun reusable's! I'm sure there are many other great ideas out there as well for your kids to enjoy or even create your own. Summer break is here and this is a great time to try some of these ideas, as well as your own, out!

 



Sidewalk Chalk

chalk

It's a summer time favorite for many kids. Just think of all the things you can do with it. Besides drawing pictures in your driveway, sidewalk chalk can be valuable tool when working on improving your child's motor skills, the most obvious one being practicing their drawing and writing skills. But they can also strengthen their arms through weight bearing, work, their balance, learn to visually track, improve their jumping skills, and learn sequencing with a little help from this summer time favorite. Here are a few ideas:

 

  1. Drawing on the ground - in order to draw on the ground, your child has to sit or lay on their belly on the ground. This means that they'll likely be bearing weight on their non-dominate hand the entire time they are drawing and strengthening that arm. If you feeling adventurous try challenging them to draw with their non-dominate hand.
  2. Draw hopscotch on the ground - they can practice jumping together and apart in order to complete the hopscotch or hopping on one foot as their skills develop.
  3. Draw a "balance beam" on the ground - they can practice walking on the line without stepping off. If they get good at walking forward, try walking backwards or sideways. You can also try making a squiggly line.
  4. Draw a racetrack for them to ride their bike/trike, or sit and ride toy around - this will make them visually follow the line while riding in order to stay on track.
  5. If you get bored with all of these, try drawing an obstacle course and putting them all together - you can draw bases to hop between, a line to walk across, a hopscotch to jump through, and even hand and foot prints to do animal walks on.

And don't forget all the fun you can have washing your daily activates away so you can draw new ones tomorrow! What else have you done with sidewalk chalk?


Thank you for reading this month. See you back in August! 
 
Sincerely,
 

Your Friends at
Starfish Therapies