- Play with puzzles.
- Roll out snakes with play dough.
- Use tweezers to pick up small objects.
- Pick up coins and put in a bank.
- Make toothpick sculptures with marshmallows.
- Use a hole punch to make designs in a piece of paper (kids LOVE this one).
- String macaroni or cereal on yarn.
- Shred paper by tearing it into strips.
- Play any game where you have to shake dice.
- Play any card game.
- Use stickers on paper.
- Finger paint (use corn starch, food coloring and water for homemade finger paints).
- Sort small items such as cotton balls or beads.
- Play with interlocking blocks like Legos.
- Perform finger play songs ie Itsy Bitsy Spider.
- Paint a picture using Q-tips.
- Wrap small boxes with wrapping paper.
- Color in a picture using small crayons.
- Sort different small pasta shapes.
- Build towers with small blocks.
- Use spoons to transfer small objects from one dish to another.
- Cut out pictures and glue on paper to make a collage.
- Cut out different shapes and make a collage.
- Cut out strips of paper and make a paper chain.
- Make a bookmark.
- Cut up cereal boxes or junk mail.
- Use cookie cutters for stencils.
- Create a paperclip chain.
- Play tic tac toe with raisins or small cereal.
- Tape paper on the wall and draw a picture.
- Hang doll clothes up on a pretend play clothes line.
- Use a spray bottle with water.
- Play with finger puppets.
- Make a paper airplane.
- Trace your hand on paper and color it in.
- Cut up a picture into pieces to make your own puzzle.
- Practice tying your shoes.
- Pop bubble wrap.
- Make a lacing card with cardboard with a hole punch. Use yarn to sew the shape.
- Practice flipping over one card at a time from a deck of cards.
- Collect recycled toilet paper cardboard rolls and string together using yarn.
- Play with small sponges in water.
- Color a design on paper, fold it and make a fan.
- Play a hand clapping game with a friend.
- Draw a self portrait.
- Make your own book using paper and a stapler. Keep a journal.
- Make small balls out of clay.
- Use sidewalk chalk.
- Try putting hair elastics or rubber bands around different sized objects.
- Make confetti by tearing up recycled paper.
Hello parents and students. We hope everyone is staying healthy and trying to keep busy. We created this website to provide activities and ideas that can be done at home. Please be patient with us. We've never been trained on how to make a website. We miss all of your smiling faces and can't wait to see all of you again. We will attempt to posts information and activities everyday. If there is anything you would like us to share on our website, please let us know and we will do our best to get it on here. If you nee to get in touch with us directly, please email one of us:
aparker@brickschools.org
[email protected]202101281409.pdf
HELPING KIDS UNDERSTAND TELETHERAPY.docx
February Celebrates Black History Month
BlackHistoryMonthMartinLutherKingJrMorningWorkFree-1.pdf
FreeMartinLutherKingJrWordPictureMatchingMLK-1.zip
MartinLutherKingJrBirthdayCard-1.pdf
Groundhog Day
Oooohhh Nooooo!!! 6 more weeks of winter
GroundhogDayFREEPrintables-1.pdf
Winter Fun
Beads and Pipe Cleaners Oh My!
Sensory Fun
Supplies Needed:Cardboard box or large plastic bin, packing peanuts, clothespin, colored pom poms
Homemade Playdough Recipe
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon oil (we used sunflower oil)
- food coloring
- additional scents and/or glitter (optional)
1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Stir it continually over medium-low heat until it forms a ball. Take it off the heat and dump it onto parchment paper or wax paper. Once it cools you can knead it a bit until it’s mixed fully and soft!
3. Enjoy!
September Activities
Make Wearing A Mask Fun
FREEDesignaFaceMaskArtWorksheet-1.pdf
FREESocialStoryWearingaMask-1.pdf
WELCOME BACK! WE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!
June 16th
JUNE 15th
JUNE 12th
June 11th
June 10th
June 9th
June 8th
- Helping Individuals with Autism Wear Face Masks
June 5th
Sidewalk Chalk: 35 Ways to Play & Learn
June 4th
Ways to Use Sidewalk Chalk to Build Fine Motor Skills
June 3rd
June 2nd
June 1st
May 28th
May 27th
Below are some midline crossing activities to try
https://www.pinkoatmeal.com/crossing-the-midline-activities/
May 26th
May 22nd
Patriotic Memorial Day Crafts for Kids: Red White & Blue Family DIYs
May 21st
DIY Pool Noodle Pom Pom Shooter - FSPDT
May 20th
5 Ways To Use Pool Noodle Letters
May 19th
May 18th
Happy Monday!!!
Therapy Dog of the Week is:
Kasey
Kasey is a 5 year old Schnoodle. She loves visiting Lanes Mill School! Kasey enjoys going on long walks and playing ball.
May 15th
Pencil Grip Hacks:
How to bring the pencil back into the webspace
Binder Clip Gripper
May 14th
TP Roll Maze | Tilting Toilet Paper Roll Maze
MAY 13th
Happy Wednesday!
May 12th
May 11th
Dog of the Week
HILDE
Hilde enjoys the outside.A snow storm, long walk, or swim in the ocean with one of her human relatives makes her day, but what makes Hilde most happy is visiting all of her friends at school, she misses everyone giving her lots of love and all of her belly rubs! We will see all of you soon.
Here is a cute and fun activity
https://babbledabbledo.com/science-art-rainbow-spin-mixing/
May 8th
How to Make a DIY Superhero Mother's Day Gift
May 7th
Mother's Day Crafts for Mom
Mothers Day .. I Love you2018.pdf
May 6th
May 5th
May 4th
Happy Monday!!
Therapy Dog of the Week
Yodee!!!
Yodee is a 7 year old Toy Fox Terrier rescue. He weighs 7.5 pounds and excels at the sport of agility. Yodee is a very sweet therapy dog and enjoys visiting with the children and staff members at school. When at home he loves chasing squirrels and birds and enjoys watching television with his family!
.
May 1st
May 1- Flower Crafts for Kids– Use a flower craft or two to work on skills like direction following, executive functioning skills, fine motor work, scissor skills, and more.
May 2- Make a flower snack! Cooking is an executive functioning powerhouse. These simple flower-themed snacks are healthy options for kids AND build skills as they help out in the kitchen.
May 3- Dandelion Soup– As a child, do you remember making messy, muddy, FUN “soup” in the backyard? All you needed was a bucket, a stick, some water, and imagination. Toss in a sprinkle of grass, a scoop of dirt, some broken up twigs, and a mash of dandelion flowers. It’s a messy, sensory, creative, and down-to-earth play idea that builds skills. Don’t have dandelions? (I’m jealous!!) Use whatever you’ve got around the lawn…rocks, pebbles, leaves, flower buds, clover, etc. The sky is the limit with this activity.
April 30th
Today is the last day of this month but it is also,
National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day and
National Oatmeal Cookie Day!
Below is a link for no bake oatmeal cookies!!
Have Fun!!
https://www.food.com/recipe/no-bake-chocolate-oatmeal-cookies-23821
April 29th
April 28th
National Blueberry Pie Day
April 27th
Happy Monday!
This weeks Therapy dog is RICKEE!!
Rickee is a 10 year old Jack Russell Terrier rescue. He has been a therapy dog for nine years and is very smart and talented. Rickee competes in agility and is a barn hunt champion. He loves to play fetch and cuddle with his brother Yodee and sister Sophee.Rickee also starred in a TV comercial and in two movies but what Rickee enjoys most is peforming for the children at school. Some of his tricks include hitting a toy piano and bell with his paw.
April 24th
Fine motor activity using a spiky ball and loom bands
GROSS MOTOR ACTIVITIES: FLAMING HOOPS
April 23rd
A fun and easy craft using pipe cleaners
https://toddleratplay.com/2018/08/20/copypipecleanerstickfiguresactivity/
Roll-Some-Brain-Breaks-Freebie-updated.pdf
APRIL 22nd
HAPPY EARTH DAY
RED FLAGS: Visual
Perception Difficulties
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· Letter reversals when writing or copying written work
-
· Poor line awareness in handwriting
-
· Poor use of margins in written work
-
· Difficulty copying written work
-
· Trouble recognizing patterns and completing hands-on math problems
-
· Difficulty catching or kicking a ball
-
· Trouble with movement games like hopscotch
-
· Clumsiness
-
· Difficulty with sports
-
· Difficulty drawing and copying pictures or shapes
-
· Difficulty with puzzles
-
· Trouble remembering sight words
-
· Poor legibility in written work
-
· Poor margin alignments
-
· Difficulty finding objects in a busy background
-
· Difficulty with spatial directions (left/right/under/behind/etc.)
-
· Difficulty discriminating between size of objects or other features
-
· Difficulty with hidden picture worksheets
-
· Trouble knowing if objects or written material is missing
-
· Trouble with skipping words or lines of text when reading
-
· Difficulty filtering out unnecessary information
-
· Trouble with sequencing such as ordering by size, alphabetical order, or numerical order
-
· Trouble with mazes
-
· Difficulty shifting vision from place to place
-
· Trouble maintaining eye contact on a target as it moves
-
· Difficulty finding physical objects such as locating matching socks
-
· Trouble copying written work from a distance
-
· Trouble copying written work from a vertical surface
April 21
Good Morning and Welcome Back!
Hope Everyone had a Safe Spring Break :)
This weeks Therapy Dog of the week is "Sophee". She is a Jack-Chi and just celebrated her 7th birthday yesterday,April 19th! Sophee has been a therapy dog for 6 years and is a regular at Lanes Mill school. She loves all the children and staff and gets so excited when she gets to visit with them. She truly is the Sweetest therapy dog and loves wearing her pearls! When at home Sophee loves playing with her brothers,Rickee and Yodee, squeak toys and running in the yard.
Here's a Virtual Spring Break Link....Check it out is has loads of places to visit virtually :) Have a safe and healthy Spring Break....
APRIL 9
APRIL 8
Who wants to learn how to draw their Favorite Superhero?
Interactive videos with DC artists and authors are posted to the DC Comic Kids twitter and DC Kids Instagram each weekday. Kids can learn how to draw their favorite DC Super Heroes, gain inspiration and skills to make their own comics, and unlock their creativity with fun, off-the-wall how-to videos.
New installments go up Monday through Friday at 1pm Eastern, 12 noon Central, 10am Pacific.
APRIL 7
Have some fun and get some exercise with these great core strengthening activities!
HAPPY MONDAY!!! April 6th
HELPING KIDS UNDERSTAND TELETHERAPY
Children who have previously received occupational therapy services in a face-to-face setting may feel a little confused or out of sorts when they now need to complete fine motor tasks at home (and with items that are way less fun than what they are used to their OT playing with alongside them. Here is a fun book to help explain why they are now working on hard things like fine motor skills with their therapist through a computer screen.
"Why is there a person in my computer" by Brittany Ferri is a child’s guide to understanding what teletherapy is and how it can help with a variety of medical concerns. This story follows Andrew, a child with visual deficits who is having difficulty playing hockey, performing well in school, and working on his art. He meets a therapist named Brittany who guides him through his first teletherapy session, and he loves it! This picture book helps children understand what teletherapy is, what makes it different from other therapies, and how it can help them live better lives. Children may also enjoy the supplemental activity guide complete with coloring pages, fact sheets, and more!
Therapy Dog of the Week
Lucy is a 10 year old GoldenDoodle. She loves to go for walks and laying on the deck! Lucy also loves playing wih her squeaky squirrel!
Check out this calming activity! https://www.instagram.com/p/B-hP9idDm5F/?igshid=k0df30u3jigf
April 3
Flower Craftivity for OT month.pdf
April 2
April is both OT month and Autism Awareness month.
On Thusday, April 9th at 12 noon. The Brick Township
schools will paricipate in "Blowing Bubbles for Autism.
There will be more details to follow!
Happy April 1st!
and
Happy OT Month!
Below are some links to more OT and PT activities to practice at home
https://www.yourtherapysource.com/holidayspringfreebie.html
https://www.yourtherapysource.com/crossingpathsfree.html
https://www.yourtherapysource.com/freehightligher.html
https://www.yourtherapysource.com/blog1/2018/10/07/monster-fine-motor-game/
https://www.yourtherapysource.com/freecuttingstrips.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_oIssULEk0
March 31
The Special Olumpics has put out a visual workout. WWF Superstar Becky Lynch provides different levels of fitness for everone. Please enjoy and stay healthy.
MARCH 30
Good Morning
Below are some great sites about Mindfulness and two on yoga. Please check them out this week. Thanks!
Once a week we will also be sharing a photo and information about one of our Lanes Mill therapy dogs.
Ten Gross Motor Activities for Autistic Children
Twilight The Unicorn of Dreams | A Cosmic Kids Yoga adventure!
Spider Power yoga compilation | Cosmic Kids Yoga
Morning Relaxing Music - Positive Background Music for Kids (Sway)
Relax Music for Stress Relief | Study Music | Sleep Music | Meditation Music |Sleeping | Inner Peace
Be the Pond | Cosmic Kids Zen Den - Mindfulness for kids
This weeks therapy dog is Sienna! She is an All American Lab/Hound mix. Sienna likes chasing squirrels,long walks on the beach,cats, playing fetch and catching treats! She loves coming to see the children and staff at school!
Have a Good Day!!!!
March 27
Happy Friday! We made it through another week. Here are some fun activities to keep you busy over the weekend.
The Best Art Activities for Kids: How to Paint with Bubbles
Simple Color Scavenger Hunt for Kids
Crumpled Paper Art for Kids Inspired by Ish
20+ Chalk Art Ideas and Learning Activities for Kids
Elmer's Slime Recipe: DIY Kid's Worry-Free Slime Recipe
Easy Robot Toilet Paper Roll Craft
March 26
Good Morning Parents and Students! Below are two social stories that can be shared with your child to help them to understand the Coronavirus. One story is by Carol Gray and the other has been provided by Amanda Mc Guinness, BA (Hons), LLB (Hons), is the Autism Ambassador for County Mayo. There are also links that provide helpful information and activities while your at home for this extended period of time. If you scroll towards the bottom of the link for Autism Speaks, they provide some resources in different languages. We hope this is helpful.
https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/autism-skills-on-coronavirus-crisis/https://www.autismspeaks.org/covid-19-information-and-resources
Pandemics-and-the-Coronavirus Social Story.pdf
The-Corona-Virus-Free-Printable Social Story.pdf
Good Morning Everyone! Here are some great links to help add a little excitement to your day. Many of these sites include activities that can be printed or done online.
If your child loves animals, here are some great links to live web cams. When your done watching, pick up a pencil/crayons and draw a picture of your favorite animal. Practice doing your favorite animal walks with your brother, sister, mom and/or dad.
https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/live-cams
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams/panda-cam
https://www.kansascityzoo.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seIooitd85w
https://www.aqua.org/Experience/live
https://explore.org/livecams/warrior-canine-connection/service-puppy-cam
Global Space Education Foundation has just the thing for you: Story Time in Space. It’s exactly what it sounds like — astronauts on various missions in space read popular children’s books while floating about, and the videos are edited and shared with kids way down on Earth.
https://storytimefromspace.com/
Mo Williems is offering "Lunch Doodle" video each weekday at 1PM.
https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/
This is a channel on youtube that offers celebrities reading children's books:
https://www.youtube.com/user/StorylineOnline/videos
March 24th,2020
Good Morning!
How to teach your child handwriting at home:
- Tips for Better Line Awareness Printable.pdf
- Tips for Accurate Letter Formation Printable.pdf
- Motivating Handwriting Activities Printable.pdf
- Handwriting Self-Assessment Printable.pdf
If you are having difficulty navigating google classroom, here is a helpful link:
Animal-Assisted Therapy and Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy is a client-centered approach to individuals in rehabilitation practices. The assessment and intervention of occupational therapy are aimed to improve the participation in daily living activities more meaning and oriented.. Occupational therapists use a lot of approaches in their practice to improve quality of life and well-being in their patients. A range of target areas that can be addressed with the help of therapy animals are listed in the book for AAT interventions for OT: motor skills (gross and fine motor), neuro-musculoskeletal skills (range of motion, strength, balance), sensory functioning (tactile, visual, auditory), cognitive skills (orientation, attention, executive functions), weight bearing, communication skills (expression and acculturation language, cooperation), psychosocial skills (well-being, motivation), perception processing skills (body perception, depth perception, spatial relationships), and respiratory function (diaphragm force, positioning)
According to OTs’ views and perceptions of evidence-based practice, AAT is one of the methods used in rehabilitation. Some researchers have investigated the impact of AAT on elderly participants who were diagnosed with psychiatric, physical, and developmental disabilities in long-term care settings. Van Fleet and his colleagues describe an animal-supported occupational therapy as a learning process in which a professional therapist carries out a therapy session, using a dog, to facilitate the development of the skills needed by the child to have an independent function in self-help, playgrounds. A therapy dog may become part of the learning process when learning everyday tasks related to the animal. OTs may add a wrist weight to gain strength from the weak arm or use a customized brush with a special handle to help the child hold the brush. Thus, the child becomes more motivated and excited to participate in the treatment. Thus, this method helps OTs, and the child can to reach the child’s treatment goals more quickly and easily . In another study, AAT was also applied on patients with post-traumatic stress disorder generally seen in personnel during military service; AAT was found to provide positive benefits. It was also observed that new gained in combat veterans learned new skills using trained dogs.
Dogs are a popular choice for many occupational therapists. OTs showed that treatment with dogs, which are often preferred for treatment, has improved social skills, motivation, having an interest in the environment, and self-awareness of children with autism spectrum who had behavioral problems. A study performed on OTs found that senior citizens in a walking program at an assisted living facility walked further when with a dog than when they walked alone, indicating the potential value of pets in physical conditioning. Due to the earlier studies mentioned, the OTs believed AAT impacted individuals through internal responses to the animal and thorough responses to the external environment. On the other hand, horses proved to be effective in treatment programs, especially for physically disabled people. Among the reasons for preferring the horse in these types of patients include; it can be said that walking on the horse can feel like as the walking accent, walking distance can be adjusted by the therapist or rider if necessary, and positive feeling can increase the motivation of the person.
In almost all studies on AAT, animal interaction increased motivation of individuals:
- Those who refuse therapy may come to therapy sessions more often and easily when they know that animals are present.
- Interaction with animals raises morale of long-term care residents.
- People feel better socially people feel better about themselves the idea of ownership of animals and the responsibility for care given to them increases the daily devotion
- Sense, motor, perception, cognitive, and social skills improve.
- Participation in functioning and daily living activities are facilitated.
OT should focus on the use and participation of meaningful activities to improve the quality of life of an individual in AAT intervention. For these purposes, it is aimed to develop correct posture and walking pattern, mobility of the pelvis and hip region, head and trunk control, muscle tone and strength, sense regulation, social communication, self-confidence and empathy, motor and cognitive skills. It is thought that the ability of individuals to improve their skills, function, and quality of life can be improved by pet ownership, care of animals, and regular interaction during therapy.
The frequency of use of the AAT and AAA in the field of rehabilitation for the last 10 years has been rapidly increasing. Animal-supported approaches from different countries and disciplines showed positive effects on sensory, emotional, and cognitive functions, especially the physical structure and functions of individuals at different ages and diagnoses. OTs emphasize the effectiveness of this method in studies conducted in the field of occupational therapy.
Below are some more OT activities you can do at home:
Here are 50 fine motor occupational therapy activities for at home. Remember check with your child’s OT or physician if you have any questions.
GREAT WEB SITE with Good information!
March 23rd,2020
DOG THERAPY
Good Morning!
Hope Everyone is staying healthy! As many of you know I am the Captain of the Dog Therapy Program at Lanes Mill School. My fellow handlers and I so miss having our four legged friends visit with your children and staff members at school. I will from time to time update this webpage with articles and photos of our therapy companions. Please feel free to show your children the photos. They do love our therapy friends and in a time such as this, they can povide a sense of comfort to us all!
Please Stay Healthy and Safe
Annette Cioffi-Parker OTR/L
Three of our Lanes MillTherapy Dogs
Rickee,Yodee and Sophee
March 23
- 10 apps for Visual Motor Skills (2).pdf
- LifeSkilloftheMonthHandouts-PDF[1].pdf
- Motivating Handwriting Activities Printable.pdf
March 21
March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day.
- https://www.irisstudiosnj.com/events/2020/3/21/world-down-syndrome-day
- https://nationaltoday.com/world-down-syndrome-day/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VG7dh5W40I
March 20
- https://www.facebook.com/capemaycountyparkzoo/videos/297048934605361/
Cape May Zoo is doing a virtual tour!
Learning Online
Activities Day by Day
Handwriting
Visit The OT Toolbox for helpful information and tips regarding handwriting and other skills.
Here are some printables to get you started!
- Tips for Better Spatial Awareness Printable.pdf
- Tips for Better Line Awareness Printable.pdf
- Tips for Accurate Letter Formation Printable.pdf
- Movement Activities to Improve Spatial Relations Printable.pdf
- Motivating Handwriting Activities Printable.pdf
Worksheets and Activity PDF's
These worksheets and activities address many skill sets including but not limited to visual motor, gross motor, fine motor, self help, and graphomotor.
- Baseball Lacing.pdf
- Cryptograms.pdf
- Fine Motor Paper Clips and Balloons.pdf
- Fine Motor_St_Patricks.pdf
- Handwriting- St_Patricks.pdf
- Maze - Pot of Gold.pdf
- Maze OT Month.pdf
- Maze_St_Patricks.pdf
- Movement Activities - Leprachaun.pdf
- Typing Skills_St_Patricks.pdf
- Word Scramble OT Month.pdf
Occupational Therapy Activities
Below are activities that can be done at home with household objects to support your child’s school-based occupational therapy (OT) program.
Fine Motor Skills
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Play with PlayDough
-
Use office tools (staplers, paperclips, hole punches, etc.)
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Peel (cooled) boiled eggs, break off stems on strawberries, pluck grapes, spread butter/jelly on bread, sort utensils,
Bilateral Coordination
-
Tear strips of paper and make a collage
-
Play catch
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Games that use dice (cup hands together to roll dice)
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Fold clothes
-
Legos
-
Brush or style dolls hair
Upper Body Strength and Stability
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Lay on your belly to do a puzzle
-
Go to the park/playground: Up/Down Slides, monkey bars, swing,
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Climb up the slideClimbing on/off the furniture assimilating an obstacle course with additional verbal cues on “up” “down” “under” “over” (involve the whole family and use the whole house–example: place sheets across dining chairs to make tunnels).
-
Put on GoNoodle videos on YouTube
-
Hokey Pokey/Simon Says
Eye-Hand Coordination/ Visual Motor Skills
-
String colorful beads, macaroni, or cereal
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Play flashlight tag by shining a flashlight on a wall and moving it up/down/left/right and have your child follow the pattern.
-
Load kid safe dishes in dishwasher
-
Organize clothing in the closet by colors or outerwear, etc., sock and undergarment drawers, etc.
-
Visit “eyecanlearn.com” for eye exercises on the computer
Calming Activities
-
Listen to relaxing music (on YouTube or an app you prefer), child can:
-
Color, Draw, Mazes, Legos, or any other sit down activity
-
Or simply close their eyes
Pre-Writing Skills
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Mazes and Connect the Dots
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Coloring books/crayons
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Drawing with sidewalk chalk
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Use a variety of mediums for pre-writing development (ie sand, shave cream, whipped cream, play doh)
Handwriting
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Write a letter to a friend
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Start a journal
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Start a recipe folder
Self-Help Skills/Life Skills
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Fold laundry
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Sort socks
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Practice shoe-tying
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Sort/count money
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Re-organize personal space (closet, bathroom, bedroom)
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Help to prepare a meal
Keyboarding
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Have child practice keyboarding lessons on free website: www.typingclub.com
-
Other typing sites include Kidztype.com and typing.com
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Check out AAAMath.com for Activities of Daily Living Skills (money, clock skills etc.)