What Are Pre Writing Skills?

by Cara | Jun 17, 2021 | Active kids, activities, ADL, ADLs, Aspergers, autism, bilateral integration, both hands, brain body connections, building a child's confidence, buttoning, caregiver tips, caregivers, children, coloring, confidence, consequences, coordination, coordination disorder, crossing midline, development, dominant hand, fine motor, fine motor activities, fine motor coordination, fun activities, games, grasp, grasp development, hand eye coordination, hands, handwriting, helper hand, homeschool, kinesthetic learning, life skills, motor skills, Occupational therapists, occupational therapy, OT, play, play to learn, preparation, School OT, school therapy, supporting special needs, switching hands, tactile, therapy, therapy tools, writing

Please share: What are pre-writing skills and why does my child need them?Babies are born with hands that are curled up and only reflexively grasp their caregiver’s finger. Through practice and play they quickly learn that their actions cause their toy to light...

5 OT Tips for Boosting Productivity

by Cara | Jun 15, 2021 | activities, activity cards, book, books, career, clinic, for OTs, fun ideas, motor skills, Occupational therapists, occupational therapy, OT, OT treatment, play, play to learn, products for therapists, School OT, supporting special needs, therapist, therapist information, therapy, therapy tools, treatment ideas

Please share: OT is BOOMING! We are in demand and are showing our unique value.  Occupational therapy is growing by leaps and bounds and it’s a beautiful thing! As an educator, I see how excited students are about entering OT. There’s also no shortage of...

5 Ways to Assess Movement to Build Functional Outcomes

by Cara | Feb 7, 2019 | Active kids, activities, bilateral integration, brain body connections, brain breaks, coordination, core muscle, crossing midline, for OTs, gross motor, movement, Occupational therapists, occupational therapy, OT, pediatric, physical therapy, PT, PT. COTA, PTA, School OT, school therapy, therapist, therapist information, therapy

Please share: Therapists, looking for tips to assess your students’ movement for better functional outcomes?Me too! I have been doing a ton of research for improving functional outcomes. Some of the same activities over and over get boring for me and for my...

5 Ways to Add Movement to Learning

by Cara | Jul 18, 2021 | accommodations, Active kids, activities, activity cards, ADD, ADHD, ASD, Aspergers, autism, behavior, brain body connections, brain breaks, classroom movement, core muscle, development, education, fidgets, for OTs, fun activities, fun ideas, gross motor, hand eye coordination, interoception, kinesthetic learning, LD, movement, movement breaks, occupational therapy, OT, parenting, physical therapy, play, play to learn, proprioception, PT. COTA, recess, school, School OT, school therapy, sensory, sensory processing disorder, special education, special needs, supporting special needs, teaching, teaching successfully, therapy tools, vestibular

Please share: Sit Still and Pay Attention!How many times have we heard this in our lives? I know my generation was expected to sit without fidgeting or moving during learning activities. If we didn’t, there was punishment or reprimand. Unfortunately, things are...

Feather Beading – Pre Writing Activity

by Cara | Mar 19, 2021 | activities, bilateral integration, building, coordination disorder, dyspraxia, grasp development, hands, handwriting, life skills, motor skills, school therapy

Please share: Working on handwriting is fun but it’s important to work on PRE-WRITING skills. Kids need to first learn how to build fine motor coordination. The best way to do this is through crafts and play-based activities that work the little (fine) muscles...

Fingerprint Farm Animals

by Cara | Sep 2, 2020 | activities, fine motor, fine motor activities, following directions, fun activities, hands, OT treatment, play, play to learn, sensory, sensory processing, sensory processing disorder

Please share: Making fingerprints is not only a fun activity for little kids, but it also encourages the development of fine motor skills. Fingerprint farm animals are a fun way to teach children about animals, letters, and fine motor skills all at the same time! Kids...

Educating Kids at Home During COVID-19 Isolation

by Cara | Mar 16, 2020 | ASD, Aspergers, caregiver tips, caregivers, Coronavirus/COVID-19, education

Please share: Forced to Homeschool Due to School Closings and Social Distancing? Many of you know I homeschooled my own children from elementary through high school.  I’ve learned many tips and have collected many helpful resources throughout the years.  Here...

5 Questions from My School-Based OT Conferences

by Cara | Feb 9, 2020 | continuing education, executive function, for OTs, freebies, Occupational therapists, occupational therapy, OT, OT treatment, school, School OT, school therapy

Please share: OT friends, you know how much I love traveling across our beautiful country delivering conferences to fellow therapists. Last week, I traversed to Albuquerque, NM, and Denver, CO. I can not begin to put the beauty of NM into words. The Sandia Mountains...

Puberty in Autism & Sensory Processing Disorder – 5 Tips for Teens

by Cara | Jan 25, 2020 | ADL, autism, behavior, caregiver tips, daily living, eight senses, for OTs, interoception, life skills, occupational therapy, proprioception, self-care, self-stimulation, senses, sensory, sensory processing, sensory processing disorder, Sex and Puberty, special needs, supporting special needs, teenagers, teens, therapy, tips, touch

Please share: How Can I Help My Teenager with Autism or SPD To Learn About Sex, Masturbation, & Menstruation?This post comes from one of my readers. It’s a question I’m asked quite often.  The sense of interoception (our body’s eighth sensory...

Conversation Starters for Kids

by Cara | Aug 27, 2019 | communication, conversation, downloads, FREE, freebies, fun activities, OT treatment, SLP. speech therapy

Please share: Many of our children struggle with communication.  Social anxiety, decreased awareness of body language (non-verbal communication), and trouble with pragmatic language (what we say and how we say it, tone, facial expressions) compound difficulties.  How...

Awesome Education Resources – Many Free!

by Cara | Aug 2, 2019 | activities, fine motor activities, fine motor coordination, for OTs, FREE, Occupational therapists, SLP. speech therapy, special education, special needs, teacher, teachers, teaching, therapy tools

Please share: Friends, I’m SO excited to give you information that is easy to use and truly benefits your children and OT students.  This week, I want to introduce you to Education.com Michelle, a retired special education teacher referred me to the...

Learn the Colors Activity Pack – Spanish

by Cara | Jul 12, 2019 | activities, colors, FREE, play to learn, Spanish

Please share: Learning to identify and write the colors is important for all children. We are so excited about our new learn the colors pack in Spanish! Matching, writing, and identifying the colors are all included in the activity download.   Here are some...