Oral Motor

Oral Motor Games

“Oral motor skills include speech, coordinating breathing and swallowing, and the management of food textures. Ch1ildren with low muscle tone and sensory processing differences are at risk of delayed oral motor skill development. Oral motor delays can result in developmental apraxia of speech, articulation disorders, feeding dysfunction, excessive drooling, and more.” shares Gwen Wild, OTR/L of Sensational Brain.

“Normal oral motor development begins prior to birth and continues beyond age three. By age four, most children safely consume solids and liquids without choking.” (1)

“Oral motor skills are used in speech therapy sessions to build oral motor strength for speech sound development and feeding skills. Therapy in this area typically encompasses oral awareness, oral stretches, and oral exercises to improve strength and speed of movements needed for speech.” (2)

There are a variety of oral motor exercises to develop oral awareness, strength and speed of movement. Below are a few fun ideas to get you started.2

Oral-Motor Input on the Go: Fruit Roll-Up Fingers1

Rebecca Whitlock of Racoon School had a little oral motor sensory seeker. Whitlock shares the following idea with Special-Ism.

“If your child seeks oral-motor input, consider enriching his sensory diet with Fruit Roll-Up Fingers.

Fruit Roll-Up Fingers are a fun and tasty activity for little oral-motor sensory seekers. Here’s a system that’s been working great for me:

Purchase Fruit Roll-Ups

There’s now a version called Stretch Island that’s a bit healthier and more natural if you are concerned of excess additives.

Cut Roll-Up into Four Equal Parts

The first time I tried to do this activity, I used the whole roll-up. It was a disaster. After trying several different sizes, I’ve found that one-fourth of the roll-up is the perfect size for the little fingers of my preschool-aged children. Plus, it also means one-fourth the sugar!

Wrap the Roll-Up around the Child’s Finger

My older child likes to do this himself, and gets a good fine motor workout in the process. My younger child needs help. They both have fun choosing which finger they want the roll-up to go onto. It’s different every time!

Suck Away!

The goal is for the child to gradually suck the roll-up off the finger and get a nice long oral-motor workout. As you can imagine, though, it’s tempting to just bite it off and eat it.

It helps to have a contest to see whose roll-up lasts the longest.

I take a baggie full of these roll-up pieces with me everywhere I go! It’s a great alerting activity, especially in the car.”

Blow the Sheep Out of the Pen1

Whitlock is chock full of ideas and offers another fun little oral-motor activity to help kids satisfy oral motor sensory seeking. Like the activity above, this activity additional serves as a wonderful exercise to strengthen and develop oral-motor skills.

Gather Supplies

“Gather up some straws, cotton balls and a hula hoop.

Throw a handful of cotton balls into the hula hoop placed on the floor.

Then have your child use a straw to blow the “sheep” (cotton balls) out of their “pen”.

Enhance the Fun

For even more fun, use a mini trampoline as your “pen”.

Place red tape around the perimeter of the trampoline.

Set a goal to have your child blow all the “sheep” outside of the red line within 3 minutes.

Add Some Challenges

Expand on this fun activity and add additional challenges. The expansion ideas are endless and only limited by your imagination…

Change Up the Blowers

Use really skinny straws, then change it up to really fat straws. If you need extra force, consider curly straws.

Blow the sheep out of the pen with cardboard tubes from paper towels, toilet paper, or wrapping paper.

Each of these different options provide the child with a unique sensation and require differing amounts of effort.

Give the Sheep a New Pen

Using construction paper, simply draw a new pen for your sheep. Your child can garner fine motor input by decorating the pen to his or her liking. Allow you and your child to get creative.

Bonus – this pen is extremely portable and can be taken with you on the go to therapy appointments, restaurants or just about anywhere.

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

Race those little sheep! Get a small group together and see who can get their sheep out of the pen the fastest! This is a great activity for small group speech therapy or even a few neighborhood pals.

With a little imagination and a few inexpensive materials, you’ll be on your way to some fantastic oral-motor input!”

Drop to the Knees for Oral Motor Input1

Bonnie Arnwine, author of Starting Sensory Therapy: Fun Activities for the Home and Classroom!, shares with Special-Ism ideas for older children.

Arnwine shares, “As children get older, it can become difficult to get them to engage in sensory activities. Young children are experiential and they enjoy the process of making something. As children get older they become more purposeful and are motivated by the end product, or learning a new skill, or trick that they can show to their peers. They can be sensitive to the fact that they are different or not as skilled as their peers. It’s important when working with your child to be encouraging and use positive reinforcement.”

Gather Supplies

Balloons (If you don’t have balloons you can also use small pieces of paper.)

Straws

Chalk, string or rope to make a start and finish line.

Let the Game Begin

Have your child drop to their knees and get on all fours at the established starting line.

Instruct your child to bend down and with the straw, blow their balloon across the finish line.

Add in Social Interaction

Take it a step further and encourage social skills along with good sportsmanship. Get a few neighborhood pals together, team up and “race” against each other. Offer fun edible rewards that involve chewing for more input!”

Q-tip Wars

Arnwine suggests another simple activity for older children. Use caution as this can be a choking hazard for little ones.

Gather up the following tools:

Q-tips

Straws of various widths as indicated above.

Timer

How to Play

You will need at least two players for this game. Divide the players into teams. Set the teams no further than 5 to 10 feet apart facing each other.

Give each player a straw and several Q-tips.

Explain that the object of this game is to shoot your Q-tips at each other. Whoever has fewer Q-tips on their side when the timer goes off – wins.

Note: If the Q-tips are too puffy to fit inside the straw, just take the cotton off one side before you start to play.

Additional Oral Motor Activities

Gwen Wild wraps up our discussion on oral motor skills and input, “In addition to speech or occupational therapy to address the oral motor delay, there are many activities parents can engage their children in at home to facilitate the development of the oral motor muscles.” Below discover some of Wild’s suggestions taken from her BrainWorks program.

image: http://special-ism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Blowing-Bubbles-1c-300x300.jpg

The oral motor opportunities are endless. You can explore more ideas in 8 Fun Oral Sensory Activities to Improve Your Child’s Regulation. This resourceful article was picked up and featured in The Sensory Processing Anthology: A Comprehensive Guide for Parents and Caregivers of Sensational Kids.

Meet oral motor and oral sensory needs through dietary choices. Explore Pack a Lunch Loaded with Oral Sensory Input as well as Help Regulate Kids with Oral Sensory Snacks. Although these articles are designed to offer a sensory diet, many of the activities contained within offer wonderful exercises for oral motor development.

Read more at http://special-ism.com/oral-motor-games-children-young-old/#o8bmi0xImhF1cttP.99

Fun, Edible Oral Motor Exercises for Kids

Incorporating yummy treats into your oral motor therapy sessions is a great way to spark interest and increase attention. As long as there are no food allergies, the following goodies will sweeten your efforts to improve tongue elevation, tongue lateralization, oral awareness, lip closure, tongue strength, and much more.

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LOLLIPOPS

Most brands will do, but Dum Dums are my favorite. They’re not too big, not too small, but just the right size. And as you can see from the list of ideas and activities below – very versatile! I give my kids two flavor options and let them pick one to work with. Too many options can be overwhelming, but two choices is just enough to give them some control over the situation and to let them have a more active role in what we’re doing.

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You can use always use lollipops on their own. But for my kids who have sensory integration issues, I like to use the Z-Vibe with the Popette Tip for additional tactile and proprioceptive input. The Z-Vibe is a vibratory oral motor tool that helps increase focus and draw more attention to specific parts of the mouth, and the Popette Tip is an adapter that lets you use it with lollipops, Toothettes, or DentaSwabs.

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• For lip strength: have the child round his lips around the lollipop and squeeze. Repeat 3 times. To increase the difficulty, have him squeeze and hold for 3 seconds.

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• For lip extension: hold the lollipop just in front of the mouth. Have the child purse his lips to kiss the lollipop. Repeat 3-5 times.

• For lip movement and lip closure: hold the lollipop just in front of the lips and off to one side. Instruct the individual to purse the lips for a kiss, then slide the kiss over to touch the lollipop. Repeat on both sides 3 times.

• For tongue awareness: gently press the lollipop onto the surface of the tongue and release. Repeat 3 times.

• For tongue strength, gently press the lollipop onto the surface of the tongue. Instruct the child to push against the lollipop with his tongue for resistance. Repeat 3 times.

• For tongue movement: rub the lollipop around the lips so that they’re sticky. Have the child lick the taste off with his tongue (not the lips). This is a great way to get the tongue moving AND to practice removing food particles from the lips.

• For tongue lateralization: rub the lollipop in one corner of the mouth and then in the other. Have the child lick it off both corners and then repeat to get the tongue moving from side to side.

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• For tongue and jaw dissociation: have the child stick out his tongue to touch the lollipop (without touching the teeth or lips). Repeat twice more.

• For cheek awareness: rub the lollipop inside the cheek area on both sides.

• For cheek strength: put a lollipop in the cheek area. Instruct the child to tighten his cheek around it. Relax and repeat 3 times, then move to the other cheek.

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CHEERIOS

A must-have for my therapy sessions. I always have a zip-loc of cheerios in my speech bag. Candy Buttons also work well.

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• Place a cheerio on the tip of the tongue. Have the child touch the cheerio to his alveolar ridge (the roof of the mouth right behind the upper front teeth). Have him hold it there for as long as he can, working up to 30 seconds. The cheerio acts as a tactile cue and an incentive for tongue tip elevation.

• I like to use the Fine Tip with the Z-Vibe to make this easier – place a cheerio on the end of the Fine Tip and touch it to the alveolar ridge. Instruct the individual to hold it there with his tongue.

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• You can also place a cheerio on the back of the tongue as a tactile cue for back of the tongue elevation.

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PEANUT BUTTER

Peanut butter is a great reinforcer. You can also use anything sticky like nutella, marshmallow fluff, etc.

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• Put peanut butter on whatever speech tool you’re using to increase oral acceptance.

• For tongue strength, put a dab of peanut butter in the roof of the child’s mouth. Have him suck it off to really work the tongue.

• You can also put a dab of PB anywhere in the mouth – in the cheeks to practice food removal, on the alveolar ridge for tongue elevation, in the corners of the mouth for tongue lateralization, etc.

• Let the child lick the back of the spoon for tongue and jaw dissociation.

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LIQUIDS

• Drinking out of a straw is one of the BEST oral motor workouts you can do. If I have a child in therapy with low tone or tongue protrusion/thrust, the first thing I do is put them on straws (with a Lip Blok). Try drinking from a straw right now, paying attention to how it forces your tongue to retract, your cheeks to tighten, and your lips to close.

• To get the most out of drinking from a straw, use a Lip Blok to make sure the child isn’t biting on the straw for stability or putting the straw too far into the mouth. You want just a small portion inside the mouth for correct oral posture and to make the lips, tongue, and cheeks work harder. Check out the cheeks and lips really working in the picture above!

• To increase the difficulty, you can also use thicker liquids. Try milkshakes, juice mixed with applesauce, or any liquid thickened.

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EXTRA TIPS

• To build jaw strength, incorporate harder-to-chew foods into your child’s diet, such as carrots, celery, apples, chewy foods, etc. This is also an effective strategy for children who grind their teeth or bite their hands, knuckles, shirts, etc. But make sure that they’re fully chewing the food. Take a bite of whatever they’re eating and count how many chews it takes to completely break it down. Then count with them to help them get there.

• Dip any tools you’re using in cold drinks, slushies, etc. The cold helps increase attention.

• Don’t be afraid to get messy!

14 Drooling Tips for your Child With Special Needs

Drooling or dribbling – the unintentional loss of saliva from the mouth – can affect both children and adults with special needs. There may be a number of causes, including:

    • Abnormalities in swallowing
    • A reaction to medications which cause an increase in saliva
    • Difficulty moving saliva to the back of the throat
    • Tongue thrusting
    • Jaw instability
    • Inflammation of the mucous membranes of the mouth

Excessive drooling can have health and hygiene implications. The skin around the mouth, chin and neck can easily get red and sore, the loss of fluid can lead to dehydration, there may be problems with eating, and infections may be more easily transmitted.

The following tips have been contributed to Scope by parents of children and adults with special needs, who have experienced problems with dribbling. We hope you will find them useful, and please do share your own!

1. Blow kisses

Playing mouth games, like blowing raspberries or kisses, can help strengthen muscles and reduce drooling. Try blowing bubbles in the bath water with straws or have a competition to see how far you can both blow feathers, cotton wool balls or tissue paper.

2. Waterproof pillow cases

We buy waterproof pillowcases that we put underneath the children’s nice cases – still have to wash them all the time, but it saves their pillows.

3. Atrovent

Our doctor prescribes Atrovent nebules in my son’s nebuliser machines and that stops the dribbling. We used to go through about 6 bibs a day, now we’re down to 2.

4. Pineapple juice

Drinking pineapple juice is reported to reduce the amount of saliva produced, which can be helpful to people who have difficulties in coping with their oral secretions.

5. Instant neckerchief

If you care for someone who dribbles, get brightly colored flannels and sew a button to one corner and a loop of tape (name tapes work well) to the diagonally opposite corner. This makes a trendy neckerchief (folded diagonally) which is more age appropriate than a bib. Velcro is also useful and microfibre towels can be cut to size.

6. Surgery

There are various surgical procedures that help reduce drooling including turning the salivary glands towards the back of the mouth, so that saliva runs towards the back rather than the front of the mouth.

7. Use a straw

Encourage the use of a straw for drinking to strengthen the muscles of the lips, mouth and throat. An upright head position and straight posture is best as stooping encourages drooling

8. Swallow first

When Timmy was younger, I used to gently remind him to swallow before talking by pretending to be be a frog and doing a big gulp. It made him laugh so didn’t seem ‘naggy’. Now as an adult, its second nature to him to swallow before opening his mouth.

9. Scented lip balm

I always put a strong smelling lip balm on my daughter. I’m convinced it helps remind her to swallow her saliva

10. Nasal breathing

I found Ahmed drooled less at night if he used nasal strips. Breathing through his nose, not his mouth really helps

11. Encourage swallowing

A Speech & Language Therapist advised us to gently massage our daughter’s cheeks using a forefinger in a circular motion. This encourages her to swallow

12. Scopoderm /Hyoscine patches

There are patches available which can be cut up and worn behind the ear to help reduce excessive saliva. Ask your doctor about them. They don’t suit every patient but may be worth trying out

13. Make your own face wipe

Make your own bib/face wipe by sewing elastic onto a face cloth or – if you want it bigger – use a hand towel. You can pull it forward easily to wipe the person’s mouth, without pulling on their neck. You can also attach to a tennis sweat band to put it on their wrist for them to wipe their own mouth.

14. Techie tips

I have just ordered a Logitech Washable Keyboard K310, as my son destroys keyboards with drool. It’s a washable keyboard that is easy to clean and easy to dry because it’s submergible in up to 30 cm (12 inches) of water and has convenient drainage holes at the back. We also use a Griffin Defender case for his iPad and have found this to be the most drool resistant.