~OT Month~

This month our focus is... Occupational Therapy! If you haven't noticed, it is National Occupational Therapy Month and we want to share with you the ins and outs of OT and really give you an in-depth tour of what we are all about. We will check out a little bit of history, find out what we do and of course some activities to do with your young ones! To start us off, we might as well let you know what our role is in the school district. School occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants are key contributors to the education team. We support a student’s ability to participate in desired daily school activities or “occupations.” We support academic and non-academic outcomes, including social skills, math, reading and writing (i.e., literacy), behavior management, and more. We focus on the students’ strengths and can design and implement programming to improve inclusion and accessibility. Additionally, we play a critical role in educating parents, educators, administrators and other staff members. We offer services along a continuum of prevention, promotion, and interventions and serve individual students, groups of students, whole classrooms, and whole school initiatives. We collaborate within the education team to support student success. In this way, we can contribute to both general and special education.

Whew, and that was just the tip of the ice burg!

We will try to answer all your OT questions in this newsletter but if we happen to miss something please feel free to contact any of us, we are here to help (as our job description states)!

Dunkirk OT Team

A little bit of OT history

1917 OT founded

Back in 1917, three men and three women voted into existence a national OT association. (This was three years before women were allowed to vote in federal elections!)

1975 OT & Education

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142) specifically identifies occupational therapy as a related service in schools for students with disabilities. Florida and New York become the first states to pass state OT licensure laws.

1986 OT & Pre-school

New programs adopted: pre-school special education and related services, including occupational therapy, for ages 3–5 and early intervention services for infants and toddlers birth to age 3, in which occupational therapy is identified as a primary service.

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy is a health profession in which therapists and therapy assistants help individuals to do and engage in the specific activities that make up daily life. For children and youth in schools, occupational therapy works to ensure that a student can participate in the full breadth of school activities—from paying attention in class; concentrating on the task at hand; holding a pencil, musical instrument, or book in the easiest way; or just behaving appropriately in class.

What you can do at home.

Exercises

Mickey Mouse Ears: hold hands next to ears and open and close fingers, 10-15 times
Table push-up: lean on table or wall, bend elbows to bring face closer to surface and then push back up, 5-10 times.
Palm pushes: place palms together in front of chest and push hard against each other and hold for 15-20 seconds, repeat 2-3 times.
Palm pulls: link fingers and try to pull hands apart and hold for 15-20 seconds, repeat 2-3 times.
Making “O’s”: Touch each fingertip to thumb to make an “O” shape, hold it up so you can look through it, as your child gets stronger try to go faster through each finger, repeat 5 time Count to 10 on your fingers: make sure you raise only 1 finger at a time
Pencil jumping jacks - count to 3 with thumb, index, and middle finger then open and close just those 3 fingers 5-10 times, repeat 2-3 times

Fine Motor

Learn sign language letters
Pick up coins/marbles and drop them one by one into a jar
Pick up small objects with a clothespin
String small beads onto yarn or a pipe cleaner
Cutting – various shapes and sizes and types of paper
Tearing paper (can rip tissue paper, crumble it, and glue to paper to make a picture)
Squeezing a sponge to fill a bucket
Squeeze a stress ball Tying shoes or knots in a string
Playing games with small pieces (Trouble, Operation, Legos, Knex, Jenga, Topple)
Playdough
Finger painting

Popping bubble wrap
Reading a book on his/her stomach (strengthens triceps/shoulders/upper back – which supports posture too)
Coloring or drawing a picture with crayons and color some lightly and some with heavy pressure
Do origami
Play dot game or tic-tac-toe
Create a rice bucket and have your child search for objects hidden in it (pennies/dimes/quarters, paperclips, keys, eraser)
Card games, encourage your child to hold the cards in his/her hand the entire time (UNO, slapjack, Go Fish)
Create designs with a single hole-puncher
Play typing games online

Visual

Word search with age appropriate words (word wall words)
Mazes or crossword puzzles *you can make your own online*
Cutting
Cross out activities (you can use a work search for this word and give 1-2 letters to cross out very time he/her sees that letter)
Ball toss (with a person and tossing up in the air by themselves)
Dot-to-dot activities
Hidden Pictures
Copy designs with Legos or light-bright from model
Trace shapes with stencil
Pop bubbles
Draw pictures - look at a mirror or person to make sure all the body parts are there
Color pictures

Motor Planning

Simon Says
Twister
Wheelbarrow walking
Animal Walks
Monkey Bars
Yoga
Hopscotch
Dribbling/catching balls

Handwriting

Make chore lists
Write grocery lists
Keep a summer journal (don’t forget to draw pictures!)
Send postcards to friends/family on vacation
If you want to work on specific letters, I recommend going in the following order
- c, o, a, g, q, d (these are “magic c” letters! They all start by making the c motion first)
- l, t, h, b, k (these are “magic l” letters! They all start with a straight line down first)
- r, n, m, (“magic r” letters!)
- j, p, y plus review g, q (letters with tails below the line)
- v, w
- f, x, s, z, u, i, e

Handwriting Tips

Finger spaces between words
No floating letters (all letters should touch the bottom line)
Don’t press too hard or light (if difficult to erase fully – too heavy!)
Don’t hold too close to the tip of the pencil where you can’t see what you’re writing
Practice writing letters on various surfaces (carpet, wall, skywriting, shaving cream on a wall or kitchen counter)

Useful Websites

http://www.pts-inc.net/ (sensory, fine motor, gross motor, and more!)
www.pinterest.com (search fine motor play, handwriting, occupational therapy, visual motor)
www.worksheetfun.com (tracer sheets)
www.kidzone.ws (custom tracer pages – great for names!)
www.hwtears.com (worksheet maker, books you can order)
www.otplan.com (you can pick certain areas to work on and it lists craft and activity ideas based on supplies you want to use)
www.mamaot.com (helpful tips and ideas from a mother/OT)

IPad/ phone apps

iWrite words - handwriting
Flow Free - fine motor precision, visual tracking, visual motor skills
KanDo: Fine Motor Skills Measurement Too‪l‬ - fine motor
Tap the Frog – everything!
Letter School – handwriting
Homeschool Montessori learnin‪g - fine-motor/visual motor
Matrix game 1 - Visual discrimination
Memory Block (Simon) – attention, fine motor precision

Fun OT Activities

OT Tools to Grow

Occupational Therapy gives me the Tools to Grow. This FREE Craftivity includes written instructions, visual prompts, and a color/cut/paste worksheet that depicts 20 different activities frequently completed in Pediatric Occupational Therapy sessions.

ROCKING PAPER PLATE SNAIL CRAFT

This ROCKING PAPER PLATE SNAIL CRAFT is so fun! We love how bright and colorful it is with its pom pom spiral shell and googly eyes on stalks. Aren’t they just the cutest!

Coffee Filter Butterfly

This COFFEE FILTER BUTTERFLY is a fun craft idea that is a perfect for building fine motor skills. These little guys are a perfect opportunity to take some time to create something beautiful with friends and family.

Photo-A-Day Challenge

This Photo-a-Day Challenge is a great way to celebrate OT Month. This graphic includes the suggested theme for each day in our photo-a-day challenge.

Resources:

https://www.toolstogrowot.com/

https://mypts.com/

https://www.aota.org/