OT Newsletter January

Hello and welcome to our January newsletter!

We have a great tactile winter Penguin craft that children of all ages will love to make! This activity addresses a variety of skills including fine motor control, bilateral coordination, visual motor integration, visual perception, and sensory processing. We have also included a list of indoor and outdoor activities to keep your little ones busy during January.

We hope you enjoy this craftivity! Don’t forget to go out and play in the snow!

The Dunkirk OT department

This Penguin craft is designed to promote the following essential skills:

Fine Motor Skills

Strengthening through squeezing the glue and shaving cream
Dexterity - manipulating materials and tools

Scissor Skills - Cutting out shapes

Cutting with scissors involves the skill of hand separation, fine motor coordination, bilateral coordination, and eye-hand coordination.
Hand separation, a skill that is also required for handwriting, is when the thumb, index, and middle fingers separate from the rest of the hands.

Sensory Processing Skills - Puffy Paint

This activity allows a child the opportunity to explore and create with their fingers and hands.
The sensory skills addressed in this activity include:

Tactile- a variety of touch experiences

Proprioception- squeeze glue bottle & shaving cream

Other skills addressed in this activity include:

Following verbal & written directions
Tool use - bowls, pouring, mixing

Materials Required:

Penguin Print Out:

(Click here/ copy and paste into search bar: https://goo.gl/mvf3AE)

Puffy Paint Recipe (also below)

White liquid glue

Shaving Cream

Glue Stick

Scissors
Googly eyes

Pipe Cleaner
2 Large red pom pom or red ovals cut from Construction Paper for ear muffs
1” diamond cut from Orange Construction Paper folded in half for beak

Small bowl

Paint brush or tool (if child does not tolerate puffy paint with fingers)

Printable link here:

https://goo.gl/mvf3AE

Preparation:

Print out Penguin Picture on cardstock or heavy paper.
Glue beak, eyes and pom poms to penguins head.
Connect the ear muffs together with a pipe cleaner.
Create Puffy Paint and paint the penguins belly:

You will need:

1 cup white shaving cream
½ cup of white liquid glue
Small bowl

Directions:

Mix the shaving cream and glue together in a bowl
If the mixture appears to “thin”, add more glue to make it “stiffer”.
Using fingers (or stick/tool), place mixture on top of tummy to make the penguins tummy.
Dab it to make it “puffy”.
Once painted, projects will require several hours to dry.