Category Archives: 11. Guest Posts

Tips for teaching kids time management, planning, and organization (aka- executive function skills)

Posted on by
2

Mama OT is excited to welcome back guest blogger Abby Brayton-Chung! Abby is a pediatric OT who wrote a post for us last summer called “Five Things Your School OT Wishes You Would Do This Summer“. Today she is here to talk about something OTs call “executive functioning” which includes, among other things, the ability to manage time, plan, and organize. She spent much of the month of March addressing these types of skills on her OT blog, and she has agreed to condense all those posts into one so you can learn some really great tips. Be sure to click on the hyperlinks in order to read her individual posts with more details on each suggestion she provides. They are REALLY helpful.

. . . . .

What are executive function skills?

Executive function skills are cognitive skills that are used to execute a task. It takes several executive skills to execute a single task. For example, getting dressed for school involves planning ahead for the weather, beginning and completing  the task in a timely manner, managing emotions about wanting (or not wanting) to go to school, and maintaining attention to complete the task.

Executive function skills begin to develop in infancy and continue developing all the way into adulthood! Executive function skills take a long time to fully develop, so it is important to provide children with a solid foundation along the way.

Executive function skills help children complete chores and homework, save money for a desired toy, follow rules, and keep track of belongings. Signs that your child might be having difficulty with executive function skills include: difficulty planning school projects and/or estimating how long it will take to complete a project, difficulty telling details of a story in a sequential manner, or difficulty remember information while doing something.

There are a number of executive function skills, which are described in more detail here. Today I’m going to focus on the following areas that parents commonly identify as areas of difficulty for their children: (1) time management, (2) planning, and (3) organization.

Tips for developing executive function skills in children:

(1) Time management. Time management is the ability to estimate how much time one has and how to use that time to complete a task.

To teach the passage of time, I like to use a dry erase marker to color on the face of a clock, like this (read more about this strategy by clicking here):

EF 6

This method allows your child to visualize the time remaining, as well as to check in at the halfway point. Some questions to ask at the halfway point:

Am I halfway done with the work?

Am I still focused on the goal?

Is anything robbing my time (e.g. distractions)?

Do I need to move at a faster or slower pace?

(2) Planning. Planning is the ability to create and follow a plan to complete a task.

To help children plan out their homework, teach them to become a future sketcher (read more about that here). If your child has a homework assignment, first ask, “What will it look like?”

For example, what would the following assignment look like?

Using a two column note, write the definition of each vocabulary word and draw a picture to illustrate the definition of your vocabulary word.

It might look something like this when it is completed:

EF 1

By teaching your child to sketch out what an assignment will look like when it is completed, it allows your child to identify where to start, what components are needed, and what the assignment will look like when it is finished. This all leads to more independent completion of homework!

For long-term planning, post-it note calendars can be useful for students to visualize when different assignments are due, as well as to help with breaking assignments down into manageable chunks (read more here). This can help you and your student avoid the last minute scramble of discovering the science project is due tomorrow!

(3) Organization. Organization is the ability to keep track of information and materials.

Students often fall into one of three organizational styles: visual, spatial, or sequential (read more here). Setting up a Get Ready-Do-Done workspace can help with both organization and planning for all three organization types (read more here).

EF 2

Using colored visuals to set up and organize the study space allows children to plan for all of the supplies they need to complete their homework and to work more independently.

EF 3

In addition to setting up a study space for your child, a simple homework folder can help keep your student organized and help to remember to turn in homework (read more here).

EF 4

Any homework that needs to be turned in should go into the homework side of the folder. When the teacher asks for the homework, your student will know exactly where to look! Your child may initially need assistance making sure all of the homework gets into the folder at night.

Speaking of organization, does your child have trouble getting out the door in the morning with all of his or her belongings? Try taking a photo of your child ready for school and then placing the photo in a luggage tag on his or her backpack. Now your child has a visual to refer to when getting ready for school! This works well for soccer practice (or any other sports practice) as well!

Check out the following blog for more tips on teaching kids executive function skills:
1. Engaging Minds:Tools for Learning, Skills for Life

And I highly recommend these books if you are looking for additional tools to help with executive function skills in kids:
1. Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents, 2nd Edition, by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare
2. Organizing the Disorganized Child: Simple Strategies to Succeed in School, by Martin L. Kutscher and Marcella Moran

I hope you find these tips helpful for teaching your child skills to not only be successful in school, but to also be successful in life!

. . . . .

Abby Brayton-ChungAbby Brayton-Chung, MS, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist with 6 years of experience evaluating and treating children ages birth to eighteen. She has experience working in early intervention, school-based, and clinic-based settings. Abby currently works at a private school in the Boston area serving students with language based learning disabilities. Abby blogs about her experiences as an OT at www.abbypediatricot.blogspot.com.

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links. That means if you click on the link and end up buying something, a small percentage of that purchase will help Mama OT buy more diapers (at no additional cost to you)! 

BufferShare via email

Handwriting mastery begins before the introduction of a pencil!

Posted on by
5

Please welcome Mama OT’s newest guest blogger, Katherine Collmer! Katherine is an occupational therapist and blogger who is passionate and knowledgeable about everything handwriting. She is here today to talk about the important yet often overlooked foundations of handwriting that are learned through play from the day a child is born. These foundations set children up for later handwriting success. Read on to learn more!

. . . . .

Hello, everyone! I am thrilled to be a guest blogger on Christie’s awesome site, Mama OT! It is an honor to have been included among the impressive authors and offerings you can find here.

Let me start by asking the question, “Why do we care about handwriting?”

Little Pencil free creative commonsPhoto credit: D Sharon Pruitt

The teaching of handwriting has been the topic of many blogs, conversations, educational debates and professional forums. Why bother? Aren’t the “hard” subjects like math and the sciences, as well as the foundational ones like reading and spelling, more worthy of a teacher’s time? Yes, these subjects certainly do warrant a place of priority in our children’s education. And, as we all know, reading is the basic skill upon which all others are built. It is at the heart of education.

However, it is important to note that handwriting and reading utilize the same skills for mastery, one of which is letter recognition. Visual memory and perception are the underlying skills required for letter recognition. The ability to automatically recall the formation of letters from memory without conscious thought allows the writer to copy and create content. But comprehension — of what we both read and write — cannot occur without an efficient working memory. Working memory is what we use to store information while we transfer it to paper or speech, or as we read a story. Working memory has limitations, however, that can get in the way when it comes to handwriting. Since it can only hold about 7 pieces of information (letters or words) for about 10 seconds or so at a time, a child can lose what he’s stored if he needs to spend extra time sounding out letters or digging deep to remember what they look like.

In that light, you might be interested to hear that studies have shown that children who are doing well with handwriting skills and letter recognition in pre-kindergarten achieve B averages in 2nd grade math and reading – while those children who did not perform well, attained C averages in 2nd grade. I will leave you with that food for thought as we journey through the developmental steps that lead to the mastery of handwriting.

From infancy forward, as children progress through the developmental stages, they are learning about parts and how they can manipulate them to make a whole. The letters of the alphabet are simply parts that make a whole. They are not learned as a single entity but as pieces that connect together to make them a letter. Babies and toddlers use their vision to guide their hands in the manipulation of shapes and forms, mentally sorting and labeling them. Letters are simply shapes and forms. As a child perceives the concepts of “separate” and “whole,” and as she experiments with shapes and sizes, she is developing her working memory skills. She collects information, stores it in her brain, and brings it back into her working memory once again as she repeatedly tries her hand at pulling things in and out, apart and together. As a child discovers the capabilities of her arms, hands and fingers, as well as the larger muscles of her body, she is getting ready for handwriting. And she does this all through PLAY!

PLAY PROVIDES THE FOUR BASIC COMPONENTS FOR THE MASTERY OF HANDWRITING:  Movement, Sensory, Vision, and Cognition. Although vision is actually one of our senses, I set it apart because it is the piece that works to make sense of the information that is gathered by all of our other senses. With that said, it is difficult to separate these four elements from each other since they are so intertwined. So, we will discuss them as pieces that fit together to make a “whole!”

baby girl in crib with hand to face1. Movement is a key component of a child’s learning. From the moment of birth, movement begins the child’s journey through her developmental stages. It connects the baby to the world around her. Playing with her arms and legs introduces her to bilateral integration, helping her to discover that she has two sides and that they can work alone or together. Babies are stimulated by light and sound, turning their heads toward you when you talk or at a mobile as it plays music. Tummy time offers opportunities to work on their visual skills as they push up and look out and around the room. Rolling over and crawling help them to experiment with their bodies and bilateral coordination.

Movement challenges children to “know where their body is”. Body awareness is simply our body map. It tells us where our head is, our arms are, and if we are vertical or horizontal. We can identify our position in space even if our eyes are closed. At the very epicenter of movement is the brain, activating neurons that link itself to the body parts that we want to move. As we move, the brain is gathering, analyzing, adapting and storing information. And all of this information is what we use to develop an accurate body map. And body awareness is one of the key facets in efficient handwriting skills!

Infant Playing2. Sensory processing that is accurate is also developed through movement activities. As I continue to emphasize the vital role that body awareness plays in a child’s success with handwriting (and just about every other educational endeavor), it is important to recognize the importance of accurate sensory processing. The information we receive through our ears, eyes, skin, joints, and muscles provides us with the ability to regulate our movements, recognize pressure and position our bodies.

Babies and toddlers most often seek out movement. As they turn their heads, roll over, push up and eventually pull themselves onto their feet, they are collecting information from all of their senses. They organize it and analyze it in order to use it again to produce and modify their movement strategies. The simple act of feeding – moving the mouth, tongue, and lips – facilitates the essential skill of feeding by offering opportunities to manipulate and experiment with their mouths. Lots of movement provides lots of opportunities to experience sensory input!

Girl Playing With Building Blocks3. Vision has been described as our most far-reaching sense. All of the collecting, organizing, analyzing, and storing a child performs during her movement adventures are done via her visual system. Although we think of our vision as simply being our eyesight, it is actually a much more complex system. 

Vision is a movement pattern (there’s that word again!). It is learned, the same as walking is learned, while we develop our motor skills. It helps us to make sense of those things that we cannot understand with our other senses (such as depth, distance, some of the balance piece and perceptions). It provides the foundation of information from which we can see the world as a whole, allowing us to organize and manipulate space.

As a child develops her motor skills, she begins to understand concepts such as up, down, behind, over and under. She figures out how things connect and go together. Visual processing skills provide insight into perspective, likenesses and differences, spatial relationships and how to use the both sides of our body – alone or together – as we develop our fine and gross motor coordination.

Healthy Snack4. Cognition by definition is the “mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience and the senses”. Cognition is the culmination of putting movement, the senses, and vision to work. It is the process by which we initiate, produce, modify and reproduce our movements. Once again, an accurate body map plays a key role in the development of accurate movement patterns. From sucking on a bottle to shaking a rattle to scribbling with a crayon, the ability to know where our body parts are and how they work give the brain accurate information from which to make decisions. It can determine the amount of pressure to put on a pencil, the direction in which to draw a letter and the space that is needed between words. Movement makes it happen.

A child’s journey through the stages that develop movement patterns, sensory processing skills, vision skills, and cognitive skills introduces her to opportunities to develop fine motor grasping patterns, trunk control, balance skills, and visual-motor proficiency. As she plays — from infancy through kindergarten — she is experimenting with holding a rattle, a cube, a ball, a crayon, and a pencil. She is making her mark on chalkboards, papers, in shaving cream and, most likely, on the walls! She is finding ways to communicate with us through handwriting…and in the process she is developing the cognitive skills she will need to learn her letters and read and write.

I hope that I have piqued your interest in handwriting mastery and the thrill of learning it through play! Thank you for reading and I look forward to your comments and feedback!

. . . . .

Key West 2010 Driving the CorvetteKatherine Collmer, M.Ed., OTR/L, is a pediatric occupational therapist who is hopelessly in love with handwriting! She owns and operates a small clinic that specializes in just that, where she brings fun, movement, and play into the mix. She currently lives on Cape Cod, in Sandwich, MA, USA, and is kooky when it comes to walking her Welsh Pembroke Corgi, Ron, along the beach. Of course, she is even kookier when it comes to her husband, John, as they travel across the US looking for adventure! She enjoys reading mystery novels (especially the British ones) and writing her long-winded blogs. Cross-stitch is high on her list of relaxing activities, right before playing games on her iPad!

Find out more about Katherine and her passion for handwriting at www.handwritingwithkatherine.com.

BufferShare via email

An Appreciation of Occupational Therapists {Guest Post}

Posted on by
4

Please join me in welcoming Melissa Castino Reid as MamaOT’s newest guest blogger. When Melissa first shared her daughter Rachel’s story with me several months ago, I was moved beyond words. I signed up to join her “Bus of Hope” and have been following their journey ever since. I hope her story, struggle, and triumph will inspire, inform, and move you the way it has me.

. . . . .

In the summer of 2011, my beautiful, healthy daughter, Rachel, suffered a pair of strokes thanks to E. Coli at the tender age of four and a half. In order to walk, talk, and recapture her gross and fine motor skills once more, rehabilitation therapy has been a part of our new normal. In our journey as a family, a few things are quite clear: the parents and therapists are advocates, and we must work together actively and honestly if we hope to see our patient thrive and achieve comprehensive progress.

After the strokes hit, and Rachel’s condition stabilized, we moved from Children’s Hospital to Gillette Rehabilitation Center, located inside Regions Hospital in St. Paul, MN. I had never witnessed therapists first hand. They can be a unique brand of ingenuity, intellect, and inspiration. And most therapists who work with children know that fun has to be central to what is done in the sessions. I have a deep respect for Rachel’s main occupational therapists Lisa, Karen, and Leah. They have been powerfully instrumental in aiding Rachel in her recovery process.

The strokes left tremendous tone (spasticity) in both arms. I had no notion of what we had to do to get my daughter’s arms and hands working again. I’m sure I thought that a simple surgery would “make it all better.” Instead, I met Rachel’s first occupational therapist, Lisa, within the first week of living at Gillette. With her wide smile, blond hair, and twinkling eyes, she wanted Rachel to do one thing: push a button. That’s all. She accomplished this goal in about a month. Lisa also helped Rachel work on trunk control as she got her to lean on a bench, getting her hands to open and close as she played with shaving cream. From the start, all the therapists noted how hard Rachel worked, but like everything, she had good days and bad.

Stroke or traumatic brain injury recovery is laborious for the patient, but it’s not exactly easy for the family either. I always remember the joy I felt when I watched Rachel attain a goal, but I also won’t soon forget the fear that welled up inside if I didn’t see progress. One day, Rachel wasn’t pushing that button at all, and I had to step away and find a corner of the gym to let the tears fall. Lisa watched me walk away, carried on with Rachel as if nothing was wrong, and smiled at both of us with encouragement. I just wanted my healthy kid back so badly.

Lisa comforted me when the session was over. She and other therapists made it clear to me that I couldn’t measure success in increments of days. I had to widen the length to weeks, if not months. As a parent, standing at the bottom of grief’s mountain, I surely didn’t want to accept this. It meant that I had to be more patient than I already was. Guess what? My patience was shaky after nearly losing her.

But I needed these therapists on my side, so I listened to every word they said, sometimes smiling, sometimes crying. Another occupational therapist, Karen, was listening to my take on Rachel’s recovery, as I was learning how to gauge success, and she told me another thing I didn’t want to consider at the time: take pictures. My daughter’s face was so vacant since the strokes, so taking pictures was the last thing on my list. But over time, my cell phone camera captured the light returning in her eyes, ever slowly. With these pictures, I now have a way of measuring how much progress Rachel has made, trading shade for sunlit possibilities for my girl’s future.

After spending four months living inside a hospital, we left Gillette Rehabilitation Center in October of 2011. At that point in her recovery, her legs were moving just a bit, she verbalized here and there, but no words, and both her arms were tight and spastic, with her hands quite fisted. We were discharged to Gillette’s outpatient clinic in Minnetonka, and the slow recovery continued. Enter Leah, our new OT gal.

Leah was new on the scene, recently hired on. With her thin frame, long brown hair, and almond eyes, she is very comfortable in her surroundings for such a newbie. And while she’s young, I must confess she’s wiser than most her age. She took on Rachel with all her knowledge, all her curiosity, and all her Midwestern heart. We started where Lisa and Karen left off, helping Rachel to learn how to move the arms and hands to perform tasks. I shall never forget a moment with Leah early on where I was flexing my newly-formed advocate muscles.

We were talking about goals for Rachel, and at the beginning of our transition to Minnetonka, I was sensing this hesitation to push my daughter. In retrospect, all the therapists were probably trying to plot out a plan of action as they sized up their newest kiddo. So Leah asked me questions about specifics, and I think I was getting a little impatient because I was spitting out my answers.

“So what is your hope with this therapy? What do you expect?” Leah asked, looking at me directly.

“I expect a full recovery,” I said, with my palms up. “Yeah, a full recovery.” The silence after only punctuated the pull of war between us. I’m a hopeful parent; she’s a well-schooled, new employee, navigating the uncertain waters of this patient’s future. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Or isn’t that what this is about?

After that conversation, all the therapists seemed to fall into sync, and Rachel’s recovery continued to take root in the new locale. Did that happen because I spoke truthfully and clearly what I wanted? Maybe. Or was this falling-into-rhythm thing going to happen in any case? Perhaps.

As parents of kids who require therapy, we must be clear in our expectations without being overbearing. And I’ve learned that therapists and parents must be honest about what we see in the present and the future. I’m sure that Leah swallows hard when I say to her, “I want Rachel to play baseball again with me,” smiling still as she taps it into her laptop. I have learned to be (more) patient, but I also never stop asking questions, halting a conversation with my raised hand, asking for clarity. As a result, I am able to create goals with their knowledge in my head, using it as a guide.

Currently, the left arm is almost fully functional. For now, the goal in occupational therapy is to put the left hand to work while engaging the (spastic) right hand whenever possible. For example, we are getting Rachel to use the left hand to hold and make marks with crayons and markers, feed herself with forks and spoons, and navigate her speech tablet. We ask Rachel to stretch out the right arm multiple times throughout the day. I (or my mom or my husband) often reach for her right hand and extend it fully, holding it for five to ten seconds. Sometimes, I will crank it like it is a well, asking if water will come out of her armpits. This gets a big laugh.

Another thing I’ve done is gone back to playing board games with Rachel. I had trouble with doing it at first. Again, I wanted the full, healthy girl to move her own game pieces, but she isn’t quite ready to do this yet. One of the therapists along the way suggested that I move the game pieces for her, still playing the game. I wonder if I wallowed in my sadness too long, sometimes, but then I just look at Rachel and say, “Wanna play Candy Land?” A big smile spreads across her face like a bursting sunrise. Lately, she is able to pick out her own game piece and place it at the start of the game. She can point at the gumdrop and candy cane on the board. All of this points to progress.

As we begin the new year, I can’t help but dream about the warmth of summer, picnics with Rachel, and a game of catch with a whiffle ball. Better yet, I can’t wait to go on walks, holding her hand as we stroll. My dreams may not come true as soon as I want them to, but therapists like Lisa, Karen, and Leah have taught me the virtues of patience and new measurements of progress.

If Rachel continues on this path with our help as parents and therapists, I believe a full recovery is possible.

. . . . .

"An Appreciation of Occupational Therapists". One mother's perspective on OT after her four-year-old daughter suffered two strokes and has been working hard toward recovery ever since. Melissa Castino Reid is a community college English teacher, mother, wife, and writer. She has written for the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, Minnesota English Journal, and Hearing Magazine. She keeps an online journal about her daughter’s recovery from stroke called the Bus of Hope. In her spare time, she loves to read, spend time with family, and go for walks. Her new addiction is running and sugar free Red Bull. If you would like to read more about Rachel’s recovery, read Melissa’s blog at www.busofhope.org or send her an email at mcastino@hotmail.com and ask to be placed on the Bus of Hope. 

BufferShare via email

5 safe aerobic exercises for pregnant women {Guest Post}

Posted on by
6

Pregnant

I am happy to introduce MamaOT’s newest guest blogger, Katie Moore. Katie is a mom who loves to blog about all things “mommy” and today she is here to share some tips for engaging in aerobic exercise during pregnancy.

. . . . .

When a woman becomes pregnant she often becomes more conscientious about her health and the health of her developing baby. Exercise is a great way to enhance both mental and physical health during pregnancy because it increases cardiovascular circulation and produces “feel good” hormones (Dopamine and Serotonin).

Bringing a life into this world is a serious enterprise, and what a woman does during pregnancy can have a significant impact on her baby’s health. Exercising regularly can benefit not only the health of a pregnant woman but also the health of her unborn baby and, when combined with eating nutritious meals and getting plenty of rest, will help give her and her baby the best chances of a healthy delivery.

It’s important for a pregnant woman to speak with her doctor about what exercise is best for her. Doctors are the best resource for information and it is normal to ask them questions about pregnancy- and delivery-related topics like exercise, diet, pain management medicine, cord blood banking, and even circumcision.

Aerobic exercises were a great way for me to stay in good physical health while pregnant. However, these exercises are also beneficial to the health of a woman both before becoming pregnant and after the delivery of her baby. While every pregnant woman should talk to her doctor before beginning any exercise program (especially if you have a special health circumstance), there are many types of exercises that are generally considered to be safe during pregnancy. Be sure to keep tabs on how much you are exerting yourself and check with your doctor to find out what advice he or she gives for keeping a safe max heart rate.

That being said, here are five safe aerobic exercises for pregnant women:

1 • Step stool aerobics. Step stool aerobics can provide an easy workout. Use a wide, sturdy, four-inch high step stool, and step up and down for about fifteen minutes, at least once a day. Do this at a moderate pace and be sure to maintain good balance. A few months after my baby was born, I raised the stool to a higher level, increased my pace, and prolonged the amount of minutes.

2 • Elliptical. This equipment can be purchased to use at home or can be found at the nearest fitness center. This provided an excellent aerobic and cardio workout without impacting my joints. My advice, start slowly and increase the minutes gradually. 

3 • Swimming. Swimming pools offer a fun and easy way to get an aerobic workout. Since the water offers resistance to body movements, many types of exercises can be performed, aside from simply swimming. Try standing in a corner of the pool, with both arms providing support on the ledge, and exercise your legs by pretending to ride a bicycle or hold both legs together and do a mermaid paddle. Doing the breaststroke will exercise both the arms and the legs. Thirty minutes to an hour a day will do wonders for improving mental health, as well as physical health.

Swimming was one of my favorite exercises to engage in when I was pregnant because it brought back childhood memories of all those summers I spent swimming in my grandparents’ pool with all my cousins when I was very little. And not only that, it also made me look forward to creating memories like those with my daughter after she was born (not to mention I was getting exercise!).

4 • Stationary bike. A stationary bike is a great way to get a good workout, regardless of the weather. I liked to set up my stationary bike in front of a television to watch movies or my favorite TV program, and it made the time go faster. As with all exercises, start slowly and gradually increase the resistance on the pedals.

5 • Walking. Walking is viewed by many as being one of the easiest exercises to engage in while pregnant. However, the jostling encountered can be hard on some people’s knees. Putting on a good pair of walking shoes can minimize this problem. Walking on a pretty day used to always lift my spirits. You can invite other people to walk with you to make it a little more fun, and you can even get the dog in on the act!

Walking was also one of my favorite exercises, both before and after I gave birth. Before delivery my husband would go walking with me. This was something we really hadn’t done and it gave us an activity to do together. After I gave birth, walking was the easiest exercise for me to do. I started gradually but now I enjoy going for long walks with by daughter in her stroller. We enjoy going just the two of us, but grandma likes to join, too!

With all of the options out there and with the advice your doctor gives you for aerobic exercise while pregnant, do what makes you feel the best. Start your pregnancy off right and have fun with it!

 . . . . .

Katie Moore is an active blogger who discusses the topics of motherhood, children, fitness, health and all other things Mommy. She enjoys writing, blogging, and meeting new people! To connect with Katie you can contact her via her blog, Moore From Katie, or follow her on Twitter, @moorekm26.

BufferShare via email

How to Bring “Big Body Play” Into a Kid’s School Day {Guest Post}

Posted on by
5

Ring around the Rosies

MamaOT is pleased to welcome its newest guest blogger, Jarrod Green. Jarrod is an early childhood development and behavior specialist, and he’s all about understanding how play and sensory-motor experiences impact kids’ learning, behavior, and overall development. He’s getting ready to speak at the 2012 conference for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) this November, so I’m very honored that he is here to share some of his insights with us!

. . . . .

Many teachers and parents think of outside time as a chance for kids to “burn off some energy” or “get their wiggles out.” But those phrases overlook the benefits children get from active, energetic play.

“Big body play”- play that involves actively and energetically using your whole body – isn’t just something you let kids do so they can concentrate on learning afterwards. Big body play is a treasure-trove of learning experiences in and of itself.

In big body play, children learn to…

  • control their bodies, their senses, and their feelings;
  • cooperate with peers, and take responsibility for themselves;
  • recover from physical (and emotional) bumps and scrapes; and
  • stretch their brains by taking risks and trying new things.

It’s easy to talk about “burning off energy”: after active play children tend to be calmer and better-regulated for awhile. But “burn off energy” is a negative phrase, because it implies that physical energy is a bad thing that needs to be disposed of.

Instead, think for a moment about food. All kids need to eat. Some kids need to eat a lot, some only eat a little. Some kids like lots of different foods, some only like a few. Some do better when they snack through the day, some eat just a few big meals. But nobody can do good work when they’re hungry, and if you don’t get enough food (or the food that’s right for your body) you’ll be grumpy and fidgety and distracted. The same is true of big body play. Kids may have different needs in terms of quantity and type and frequency of active play, but all kids need SOME active play. Finding the right big body play “diet” will help each child be healthy, happy, and self-regulated.

Some children are naturally inclined to run and climb, and don’t need input from adults. But many children benefit from access to a wide variety of options for big body play (so that they can choose what fits them) and the support of an involved adult (so they can feel comfortable taking risks).

Here are some creative big body play activities that an adult can play with groups of children or individuals:

1. Crash Mat. One of the all-time biggest hits. Fold up a tumbling mat and stand it on end. One at a time children run as fast as they can and slam their bodies into the mat, knocking it to the ground with a terrific bang! To add some variation, you can call out body parts (“Hit it with your head!”) or styles (“Run backwards!”).
*Pro-tip: 4 and 5 year olds may be able to stand in line; younger children may just need a clearly-defined area to stand in. A second adult can help regulate the kids who are waiting, if the group is large. The group will ALWAYS be large.

2. Tiger Stripe Races. For a game that takes less effort for the adult, grab one black marker and one orange one (washable, please), and find yourself a nice open place to sit. Any child who runs all the way around, say, the whole climbing structure gets a stripe on their arm. (Roaring is optional.) Occasional calls of “Faster, tigers!” will keep everyone moving. Some kids will do so many laps, there’ll be no more room on their arms!
*Pro-tip: It’s easiest to give a black and orange stripe simultaneously by just holding both markers side-by-side. It’s easiest to give the stripes at all if kids are wearing short sleeves.

3. Tickle Tree. “I am the tickle tree! If you come near, I will tickle you, with my tickling leaves, and my tickling branches!” Kids will gigglingly zoom by as you reach your waving arms to tickle. It’s like tag, but you don’t have to run! And it’s a great one for self-regulation: if children don’t want to be tickled, they just don’t come within arm’s reach.
*Pro-tip: Choose your spot strategically. If you plant yourself (pun intended) in an open space, kids will just gather in a ring around you, which is no fun. Choose a narrow passage somewhere, with just enough clearance for kids to scoot by out of your reach. They’ll run by every time.

4. Rope Games. The classic, of course, is Tug-o-War. You can get a bunch of children on each side, but it works surprisingly well to have a teacher on one side and all the kids on the other. Calling something like, “Don’t you pull me to the fence! I’m gonna pull you all to the slide!” will help them stay organized. Younger children (2’s and 3’s) have a hard time pulling in the same direction as each other, so for them it works well to tie one end somewhere solid. You hold the other end, and the kids hang on in the middle and pull every which-way. I like to shake the rope while shouting, “You kids you! You give me back my rope!” Be careful not to let the rope get too close to the ground—any kids who get on top can get flipped off it. Ropes can also be used to climb up slides, to haul heavy things (see below), and to construct ad hoc swings.
*Pro-tip: A long, cotton-fiber rope is the most versatile and comfortable to use with children. Synthetic-fiber climbing ropes are excellent, but expensive. Hemp-fiber ropes are a good sensory experience, but difficult to tie knots in. Don’t use cheap plastic ropes from the hardware store; they can injure hands.

5. Newspaper Crash. You know how the superhero The Hulk just smashes straight through walls? You can give kids that sense of power too! Two adults hold a sheet of newspaper tight like a wall, and kids take turns running straight through it! It’s a little scary the first time or two, but soon they realize it feels AMAZING. Of course, at the end of the game you’ll have accumulated a huge pile of torn up paper. Give the kids one minute to make newspaper balls, and then everyone gets to throw them at each other! Finally, bring out a trash-can and have everyone play newspaper basketball until you’re all cleaned up.
*Pro-tip: You’ll go through newspaper faster than you can believe. Lay all the sheets out flat before you begin, and start with a pile that strikes you as absurdly large.

6. “Hard Labor.” It surprises many people, but children love to work. Really! The trick is, the work has to be actually hard, and it has to actually be helpful. The easiest way is to give them heavy things to carry. Have the kids carry all the books you own outside for a “reading picnic,” then carry them all back in when you’re done. Have them fill buckets of water and carry them around to water all the trees and bushes. Have them carry gallons of milk from the car to the kitchen. Have them move large rocks or tree-stumps or tires to a new configuration on the playground. Once I asked the five-year-olds to move an adult-sized punching bag from one classroom to another; it took six of them fifteen minutes, but man did they feel good when they were done!
*Pro-tip: Success here relies on the children’s perception of the usefulness of their work. Don’t try to fool them with fake jobs—it’ll backfire! Find opportunities for genuine help, and then show them genuine gratitude.

7. Ring Around the Rosie. There’s nothing wrong with the classics! This one involves surprisingly sophisticated coordination: walking sideways, holding hands, matching timing with other children. But the falling down and the camaraderie are so fun that everyone stays motivated.
*Pro-tip: Do you know the second half? “The cows are in the meadow/Eating buttercups/Ashes, ashes/We all jump UP!”

8. Steamroller. Have all the kids lay down on their tummies side-by-side, as close together as they can. Then help the child on the end roll sideways right over the top of everyone else, smooshing them all underneath. Repeat with each child down the line. This is a great one for kids who want that physical touch with other children, but lack the social skills to pull it off (think of that child who is always hugging kids who don’t want to be hugged).
*Pro-tip: None! It’s as easy as it sounds!

9. Go Away Come Back! A child is sitting in your lap. “Go away, you!” you say. They stand up and take a step away. You pull them back to your lap, shouting, “No, come back, come back!” Repeat until you’re sick of it. This game is, needless to say, hilarious.
*Pro-tip: This is a great game for children to learn the intricacies of social interactions and irony in verbal communication. To help, make sure you are explicit about when you are and are not playing. Use an exaggerated voice when the game is going on, and give a clear “One more time and then we’re stopping” before you finish.

10. Jiggles. Have a child stand facing you, hold them with one hand under each armpit, and jiggle them forward and back as fast as you can. Start with brief, gentle jiggles, and ask if you should jiggle harder or longer—kids will tell you exactly what the right level is for them.
*Pro-tip: This works best at about three years old. With younger children you have to be more careful of injuring them; older children are too big to jiggle without wearing yourself out!

11. The Knock-Down Mat. For advanced players only! “This is the knock-down mat! If you come on the mat, I will knock you down!” Pretty self-explanatory. Don’t worry, you’re not body-slamming kids. You’ll naturally modulate it for each child—some you can bump pretty hard; others you’ll almost hold their torso and lay them down—depending on their needs. It’s a great activity for self-regulation—if they don’t want to be knocked down, they simply step off the mat. But some really DO want to be knocked down, and will come back over and over.
*Pro-tip: Make it clear that this is not wrestling—the grown-up is the only one knocking people down. Also, you probably want to limit the number of kids who can play at a time, until you get comfortable regulating their falls.

Good preschool teachers know that outside time isn’t recess, and it isn’t a time for teachers to stop attending to children. Use creative big body play as an opportunity for learning and interaction, and you and the children will both get the most out of it!

. . . . .

Jarrod Green is a child development and behavior specialist who consults with parents and teachers of young children in the Philadelphia area. He taught preschool for many years, most recently as head teacher in a 2′s and 3′s classroom at Temple Sinai Preschool in Oakland, CA.

In his spare time, Jarrod enjoys cooking exciting foods, training his dog to do silly things, and hosting raucous sing-a-longs with his piano and guitar and ukulele. For more about his professional practice, check out http://jarrodgreen.net

BufferShare via email

22 Questions to Always Ask a Potential Babysitter {Guest Post}

Posted on by
6

I am pleased to welcome Hannah Munson as MamaOT’s newest guest blogger! Because we parents need a break from our kids every once in a while, it’s important to have a good babysitter or two (or three!) lined up. So today Hannah is going to share some of the most important questions to ask a potential babysitter in order to make the best decision about who will watch the munchkin(s) when you need some kid-free time.

. . . . . 

Female Teenager

Hiring a new babysitter can be a daunting task, and since you’re going to be leaving your child with a potential stranger, you definitely don’t want to hire the wrong person! Since there are hundreds of babysitters lurking in your area waiting for a job, you may soon find that you have a handful of applicants in front of you that want to watch your children. Before you hire one, though, it’s important to know how you can choose the best one to put your mind at rest.

To help make the process easier, you need to act like the boss and treat this like a business. By asking the right questions, you’re bound to find the right candidate. With that being said, here are 22 questions to ask a potential babysitter:

#1 What are your hours? How often are you going to be available? It’s always best to find a babysitter that is going to be open to all hours.  That way, if you need them in an emergency, they will be readily available.

#2 How many kids are you comfortable with watching?  How many have you watched in the past? If you have more than three kids, it’s best to find someone that has worked with the amount of kids that you have.

#3 Aside from babysitting, are you comfortable with doing anything else such as cleaning, making dinner and picking them up? The more chores the babysitter is able to do, the less stressed you can be when you get home for the day.

#4 Why should I hire you?  Let me know about your qualifications. Try to hire a babysitter that has CPR training and extensive babysitting experience.

#5 Will you be able to give me with at least three references? Follow up with these references if you can, and always know how these references are related to them.

#6 Are you comfortable with letting me do a background check? Potential babysitters that say no can raise red flags.

#7 Do you have any children? This is a huge plus if they already have children of any age.

#8 What annoys you? Listen to this answer closely, and don’t let them say, “Nothing!”

#9 How would you discipline a child? If they can’t come with an answer, let them know what kind of discipline you believe in.

#10 Explain a difficult situation you have been in before, and how you dealt with it. Every babysitter has been in a difficult situation before, so don’t let them say they haven’t been in one.

#11 Do you like being around pets? Only ask this question if you have household pets of any kind.

#12 How are you going to get here? It’s best to hire someone who has reliable transportation.  If they are under the age of 16, ask them if the person taking them to your house is reliable.

#13 How are we looking long term? If this is going to be a babysitting job that lasts longer than six months, be sure to know what they can do for you in the future.

#14 What are your favorite activities? We know that children love to keep busy, so ask what kind of activities they will do to keep your children entertained.

#15 Are you comfortable with putting children to bed? Parents know how strict a bed time can be.  If your babysitter has to put them in bed, make sure that they are comfortable with it.

#16 Have you ever dealt with an emergency? Remember, if they don’t have transportation, it’s important that they know who to contact.

#17 How are you doing in school?  What classes are you taking? Ask these questions for those who are in school.  Good grades can show a lot of responsibility.

#18 Tell me a bit about the jobs you have had in the past. If they don’t have any experience, it’s up to you if you want to hire them.  One perk is that rookie babysitters can cost less than the professionals.

#19 Do you have any health problems? Ask them about their allergies or about any other health problems to make sure that they are healthy enough to work with your children.

#20 How do you babysit? Try to get an inside look at how they will babysit your children daily.

#21 What will you do if my children won’t get along with you? It’s always great to throw a curve ball in the mix to see how they will react.

#22 How much do you want to be paid? Ask them up front how much they want to paid.  Just make sure that it’s in a reasonable range.

. . . . .

Hannah Munson is the co-founder of the website HowMuchIsIt.org, the ultimate cost helping resource that provides the cost on just about anything. Aside from working on this website, Hannah enjoys playing with her 2-year old son, scrapbooking, walking, biking, reading and enjoying time with her friends and family.

BufferShare via email

Tips for handling your own feelings when caring for a fussy child {Guest Post}

Posted on by
1

Please join me in welcoming MamaOT’s newest guest blogger, Kassandra Brown! Kassandra is a parenting coach who provides support and training to parents to help them be the best parents they can be. She is offering a special deal to MamaOT readers (details at end of post). Today she will be addressing a topic that I know affects every single one of us parents: how to handle your own feelings when caring for a fussy child. I hope you learn as much from Kassandra as I have and are able to apply her tips the next time you find your emotions about to bubble over in the midst of a tough parenting moment.

. . . . .

The clock on the nightstand reads 5:45pm. Baby starts to squirm and fuss. You offer her your go-to moves but she seems disinterested. Within a few minutes, the fussing has turned to outright crying and you are reluctantly waiting for it to turn into ear-piercing screams. Many of us have dealt with colicky babies, toddler temper tantrums, or slamming doors and “I hate you!” yelling from older children. Yet this post isn’t about how to stop them from screaming or crying. This is about figuring out what’s going on for you and how you can get parenting support for yourself during those times of stress.

scream and shout

Here are five steps to handling hard moments:

Step 1. What are you feeling?
The first step to handling your own fussy feelings is to acknowledge that they exist. What happens in you when your child cries, whines, hits a sibling, or does his/her classic acting out behavior? Do you feel angry, sad, hopeless, ‘at the end of your rope’? Every parent comes to moments where they feel this way. What we do with those feelings is important. Pretending they aren’t there or distracting ourselves with food, TV, shopping, or conversation will just make it more likely that they will slip out sometime when our defenses aren’t up-to-snuff. Those slips are the times that are more likely to lead to behaviors you’ll regret later – like yelling or hitting. So take a deep breath and let yourself feel.

Step 2. What are you thinking?
“I’m going to crawl out of my skin if you keep screaming!” or “Kara’s baby never cries,” or “THIS IS NEVER GONG TO END!!!.” Do you think about running away, hiring a babysitter, or getting professional help from a therapist? Do you wonder why you ever had children in the first place? Do you tell yourself everyone else is a better parent than you or that their children are easier than yours? Acknowledge what you’re thinking in order to gain a better understanding of where your mind is.

Step 3. Where are you?
Ask how much of you is present and how much is in imagination (past, future, or someone else’s life). For example: A child doesn’t want to go to sleep and uses everything in his toolbox to stay awake and keep you with him. Is your reaction just about tonight or is it about all the nights he’s every resisted sleep and all the ones you fear are coming and about how your marriage is shaky and you need time with your partner and you only have these two hours from when you expect your son to go to sleep until you have to go to sleep so you can function the next day and his plea for water just cost you five more minutes of that precious partner relationship healing time? And you just know your partner is pissed that you aren’t doing the ‘cry it out’ method?

Step 4. Have empathy.
First, for yourself. Second, for your child. Third, for everyone else who you imagine has opinions about your parenting. Allow your thoughts and feelings to be acknowledged without having to judge, fix, heal, or troubleshoot them. Take a leap of faith that everything your system is doing in response to your child’s fussiness is happening for some reason that’s grounded in trying to meet some need like safety, ease, or feeling loved. Then take the leap to feel into what’s behind your child’s crying. What does he want? What might his needs be? In the example above, when your child doesn’t want to go to sleep, is his need really to mess up your evening? Is that what he’s trying to do? No. He’s trying to meet some need of his for love and reassurance. Does that mean you have to stay with him all night and give up your plans to be with your partner? Maybe…Probably not. But good boundaries are much easier to find and set when we’re empathic with ourselves and our children.

Step 5. Listen deeply to yourself and to your child.
Once we listen deeply to those inner voices, those inner needs, it almost magically becomes easier to sit with and listen deeply to the expression of your child’s inner longings and unmet needs. Even when these needs sound like crying, screaming, and yelling. We begin to know through experience that the voices of unmet needs start out as raging or crying. It hurts to have big needs that go unmet. Yet after expressing these emotions, we are then able to talk and share in more reasonable ways. This is true for our children and for ourselves.

If, after completing these five steps, you are still having difficulty with your own emotions in relation to your child’s behavior, try walking yourself through the following exercise to help you find empathy with your child. You can access it by clicking here.

wisdom kissing ozare

Taking time to be listened to deeply is amazingly healing for everyone I’ve met. We ache to be understood and to have someone see value in us by their deep, compassionate listening. Almost no one I know wants to be “fixed”. We know we’re not broken. We ache to be heard as we feel into what’s hard, dense, or clouded in our lives. A good friend can offer this support. And so can I.

. . . . .

Kassandra Brown is a parent coach offering deep listening to allow parents access to their own inner worlds. She believes the best way to help children is to support parents. She loves to practice yoga, snuggle, and garden.

Learn more about parent coaching via phone or Skype at parentcoaching.org and receive a special offer!

 

BufferShare via email

5 things your school OT wishes you would do this summer {Guest Post}

Posted on by
7

MamaOT is proud to introduce its newest guest blogger, Abby Brayton-Chung. Abby is a pediatric occupational therapist who works in early intervention (0-3 years) and school-based settings. She’s excited to share a school OT’s perspective on what you can do with your kids this summer to make sure they enjoy themselves, develop some new skills, and come back to school ready to learn!

. . . . .

With the end of the school year and the official start of summer behind us, parents are now facing long summer days with the kids at home. What to do with all of that unstructured time? While your child may not receive occupational therapy services at school, here are five recommendations from a school OT to keep all children active and ready to learn this summer.

1. Get moving.
We're getting wet! Kids need physical activity to grow and learn. With the rise in childhood obesity, as well as shrinking physical education classes in schools, summer is a great time to develop healthy habits. Take a walk as a family after dinner, go to the park for a play date, swim at the local pool, or join a parks and recreation sports team. For children with special needs, sports can provide great opportunities for social interaction with peers, as well as developing healthy habits and learning new motor skills. For fidgety children, structured physical activity throughout the day can help with maintaining attention for learning.

Since kids love to be active, why not incorporate movement into summer learning activities? Set up an obstacle course outside or in your living room that involves matching colors, reading sight words, solving math problems or whatever academic skill your child could benefit from working on over the summer. Make it fun, add some movement, and they won’t even realize they are learning!

2. Get messy.
'Shaving' with cream and a spoon Just as children learn through movement, children also learn from exploration through their senses. By getting hands-on and getting messy, children will learn more about their environment and the world that surrounds them. Provide your children with lots of opportunities for sensory exploration this summer. Go to the beach and build a sand castle. Dig in the dirt, plant a garden, and stop to smell the roses. Draw with sidewalk chalk or finger paint. Pick and taste fresh berries. Make cookies. Not only is it fun to get messy, many of these activities also help develop strength, fine motor and visual motor skills too! Want to work on academic skills while getting messy? Practice writing letters or numbers in shaving cream, sand, or finger paint. Using a multisensory approach to writing will help solidify correct letter formation skills for your child. That, in turn, will make them more successful at handwriting in school!

3. Color on the walls.
Faith using oil pastels_4312 Ok, so you probably don’t want your kids to take that brand new box of crayons and create a mural on your wall, but please hear me out. Coloring or writing on a vertical surface, such as a wall or easel, can help improve your child’s pencil grasp, increase wrist strength and encourage the use of the small muscles of the hands when coloring. These are foundational skills that will help develop good handwriting skills, which your child’s teacher will appreciate when school starts back up in the fall!

4. Practice a new motor skill.
Kid surfing for 1st time at Surfers For #Autism: Returns to Treasure Island, Florida on 7 July 2012 Whether it’s shoe tying, jumping rope, riding a bike, or learning to surf, summer is the perfect time to practice, practice, and practice some more! For some children, learning a new motor skill seems to come naturally. For others, it takes lots and lots of practice and repetition. Summer is a great time to focus on a new skill. Make it fun and practice for just a few minutes a day. Consider it your child’s homework for summer. It’s much easier to practice shoe tying during the lazy days of summer than when you’re rushing out the door to get to school on time!

5. Develop hand muscles.
Play doughWith the focus on academics from the very early school years, teachers just don’t have the time to make sure children fully develop hand strength and fine motor skills. Use summer break to exercise those hands, so they can be successful at holding a pencil and writing. Squeeze, pull, roll, and pinch play dough. Build with LEGOS. String beads. Sort small toys using salad tongs. Stay cool by squeezing spray bottles and getting each other wet, all while developing hand strength! Don’t forget that hand strength also depends on core strength. Do animal walks and wheelbarrow walks, or color while lying on the floor to strengthen the arms, as well as the core. Strong hands will make for stronger writers!

. . . . .

Abby Brayton-Chung, MS, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist with five years of experience evaluating and treating children ages birth to eighteen. Her work experience includes school based practice, early intervention and feeding therapy.  Abby lives in Southern California with her husband and their precocious cat. Some of her favorite occupations include running, hiking, reading a good book, traveling, and eating good food. Abby blogs about her experiences as a pediatric occupational therapist at www.abbypediatricot.blogspot.com.

For more ideas on ways to keep your children active, creative or messy this summer, visit www.notimeforflashcards.com.

Related articles
BufferShare via email

5 things your child’s teacher wishes you would do this summer {Guest Post}

Posted on by
3

Mama OT is proud to introduce its newest guest blogger, Jenna Schmoekel. Jenna recently completed her third year of elementary school teaching and is super excited for summer! But before she locks her classroom up and takes off for the summer, Jenna has a few things to say about what she (and other teachers like her) wishes you would do with your child this summer.

. . . . .

preschool photoshoot: puzzles

Hi, I’m Mrs. Schmoekel. Nice to meet you. I’m a teacher. Probably not your child’s teacher, but a teacher nonetheless.

As a teacher, I know parents have mixed feelings about summer. Some parents look forward to the extra time they will spend with their children/family and the vacations and adventures summer will bring. Other parents think of summer with…a little apprehension, shall we say? What will I do with my child alllll summmmmer looooong?! Many parents fall somewhere in between – starting out excited for summer, but ending up pretty excited for school to start back up.

I hope you and your child(ren) enjoy your summer, go on adventures, and don’t get on each other’s nerves too much! (I think I speak for teachers everywhere when I say I will be enjoying every minute myself!) As you play, though, keep these suggestions in mind. They might help you have a more productive summer…and they will definitely make your child’s teacher smile in the fall!

1. READ.
I know this seems self explanatory…or maybe it doesn’t. Maybe you don’t realize how important it is for your child to read over the summer. We aren’t kidding when we tell you on those final report card comments to read, read, READ this summer! Most public libraries have summer reading programs that offer rewards for reading a certain number of books or hours. Your child can help you pick books they enjoy and you will be able to tell if they are too easy or too hard for them. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if there are 5 words they don’t know on the first 1-2 pages, then it’s too hard. (You can read that book to your child and let them pick out a different one to read themselves…reading aloud is also great!) Reading over the summer increases fluency and helps children retain all the new letter/sound combinations, sight words, and comprehension tools they have learned throughout the year.

2. Turn off the electronics.
I know. I know what you are thinking: ‘Is she crazy?! What am I supposed to do with my ENERGETIC child(ren) for 3 months without electronics!? There. Is. No. Way.’ Well, no, I’m not (completely) crazy! I don’t mean turn off the electronics all the time. There are many educational things you can do with technology. However, there are so many opportunities that kids miss out on when they are constantly engaged with the TV, Playstation, iPhone, iPad, etc. When children are engaged in technology, they are not having conversations and enhancing their verbal skills. They are not active. They are not engaged in imaginative play.

Talk. Run. Ride bikes. Swim. Build a pillow fort. Finger paint. All I’m saying is, limit the technology use!

3. Give your kids new experiences.
When my students come back in August, most of them have a lot to say about their summers. They went to Disney World. Or Sea World. Or the local amusement park. Or fishing. Or Grandma’s house in Wyoming. Or to the park. Or had a campout in their backyard. It doesn’t matter what they did, how “extravagant” a vacation they had, or who they went with. They love to share their experiences. 

Give them an experience this summer they will remember forever and want to share with their classmates and teachers. It doesn’t have to be expensive and far away. Something local and free is great, as long as you make it an adventure. I had one student who couldn’t stop talking about the night they stayed in a hotel because their air conditioner went out. He had never stayed in a hotel before…it was an adventure.

4. Incorporate math practice.
Yuck. What kid wants to do math over the summer (unless you have a child who loves to play school during their time off!)? I’m definitely not saying to pull out the flashcards and workbooks over the summer, but do incorporate math activities into daily life and make them fun. Math is typically the subject that suffers the most when kids take summers off, so it’s really important that you work together to maintain their skills so they can jump right into the new school year come August or September.

Going to the grocery store? Have your young child count the apples and oranges you are buying to see how many all together. If you have an older child, have them estimate the total cost of the trip as you go. Count down days to a vacation. Keep track of the number of hours (or minutes) they go swimming or how many blocks they ride their bikes. Have them practice telling time as you wait for the time to go to the pool or practice counting money as they save up to go to the water park. It’s the little things with math that keep their minds engaged over the summer, and they really make a difference when they come back to school in the fall. Check out www.mathwire.com for more ideas on how to incorporate math activities into your child’s every day life.

5. Keep routines going and expectations set.
Summer is a time for relaxing, vacations, and fun. Your kids will stay up late and you will go out of town, and your routines and schedules will be all thrown out the window…and that’s okay! Just remember that kids thrive on consistency. Even if it’s a later bedtime, try to keep a bedtime (at least when you’re not on vacation!). Don’t let your kids get away with things just because it’s summer and you’re on vacation. The more you can keep them in the mindset that they still have to follow rules and meet expectations, the easier the transition will be in the fall to get back into the swing of school. Plus, you’ll have a much easier summer when they know what to expect and what is expected of them. Have fun!

. . . . .

Jenna Schmoekel is a graduate of Texas State University who has been teaching elementary school for 3 years (4th grade and 1st grade). She lives in San Marcos, Texas with her awesome husband Brian and her beautiful 2-year-old daughter. She enjoys scrapbooking, running (she’s been featured in Runner’s World magazine!!!), and sharing coffee with friends. 

For more ideas of fun, creative things to do all summer long with your kids, visit www.playcreateexplore.com.

Related articles
BufferShare via email

Invasion of that sweet imagination {Guest Post}

Posted on by
3

Mama OT is honored to welcome Annie Groves as its newest guest blogger. Annie is a mama to two (soon to be three!) precious girls and today she will be addressing the topic of childhood imagination — perplexing nicknames, what happens when imagination comes to life, and tips for helping you engage your child’s imagination. Enjoy!

. . . . .

My daughter, just shy of four years old, gave herself an imaginary name that stuck with us for well over two months. If you and I were to meet in the park as complete strangers and we went through the formalities of introductions, my daughter would have introduced herself as Kada (Kay-duh). It might go something like this:

You: Hi! What’s your name?
Me: My name is Annie, and this is Ellie and Claire.
Ellie: My name’s not Ellie! It’s Kada!
Me: (Somewhat nervous at her daughter’s insistence upon being called an imaginary name) She likes to be called Kada…
You: Ooooh… Nice to meet you!

Pretty soon, strangers in the park, her friends, and sometimes Yours Truly were calling this spunky three year old by a name she completely dreamed up on her own.

Enter the world of imagination.

We are trained as parents to look for signs of imagination. At our pediatrician’s office are flyers asking us to look for imaginative play by the age of 18 months. Does your child use pretend play? When both my daughters began interacting with dolls and animals beyond tight snuggles, I knew they were developing their sense of imagination and mentally checked off that milestone in my head. Imaginative play? Check!

Having not been formally trained in the world of psychology or child rearing (remember how they just hand you your baby in the hospital and shoo you out the door?), I figured we would encounter a more developed sense of imagination as my children grew, but I hadn’t thought much about parenting through imagination and creativity.

Quite honestly? I was bewildered at my daughter’s insistence of using a made up name with every single human being she encountered. My husband and I wondered at her imagination that seemed to explode at every hour of the day. One day, we were piling into the car and my daughter, who loves dinosaurs with every ounce of her being, exclaimed, “MOM! Wait! Don’t close the door!!!” When I asked why, she explained, “There are six dinosaurs and they’re not done getting in the car!” Cute, right? Oh wait. There’s more. “Mom! Only some of them can fit in the car so two of them are going to walk outside while we drive.”

I loved hearing about what was going on inside her head but couldn’t quite wrap my mind around how to protect her creativity while still maintaining reasonable social conduct. Many people told me it was a sign of intelligence. And this was nice, because parents like to hear that their kid is potentially smart, but I really wanted to engage my daughter, not just watch it happen.

Remember that part about not being an expert? About not knowing how to navigate this portion of parenthood? I tried several approaches with my daughter about this name deal. At first I went with it. And then it got frustrating and so I insisted that I call her by her given name because we are her parents and we gave her the name Ellie. Thankfully, my daughter is determined and was unphased by my discouragement. After a while, I gave in. We occasionally called her Kada, encouraged her to ask politely that others call her Kada, and after two months she was back to Ellie.

I’m so thankful for our raw introduction to a child’s mind. Our daughter gave us a gift of freedom as we watched her learn to express her thoughts and ideas in creative play. At the same time she was learning to assert her autonomy, we were learning how to install helpful parameters for her imagination.

Here are some tips my husband and I learned in the process:

1. Engage your child’s imagination. One of the easiest ways to engage your child’s imagination is to ask questions. She will be allowed freedom to explore her imagination while you, the parents, gain understanding into what interests your child and why she might take on peculiar behaviors. For instance, one of my favorite conversations occurred after I caught my daughter eating plants:

Me: El! What is in your mouth?!
El: opens mouth to reveal chewed up plants
Me: Why are you eating plants?! … (at this point a flip switched and I went from being annoyed at her eating plants to realizing her actions might expose imaginative play) Are you pretending to be a dinosaur?
El: smiles YES! I’m an Ankylosaurus!

Had I just addressed the plant eating issue (which, of course we talked about after understanding her herbivore practices), I would have missed out on her world and how she was putting into practice different concepts and ideas she was learning.

2. Set appropriate boundaries for your child’s use of imagination. Imagination is awesome, but small humans are certainly capable of pushing the boundaries when it comes to creative thought and play. When your child starts blaming poor behavior on his imagination or lying as a part of “imagining,” then it’s important to address poor behavior.

We encountered a bit of an attitude issue when El insisted on being called Kada. She grew disrespectful when others corrected her. My husband and I finally figured out an approach that honored her imagination while still allowing her to be kind to others. When we introduced ourselves to new friends, we trained Ellie to say, “I like to be called Kada.”

3. Have fun and play along! Pretend to be a dinosaur or a mommy shark or daddy hippo. Go on adventure walks with your kiddos, asking them to tell you about what they see and what they think about their discoveries. You might find yourself noticing every small flower along the sidewalk or even journeying on a hunt to find pirates. Find what she’s interested in and live in that world for just a half hour. Watch the bond that forms between you and your child.

In order to make the most of your toddlers’/preschoolers’ imaginative development, make sure you read lots of books with them and give time and space for their worlds to expand with art projects, make believe, and limited TV time.

Bonus for you – their imagination makes for great memories for mom and dad!

If you have a creative toddler/preschooler – enjoy! You are embarking on a journey bigger than yourself and it will prove to be helpful for your child’s brain development. Don’t freak out. Use it as an opportunity to be a kid again and make the most of those tender years!

. . . . .

Annie Groves is a fellow UCLA grad who became a mama two years after receiving her diploma. After five years of full time youth ministry in Hawaii, Annie is on an indefinite ‘mama sabbatical’ while her kids are pre-school aged. She currently lives in Keizer, OR with her husband JD (also a youth pastor), two sweet girls ages 2 & 4, and is expecting girl number three in less than two months!! Annie enjoys writing, photography, and coffee.

To read more of Annie’s writing, visit her blog at www.anniegroves.com.

Related articles
BufferShare via email