5 Fine Motor Crafts for St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day is great fun for crafts. While you’re having a blast, why not structure the crafts around building critical Fine Motor Skills? Here are five awesome activities that help celebrate the luck of the Irish and build strength in those pinchers!

Yarn Wrapped Rainbow

http://www.schooltimesnippets.com/2014/03/fine-motor-yarn-wrapped-rainbow.html

Rolling Pin Shamrock Printing

http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2014/03/rolling-pin-shamrock-prints.html

Irish Soda Bread

http://www.messforless.net/2014/03/irish-soda-bread-recipe-food-fun-friday.html#_a5y_p=1373769

Playdough Shamrocks

http://www.childcarelandblog.com/search/label/shamrocks

Pot O’ Gold

http://www.pre-kpages.com/st-patricks-day-math-activities/


Find our product selection: www.thepencilgrip.com 

March is National Craft Month!

Whether it be in the classroom or at home, crafting provides a great opportunity to spend time with loved ones, while getting the creative juices flowing and challenging children to be resourceful all while letting their imaginations run!  From making their favorite cartoon characters out of household items, to creating something entirely new and unique, crafting provides a unique snapshot into the development of your child, and is also an opportunity for self-expression. The benefits of crafting include: bonding time, reducing stress, improving motor skills, and fostering creativity and expression.

•        For more on National Craft Month, visit http://familycrafts.about.com/od/craftstechniques101/a/National_Craft_Month.htm

•        For crafting ideas for children with special needs: https://www.pinterest.com/lauraintheattic/special-needs-crafts-for-kids/

•        For ideas on how to reuse old items in your crafting: https://www.pinterest.com/ArmaDei/recycle-crafts/

In 2015, Los Angeles will host the Special Olympics- an event that celebrates individuality and uniqueness, the human spirit, and inclusiveness.  The Special Olympics seeks to empower athletes with disabilities, and to inspire everyone to focus on what we are capable of doing and what we do have, rather than our limitations. 

In the spirit of the Special Olympics, perhaps a New Year’s Resolution should be putting aside time for play with our loved ones.  There are many benefits to play, especially for children.  And for children with disabilities, this is equally true.  

These benefits include:

·         Fostering creativity,
·         Building relationships,
·         Balancing muscle groups
·         Improving self-esteem and coping with stress,
·         Fostering and maintaining independence,
·         Developing “Executive Function”
·         Improving the quality of life.

For more information about the Benefits of Play, visit

http://udel.edu/~roberta/play/benefits.html

For more information about executive function, visit

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514

Here are some resources and insights from various sources that serve to point out the value of play, as well as ways to make it and keep it a priority of your child’s upbringing.

1.       http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Health/Children-s-Fitness.pg_02.html

2.       http://www.family-friendly-fun.com/family-health/fitness.htm

Top Sites for Fitness for Children with Special Needs

Exercises and activities for kids with disabilities …

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presents "BAM! Body and Mind," a site that encourages kids to be more active. Look for advice about staying active when there’s a disability involved, and find stories about athletic achievement. Another page discusses exercising when kids have asthma.

The Alliance for Technology Access describes a variety of activities and settings that can be adapted for children of all physical ability levels, including dance and movement, playgrounds and bicycles.

For activity programs …

Special Olympics offers sports and athletic information for people with intellectual disabilities. Read about their Young Athletes program, designed to help get children as young as two years old be physically active. Use the Young Athletes Activity Guide to find activities, complete with illustrations, demonstration videos and tips. 

For support resources …

National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD) discusses the benefits of physical activity for children with disabilities, as well as the fears and obstacles that come with trying to be physically active.

Be sure to check with a physician before starting any exercise routine with your child, so you will be aware of any risks your child faces and to get familiar with proper safety precautions.

Photo Courtesy Michael Abrams, Stars and Stripes 2011

DOES YOUR CHILD HOLD THEIR PENCIL PROPERLY?

Writing is one of the most critical aspects of academic development. It impacts all levels of communication and the learning process.  

Children who are learning to write with an improper grip are experiencing hand cramps, stressed muscles and sore fingers. Compounding the issue, children may be experiencing added challenges such as underdeveloped hand and arm muscles, sensory sensitivities, and fine motor delay.

Beyond the physical ramifications, writing with an improper grip can interrupt cognitive flow. A child’s level of concentration and ability to generate content for the page can be halted or slowed.

Learning to write is challenging enough without these added barriers!

Luckily, there are a couple tricks of the trade.

To start, teach and reinforce The Tripod Grip. Using this as a foundation will increase the potential for a lifetime of comfortable and controlled writing.

Also, using a pencil grip is a cost effective tool. With its ergonomic shape and gentle yet structured material, The Pencil Grip easily guides fingers into the Tripod Grip. Pencil grips provide the comfort and support that relieve the hands and open the doors for optimized brain function.

Remember: mastering the proper grip allows children to focus on the content of their writing instead of their pencil.

 

Check out our link to Correct and Incorrect Handwriting Positions located in the "Pages" menu (top right).

www.thepencilgrip.com

 

Fine Motor Activities For ALL Kids

 

Working on the base skills that are key for development can also be enormously effective in the process of learning to write. In order to make writing easier and more intuitive, check out these skill-building fun activities that were posted by crafty fellow bloggers. 

Sometimes when a child of older chronological age needs to work on fine motor skills, it can start to feel as though the most available activities aren't appealing. There are a couple options below that are great for kids that have moved beyond Play-Doh and finger paint. A couple are great for all ages.

Links:

• Fun With Pipe Cleaners
• Elastic Hairbands
• Sewing 
• Geo Board
• Bead Flower
• Jenga, Operation, and LEGOs

When your child is ready for the rewarding (but difficult) challenge of writing, The Pencil Grip has a variety of grips and other products to help.

The Pencil Grip, Inc.






Please consult a professional before trying any activities listed above

Fun with Fine Motor Skills!

Most simply, Fine Motor action is what we accomplish with our hands and fingers. We rely on the function of our limbs and hands, the feelings we get from touch, and our visual perception to accomplish many of our every day tasks. 

Writing is an extremely critical Fine Motor activity. In order to build up to writing, it's important for young kids to bolster their Fine Motor skills and supporting muscles. 

Here are a few fun activities that you may not have realized are building Fine Motor skills!

What's in the bowl?

Hide small objects in sand or Jell-O™ in a large bowl. Using small animal figurines can make for a fun identification game as they're pulled out of the bowl. Instruct your child to use a closed fist with pincher fingers.

Magnets on the Fridge

Children should always be supervised when playing with magnets. However, it's a fantastic way for you and your child to build Fine Motor strength. Use shaped magnets to create a design and have your child try and create the same design on their own. For kids that know their alphabet, have them use their pincher fingers to manipulate an alphabet magnet set into the correct order (forwards and backwards!).

Bake some Cookies (Yum)

Rolling the dough, forming small balls with the dough, and using fingers to push the balls into disks are great Fine Motor skill-building actions.  Not to mention there's a tasty reward in store for all that hard work! Manipulating clay, Play-Doh™, and Silly Puddy™ are also fantastic ways to work the same muscles without the sugar.


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Writing on the Wall

Practice @ Home: Writing on Vertical Surfaces

Getting into trouble isn't so bad if the punishment can improve your handwriting.

Stop thinking of the chalkboard as punishment! Use your child’s normal handwriting lessons and take it from the table to the wall. One trick of the trade for improving handwriting skills is practicing on a vertical surface. The vertical surface improves wrist stability, wrist extension and fine motor skills. You can use a blackboard, easel, or just a piece of paper taped to a smooth wall or door.

What to look for:

Elbow: The elbow should be bent and close to the writing surface. Often children will stand too far from the board and reach their arm almost straight out to write on the board. This will not encourage good habits so make sure they’re close like in the picture.

Wrist: The wrist is relatively straight from the forearm. Many children incorrectly hook their hand by bending it at a 90 degree angle from the wrist.

Fingers: Take a look at Bart Simpson using a “fist grip” with his piece of chalk. It’s a very common bad habit. When children are old enough, help them by encouraging the proper three-finger tripod grip whenever they are practicing.

Shoulder: Be mindful! The shoulder is holding the arm up during this type of practice and it can be tiring for a child. Don’t forget to take breaks.

Further Reading on Teaching With Vertical Surfaces:

Improving your Child’s Hand Skills Using Vertical Surfaces

http://www.ehandprints.com/news/special_kids_article.pdf

Helping Hands: A fine motor and handwriting resource guide

http://www.oceanside.k12.ny.us/special_ed/Helping%20Hands-Website%20Information.pdf

Teacher Tips

http://k-12.pisd.edu/currinst/sped/ot/OTteachtips2.htm