Mandala means “circle” or “center.” Coloring mandalas can help to encourage relaxation, relieve stress, facilitate creativity and balance the body. Here are three simple mandalas to color to help to calm the body. They are perfect to add to a quiet corner or calm down kit in the classroom. Check out Yoga Cards at https://www.yourtherapysource.com/yogacards.html […]
Check out these $0.99 specials until 11/30/15: 1. Scavenger Hunts – Encourage physical activity and visual perceptual skills while going on fun scavenger hunts. 2. Tangrams for Kids – cut and paste puzzle projects for kids. 3. December Handwriting Activities – over 40 pages of December holiday handwriting templates, visual motor and visual perceptual worksheets.
Here are 10 tips to help teach children to be independent with self help skills and everyday routines: 1. Make sure you have time to give the child your undivided attention when you are first teaching a new skill or routine. Likewise, make sure that the child is paying attention when learning the skill. Minimize […]
This Downward Dog Yoga Pose is a free sample from Yoga Cards. The purpose of the downward dog pose is to: 1. improve balance. 2. stretch the back and the hamstring muscles (back of the thighs). 3. strengthen the shoulders, arms and the core muscles. 4. stimulate the vestibular system with the inverted position of […]
Cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance or CO-OP is defined by Polatajko and Mandich as a “a client-centred, performance based, problem solving approach that enables skill acquisition through a process of strategy use and guided discovery”. CO-OP is an evidence based approach that has been successful for children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and autism […]
Research in Developmental Disabilities published an article comparing implicit versus explicit motor learning in 30 boys with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their age and IQ matched peers. Each children participated in a serial reaction time task (SRTT). The children were separated into different groups based on diagnosis and implicit or explicit learning for the […]
Have you ever heard of the SNARC effect? I had not, so when I read about it in a research article I decided to find out more information. SNARC stands for spatial-numerical association of response codes. The SNARC effect is when someone is presented with smaller numbers people respond faster with the left hand and when […]
Research in Developmental Disabilities published research on secondary and post-secondary student with congenital motor disabilities. By examining a task of throwing a ball at a target, data was collected on self-regulatory aspects (i.e., goal-setting, self-efficacy and self-evaluation). Participants were divided into four subgroups: 1.) normal cognitive development and mild physical disabilities 2.)normal cognitive development and […]
At times, all children need some help to achieve big goals. Whether it be a lofty IEP goal that you inherited, a large project the student needs to complete or a complex motor skill often times it is easier to break it up into smaller, more manageable chunks. Teachers call it scaffolding and therapists […]
School based occupational, physical and speech therapists are frequently handing out stickers at the end of session for a job well done by a student. What if one day we started giving stickers to each other for a reward. What would yours say? Share in the comments! Need rewards for your students instead of stickers? […]