Canadian Down Syndrome Awareness Week : Fine Motor & More!

I actually wrote this post last year but never hit publish so I thought I'd post it tonight. It has some fun activities include some that are great for fine motor.

Between my 4 daughters, its now ski race, basketball (jr. high,high school  & middle  school teams), swim & dance season so I've been too busy to blog much.  I thought I'd post some pictures of some of the activities we've been  doing.

We've had this for quite a while but K still enjoys it.

We tried some graphing.  We didn't have any jellybeans as indicated in the activity but these colourful markers work well.

This way how K spent her day at her older sisters basketball tournament.  These giant size Jenga blocks were great fun! There were a number of other kids there that day, both older & younger. They all played so well together & these blocks were wonderful for such a wide variety of ages.  K decided on this pattern herself

Pizza night! Here's K working on her fine motor skills by creating her own pizza.

Mastering buttons

A little handwriting practice with Handwriting Without Tears

This is a  pit full of beans that the younger two girls had a great time exploring in at a children's museum while on holidays.  It was pretty cool!

I always try to keep activities fun & exciting for K.  Her she is working on her 

fine motor skills by using tweezers to put shapes into her horse's cart.

Fine Motor With beads & Water

I did a post with these beads recently but today we decided to play with them a different way!

I have K various different utensils to pick up the beads with. Some were easy & others a little more tricky.

The unsupervised clean up time didn't go as planned........

ps - hope the pics are in the right order. I used the blogger app to post this.

Fun Fine Motor Activity

A friend gave me these sheets quite a while ago. I'm not familiar with the program these sheets are from but the writing on the bottom right says Do A Dot Art. We've been photocopying them so we've gotten a lot of use out of these sheets.  Initially, when K was younger we used bingo dobbers to do them. K is working on printing now though so they are a little too easy so we decided to use them for fine motor skills instead.

K placed some glue on a spot on the paper then used the tweezers to pick up a pompom & put it in place.  We are always looking for new & fun activities to do with K so it was nice that this activity was a hit.

Canadian Down Syndrome Awareness Week -Printing practise

K is finally started to agree to doing some handwriting practice. For the longest time, she didn't like writing of any kind.  Following in the footsteps of KJ, my now 9 year old, she didn't even want to pick up any kind of crayon or felt pen.  I tried to give K lots of opportunities, while not pushing & she is finally much more agreeable to this sort of thing & often initiates it herself now.  

We have been doing Handwriting without Tears for a while now but sometimes it is nice to do something new different so I try to have lots of different options for K.  

I think any kind of writing is helpful to gain the fine motor control needed so we use lots of different mediums.

I have a peel & stick chalkboard in K's room for her to play with whenever she wants.

We like the magna doodle for in the vehicle. It's pretty sturdy & I don't have to worry about losing pens. We do take coloring sheets or blank paper & pens at times but the magna doodle is our constant travel toy.

This Giant wipe off book is a fun way to practice letters. It was a 50 cent purchase at our annual town wide rummage sale which raises money for local events - win, win!

and another rummage sale purchase - this Discovery Toys printing set cost $1.00 & is so much fun with multicoloured pens.

I often leave a different style of pen, crayon or paint brush on her little table that sits in my kitchen to hopefully entice her to do some art.

I printed off worksheets from First School & ones like this from Preschool Learners - There are thousands available on the internet & I love that I can just search for whatever K is interested in to use activities she enjoys to learn with.

I recently discovered this printing worksheet maker - with this I can make any kinds of sentences which is great for keeping K interested.

These are just a few of the printable options but there are thousands & thousands available on the internet.  My favorites are actually bookmarked on our other computer that I isn't here right now but there are many other great sites. Sometimes I will just do a google image search  - I always get lots of great ideas.

K's handwriting is starting to improve.  Sometimes her art is not recognizable - she still enjoys filling in the entire page on her magna doodle, but then some days I get artwork like this:

What activites do you use to help your kids with printing?  Please feel free to share your ideas & links in the comments:)

Here Comes the Sun!

K has only started to enjoy drawing in the last 6 months or so.  She still prefers to "freestyle" but occasionally draws something that is more easily recognized.  It's nice to see that preference changing as she gets closer to school age.

Fun Activities - Folding Crafts

One of the activities we like to do with K on a regular basis is to work on folding skills.  Often we use ready made books that are so simple just to tear out the page & practice folding. We have run out again though, so we have been trying to find some on the internet, which isn't the easiest task.  

We made these little snack holders the other day, filled them with popcorn & watched a movie - K was so excited that we'll have to do this again!

 

Here is a link to a post I did on the same subject a while ago - Paper Folding

Fun Activities - Cooking With Chef K

First, start with premium ingredients - rice, beans, sparkles, little Christmas & winter snowflake  & star decorations & whatever else Mom has available.

Measure all of the ingredients carefully.

Pour back & forth between each bowl several times. Then stir well.

   ................and make sure you clean up the kitchen when you are done...............right K?...........K?

A paper animal jungle

 K got  book last year for Christmas, which was full of cute little paper folding activities.   The book is done now & I haven't been able to find a different one, so I've been searching the internet for some.  I came across this site: paper folding activities  It is full of adorable little animals to fold.  I printed off a set for each of my 2 younger girls.  We will probably do one a day with K, to make the last a while, but KJ had a great time this afternoon, creating a whole menagerie!

 

This is a similar book to the one that K got for Christmas last year.

These animals will keep us going for a couple of weeks, but after that we will need to find more, so if you know of any other similar sites, please let me know by leaving a comment:)

31 for 21 - Pumpkins, & Spiders - Halloween Fine & Oral Motor Excercises

Boo!!!

 

Here are K's latest 2 crafts from preschool.I thought she did a 

great job placing all of the  features in the correct locations.  

 

 

This is a fun activity that K's preschool teacher had the kids do on Wednesday.  They each took a few spiders & blew them across the table with the straws.  What a wonderful & fun oral motor activity!  The preschool is a social program - academics are not intentionally part of the program, however, K's teacher is awesome at finding neat activities which incorporate new skills. 

31 for 21 - More bargains!

I love educational toys - perhaps to the point of being a little bit addicted! lol  I don't like the price tags though, so these are today's 2nd hand bargains.  I spent $1.00 total.  I probably didn't really need 2 of them, but the price was right, & they are both a little different & variety is a good thing - right?  Remember that I said that I have an addiction?

  

  

 

K loved making this rocket ship.  Afterwards, we sang Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We're Going to the Moon, with the expected toss in the air after we counted down of course!

Handwriting practice

Right now, we're mainly working  on the Handwriting Without Tears program to teach K to learn to print.  We are trying to keep K interested & having fun.  I don't usually do handwriting worksheets, but a while back, I found this website where you can create your own handwriting worksheets.  I like the fact that you can choose your own word, colors, letter size, etc. As your child gets a little more experience at writing, you can change it so that only the starting points of each letter appears, not the whole word.  I'm going to continue to use Handwriting Without Tears, but I will also print off a few with K's name on them just for fun. Here is the link:

Handwriting Worksheets

Handwriting Without Tears

Just because I don't already have enough to do...........  LOL ! Actually, we are planning to scale back K's neurodevelopmental program a little for the summer.  If nothing else, I've at least decided not to feel guilty if we don't get it done some days & to take some extra days off to do a number of day trips with the kids to the science center, the zoo, an amusement park, & other local attractions.

I am also hoping to add in some things that K really enjoys.  We are borrowing the Handwriting Without Tears program from the school for the summer. It was recommended by both the school & K's OT. So far K just loves it & comes running when I put in the CD.  The CD contains lots of fun songs & K really enjoys doing the actions & trying to sing along.  There are chalk boards, a workbook,  play dough & all kinds of fun stuff. 

The handwriting Without Tears Program has a lot of research behind it & offers  training courses, a newsletter, & all kinds of extra help to get you started on their program.  Here is a link to their website if you would like more information:

http://www.hwtears.com/hwt

Today's Art Project

I'm not sure where I got this idea from. Maybe my friend Emily who does such neat projects with her kids, or perhaps the No Time for Flashcards website?  Sorry, I'd love to give credit, but I just don't remember.

And........for those of you who know me and are aware of my artistic limitations - I think I cut out a pretty fine dinosaur - free handed!  Not that it is an outstanding piece of art by many people's standards, but I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out. Maybe helping K with her neurodevelopmental exercises has been organizing my brain too!

I bought the clothes pegs to help with fine motor skills and this was a fun way to try them out. All of the other supplies that we used are pretty common in most people's craft drawers.

K was so proud of her dinosaur & showed it off to her Daddy & sisters as soon as they got home!

The new OT

Last week, was my daughter's first visit with her new OT.  K gets PT & OT at the same time, so the PT that she has seen since she was 3 weeks old was there also.  The OT was trying to get an idea on where K was with her fine motor skills, and the PT explained that K is doing very well - actually she had always been at age level or even a little ahead in fine motor skills.  The OT produced this puzzle as her first activity: 

K not only is very adept at this type of puzzle, but she kows all of these shapes & more.  She took the first puzzle piece & clumsily tried to stuff the star in to the square shape.  Slowly with a lot of help from the PT, she managed to finish the puzzle. The PT & I watched in amazement!

Next they stacked blocks. K placed the first block, then set the 2nd block precariously to one side of the first.  She continued this for several attempts, never managing to stack more than 3 blocks at a time.  Her delight in playing with the OT became more evident to the PT & myself as time went on! I think the OT was really beginning to doubt the PT and I when suddenly K decided to do a complete 180 and show off - what a little stinker!  She then stacked all of the blocks  perfectly before crashing them down - there were more than a dozen of them!

Next it was time to cut a piece of paper.  K's ND is not recommending any cutting activities for her at this time, so we have not been practising at all.  K picked up the scissors and was easily able to cut the paper in half. The OT then got out a piece of paper with a line on it and K cut straight down the line. Even I was suprised that she could cut like that with no practice!

There's never a dull moment!

Beading and Lacing - Finally We Hit the Jackpot!``

K's occupational therapist  has been suggesting that K try beading for a long time.  We try to follow her interests as much as possible and choose activities that she enjoys.  I believe kids learn better when they enjoy the activity.

This is the first set we bought.  We
thought the large beads would be easy for her to thread.  K hated them!

Next we tried these beads. She refused to use these ones for the purpose of beading too.

P

We even tried using pipe cleaners because the OT said it would be easier for her.  She hated that.

Next we tried sparkly pipe cleaners, and guess what?  She hated that too.

It wasn't a complete waste though.  She loves pouring beads from one cup to another, counting, sorting by color & many other games - just not beading!

We found these neat little containers at the local dollar store. 

  K would spend 1/2 hour at a time pushing beads through & sorting them - they are great for strengthening little hands!...............just not for beading!

Lacing cards were recommended too, but of course - she hated them!

Then, the other day, I found this set at a local rummage sale!  It was a 50 cent purchase!

She loves the sea animal pics!

She did the octopus with minimal help, & finished off the dolphin her sister started! It just goes to show what can happen when you follow your child's interests - and have a little luck on your side!

As a side note:  many of the early learning toys (everything on this page except the dollar store containers) we purchase come from 2nd hand stores or rummage sales.  I am very choosy about what I buy, but have gotten some great deals!  I couldn't afford 1/2 of this stuff otherwise! I do clean everything with natural cleaners before using them and they are as good as new!