Linda Lilly's Occupational Therapy Blog

Let’s start the week off right with Movement Monday. Here are some animal movements we use frequently in therapy to get active.

• Frog Jumps: 
  • Squat down like a frog
  • Jump as high as you can 
  • Repeat this across the room — 10 frog jumps 

• Bear Crawl:
  • Bend over with hands on floor
  • Extend legs back s
  • Head down 
  • Walk with your hands and feet 10 steps across the room.

• Crab Walk: 
  • Bottom up for level stomach as the child is able
  • Feet under knees. 
  • Walk 10 steps across the room. 

• Kangaroo Jump 
  • Feet together 
  • Hands on chest
  • Jumps with hands stationary 
  • Jumps with both feet 10 times 

Happy Thursday! Again, we are almost to the end of the week with Thinking Thursday! I have one of my favorite games, a giant alphabet memory game! Now, since the alphabet is so long, especially when you add in both capital and lowercase letters, you can just do A-H, both upper AND lowercase. On each paper plate, you will write one letter. For example, one plate will have capital letter “A” and the next will have the lowercase “a”, “B” and “b”, and so on. Mix them up, and then put them face-down on the floor in rows. Flipping one plate over at a time, try and find the matching upper and lowercase letters!

As autumn is here and the weather his changed, we feel different, see different colors outside, and smell different things. Today for Writing Wednesday, I want you take a look outside, even step out on your front porch. On a piece of paper, I want you to write down what you see, what you hear, what you can smell, what you taste (maybe yummy pumpkin pie☺), and what you feel. Do you feel cold? Are you happy to see pretty colors on the trees or maybe on the ground as the leaves have fallen off the trees? Do you feel sad that summer is long gone or maybe happy because you like this time of year? 

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend. Today for Movement Monday, I thought it would be fun to play a little dice game. All you need is one dice, and if you don’t have one at home, that’s okay! Get a piece of paper and cut it into 6 pieces. On one side, draw dots (1-6) OR just write the numbers 1-6. On the other side, write the following in correlation to the number. Play until each person has received every number. Let’s get this Monday moving!

1 – Run in place for 20 seconds

2 – Touch your toes

3 – Frog jump across the room and back

4 – Do arm circles for 20 seconds

5 – Do 15 Jumping Jacks

6 – DANCE PARTY! Show off your favorite dance moves

Happy Friday! Since we are one week away from Halloween and it’s finally the weekend, we are going to have some fun. For Fun Time Friday, we will need small pumpkins and some paint. Get creative and paint a funny face, or even your favorite superhero! 

Hi, everyone! I hope your week is going well… It’s almost Friday! For Thinking Thursday, we have an indoor scavenger hunt to complete since it’s a raining day out there. Going around your house, you need to find an object of each color listed and write the name of the object down on a piece of paper as you go. Happy hunting!

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend. I apologize for not getting all the themed posts up last week! I will do my best to give you a variety of activities based on the daily themes, however, there might not be a post everyday. Today for Movement Monday, I thought it would be fun to play a little dice game. All you need is one dice, and if you don’t have one at home, that’s okay! Get a piece of paper and cut it into 6 pieces. On one side, draw dots (1-6) OR just write the numbers 1-6. On the other side, write the following in correlation to the number. Play until each person has gotten every number. Let’s get this Monday moving!

1 – Run in place for 20 seconds

2 – Touch your toes

3 – Frog jump across the room and back

4 – Do arm Circles for 20 seconds

5 – Do 15 Jumping Jacks

6 – DANCE PARTY! Show off your favorite dance moves

Here are some fun ways for our children to practice writing without picking up a traditional pencil! It doesn’t feel like work for our kids and the kids usually love these alternatives because it feels like play!

1. Rainbow Write: Write their name/words several times in different colors of the rainbow.
2. Markers and Highlighters: Trace and write words using highlighters and markers. Kids love to trace and use bright colors!
3. Use Q-tips: Trace numbers/letters/words with paint using Q-tips.
4. Chalkboard or dry erase board: I prefer using a chalkboard with our children as it provides more sensory feedback than using the dry erase board. On the chalkboard, the student can write numbers/letters/words. Then they can use a small wet sponge to trace the letters and wash (erase) them away.
5. Finger paint: Most kids love to finger paint. I know it can be messy, but the kids love the sensory play and its a great way to practice numbers/letters/words, especially if the student has trouble grasping a writing utensil.
6. Salt or sand tray: Put salt or sand on a cookie sheet and have the child write numbers/letters/words in it.
7. Watercolors: Trace and write numbers/letters/words using a paintbrush with watercolors.
8. Shaving cream: Children also love to practice writing using shaving cream. You can keep the shaving cream contained by putting it on a tray or cookie sheet if you don’t like to clean up a bigger area.

Have Fun and Happy Writing!

I apologize for no post yesterday! I have been extremely busy working with children during teletherapy sessions and learning labs. There just wasn’t enough time in my day to do everything! I will try really hard to have a daily post, but please excuse me if I miss one.

Happy Movement Monday! I found an awesome website that I want to share with you! It is called:

These Active Lesson Resources were taken directly from https://grfit4kids.org/resources/active-lesson-plans/ . The links below will take you directly to their website of resources and activities. Please check them out! It is a fantastic resource with a lot of movement activities!

ACTIVE LESSON RESOURCES