Colleen Beck, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist and the owner and author of The OT Toolbox website. She manages all of The OT Toolbox social media accounts and runs the popular newsletter.
Read about Colleen's experience and career as an occupational therapist, including how The OT Toolbox began on our About The OT Toolbox page: https://www.theottoolbox.com/about-us/
Colleen created The OT Toolbox in 2011 and since then has written thousands of blog posts designed to support therapy providers, educators, parents, counselors, admin, and caregivers in promoting the healthy development of kids.
Check out Colleen's blog posts below:
This pipe cleaner busy bag is a creative way to use pipe cleaners while helping preschoolers to develop fine motor skills and visual motor skills. Add this pipe cleaner busy activity to your list of preschooler activities!
Pipe Cleaner Busy Bag
I have been trying to think of activities to keep my 3-year-old son busy lately. He is a busy little guy a
nd always wants to be involved in what we are doing in our homeschool. I typically have little busy-bag activities for him to do and needed to add in some new ones.
We have lots of pipe cleaners so I decided to make a pipe cleaner shape matching activity. I created some simple pictures for him to use to create shapes with pipe cleaners or yarn. You could really do this with any shapes, but I thought it would be fun to make it a more creative picture with nature scenes.
I made several different printable pages that can be used in a busy bag or just for anytime.
We tried doing the activities with yarn as well and it is a little easier to shape them for younger kids.
Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.
Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:
Many years ago, we made a mixed up snack mix to go along with some “The Mixed Up Chameleon” activities that we were doing with a group of preschoolers. It’s a fun way to engage little minds using a colorful snack, and is inspired by Eric Carle’s beloved book, “The Mixed-Up Chameleon”. Whether you’re exploring chameleon activities for preschoolers or simply looking for a creative way to engage kids in snack time, this mix is sure to be a hit.
The Mixed Up Chameleon Activity
Just like the mixed-up chameleon changes its colors to blend in with its surroundings, our snack mix offers a variety of flavors and textures to tantalize young taste buds. From crunchy to chewy, sweet to savory, every bite is a delightful surprise!
You’ll want to check out all of our cooking with kids recipes and all of the benefits of getting kids involved in the kitchen. A cooking task as simple as this mixed up recipe is great for little ones!
We have been loving this Preschool Book Club Series! This week’s book is The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle (affiliate link) and one of our favorites. We decided to make a mixed up snack mix to go along with the story. And what a fun time this was!
Mixed-Up Chameleon Snack
To create your own Mixed-Up Chameleon Snack Mix, gather an assortment of colorful ingredients. Think vibrant green pretzel sticks, golden cereal squares, red and blue dried fruit, and perhaps even some chocolate candies for an extra treat. Encourage your little ones to mix and match the ingredients just like the chameleon mixes up its appearance.
You could actually use any ingredients that you prefer or have on hand. This could be fruit to make a mixed-up fruit cup, or a trail mix type of snack.
As you prepare the snack mix together, take the opportunity to engage in some mixed-up chameleon activities. Discuss the chameleon’s unique ability to change colors and blend in with its surroundings. Encourage your children to use their imaginations and pretend to be chameleons, adapting to different environments as they munch on their colorful snack mix.
For added fun, consider incorporating story time into your snack session by reading “The Mixed-Up Chameleon” aloud. As you enjoy the story together, point out how the chameleon’s adventures parallel the mixing and matching of ingredients in your snack mix.
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Have you read The Mixed-Up Chameleon (Amazon affiliate link) by Eric Carle? We love this story, just like we love all of Eric Carle books. This was a great book to read with a little snack. First, we needed to do a little cooking with the kids.
Our snack mix used all of the colors for the different animals in the book. As the chameleon decides he wants to be a different animal, we added the ingredient to go along with that animal, and mixed it up, of course…with a mixing spoon!
In the book, first the Chameleon wants to be like the Polar Bear. We added coconut flakes to our bowl to represent the polar bear’s fur. Not a fan of coconut? Try marshmallows.
Next the Chameleon wants to be like the Flamingo. We added pink sprinkles. Because sprinkles make everyone happy 🙂
Next the Chameleon wants to be like the Fox, so we added red M&Ms.
Goldfish crackers are for the goldfish, of course.
When the Chameleon wanted to be like the Deer, we added pretzels for antlers.
For the Giraffe’s long neck, we used our imagination and added pretzel sticks to the snack mix.
Green Fruit Loops represented the Turtle in the book.
Next, the Chameleon wants to be like the Elephant and again we used our imagination to use dried banana chips for elephant ears. It was a little stretch, but worked for us. And was a tasty addition to our snack mix!
The Chameleon decides he wants to be like the seal and at that point, we added raisins to represent the seal’s flippers.
The final addition to our snack mix was the umbrellas for the people.
The snack mix was stirred up and all done! Ready to eat, while we read the book. Again!
Have fun with your snack mix and the Mixed-Up Chameleon!
Mixed Up Chameleon Book Activities
We had so much fun creating this Mixed up Chameleon activity! Be sure to stop by the other bloggers in this series to see how they are playing and crafting with the Mixed-Up Chameleon:
This activity is one of our favorite ways to explore books through play! There are many more ideas in our resource: Exploring Books Through Play.
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
Have a new baby in the house? Maybe you are preparing for the newest little one to add to the family fun in the house. A new baby can make for a big change in any home! Use these books about siblings to help big brothers and big sisters adapt to the change that a new baby brings.
Books for New Siblings
We’ve got a 6 year old, 4 year old, and 2 year old, and are waiting on the newest little one to join us. I’m hearing daily from the ladies in the grocery store/preschool/doctor’s office how full my hands are 😉 Oh yes. This I know! But as full as my hands (and laundry baskets, to-do lists, and grocery carts…) are, my heart is fuller. I am so blessed to have these three and soon-to-be FOUR little handfuls.
Watching them play is so much fun. These kiddos have got the sibling thing down…there are collaborations on very imaginative scenarios that happen daily. They are building forts outside, getting muddy and grass stained together, and building memories. Of course they fight with each other. I mean, they are siblings. There are fights and tormenting happening daily! It’s all part of the family thing.
One thing that we love to do as a family is visit our local library. We LOVE our librarians in the children’s department and bring home a big old stack of books each week. Lately, we’ve been pulling books from the shelf with a similar theme…Brothers and Sisters! With the new coming baby, what better topic is there to read than brother and sister books?
These are our favorite Sibling Books that we’ve been reading over and over lately. Some, we have, and others we’ve checked out from the library. All are awesome for introducing a new baby to the family, or just celebrating brothers and sisters!
{This post contains affiliate links. In other words, this blog will receive monetary compensation when any purchases are made through the links in this post. Our opinions and ideas are in no way affected. You can read our full disclosure policy here. As always, we thank you for your support and community here at Sugar Aunts}
Check out this Little Blue and Little Yellow activity to work on color mixing and sensory play with a children’s book favorite! We whipped up a batch of Kool-Aid puffy paint for a sensory play experience that has a scented aspect. Kids will love this color mixing activity, and will be sure to remember it for years to come!
Last week’s Pete the Cat snack and our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Letter Learning Activity have been a huge hits in our house. these are some of our most favorite and read (and re-read) books, so this preschool book club series has been a blast!
This week we’re loving another favorite book of ours with Little Blue and Little Yellow. We made Kool-Aid Puffy Paint to create our own version of color mixing to go along with the book. This was beyond cool and so much fun to create.
Little Blue and Little Yellow Painting activity
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We LOVE the book Little Blue and Little Yellow, by Leo Lionni. When we saw this book on the series, I knew we had to do some color mixing. This Kool-Aid paint recipe smelled so good and the creating mixtures of blue and yellow was a ton of fun.
The YELLOW paint was the same recipe, only using a packet of lemonade flavored Kool-Aid. Mix the paints up until it’s a smooth consistency and painting is ready to begin!
We made a little blue and a little yellow spot of paint and the kids guessed what color they thought we would get when they mixed. Little Guy liked to add little bits of color at a time just like in the book to mix into green.
These paints were very sensory! The texture and scent were such a fun painting experience.
The paints made a pretty green color.
After we mixed a bit of the blue and yellow together, I put the paintings into the microwave for 30 seconds. These paints puffed right up. Your microwave oven may vary, so keep a close eye on this while the paints are cooking!
We had to do a bunch more of these. Baby Girl loves her painting activities!
These puffy paints were very fun. We painted for a while making puffy blue and yellow mixtures. And loved the scents!
Be sure to stop back next week for another Preschool Book and activity. For now, check out the other awesome ideas to go along with Little Blue and Little Yellow from our Preschool Book Club buddies:
Wishing all of the moms a wonderful day full of snuggles and love! This mama is celebrating with three blessings and (still) waiting on number four to make her presence. Only five days late now! I’m guessing she can hear all of the crazy chaos happening out here and is staying nice and safe and cozy inside mommy’s belly until she is forced to make her way out!
Mother’s Day with little ones is about the giggles and wiggles, the reading of a favorite book 5,245 times, watching T-ball games in the rain, hearing “Happy Mother’s Day to Yoooooooou, CHA CHA CHA!” 17 times in a row, and using the Hello Kitty shampoo/conditioner/body wash because someone dumped all of Mom’s shampoo down the bathtub drain. All of these things happened this weekend, and it was wonderful! I wouldn’t change a thing!
We’ve got a few quotes from favorite children’s books that are perfect for Mom’s. I hope you are having a fantastic Mother’s Day, and enjoy!
{This post contains affiliate links. You can read our full disclosure policy here. As always, we thank you for your support and community.}
“Life will never be the same because there had never been anyone like you.” From the book On the Night You Were Born
by Nancy Tillman
“I love you forever. I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.” From the book Love You Forever
by Robert Munsch
“I am your parent, you are my child. I am your quiet place, you are my wild. I am your calm face, you are my giggle…I am your lullaby, you are my peek-a-boo. I am your kiss goodnight, you are my I love you.” From the book, You Are My I Love You
by Maryann K Cusimano
“If There Ever Comes a Day We Can’t Be Together… …keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.” From The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh
by A.A. Milne.
This week’s post in the Preschool Book Series is featuring one of our all time favorite books. We started reading this when Big Sister was just a little one and have enjoyed it with each of the kids over the past six years. We LOVE Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
by Bill Martin, Jr. for it’s rhyme, rhyme, and fun story. It’s so catchy and I’ve caught the kids singing the words to the story aloud many times.
We decided to make a palm tree to go along with the story as we read the book and identified letters.
This was such a fun activity for all of us!
Chicka Chicka Book Boom Letter Activity
{This post contains affiliate links. In other words, this blog will receive monetary compensation when any purchases are made through the links in this post. Our opinions and ideas are in no way affected. You can read our full disclosure policy here. As always, we thank you for your support and community here at Sugar Aunts}
I started by making a palm tree on a huge piece of cardboard. I will admit… this tree turned out WAY bigger than I was planning. I drew the palm tree and the next thing I knew, it was pretty much life sized.
A few pieces of clear contact paper were taped to the tree, sticky side out, and we were ready to go!
Baby Girl LOVED this activity. I threw a bunch of foam letters
from our foam puzzle and she started going through them. This is a great way to work on letter identification, visual scanning, and crossing midline with little ones.
We read the book and looked for the letters in alphabetical order as they went up the coconut tree.
Baby Girl is not able to identify letters yet, but Little Guy is, and he liked this letter learning activity too. He thought it was pretty cool that the letters could stick on the tree as they climbed the coconut tree. But, he was quick to point out that I forgot the coconuts on our tree. Ooops.
Of course we had to make our tree fall down after all of the letters were in the tree, just like in the book. And hilarity ensued. This is one activity that we will be doing again and again! the palm tree has taken residence in our basement and we have been sticking all kinds of fun things to it. I mean, maybe the next installment of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom could include feathers 😉
Be sure to stop by and see what the other fabulous bloggers in the Preschool Book Club series did to go along with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
I’m so excited to share fun ideas for learning in Babies and Toddlers. The super creative ideas are perfect for the 0-2 year age range, and would be a hit with older siblings, too. I’m definitely saving these ideas for after the baby gets here. Check out these ideas for your Baby or Toddler. You’re sure to have fun time!
Be sure to check out our resource on the best crayons for toddlers. We broke down child development and selected therapist-recommended coloring tools to support child development during the toddler years.
Playful learning ideas for 0-2 years:
Babies love to hear voices, and there is no time like right now to introduce books. These favorite Board books and printables (Totschooling) are sure to be a hit with your Toddler, too.
Put together a Kitchen treasure basket for babies (Living Montessori Now) to explore textures sounds, and shapes with baby-safe household items.
This Aunt is about to become a mother, again. Baby number four will be here very soon…maybe days, or a week…this time of not knowing exactly when life changes again is very exciting. With Mother’s Day coming up, we wanted to share a quote with all of the moms who know about those strengths and fears of being a mother.
We are so excited to join a few other fabulous bloggers in a series based on preschool books. Today’s book is one of our absolute favorites and one that we know by heart…and recite a ton! Little Guy is a huge fan of Pete the Cat books so when I showed him what we would be doing with these button snacks, he was VERY excited!
We don’t actually own any Pete the Cat books, but check them out from the library ALL the time. We checked out Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
and made a fun snack to eat while we read the book (and did a little math, too!)
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons snack
Cooking with Kids. Button Snacks
I started with a piece of whole wheat bread, a spice lid for cutting, and a straw. The spice lid was the perfect size to stamp out buttons from the piece of bread, but you could use any size circle lid or cookie cutter. Little Guy was totally into this cooking with kids activity. He smashed the lid down on the bread and loved popping it out.
Once the circles were cut from the bread, I used the straw to poke homes into the circles. Voila! Buttons were made. To make the holes, just press the straw strait down onto the circle and twist a little. The hole will form easily. This is another completely fun part for the kids to do…poking that straw into the bread is very fun…Little Guy had a blast!
I was able to get four buttons from each slice of bread. They were looking pretty cute as is, but I wanted to make little sandwiches.
A little peanut butter and the button snacks were done.
Now that is what I call four groovy buttons!
We read the book together and ate the button snacks. As each button popped off in the story, Little Guy ate one of the snacks.
Literally, popping the button sandwiches into his mouth.
We did the math along with the story. He was so excited to figure out the subtraction with the button snack counters.
How cute are these little sandwiches?
This was such a fun way to read and learn…and snack!
Be sure to check out the other blogs to see how they are playing along with Pete the Cat!
We recently started a new board on Pinterest all about BOOKS for KIDS and the activities that can go along with the book. Stop by and follow along for fun books you can add to your library queue! We’re having a blast pinning over there!
(Amazon affiliate link)
, by Leo Lionni. When we saw this book on the series, I knew we had to do some color mixing. This Kool-Aid paint recipe smelled so good and the creating mixtures of blue and yellow was a ton of fun.
, and 4 Tbsp of warm water.
. Mix the paints up until it’s a smooth consistency and painting is ready to begin!
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