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:
Check out the party details below, and watch for a Ninja Turtle post to come, soon 🙂
We made coffee filter butterflies here (using a straw to pipet watercolors onto coffee filters!), and strung them in the light fixture using fishing line. Raiding dad’s tackle box was a fun adventure one afternoon 😉
Chocolate covered Oreos with Key Lime Pie melts from Joanne’s. This combo was really good! They may not be the prettiest chocolate, but with those Joanne coupons, you can’t beat it!
Finger food even a fairy would love!
Another Joanne’s coupon deal: Little fairy houses for each party go-er to decorate. We had a goopy, glittery, sticky house for lots of little fairies! (Or birdhouses for a certain little nephew…) 🙂
I LOVE the concentration going on here!
We painted a big sheet of cardboard and hung it to our outdoor play house. This was a fun afternoon in the week leading up to party day! Big Sister really got into this one.
We had a great celebration of Big Sister’s birthday with family and friends.
Happy Birthday to my sweet, smart, kind, sensitive, silly girl.
Looking for bubble wrap activities to do with kids? If you’ve received bubble wrap and are looking for fun ways to use bubble wrap in creative art or sensory play, then you are in luck! This bubble wrap activity is great for the child with tactile defensiveness that still wants to participate in messy play.
Bubble Wrap Activity
We’ve done the mess-free painting and no-mess sensory play a few times and it’s always a hit. We added a new component to this one to add a touch pressure component. Bubble Wrap!
This bubble wrap activity is easy to set up. You need just a couple of materials:
Plastic sandwich baggie
Bubble wrap
Paint
To set up the bubble wrap sensory activity, follow these steps:
Cut a small square of bubble wrap.
Slide the bubble wrap into a sandwich baggie so it lays flat.
Add a squirt of some paint onto the bubble wrap.
Seal up the baggie.
Start playing!
Instant sensory, mess-free paint play. You could pop the beads and see the paint splatter, smear the paint around the bubbles, and spread the color using finger isolation.
This would be fun to add two colors and mix. This took a little more strength to pop the beads than usual, being in the baggie. Great fine motor exercise, here!
Benefits of Bubble Wrap Painting
There are several things happening here when kids are playing with this bubble wrap activity.
Fine Motor Benefits- By pressing the paint around on the bubble wrap, we see several fine motor skills at work:
Finger isolation
Force modulation
Eye-hand coordination
Hand strength
Arch development
Separation of the sides of the hand
Sensory Benefits of this Bubble wrap activity- There are also sensory components at play here as well. This activity offers proprioceptive input which breaks down into:
The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook walks you through sensory processing information, each step of creating a meaningful and motivating sensory diet, that is guided by the individual’s personal interests and preferences.
The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook is not just about creating a sensory diet to meet sensory processing needs. This handbook is your key to creating an active and thriving lifestyle based on a deep understanding of sensory processing.
This was our last water bin in our Water Bins for Kids series with Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails. This was definitely the most fun water bin for us this summer! We ended the series with a splash!
(Yes, had to go there!!)
This is a great addition to a color by letter worksheet. Just print and go and work on so many areas of development.
Letter Water Bin
This week’s theme was Color Matching!
Two of us sisters got together one day this week and had SO much fun with the kids on a hot and sunny afternoon.
We started with a colorful plastic bin and filled it with water. We threw in our bin of colorful magnetic letters (see another fun letter sensory bin here), and egg dying cups in lots of colors.
We started by scooping the letters into the floating cups and trying to catch the matching letter. We asked the kiddos what letter they found, the color, and if the letter color matched the cup.
This activity is a good one for bilateral hand coordination, eye-hand coordination, and fine motor skills. They had to use both hands together in a coordinated manner, while visually tracking the letters as they flowed around in the water. Then, with both hands on the cups, scoop up the letters. How fun!
Of course, when these cousins get together, there is sure to be silliness. The two younger ones were the instigators in the splash down.
We pulled out a metal curtain rod and stuck a magnet to one end. It stuck to the curtain rod and was able to attract the magnets of the letters. Little Guy LOVED this!
We pulled all of the colored cups out of the water and had the kids “fish” for the letters and put them into the matching cups.
Little Guy could have done this for an hour, I think…if it were not for his fun-loving little Sister and cousin dumping water on everyone.
This week we had so much fun playing both inside and outside (depending on the weather). This included some indoor play at the mall and some outdoor play at the park.
We found an amazing carnival with tents and colorful strings of lights, the night ended with a beautiful sunset. It made for a wonderful summer evening with great memories.
We are making the best of this Summer 2013!
Thank you all for stopping by again this week to share your creative ideas with us.
We love seeing what everyone has been up to. This week we chose some fun painting activities for kids.
These are great on the hot summer days when you just want to stay indoors or sit on the porch. Not to mention it keeps the kids busy and provides your fridge with some beautiful artwork while school is out for the summer 🙂
Inspired Montessori– shared beautiful apple stamp art. This fun and creative activity is great for kids any age.
Serenity You created magic artwork by first drawing on paper with a candle. I can see my daughter loving an activity like this with a secret message!
Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds combined shaving cream and water colors for some awesome finger paints. What a great mix of sensory play and artwork!
Laughing Kids Learn if you are looking for some mess free painting check this out! I love the ideas for mathematics and literacy she shares.
Janis Cox made a beautifully textured hand print turtle by adding nut shells for the turtle shell.
This swamp explorers activity for kids is a water dramatic play idea that builds skills through sensory swamp fun! As parents and caregivers, we’re always on the lookout for fun and educational activities to keep our kids engaged and entertained. If you’re looking for an activity that will transport your child to a whole new world of imaginative play, look no further than a swamp sensory bin! By creating a miniature swamp environment in a bin filled with sensory materials, you can encourage your child’s creativity and sensory exploration while also helping them learn about the natural world. In this blog post, we’ll show you how to set up a swamp sensory bin and provide some ideas for how your child can use it for pretend play. Get ready to dive into the murky depths of a swamp and have some swamp-tastic fun!
Swamp Sensory Bin
A Swamp explorers activity with water dramatic play is a fun way to pretend to explore a swamp…without the threat of alligators and snakes!
We love great sensory play. So when I saw these lizards, snakes, and bugs I knew we had to create a swampy sensory play. With a little summer learning mixed in!
I set this up for the kids by scattering a few creatures around our yard, and creating a swamp sensory bin. Complete with mucky water.
When they saw the swamp in our baby pool, they jumped right in! We went on a hunt looking for swampy creatures of all colors.
This activity is a great backyard sensory activity! It incorporates all the benefits of a nature walk with a fun theme like a swamp explorers and swamp theme!
We had a check list to find creatures of different types and color. These were stuck on to a wipe board with play dough for easy portability around the yard.
Big Sister carried this around as she and Little Guy went on a hunt for swamp creatures. She would mark them off as they found each one. We talked about similarities and differences in the animal types and colors. She loved using a white board marker to write. We worked on her handwriting including letter formation and spacing.
Little Guy is a new four year old and counted out each of the lizards, snakes, and bugs he found.
He did a great one-to-one correspondence and is getting much better at sloooowing down when he counts objects! This was such a fun outdoor learn and play activity for all of us!
You may also enjoy some of our other swamp related posts:
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:
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.
Little Guy and I had some fun with play dough and some of his cars and dinos. And of course, bad guys.
It started with adding some green play dough around the mountain from our train set. We used our homemade dough and added some water with blue dough. Once I piled some lava on top of the mountain, he got pretty excited about the whole set up and kept adding things to the scene…”We need a road. And a bridge. And a grass bridge!”
He had so much fun making foot prints in the dough and stories to go along with the guys. How great is this for language development and pretend play?
There was a battle.
(or many…)
And the dino got stuck in the volcano just as it erupted.
As the bad guys attacked.
What a fun day with my Little Guy. Have you done any pretend play with play dough?
Looking for more ideas to use play dough in pretend play? Try these:
This pool noodle sensory bin is a water bin activity that uses one item…a dollar store pool noodle! We love the therapeutic benefits of ball pit activities, and using pool noodles cut into pieces is an inexpensive option with sensory benefits. This is a pool noodle game and a great summer activity for building skills in coordination and motor skills through water play and pool noodles! This might be one of our favorite easy sensory bin ideas because there are so many ways to boost creativity through a single material.
A pool noodle sensory bin can be used in outdoor sensory play, or as an indoor DIY sensory ball pit.
Pool Noodle Sensory Bin
A noodle sensory bin is a fun and creative way to encourage sensory exploration in children. One of the most versatile materials to use for a sensory bin is pool noodles, which can be found at most dollar stores or discount retailers like Dollar Tree or Dollar General. With a few simple steps, you can turn these pool noodles into a unique sensory play experience that your child will love.
This week’s theme was so much fun and EASY to throw together. We had a couple of pool noodles purchased from the Dollar Store that we used for our family reunion games (keep an eye out for the post on this!) These pool noodles were just asking to be played with!
How to make a Pool Noodle Sensory Bin
If you aren’t familiar with pool noodles, these floating pool noodles into sensory ball pit fillers is easy.
Pool noodles are buoyant so if you fill the sensory bin with water, they will float. However, you can make a dry ball pit as well, and they are a great foam filler that offers calming proprioceptive and tactile input.
You can typically find pool noodles at a dollar store and many other stores during the summer months. However, you can also get them on Amazon. (affiliate link) Here’s a set of 20 pool noodles that can be cut into small sections to fill a baby pool ball pit or any large container.
Making pool noodle sensory bin is very simple:
1. Use 2 pool noodles.
2. Cut the pool noodles into 2 inch slices using a sharp knife.
3. Place the cut pool noodles into a large bin. We used an under-the-bed storage bin.
4. Add water.
To set up a pool noodle sensory bin, you’ll need several pool noodles in different colors, textures, and sizes. You may also want to include some dollar store serving spoons or other utensils to help your child scoop and pour the sensory materials.
Start by cutting the pool noodles into small sections, using scissors or a serrated knife. The best way to cut pool noodles is to make sure they’re held securely and to use a sawing motion, rather than trying to slice straight through.
I cut up two pool noodles and added a couple of big serving spoons, slotted spoons, and a ladle for scooping fun. Baby Girl loved this. And of course got right in there in the water bin!
Thread a Pool Noodle
I added Big Sister’s jump rope for an extra large beading activity.
This was a great activity for large motor movements of both arms. With that huge string, and sliding the pool noodle “beads” down the rope, this really got the arms going in whole body motions.
This gross motor body motion and repetitive movements in a novel manner help brains develop new neural connections and long term learning abilities.
Not only that, threading the “beads” onto the jump rope was great for fine motor manipulation and bilateral hand control (bilateral coordination).
We did a nice pattern and had to grab the correct color as it floated along in the water bin. Reaching for and grabbing the intended color object in the water develops hand-eye coordination skills. (Eye-hand coordination!) So much learning and SO much fun!
Big Sister thought her super-sized necklace was pretty cool!
This water bin was perfect for a hot and muggy afternoon. Have you been doing any fun water play this summer?
You can use the cut up pool noodles again and again in other sensory bin activities. Add them to a dry sensory bin, too. One idea we love is to use dry rice or dry beans, or even shredded paper sensory bins as a base for hiding and finding objects like the cut up pool noodles.
You can use anything from sand and water to rice and beans as a sensory bin filler for the base for your sensory bin. Then, add the pool noodle sections on top of the base material.
Encourage your child to explore the different textures and colors of the pool noodles and to use their imagination to come up with new ways to play. Use tongs to grab the pool noodles for building hand strength, too.
One fun activity you can do with a pool noodle sensory bin is to create an occupational therapy obstacle course using the noodles. Stack them up into towers or weave them in and out of each other to make a fun and challenging course for your child to navigate. You can also use the pool noodles to practice counting or sorting by color.
If you’re looking for a bigger sensory experience, consider using an extra large pool noodle to create a sensory pool noodle tunnel. Simply cut a pool noodle in half lengthwise, and then cut off one end at an angle. This will create a tunnel that your child can crawl through and explore. You can also fill the tunnel with other sensory materials, like soft fabric or foam blocks, to make it even more engaging.
Overall, a pool noodle sensory bin is a fun and budget-friendly way to encourage sensory play in children. By using inexpensive materials from the dollar store, you can create a unique and engaging play experience that will stimulate your child’s senses and foster their creativity. Whether you’re setting up an obstacle course, building towers, or crawling through a sensory tunnel, there are endless ways to play with a pool noodle sensory bin. So grab some pool noodles and get ready to dive into a world of sensory exploration and fun!
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.
…and we wanted to share the party details and fun!
We invited some friends over for a play date and instructed the moms to dress the kids in their bathing suits, and bring towels. What else says “summer” like the sprinkler??
A summer kick-off party also needs a bucket of chalk, popsicles, and a big bin of lawn toys.
I made the sunny straw toppers one morning while sitting and watching my kiddos take their swimming lessons. Big Sister drew a bunch of suns on yellow cardstock and I cut them out. Easy and cute!
I put out a bowl of bubbles and added sunny little details like yellow bowls, napkins, and plates.
The Oreo dirt dessert was a hit! And very easy to make:
Crush a package of Oreo cookies.
Make a package of pudding (I used vanilla but chocolate would be good, too).
Pop open a container of Cool-Whip.
Layer pudding/Cool-Whip/Oreos.
YUM!!
Our summer kick-off play date was a great way to connect with some friends we haven’t seen for a while and a FUN way to get excited about summer!
Another week has gone by and now we are already over halfway through July. Before we know it the end of summer will be here and the beginning of the school year (gulp).
My little girl will be heading to kindergarten in the fall and this mommy is already tearing up thinking about it. Just the thought of sending her off on the big school bus is putting me into an arrhythmia. I know I am not the only one thinking this…how did this happen? how did my baby get so big already??
With kindergarten on my mind lately, we have been getting some writing and letter activities into our daily schedule. She can write her first and last name and the entire alphabet with some help with that darn letter “Q”.
This week we are featuring some of the posts that were linked up relating to letters and writing…
Writing and Letter Activities
Schooltime Snippets- this adorable activity is great for the toddlers and preschoolers. I love how she cut out strips of paper for her daughter to match up the letters. This post is full of great ideas.
Domesticated Breakdown shared a lovely framed artwork she made for her sons room. I have been wanting to try something like this, it looks like such great craft that the kids can help with.
Highhill Education- shared a wonderful activity to encourage writing- postcard exchange! This is such a great idea, I love that it involves interacting with others.
And Next Comes L shared an alphabet hands obstacle course and scavenger hunt. This activity is something kids of all ages would enjoy and I could see these hands being used over and over again in other activities.
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