Dealing with End-of-the-Year Burnout

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Once again, it is almost the end of the school year.  This post from last year gives suggestions on how to help your kids make one last push before summer begins.  

Dealing with end of the year burnout can be a frustrating time for teachers, parents, and children. By the time May comes around, dreams of pools, summer vacations, and play dates dance in our little one’s heads, which can make for very stir-crazy kids. Here are a few tips to help keep our kids going for the last few weeks of school.

Before School:

  • Try to get your kids moving before school. Even if it is only for 5-10 minutes, allowing your children to move their bodies before school will help to increase their focus, create a better level of arousal, and get their bodies and brains ready for sitting still, learning, and getting through those end of year tests. Have him or her bear walk (walking on hands and feet) or crab walk to the bathroom, kitchen, or front door or having them push a weighed laundry basket during every transition. Jumping jacks, frog jumps, marching, rolling, and pushing or carrying heavier objects are a few ways to get good sensory input in the morning.

  • Prepare a sensory-smart breakfast. Resistive sucking is great for organizing the body, improving self-regulation, and fostering ability to focus and attend. Place a straw in your child’s yogurt or applesauce instead of giving him a spoon. Smoothies are also a great breakfast food that provides wonderful early morning sensory input. If you are okay with allowing your child to chew gum, give him or her a piece to chew on the way to school and then spit it out before getting out of the car (really resistive gum such as double bubble provides more sensory input).

During School:

  • Teach your child sensory exercises to perform at school as needed. If they find themselves getting in trouble with the teacher, having difficulty sitting still, or struggling with focusing on their work, there are several discreet exercises that can help get them through the day. Chair push-ups, shoulder scrunches, chair squeezes, pushing hands together, hooking fingers and pulling hands apart, and giving yourself a hug are a few exercises than can be helpful.
  • Pack a sensory smart lunch. Crunchy foods help to increase your level of arousal and can help get your little one get through the afternoon slump. Healthy crunchy foods include veggie sticks, carrots, celery, apples, and pretzels. Chewy foods can be very organizing and regulating to the nervous system and can help kids stay focused through the afternoon. For those kids that are craving movement and additional sensory input, chewy foods can help give their bodies good sensory stimulation without participating in movement and touch than can be disruptive. Great chewy foods for lunch include fruit leather, bagels, raisins, dried fruit, beef jerky, and granola bars.

After School:

  • If your child has homework or studying to be done, give them a chance to move their bodies and get out that extra energy before sitting down to complete their work. Try to allow your child at least 30 minutes to play after school. Encourage her to engage in activities that get her body moving, such as riding a bike, playing on the play set, running and jumping, pushing a wagon, playing tug-of-war, and participating in relay races that incorporate animal walks, jumping, or crawling. Other activities that provide good sensory input include drawing with sidewalk chalk, manipulating play dough or clay, playing in water tables or other sensory tables, and digging in the dirt. Limit screened activities, such as television, video games, and computers right after school.

  • Prepare a sensory-smart snack. Get out those chewy foods and your straw in the afternoon to help your child re-regulate after school.
  • If your child is having a hard time sitting at the table during homework. Give them movement breaks as needed, such as breaks to wheelbarrow walk, bear walk, or crab walk across the room, perform wall push-ups, or perform frog jumps. Your child may also be able to better focus if sitting on an exercise ball or lying on their stomach propping up on their elbows.

The end of the year is in sight. Only a few more weeks until your child will have the summer break about which they have been daydreaming. In the meantime, however, use these strategies to help decrease their (and your frustration) and help them stay focused!

101 Ways to Play (#43): Making Homemade Instant Snow

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Mama OT recently posted a tutorial on making homemade instant snow.  It’s a great sensory-motor activity that incorporates tactile development and fine motor skills.  You can also use it as a fun medium for developing bilateral skills, handwriting skills, and eye-hand coordination!  Enjoy!

 

How to Make Homemade Instant Snow:

 

Someone recently told me you can make instant snow by cutting open a disposable diaper and pouring water on it til it turns into a gelatinous, moldable sensory play tool.

What?!

Diaper Snow Cover with TextAs an OT who is always looking for new sensory play ideas, I decided I HAD to try this for myself. To read more and find out how she did it click here!

If you would rather buy your instant snow instead of make it yourself, there are several brands to choose from. 

Be sure to add this to your play repetiore!  It is fun and easy and a GREAT way to get your kids interested in learning! 

Tummy Time Tricks

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Tummy time is one of those things that pediatricians are always encouraging parents to do with their newborns and infants.  Over the years, I have found that parents don’t always understand why tummy time is so important.  Lack of an understanding of the importance of tummy time combined with how difficult tummy time can be often results in parents spending little time encouraging this position or forgoing it all together.  Much of the time, babies initially resist being laid on their stomachs because it is a difficult position for them.  This, however, improves as their head and trunk control improves and they become stronger.

Working through the initial difficulties of tummy time is worth it in so many

ways because tummy time helps to:

  • Develop head and trunk control
  • Strengthen arms and shoulders
  • Develop weight shifting and reaching skills
  • Develop ocular motor and visual perceptual skills
  • Promote bilateral coordination skills

All of these skills are prerequisites for larger gross motor skills, such as rolling, sitting, and crawling, and for fine motor skills as hand strength, upper extremity control, and object manipulation skills develop.

Because tummy time can be a challenge, it is important to make it fun and engaging.  Try these tips to make tummy time less difficult:

  • Engage your child in tummy time by lying them on your chest while you lean back or lie down.  This puts them in a perfect position to engage with you while you try to distract them.
  • Place a rolled towel or a small pillow under your child’s chest to help raise them and keep their face off of the floor.
  • Place your child on his tummy across your lap.  Use one hand to help support him and your other hand to hold a toy for entertainment.
  • Carry your child in a face down position using both hands, which encourages them to activate their extensor muscles and build their neck and core strength
  • Place your child on her stomach on a large exercise ball.  This will allow you to rock and sway her to help keep her happy.  This position also gives her a different visual perspective, which may help to keep her happy!

Need some extra supplies to help with tummy time?  These items are great for positioning and entertaining:

Want more information on tummy time?  Check out Anne Zachry’s Tummy Time Tips!

What are your tummy time secrets?

101 Ways to Play (#42): Parachute Games

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Pictured is Super Parachute Party by Alex Toys

Can you tell I am ready for summer?  My 101 Ways to Play series has been taken over by summer games to play with the little ones.  And here’s another that’s great for a play date, birthday party, or any time you have a group of kids together.  These are a few of my favorite parachute games:

  • Popcorn: Place a number of beanbags, small balls, or even cotton balls onto the parachute. Shake and pop the parachute to make them bounce around like “popcorn”.
  • Ball Roll:  Have the children try to roll the balls into the hole in the middle of the parachute, try to keep the balls from going into the hole, or try to roll a ball from one side of the parachute to the other without it falling off.
  • Making Waves:  Children can create “waves” of various sizes.  Create a story or just give them directions to change from small, medium, to large waves.
  • Merry-Go-Round:  Children turn their bodies sideways and hold the chute with one hand while walking, jumping, or skipping to the music.  You can also challenge them to walk backward.
  • Poison Snakes:  Put jump ropes onto the chute. Shake the parachute to keep the snakes from “biting” (touching) you.
  • Parachute Tag:  Lift the parachute high into the air. Call out two children’s names. They must trade empty spots by running under the chute, before it comes down on them.  Instead of calling out names, you could also call out shirt colors, birthday months, favorite foods, etc. and have the kids try to get to an empty seat on the other side of the parachute before it falls.
  • Mushroom: Everyone hold the parachute waist height.  On the count of “three,” with “one” and “two” being practice lifts, everyone lifts the chute overhead and crouches down pulling down the parachute edges to create a “mushroom.”
  • Rollerball: Try to keep a ball rolling along the outer edge of the parachute.
  • Bouncing Balls: Have one or two children get under the parachute and try to hit the balls and knock them off.

These games take me back to my childhood.  What parachute games do you remember from your early school days?

101 Ways to Play (#41): 18 Blogs Explaining How to Create a Puppet Theater

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I was recently introduced to a “how to” blog post on creating puppet theaters.  I thought my readers may enjoy so I am passing it on!  The craft of designing and creating puppets is, of course, great for development of eye-hand coordination, fine motor skills, and motor planning, as well as creativity.  Puppetry is also a wonderful way to foster pretend play skills and ideation.

Enjoy!

Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas

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Don’t forget that this week is teacher appreciation week.  Need a gift idea to let your child’s teachers know how much they are appreciated?  These ideas are simple and fun but also let those super important teachers know that you put some heart into it:

seven thirty three

cafemom

buttoned up

12 sweet handmade teacher appreciation gift ideas

Craftaholics Anonymous

Teacher Appreciation

Handprint and Footprint Art

DIY Teacher Gifts made with Handprint & Fingerprints

But if you are looking for that special store-bought gift, we have ideas for that too!

What fun things are you doing for your kids’ teachers this year?

It’s a Potty Party: Strategies for Toilet Training

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I have recently begun the process of potty training my 2 1/2 year old.  I have to be honest…a lot of my motivation for potty training is my budget and my sanity!  However, figuring out whether or not your child is ready for toilet training can be extremely tricky.  Below are some signs that your child may be (or may not be) ready to begin the potty challenge (from the Zero to Three website):

Your child may be ready to learn to use the toilet when he or she:

  • Stays dry for at least 2 hours at a time, or after naps
  • Recognizes that she is urinating or having a bowel movement.  For example, your child might go into another room or under the table when she has a bowel movement.  This is important—if you child does not realize she is having a bowel movement, she won’t be successful at potty training.
  • Is developing physical skills that are critical to potty training—the ability to walk, to pull pants up and down, and to get onto/off the potty (with some help).
  • Copies a parent’s toileting behavior.
  • Can follow simple instructions.
  • Most importantly, your child wants to use the potty.  He may tell you that he wants to wear “big boy” underpants or learn to go potty “like Daddy does.”  He may feel uncomfortable in a soiled diaper and ask to be changed, or ask to use the toilet himself
Less than Perfect Times to Start Potty Training:
  • An upcoming or recent family move.
  • Beginning new or changing existing child care arrangements.
  • Switching from crib to bed.
  • When you are expecting or have recently had a new baby.
  • A major illness, a recent death, or some other family crisis.
During our toilet training process, I have received a lot of advice from other mothers and professionals in regards to what has worked for them. Here are some of the strategies that have been recommended to me:
  • Cold Turkey:  It may be messy, but many parents report that they have had the best success with having their child start out wearing underwear or even no underwear at all around the house.  This provides them with a new sensation when they use the bathroom, as well as a visual cue, to help them learn the sensation of when they need to go.
  • Using a Timer:  Regularly take your child to the bathroom.  Start by setting a timer every 15-30 minutes and gradually increase the time between visits.  Using the timer may help reduce conflict and resistance, as the timer is telling your child it is time to go, as opposed to it just being you.
  • Sticker Chart, Prize Boxes, and Treats:  Many children are motivated by rewards.  You can use a small treat, such as an M&M, or a small prize (from the dollar store) as a reward for successfully using the potty.  Most children need immediate reinforcement when initially learning a new skill.  To keep them from expecting a treat every time, you can gradually increase the time between rewards as their skill level improves, such as getting a prize or slightly bigger treat at the end of the day.  With sticker charts, many kids are motivated just to get a sticker and fill up their charts, but you can also use them as a visual cue for working up to a larger reward!
  • Potty Party:  Verbal positive reinforcement can go a long way!  Make a big deal when your child successfully uses the potty.  Have your own little potty party in the bathroom!
  • Staying at home:  Some parents have found that staying at home for the first several days of potty training is a must!  That way you can be sure to be consistent.  However, I have had friends who have carried their portable potties in the car when they went out!

These supplies may also be helpful for you:

Here are some additional sites with good potty training info:

Have you tried any of these strategies?  What has worked for you and what hasn’t?  Share your tips!

Mother’s Day Handprint and Footprint Art

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Mother’s Day is approaching.  I cannot believe it will be my 3rd Mother’s Day and my 1st Mother’s Day as a mom to two!  For all you teachers and therapists out there, here are some of the cutest handprint/footprint Mother’s Day crafts I have found!  They are perfect for your students or clients to take home for mom for her special day:

South Shore Mamas

milly beeHandprint and Footprint ArtGrowing a Jeweled Rose Super Saturday Crafts Learning as we Grow

Have other cute ideas for handprint or footprint art?  Please share in the comments section!