SVSU Daily Motor Activity

PT/OT VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS

Mondays 8:00-9:00 am (ZOOM ID: 951-9289-7825 Password:1i3xQ5) Ms. Patrick & Ms. Sam

Tuesdays 3:00-4:00 pm (ZOOM ID: 885-763-366, Password: PT23234) Ms. Sam & Ms. Julie

Wednesdays 1:00-2:00 pm (ZOOM ID: 411-808-6829 Password: 522155) Ms. Julie & Ms. Allison

Thursdays 12:00-1:00 pm (ZOOM ID: 873-209-778, Password: 026937) Ms. Allison & Ms. Patrick

or by appointment

Feel free to join any Zoom office hour to ask a OT or PT question- we're working as a team and are happy to reach out to other service providers, special educators, teachers, etc. to help support learners.

When joining, please be aware that you may need to wait in the "virtual waiting room" for a few minutes in order to maintain privacy for other families.

Thank you!

-Your PT/OT Team

March 23, 2020

March 24, 2020

With the expected snow storm, take the opportunity to get outside and make a snow obstacle course!

Step 1: Gather items

- Sled, hoola hoop, sticks, ball, pool noodle, plastic bowl

Step 2: Create obstacles

- Aim for 5 or more obstacles, ideas include: snow angles, crawling through a hoola hoop, walking heel-to-toe between sticks, jumping over pool noodles, tossing a ball into a "snow hoop", making a snow man, pulling a sibling or a full sled of snow, filling a plastic bowl with snow and making a tower, etc.

Step 3: Complete obstacle course

- Race against someone in your family or try to beat your own time

HAVE FUN

March 25, 2020

March 26, 2020

March 27, 2020

March 30 2020

March 31 2020

April 1, 2020

April 2, 2020

Can you believe this link brings you to 101 Fine Motor Activities?!

We've done a lot of these activities at school, lets see if you remember any of them.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/42573158964829866/

A few of my personal favorites include:

- Paint plastic cars or animals and then give them a bath with soap, water and a toothbrush for scrubbing.

- Use cookie cutters to cut playdoh. If you don't have any playdoh, you can find some easy recipes online or mix flour and water and a little food coloring.

-Blow bubbles outside. If you need more bubble mixture, mix water and dish soap.

-Lego Build! How tall of a tower can you build without it falling over?

-Paint pictures and paint your name using Q-tips or your fingers.

April 3, 2020

April 6, 2020

SPELL YOUR NAME WITH MOVEMENTS!

A- Jump up & down 3 times

B- Bend down and touch your toes 4 times

C- March in place 5 times

D- Dance in place while you count to 10

E- Turn around in a circle

F- 3 Frog jumps

G- Try to balance on your left foot while you count to 10

H- Hop on one foot 2 times

I- 6 squats

J- 5 jumping jacks (just your feet if jumping jacks are too tricky!)

K- open and close your hands 10 times

L- 10 arm circles

M- Try to balance on your right foot while you count to 10

N- 5 wall push ups

O- 2 lunges

P- 5 Giant steps

Q- 5 high knees

R- Run in place while you count to 10

S- 10 leg kicks forward

T- 10 legs kicks out to the side

U- 3 body twists

V- 5 stomps

W- 5 bunny hops

X- Reach for the ceiling/sky 4 times

Y- Walk on your heels 8 steps

Z- 5 steps to the side

What else can you spell??

April 7, 2020

Join Ms. Sam in creating your own eggs-ercises!!!!

Using plastic Easter eggs, hide small pieces of paper with motor activities-- choose an egg and complete the challenge inside!

no eggs--- create activities and put them all in a bucket or bowl!

examples can include motor activities such cross crawls, marching, jumps... or Easter/Spring themed fun activities--- bunny hops, puddle stomps--- be creative & have fun!

April 8, 2020

April 9, 2020

APRIL SHOWERS.....

Explore the movements and sounds of April showers....

Start by rubbing your hands together (change the speed that you rub them together!)
Clap your hands together....
Clap/Pat your hands on your thighs (change speeds to create different speeds of rain)
Can you create thunder with large stomps or jumps in between your claps or pats??? (How fast can you stomp your feet??)

April 10, 2020

PHYSICAL THERAPY NEWSLETTER #1 / OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY NEWSLETTER #1

April 20, 2020

In honor of Earth Day on Wednesday 4/22, make a promise to do something for the planet! Create an Earth Day promise hand to hang in your house as a reminder to be eco-wise all year long! You will only need paper, crayons, scissors and glue to make this simple project. Trace your hand, color and cut it out! Add your promise... Have fun being creative! May your week be filled with happiness and peace!

April 21, 2020

8 Minute Workout! Did you know that exercise not only has physical benefits of improving strength, balance and endurance, but also helps your brain for better learning and focus? Grab a water bottle and a timer. Set the timer for 45 seconds and then rest for 15 seconds for a total of a minute for each of the exercises below. Repeat 8 times... Be like the creatures of our Earth!

visit the link below for written instructions on details of various moves:

https://hes-extraordinary.com/morning-workout-for-kids

Have fun and have a healthy day!!

~Ms. Julie

April 22, 2020

April 23, 2020

Today to honor the Earth, practice this inchworm exercise... Great for coordination and strength!

How to Do the Inchworm Core Strength Exercise

Start by standing tall with your feet together.

Next, bend at your waist and put your hands on the ground.

Without moving your feet, walk your hands out until your body is almost straight.

Stop your hands and don’t move them.

Now, walk your feet up to meet your hands.

Stand tall and start again!

April 24, 2020

It's Friday! You made it through the week of new learning! Grab some old newspaper. For our last Earth Day activity, let's crumple newspaper up into balls and "Recycle" it for use to have a paper basketball game with someone in your house. Grab a garbage can or big bowl for your "hoop". Don't forget to set up rules with your opponent and to keep score. You'll be able to practice your writing and math skills at the same time! Good luck and have a good game! Enjoy your weekend and keep up the great work!!!

April 27,2020

April 28, 2020

April 29, 2020

April 30, 2020

May 1, 2020

PHYSICAL THERAPY NEWSLETTER #2 & ACTIVITIES

Occupational Therapy updates #2

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY UPDATES #2

May 4, 2020

May 5, 2020

Cinco de mayo banner and poster design with flags Vector Image

Another day of celebration; today is CINCO DE MAYO!

It is one of the most important holidays in Mexico and usually filled with games, dance and really good food. Check out this website to find some ideas for games, learn more about Mexican culture and history and don't forget to do the hat dance at the end! https://helpwevegotkids.com/national/article/holidays/10-kid-friendly-ideas-for-cinco-de-mayo/

May 6,2020

May 7, 2020

May 8, 2020

Another full week of work is done. Good Job!

You have accomplished A LOT. Be proud of yourself and make sure to rest this weekend; not just your brain and your body, but also your eyes! We are working so much on screens these days that our eyes have to work twice as hard. A good tip to help your eyes and avoid headaches while you work is to follow the 20/20 rule; "every 20 minutes you spend on a screen, spend 20 seconds to rest your eyes - relax your gaze, close your eyes, look at something in the distance but not at the screen while you slowly count to 20". (This is also a good mindfulness exercise!)

If you would like to keep your eyes in shape and ready for learning, check out this website with fun activities https://www.yourtherapysource.com/blog1/2019/04/11/visual-tracking-definition-exercises-and-activities/

May 11, 2020

May 12, 2020

May 13, 2020

May 14, 2020

May 15, 2020

PHYSICAL THERAPY NEWSLETTER #3 & ACTIVITIES

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY NEWSLETTER #3

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY UPDATES #3 (1)

May 18, 2020

May 19, 2020

May 20, 2020

May 21, 2020

May 22, 2020

Happy Long Weekend!!!

Memorial Day weekend is commonly a weekend that many people begin their gardens and plant flowers!

Try some of the following suggestions in the garden with your child to promote upper body strength, coordination, motor planning and balance. Creating a garden plot for your child that he/she looks after him/herself can help to develop motor skills, as well as provide a sense of independence, achievement and pride.

Digging: Use either a hand trowel or a shovel for digging

Pulling Weeds: This will help develop arm and hand strength as well as postural stability. It will also help to keep the garden weed free.

Raking: This will develop bilateral coordination and strength. Encourage your child to change hands when raking.

Watering (with a watering can or the hose): Specify a certain area to be watered and encourage moving the hose back and forth across the area. If the watering can is heavy, your child will need to use two hands together, which develops bilateral coordination.

Planting Seeds: This develops fine motor skills and hand eye coordination.

May 26, 2020

Hope you had a fantastic long holiday weekend and happy Tuesday! It's sometimes difficult getting back in the school groove after a busy weekend and an extra day off of school... take a few mindful moments to do nothing and help your brain and body get refocused! Viparita Karani is often called legs-up-the-wall pose in yoga, but viparita actually means "inverted," and karani means "in action." There are many benefits to inverting the actions in your body including fluids draining from swollen ankles and tired knees while relieving low back pain. This pose also gives blood circulation a gentle boost toward the upper body and head, which creates a pleasant "re-balancing" and a boost of energy after you have been sitting or standing for a long time. Give it a try, it works! Have a peaceful day!

May 27, 2020

There are so many uses for coins other than using them as money! Gather as many coins as you can out of your piggy bank or from around your house and try these activities to work on your fine motor skills:

- gather 5 small bowls (see picture above); sort a bowl for pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.

- once you have coins sorted, take out the pennies and see how high you can stack them one on top of the other. Try the same with the nickels, dimes and quarters. Was one type of coin easier to stack? How many coins do you have in each pile? Which coin do you have the most of?

- line all of your pennies up in a row with the heads side up. Now see how quickly you can flip each coin over to the tails side. If you have a timer, record your times. Do you get quicker with practice? Make sure you try this with both your right and left hands! You can even have a coin flipping contest with someone else in your house to see who is the fastest!

May 28, 2020

May 29, 2020

End of the week challenge:

Do you have legos at home? Or straws, scissors, a plate and glue? You can make your own marble maze! Make a plan for a maze, construct/build it and then see if you can get the marble through using your two hands and eyes together to coordinate controlling the marble from start to finish! (*If you do not have a marble, a small bouncy ball may work too, but make sure your path is wide enough!)

PHYSICAL THERAPY NEWSLETTER #4 & ACTIVITIES

June 1, 2020

June 2, 2020

June 3, 2020

June 4, 2020

June 5, 2020

June 8, 2020

LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!

How is it possible that we've made it to the last week of school?!

We wish we were ending the year with fun in person OT/PT games and activities but hope that you can use this opportunity to get your families involved instead :-)

Today's fun is something I often like to do with groups at the end of the year... Try making Cloud Dough using the recipe below- have fun with adding colors or various scented lotions. This is great sensory fun for all ages!

Cloud Dough

Ingredients

1/2 cup lotion regular lotion or baby lotion
1 cup cornstarch

Instructions

Add 1/2 cup of lotion to a bowl. Add 1-2 drops of the food coloring (if using concentrated gel, if using regular food coloring you'll need more drops to color) and mix.
Mix the lotion and food coloring until combined.
Add 1 cup of cornstarch and mix.
Mix until combined.
Then take out the dough and place on some wax paper. Knead with your hands (you may want gloves here so your hands don't stain). Keep kneading until it forms a dough-like consistency. If it's still too sticky add another tablespoon of cornstarch.

June 9, 2020

Today's activity is a fun game- you'll need a frisbee and a ball (if you don't have access to these items, get creative with other household items such as a stuffed animal or pillow).

Easy Frisbee Golf

_{1. Start by throwing a ball or other item about 20-30 feet away.}

_{2. Stand in a line with your competitors and throw your frisbees one at a time, with the goal of landing as close to the ball as possible.}

_{3. If one of the players manages to land a frisbee on top of the target, they automatically win the round and receive 1 point. Otherwise, the player who's frisbee lands closest to the ball wins the point.}

_{4. The first player to score 5 points is the winner of the game.}

June 10, 2020

June 11, 2020

*LAST DAY OF SCHOOL*

Congratulations friends, we've made it through another school year.

It's been a wild couple of months of remote learning and we thank all of you (as well as parents, grandparents, friends, and family members) who have helped make this go smoothly.

Here are some fun summer water games to play if you have the chance:

Swimming Pool Games (for Boys, Girls, & Teens)

#1 – Marco Polo

Marco Polo is just like playing tag in the swimming pool, but the person who’s “it” has to keep their eyes closed to make things more challenging.

This game is really simple… the “it” player calls out “Marco,” and everyone else answers back with “Polo.” Whoever is “It” listens carefully and tries to tag one of the other players. Once he or she successfully tags a player, the tagged player then becomes “it” for the next round.

#2 – Submarine Race

Here’s a fun pool game for the younger kids who are just learning how to swim under water. Have the boys and girls line up against the wall on the edge of the pool. Someone yells “Go,” and the kids race underwater to see who can go the furthest without coming up for air.

#3 – Splash Dance

Each child or team choreographs their own water dance to go with one of their favorite songs.

You could even provide a variety of fun props, like crazy sunglasses, hats, swimming rings, or pool noodles.

#4 – Invisible Bottles

This one is a lot more challenging than you would expect, especially if you can put some of the bottles in the deep end. All you need are a few empty water bottles with the labels and lids off so that they become nearly invisible in the swimming pool.

The adults fill the bottles with water and hide them around the bottom of the pool. The players have to find the bottles, and whoever finds the most wins the game.

#5 – Shark and Minnows

This is another version of water tag. The player who is “it” is the shark and the rest of the players are minnows.

The minnows stand at one side of the pool, and when someone says go, they try to get to the other side without being tagged by the shark. The first player to get tagged becomes “it” for the next time.

Safety Tips

Make sure there are plenty of adults around to supervise the fun! Follow pool safety rules and remember to wear sunscreen! Get your family involved too, it's good for everyone to keep moving to keep your mind and body healthy and happy.

Outdoor Activities

73+backyard+activities+to+keep+kids+busy+all+summer