our oral motor ideas.

[Guest guest]

great ideas about the bubbles!!! never heard of either one of those before.

looks like a trip to toys r us this weekend!!!!!

anyhow.........some of the things sara's therapist is working on for her that

i thought i would pass along:

filling a shallow pan (we use a pie pan) with water and giving her a straw

to let her try to blow bubbles. i will be honest, and say sara actually

spends most of the time stirring the water with the straw, but she is

starting to get the hang of it i think. just yesterday while in the bathtub

she stuck her face down towards the water and was attempting to blow bubbles.

i dont like to use blow-pens, because sara tries to eat them (she still has

to pur EVERYTHING in her mouth) but i have kind of adapted a substitute

myself. i take a fat straw like the ones they have at mc donalds......cover

one end with wax paper and secure it with a rubberband or tape.

then i put some food coloring in the straw, and poke a small hole in the wax

paper. instant blow pen!! she likes to see the different colors, lots of

times i will put like yellow food coloring in the water in the pie pan, and

give her a few brighter colors in the straws. the effects of the different

colored waters swirling in the pan amuses her.

also another thing we try to work on for her oral motor skills is making

different shapes with her mouth. the thing we found that was the most fun

for her (and therefore the easiest to get her to do) was to imitate

different animals.

she really loves to go to the zoo, and her favorites have always been the

fish, monkeys and reptiles. so what we did was took a picture of a monkey

making a face, and of that lizard with the blue tongue ( a skink i think its

called) and a great picture of some ugly fish making a " fish face " (what

other kinds of faces would a fish make....LOL)

anyhow, we blew these pictures up, laminated them, and turned them into a

book. now when we look at the book we have fun trying to make the various

animal faces. it has really helped her gain some control over her mouth i

think.

the ST also suggested using trick candles to teach blowing, but as i said,

everything still goes into the mouth, so im not sure fire would be a good

idea!

also, if you can get your hands on a copy, the october 2001 issue of

Exceptional Parent magazine has a whole section of toys that were reviewed by

parents of children with special needs.

anyhow, just a few things i thought someone else might benefit from.

would love to hear any other ideas anyone else has.

tami

[Guest guest]

Hi Tami!

Loved your ideas too! OK -I'm going to sound like a big baby on this

one - when I do this my husband Glenn says he feels like he has three

kids (OK -so maybe it's because I'm still a toy inventor at heart)

Here are some fun things to do at the restaurant that are oral motor

too.

Next time they give you the straw with just the top of the paper

covering stuck on the top -pull the straw out of the glass and remove the paper

on top by blowing it across the table at your kids -it's the funniest thing -and

then they

of course do it back -and that includes Tanner. (or if they give you

the straw with the paper covering the entire thing you can just rip

off half and still play this game!!)

Then -use the paper napkins (yes we only dine at the finest eating

establishments) to make little soccer balls and see who can blow

the " soccer balls " off the opposite side of the table -where your two

kids are sitting -and then of course they have to try to block you

and blow it back off your side (your husband may get into this one -

mine just doesn't like the one I suggest above which of course makes

it even funnier for Dakota, Tanner and me)

Then to practice a strong letter P -(haven't had to do this one in

over a year -but for those of you that are working on this letter

sound) pick up a paper napkin that hasn't been demolished yet into

tiny soccer balls and hold it in front of your face -and say the " p "

sound -and the napkin will blow up in the air -which for some reason

I used to act like that was my favorite thing to do and so even

though I wouldn't ask my 2 kids to do it - they of course would.

By this time your food should be at the table -and you got

some " therapy " in too.

Oh -one other thing I just picked up that is great for " gross motor "

that my kids love is called a Beamo http://www.beamo.com/home.html -

it's like a huge fabric covered Frisbee that you can catch like a

hula hoop around your body -and for " fine motor " glow in the dark

pick up sticks (if you don't know what they are I'll have to get the

package and post the name -so let me know -oh just found them here

even though I bought them at the local toy store

http://www.whalesdirect.com/product.html?t_q=CU082 ) Anyway -you

play this one in the dark and it's great for fine motor -when you put

on the lights -the different color sticks are worth different amounts

of points -very fun too! I find any excuse to go to those toy stores

don't I?!

By the way Tami, you are " poof " on digest, as you asked -let me know

if you like it there better!

=====

[Guest guest]

The book idea is just fantastic! Creative!!!! I should try that next time

I'm at a better zoo than the one out here in Springfield - maybe make a trip

into Boston. Awesome!

Betsy

>From: TAMINEWMAN@...

>>also another thing we try to work on for her oral motor skills is making

>different shapes with her mouth. the thing we found that was the most fun

>for her (and therefore the easiest to get her to do) was to imitate

>different animals. she really loves to go to the zoo, and her favorites have

always been the fish, monkeys and reptiles. so what we did was took a picture

of a monkey making a face, and of that lizard with the blue tongue ( a skink i

think >its called) and a great picture of some ugly fish making a " fish face "

(what other kinds of faces would a fish make....LOL)

>anyhow, we blew these pictures up, laminated them, and turned them into a

>book. now when we look at the book we have fun trying to make the various

>animal faces. it has really helped her gain some control over her mouth i

>think.