Activities
Risky Play: Clipline Zipline
A delightful little example of risky play in action. There are a few different opportunities for kids to play with height in my rooms. This was a really fun, creative one that also worked on […]
Fine Motor
Activities
Make A Plan, Write It Down
I mentioned this idea almost offhandedly in a training recently and it was profoundly exciting to the people in the training— so I’m making it into its own post! Here’s the idea in brief: ask […]
Activities
X-Ray Car Technician
I love it when kids merge the toys I have at different areas of my room. He merged the car table and my wooden “tools” and began pretending to use a screwdriver and a hammer […]
Activities
Finding Buried Treasure
A play invitation from my therapy gym — as part of the child-led exploration of stations in my room during OT time, or for the children who use the therapy gym for other reasons than […]
Activities
Pirate Adventures
The child saw a giant cardboard box and suggested it was a pirate ship. Even if pirate fiction wasn’t one of my own special interests, I would have been on board immediately (ha ha, pun […]
At Home
Writing Because of Music
My son (6) wanted to listen to music. He loved the music, the way it felt in his body, so he danced. He loved the music, the way it sang in his mind, so he […]
At Home
Pencil Grasp
I think early childhood education has misunderstood what is behind the concept of “using the right pencil grasp”. For example, in my child’s reception class (the UK equivalent of preschool/kindergarten — it’s not exactly 1:1 […]
Activities
The Scariest Possible Wizard Spell
I have “old paper” in my OT room (white paper stained brown with tea or coffee, crumpled up, etc) and sometimes the kids will get interested in making wizard scrolls or pirate maps or whatever. […]
At School
It Only Makes Sense To Us
Modeling writing authentically and meaningfully and delightfully doesn’t always have to be, like, great works of prose or poetry. They don’t even have to make sense or be meaningful to someone who wasn’t using them […]
Activities
Six Ways to Play with Vacuums
At my lecture last Friday, during the Q&A session, somebody asked me if I had any ideas for connecting meaningfully and playfully in therapy with a child whose special interest was vacuums, and who spent […]