Let It Go! 7/6/2020

Let It Go!

Our routines have changed a lot in the past few months. A lot of us are experiencing
things we have no control over and that can make us feel a lot of different emotions.
If this has been happening to you, you are not alone. Talk about how this makes you
feel with a family member or friend.

What emotions have you been feeling?

It can help if we tell ourselves to “let go” of these feelings after we talk about them. 

What can you let go of?

An environmentally friendly version is to write on a piece of paper all the things you want to let go of and then rip it up and throw it like confetti. (Another alternative option is to write on a piece of toilet paper with a marker, then crumple it up and flush it down the toilet).

What emotions did you feel after you “let go” of the feelings you can’t control or change?

Home Scavenger Hunt Week!

Home Scavenger Hunt

Using the list above, see how many of the items you can locate in your house.
If you are having a difficult time finding any of the items, ask someone for a hint or clue.

If you want to challenge yourself, use a timer to see how fast you can find all the items. 

If you want to have some friendly competition, ask a friend or family member to race you
and see who can find all the items on the list the fastest. Once you have finished, talk about what you did if you were having a difficult time finding an object and how you solved this problem.

Gross Motor Name Game Week!

What's Your Name Game

Using the image above, can you complete all the activities that spell out your name?

You can ask a family member or friend to do this activity with you?

After you have finished, talk with them about which activities were your favorite to-do and which were most difficult for you.

What other names and words did you spell out?

Board Game Week!

Play a Board Game

Choose a board game, card game, Charades, Pictionary, or any other game you enjoy and play it with a family member or friend.

After you play the game, have your friend or family member choose a game they want to play and play it with them.

Great for conversational speech, self-regulation for losing/winning, and planning.

Gratitude Jar Activity

Make a Gratitude Jar

1. Find a jar, bucket, cup, of any kind that you can put pieces of paper into. This is going to be your gratitude jar. Feel free to get creative and decorate it as you wish!
2. Think about different people, things, and events you are grateful for. On small pieces of paper, write or draw a picture of what or who you are grateful for and place it in your jar. 
3. Start by writing 3 different things to put in your gratitude jar.
4. Each day try to draw or write at least one more thing you are grateful for and put it in your jar.
5. Anytime you want, you can pick a piece of paper out of your jar to remember all the things you are grateful for.

When you are creating your gratitude jar, talk to family and friends about the things you are grateful for and why they are so important to you. Ask your family and friends what they are grateful for.

Last Week of School!

We are on the home stretch! 

I hope you have a great summer and I cannot wait to see you in the fall! 

If you are a 4th grader, goodbye and good luck! I hope you enjoy 5th grade! 

SOCIAL WORK week of June 7th - June 13th: Goodbyes and Staying Connected

Goodbyes and Staying Connected

It's that time of the year again when some of us say goodbye for the summer, some of us move on to middle school, and some of us may transfer to other schools.

Goodbyes can make us feel sad, angry, excited and many other feelings.  However you feel about a goodbye, is ok.

While we sometimes think about goodbyes as "forever," but they aren't.  Every relationship you have becomes part of you.  It changes the wiring in your brain.  So one of the tricks to help with goodbyes, is to find ways to stay connected with that relationship.  Here are some ways that may help!

When connecting with people from a distance (e.g. over the summer, or if someone moves to a different school etc.) you can (with parent permission):

• Ask for their email address to write them an email
• Ask for their home address to send them letters or cards
• Ask for their username on a video chat app
• Ask for a parent phone number to talk to them on the phone

For people who you may not be able to see or talk to again, you can stay connected to that relationship by:

• Telling stories and memories about that person
• Looking at pictures of that person
• Writing a letter or make a card to that person and put it in a special place (e.g. a special memory box)
• Having conversations out loud to that person (and maybe even responding to yourself in that person's "voice"--saying what you'd think they would say)

I hope that you all have a great summer, and I hope to connect with all of you again soon!

Physical Therapy: Week of June 7-12

Try Out These Garden Yoga Positions!  Have a great summer!

Speech Therapy: Tips for Clearer Speech / Communication (June 7 to 12)

Have a wonderful summer vacation!!

And remember this summer to HAVE FUN!

Occupational Therapy for the week of May 31-June 6

Make Your Own Drawings

Use these step by step drawings to draw your own pictures. Try them all or pick your favorites!

Cereal Box Car Ramp

 Step 1: 

Gather your materials. You will need: an empty cereal box or two, scissors, blocks, Legos, or something to help make the angle of the ramp, something to go down the ramp (matchbox car, marbles, ball) and tape.

Step 2: 

You are going to cut your cereal box to make the ramp. There are many different ways you can choose to cut the box. Will one way make your car go faster than another way?

 

Step 3:

Build up the base that you are going to set the ramp on. This can be done stacking blocks or legos under the ramp or by taping empty toilet paper rolls under it.You can also use other parts of the cereal box to build the ramp. Use the photos below to help get creative. 

Step 4:

You are now ready to put your car down the ramp! Did it go as fast as you were expecting? What can you do to make the car go faster? What can you use to build your ramp up higher?

Send me a picture of your creation at bissone@westbrookschools.org. I hope you have fun with this!

Occupational Therapy Goals targeted: visual perceptual skills, fine motor skills, flexible thinking, problem solving skills

Physical Therapy: Week of May 31 - June 6

Try Out This Dice Exercise Activity!

Roll the dice to see what exercise you get to do!  Kids love the concept of chance and not knowing which exercise will come up next!  Can you roll all 6 exercises?

Speech Therapy: Articulation /SH/ sound. (May 31 to June 6)

If you are working on the 'quiet sound' here are some pictures to help you practice.  Remember to round your lips and make sure you blow the air out the front.  Lift your finger to your lips and say, "SSSHHHHH".  Looking in a mirror always helps.     

Practice each picture 5 times:   " shine, shine, shine, shine, shine. "

If /SH/ isn't your child's sound, you can use the link at the top of this blog to go to the Saccarappa Therapy Web Site.  Find the SPEECH tab to the far right and there are multiple links under "Speech Sounds" to pictures / word lists for every sound that a child could be working on in speech therapy.  

And remember..... HAVE FUN!!

Occupational Therapy Week of May 24-May 30

Water Bottle Planters!

It's officially spring and time to plant! Let's make our own planter to hold those seeds. 

Step 1:

Gather your materials. Get creative with what you find around your home to use. Some examples of what you can use are shown in the photo below: recycled bottles of any kind, paint, construction paper, glue, markers, scissors, tape, googly eyes, ribbons/ string, glitter. 

Get creative! Anything and everything works!

Step 2:

Cut the bottles to any shape you like and choose what you want to make your recycled bottle planter into.

Step 3:

You are now going to add color to your bottle. This can be done by painting the bottle or gluing construction paper around it. In the photo below, I chose to make a bunny and a lobster so I painted my bottles red and white. If you use paint, you will want to wait for the paint to dry before gluing or taping anything to it. 

Step 4 (Bunny): 

You are now going to make the other parts of the animal. For the bunny, draw ears on white construction paper and smaller ones on pink construction paper.

 Cut both of them out.

 Glue the pink ears onto the white ears. 

Step 4 (Lobster): 

You are now going to make the other parts of the animal. Draw claws on red construction paper. 

Cut them out. 

Step 5: 

Glue the ears, claws and other parts you made onto your pot. The bunny ears are glued to the inside of the bottle at the top and the lobster claws are glued to the outside on the sides. 

Step 6: 

Add a face to your animal. This may include eyes, nose, or a mouth. For the bunny: Paint, draw, or glue on eyes. You can also add a pink triangle nose and whiskers. 

For the lobster: Paint, draw, or glue on eyes. You can also add eyelashes and a mouth. 

Step 7:

You’re now ready to add soil and a plant to your pot. Put the pot somewhere where your plant will get plenty of sun. Don’t forget to water your plant. 

What other creatures could you make?

Don't forget to email me your pictures at bissone@westbrookschools.org! I can't wait to see them!

Occupational Therapy Goals targeted: Fine motor, following directions, cutting, visual perceptual

SOCIAL WORK May 24th-May30th: Whole Body Listening (And How To Do This Online)

Whole Body Listening (And How To Do This Online)

In this video I review the concept of "Whole Body Listening" with our friend "Whole Body Listening Larry" from Elizabeth Sautter and Kristen Wilson's Social Thinking curriculum. I also explain how to apply "Whole Body Listening" online, when engaging in video interactions online.

Physical Therapy: Week of May 24th - 30th

Get Moving With This Idea Involving Your Name with Actions!

Speech Therapy: Pronouns (May 24 to 30)

Look at the above pictures.  You need to decide which PRONOUN you should use in the sentence.  HE,   SHE,   or    THEY.  If it is a boy use HE. If it is a girl use SHE, and if it is two people use THEY.  

Good luck, and HAVE FUN!

SOCIAL WORK May 17th - May 23rd: Gratitude Practice

Gratitude Practice

This week I invite you to create a gratitude practice.  Gratitude is a fancy work for "thankful."  This week, I'd like you to:

• Take a paper and something to write with
• Write a sentence about something for which you are grateful (e.g. "I am grateful for _____ because _____.")*
• Do this once a day for one week (that's 7 days).  Helpful hint: it may be easier to remember to do this if you pick the same time every (e.g. before bedtime).

*If you don't know how to write yet, no worries!  You can ask an adult or sibling to help you.

Speech Therapy: Let's Help with Laundry! (May 17 to 23)

Thinking about chores and language development? Nope! But yes, they can go hand in hand.  See the above picture for many different ideas to review language concepts, that are often goals in Speech Therapy, while doing a routine tasks like laundry.  Pick one or two of these concepts to review and talk about while doing laundry together:

• Sorting by color, wet / dry, clean / dirty, big / little, top /middle / bottom
• Play I spy
• Sequencing
• Following directions
• Opposites

And as always, HAVE FUN!

Physical Therapy: Week of May 17-23

Plank

Core Muscle Exercises!

Here are some exercises that you can do to strengthen your core... which is your building block and foundation for all other movements in your body!

Try to hold each one for as long as you can!  Repeat through these a second time for added benefits!

Bridge

Superman

Popcorn or Egg 

Reverse Table

Occupational Therapy for the Week of May 17 to May 23

It's time for some YOGA!

Did you know that yoga can be beneficial for so many different things? It can help make you stronger, improve your balance, help with self-regulation, and so much more! It is a great thing to do together as a family. 

Here is a few of my favorite poses, do them along with the pictures in a row, or check out the youtube videos at the bottom for lots more yoga! 

*HOLD EACH POSITION FOR 5 BREATHS BEFORE GOING ONTO THE NEXT!*

1. Mountain Pose 

2. Cat/Cow Pose

3. Cobra Pose

 

4. Downward-facing Dog Pose

5. Easy Pose

 

6. Corpse Pose

- Cosmic Kids Yoga on youtube... There are TONS of options here that are all kid-friendly and easy to follow along with!  CLICK HERE FOR: Cosmic Kids Yoga Videos

-Here's a mindful meditation to try to end your session! Feel free to try it in easy pose or corpse pose!

Mindful Meditation - Be The Pond

Occupational Therapy Goals targeted: Fine motor strength, strength and endurance, balance, self-regulation