It's a new year-- a time many of us make resolutions to take better care of ourselves, get organized, connect with our family. As a parent of two very loving, adorable and energetic boys, one of my resolutions is to find some time for ME, and the best way I have found this extra time is to delegate household responsibilities! True, it’s easier said than done but I assure you it’s possible. Here are some fun and easy ways that children of all ages and abilities can help out at home, as well as specific products that enhance independence. Not only will these activities help your child achieve their therapy goals, YOU get a little time off-- everybody wins!
Spraying and wiping surfaces and windows
Squirt bottles help strengthen hand muscles, as well as
reinforce hand separation skills necessary for a mature writing grasp and scissor skills-- and kids love to spray them! Throw in a
squeegee and now they’re strengthening their wrist and forearm. This a great activity for children two and older.
Folding Laundry
Younger children can help sort and
match socks and underwear. For older
children, folding laundry (matching corners, aligning seams) is a great way to work on spatial awareness, discrimination and visual closure, fine motor
skills, and general motor planning and sequencing skills.
Loading the Dishwasher
My husband and I have a friendly
competition on who can fit the most articles in the dishwasher-- sometimes I think we spend more time loading the dishwasher than it
would take to wash and dry them by hand! Why not have your school-aged child
help-- it's like real life Tetris...with less sitting, and more standing and squatting. Let younger children play at the sink with bubbles and a sponge, washing non-breakable dishes and utensils. They are working on sequencing, tactile exploration
and discrimination, bilateral motor coordination, standing endurance and visual
attention.
Vacuuming
You know how your child’s therapist has been suggesting proprioceptive (heavy work) activities and strengthening/endurance
opportunities? Here's your opportunity! Good-bye dog fur and crumbs, hello regulation, body awareness, and endurance!
Sweeping
Kids eat dinner, Mom and Dad spend the rest of the night hunched under the table scooping up half of dinner that ended up on floor. Sounds familiar, right? Let the kids grab their dustpan and
brush and easily maneuver themselves under the table to sweep up the crumbs. Now they are integrating reflexes,
emphasizing body awareness, enhancing bilateral motor coordination and saving
our backs. Double win!
Meal Prep ideas
Chopping: Have you seen those nylon knives with serrated edges and a blunt tip? They are the perfect tool for children 5 and up to practice their cutting skills. Delegate that salad or chopped fruit to your child as your
“sous chef.” Bonus: children involved in meal
preparation are more likely to try their dinner choices and broaden the variety
of their diets!
Cherry Pitter: Yes these do exist and they are fantastic! Just put the cherry in the holder, squeeze the handles, and out goes the pit. Perfect for hand strengthening!
Cherry Pitter: Yes these do exist and they are fantastic! Just put the cherry in the holder, squeeze the handles, and out goes the pit. Perfect for hand strengthening!
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Olive grabber/ Pickle Pinchers: This kitchen
tool that looks like the ever-frustrating claw game you find at arcades,
but it’s so much more fun. When your
child uses this kitchen tool to grab olives and pickles from a jar, he or she
is strengthening hand separation skills and the web space between the thumb and
index finger.
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Mix it up:
Have your little ones help stir various batters, soups, noodle dishes
and they are reinforcing bilateral coordination and upper extremity endurance.
- Fern Barry, OTR/L
