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Children learn through play. As an occupational therapist who works with children and youth, I use games and toys almost every day to help develop important cognitive, visual perceptual, motor, sensory, social, play and leisure skills. While many different types of activities can be used in therapy, this blog focuses on off-the-shelf games and toys that are accessible to most. Whether you are a therapist, parent, teacher, or a game lover like me, I hope you discover something useful while you are here. Learn a different way to play a game you already own or discover a new game for your next family game night. Either way, just go play. It's good for you!

The OT Magazine named The Playful Otter one of the Top 5 Pediatric OT Blogs.


Jul 8, 2017

Counting Money - Level 2

Counting Money 4-piece puzzles - Level 2.

Work on coin identification, coin value, and counting coins with this 12 4-piece puzzle set. Each puzzle consists of a larger piece with a picture of an item and its price, and from three to five small coin pieces that are attached at the bottom.

Coins pictured are pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. The coin cards show coins from the front and coins from the back as well. Puzzles are self-correcting, meaning an incorrect piece will not fit snugly in the wrong place. Prices range from 12 to 75 cents. The prices are not realistic as far as purchasing in real life, such as the basketball above is 27 cents. But then again, what can you buy anymore for between 12 and 75 cents. I have used level one for years (read my post here), and only recently found out there is also a level two and three, which advance in difficulty. You can purchase the levels separately or as a set at Lakeshore Learning. 

To see a list of games with money that I have blogged about, click here.

Try this:

  • Place the coin cards necessary for a puzzle next to the large card and ask the individual to place them from largest denomination down to smallest.
  • Place actual coins on top of the coin pictures.
  • Sort coins cards into piles per denominations
  • Make sure that some of the actual coins are upside-down and flat on the tabletop. Ask the individual to pick up the coins one at a time and turn them in-hand to the correct side and orientation to match the coin on the puzzle before placing it on top of the picture.
  • Place the three coins needed for each puzzle in the individual's palm and ask him to bring them to the fingertips, one at a time, and orient them for placement without dropping any.
  • Ask the child to sort all of the coins into a money tray before starting. Then after assembling each puzzle, ask him to pick up the three coins needed, one at a time, and squirrel them in the palm without dropping any.
  • Place the puzzle pieces flat on the table and in different orientations. After picking up a piece, ask the individual to shift it in his fingertips to orient it for placement.
  • Work on money skills, visual discrimination, manual dexterity, fine motor precision, spatial relations, in-hand manipulation, visual closure
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  • In the box: 12 self-checking puzzles 

Jul 5, 2017

Mega Bloks Dora's House

Check out the house that Dora built.


In the bag: 60 pieces

A Dora the Explorer playset by Mega Bloks. Mega Bloks are larger than LEGOs and comparable to the LEGO brand DUPLO. The building pieces are plastic but are a little bit flexible, not solid hard plastic. Because of the flexibility, the structure can be hard to move, even just a little, without pieces coming apart.
 
This set includes Dora's house, a tree, a few furniture pieces, a Dora figure, and a Boots figure. This set also comes with a step-by-step booklet (image below) for making the house and accessories pictured on the front of the bag (image above). 
 
If you look in the top, right corner of the bag in the picture above you will see another version that you can put together, but it does not come with any instructions. You will need to work from the picture.  Here is a picture from the instruction booklet:



The new pieces that will be added to each page are at the top of the page in the white boxes. The new pieces are pictured "floating" above the model with black lines that trace down to the surface where it will be added. The tops of the pieces where the new pieces will be added are also colored with yellow and blue circles.

Try this:
  • Offer a few minutes of free play at the beginning so the child can get the feel of the pieces and learn how they go together.
  • Keep the unused pieces in a pile so the child will have to search for each needed piece. Turn some of the pieces upside down or on their side so the child will have to recognize them from different perspectives.
  • Advise the child to hold or place the model in the same orientation as the one in the picture.
  • Give the beginner a piece at a time while building and point to the piece on the picture to show where it should go.
  • Place the pieces for each step on the non-dominant side so that the individual will have to cross midline to pick them up. Instruct him not to lean to the side as he reaches across.
  • Ask "what is different" at each new step in the instruction guide to focus on where the new parts will go.
  • Take time to play once your set is complete.
  • Work on spatial relations, visual discrimination, figure ground, visual closure, bilateral hand use, manual dexterity, in-hand manipulation, sequencing, creative play, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information about it, click on the image below.