Scratch Art

 

Scratch Art is a box of 125 mini rainbow art notes.

Here is another fun way to get a writing tool into the hands of those kids who don't like to write. Start out drawing and coloring, then move to writing something about your picture. Or give a fancy note to a friend or teacher.

In the box are 125  3.5" square, individual sheets of card stock covered in black. The black substance is easily removed when you use the wooden dowel/pencil (no lead, also included) to scratch on a piece. The substance can be scratched off with lots of things you may have around the house, but if you want to practice using a writing tool, don't lose the wooden pencil. The sheets are small enough not to be overwhelming, but big enough to practice writing and drawing on. 

$10 for a box of 125 comes out to 8 cents a piece, a reasonable price if you are only using a few per session. 

Try this:

• Draw a symmetrical design, a face showing how you feel today, a thank you note to a teacher, your favorite pet, the sky is the limit.
• Draw a picture of a favorite object and then add a sentence telling why it is your favorite.
• Draw lines on the sheet before they begin to write, as a guide.
• Use them with kids that write real big. Draw lines and tell them that the whole word must fit on the line. Write the first letter so they will have a scale to go by.
• Have some simple picture cards to copy. Some kids have trouble with visualization and/or cannot draw from memory, some get anxious when presented with a blank sheet and told to draw something. I like the picture cards that come with Backseat Drawing. They are simple, recognizable objects.
  
• Use one of Ed Emberley's drawing books to practice basic lines and symbols.
• You draw as they watch, then they draw. Stop after each line or symbol, if necessary, until they have drawn it. Then go on to the next.
• Talk as you draw to explain and add one more sense.

 If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below to go to Amazon.com.

 

Career and Employment Prep

 

This is a little out of the scope of what I generally blog about, but I have found the Career and Employment Prep store on the Teachers Pay Teachers site so valuable that I wanted to blog about it to share it. 

The word "occupation" in my title (occupational therapist) means "meaningful activity". Anything that is a meaningful activity for an individual is considered an occupation for him. If you love to garden, then that is a meaningful activity, or occupation, for you. If you don't, then it is not. Herein lies one of the greatest challenges for occupational therapists - since each individual is different, there is no one curriculum that can be used for everyone. Occupational therapists must create custom meaningful activities that address areas of difficulty unique to each person and their occupation(s). Even though this can take many hours of work per person/activity, it is one of the most satisfying, and fun, parts of the job for me.

With that said, there are times when a standard product can be used for an individual(s). Much of my caseload has always been made up of high functioning individuals with autism that are expected to go on to college and/or get a job. Much of the prep for these activities can be the same across the board for these individuals. This is where the Career and Employment Prep store at Teachers Pay Teachers (teacherspayteachers.com) has come in real handy for me. And maybe it will for you too.

The store owner has such a variety of activities and subjects under career and employment that I feel I will not do her justice by listing only a few, but I feel I must to give you an idea of the range. For employment she has topics such as workplace social skills, business communication of all types, workplace safety, business acronyms, pay check and compensation, workplace attire, workplace time management, customer service skills, teamwork skills, workplace ergonomics, and many, many more. I have paid an average of $3.00 per purchase, but she also bundles things for greater savings.

My favorites are the card sets. There are 6 cards to a page and usually 40 cards to a set. She also adds an additional 6 blank cards at the bottom so you can make up your own questions. These cards are great discussion cards and the teens I work with have been very receptive to them. There are no throw-away or duplicate type questions, but are all very thought provoking and designed to elicit discussion. I feel my kids are well prepared in these areas after we go through her activities. I have also purchased many of her sets that include fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice questions, escape rooms, and even her own rebus puzzles. They are thorough, and again the teens I have used them with have liked them.

The best thing I can tell you is go look through her store. I have bought a number of TPT activities that have turned out to be less than I had hoped for, but never from her. My goal in writing this post is to bring attention to her store and offer help to anyone who spends hours making up their own materials and needs something new week after week at a reasonable price. I hope this has been helpful if that is you.

Check out her store here - Career and Employment Prep