Cheerios Not Just Breakfast Food! 25% Sale

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Cheerios Don't Have to be Just for Breakfast!

All you need for these fun fine motor activities is a box of Cheerios and some simple supplies. 

1. Let's count and make a Cheerio Tower: You will need Cheerios, play dough and a thin chop stick.  Place a ball of play dough on the table and stick the chop stick in it, so it is standing up.  Now carefully place the Cheerios on the chop stick.  How high can you go? 

- Instead of a chop stick, use an uncooked piece of spaghetti or string them on a licorice string. 

2. Cheerio Bird Feeder: You will need Cheerios and a pipe cleaner.  Bend the end of the pipe cleaner, so your Cheerios do not fall off.  Then string the Cheerios on the pipe cleaner until filled up!

- Hang it outisde for the birds to feast on! You can also dip the Cheerios in peanut butter or almond butter to attract the birds!

3.  Sort and Count: You need your Cheerios and an empty egg carton.  Write numbers on each space of the egg carton, count your Cheerios and fill up each space.  Do this before making your Cheerio tower, then take your Cheerios from the egg carton and place on your stick. 

 

- Don't forget your tongs and tweezers! Use your tongs to pick up and place Cheerios in any of these activities. 

 

Also use Fruit Loops too!  You can use them in all the above activities but also can work on patterns and sequences (1 red, 2 yellow, 1 green...) 

 

** Let's not waste food - Please try to gather up all cereal pieces and share them with pets, birds, squirrels, ducks, etc. But Please be careful that no inedible materials get included by mistake! ***

Cheerio Bird Feeder

Sort and Count

This Week's Special:

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Compiled by Lisa Walker OTR

When Paper and Pencil Seem Boring

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When Paper and Pencil Seem Boring!

Even though there is a huge push for computers, iPads, and other technology, writing is still such a large part of your student's day in school and at home with homework.  And it is important!! After all, what do you have if the power goes out? Or you are in the car, at a restaurant, or doctor's office waiting room with no battery charger?

Pencil and Paper!!

Here are some fun ways to "Mix it up" and all you need is paper and a pencil or crayon. 

When you need to make homework a little more interesting

- Take your child's worksheets and tape them to the wall or a door, standing up to complete the worksheet isn't only a different way to do your work but it also will help stregthen those upper arm muscles. 

- If you have a small table, tape the worksheet to the bottom of the table or under a chair.  Now have your child lie on the floor and complete there worksheet.

- You can use a slantboard(pictured above) or three ring binder, place your child's homework on top and they have an inclined writing surface. 

Handwritng Fun

When you aren't doing homework and need to complete writing neatly.  Here are some fun handwriting activities you can do at home or in school. 

- Write in  various textures: shaving cream, sand, salt, pudding, ooblique (cornstarch and water mixture) or paints.  Take one of these textured media and spread on a cookie sheet or tray.  Use your finger to trace or write shapes, letters, numbers, or words.  You can always use shaving cream on the bathtub wall for easier clean up.

- For those of you who are not a fan of messy play, seal your media in a plastic Zip loc bag and trace on top. 

- Practice forming letters with small items.  Take a piece of construction paper and write a letter, now have your child cover the letter with whatever small item you choose.  You can use beans, buttons, pebbles, cheerios, or small pasta.  Erase and try a new letter.   You can also trace the letter with glue, then glue these small items to the paper.  This activity can also be themed- for example use appleseeds for A, beans for B, cheerios for C, dots for D, and so on.

- Writing and coloring over texture.  Take a piece of sandpaper or cardboard and place it underneath your wirting paper.  This will provide input as your child is writing or coloring over it. 

- Write with chalk.  You can write with chalk on a blackboard, construction paper, outside on the sidewalk or concrete wall.  When you are finished writing, trace your letters with a damp sponge to erase reinforcing the formation of letters.

For Your Older Students

Handwiriting can be unpopular with all ages.  For your older students or children these writing tasks may make handwriting practice a little more fun.

- Find a pen pal, can be a friend or family member and WRITE! Forget the emails and texts and grab some pencil, paper, and an envelope. 

- Lists: Ask your children to write the grocery list, to do list, or fill in your planner or calendar. 

- Play tic tac toe with different letters each game. 

- Play Jenga- take each block of your Jenga game and write a word on the side.  When it is your turn, you slide out a block, read your word, then place on top.  Now before the next player goes, you have to write a sentence with the word from your block.  Make it more interesting and have each player add on to your sentence, creating a whole story. 

- And of course use Story Starters!  You can find story starters in our past newsletters, posted on our blog and website and here are a few more.

Story Starters

My friends and I went into the ice cream shop and ordered the largest sundae on the menu.  It had.....

The purple and green monster sitting next to me....

Our substitute teacher walked into the classroom and.....

Walking through the zoo, we noticed something was different and....

 

Our alien friend landed from....

We weren't allowed to get a dog, so we brought home...

Compiled by Lisa Walker OTR

Dr. Seuss Fun Birthday Activities & Coloring pages!

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Having a "Seussical" Time

What better way to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday this week then to have a fun filled seussical time.  Here are some great activities you can use for classroom group, treatment sessions or at home!

 

"Seussical' Fine Motor

"Cat In The Hat" Crafts

- All you need is construction paper, black and white, crayons or markers. 

- Cut a large circle (you can also use a paper plate) and then cut a large rectangular hat. 

- Have your children rip or snip strips of black paper into small squares.  Glue these squares around the outside of the circle. Or just color

- Color the hat in red and white stripes.  Then glue together!!

You can also use red and white constuction paper instead of coloring the hat with crayons.

"Cat In The Hat" Food Fun

You can make the famous hat from Cat In The Hat so many different ways, here are a few. 

Hat Parfaits: You will need a clear plastic cup, red Jell-o and Cool Whip.  All you have to do is layer the already made Jell-o and Cool Whip to make strips. 

Hat Fruit Sticks: You will need strawberries and bananas and a skewer stick.  Slice and layer in strips.  You can stick the end into a grape or larger piece of banana to make a face. 

Pancake Hats: You will need small pancakes, strawberries, and Cool Whip.  Layer a cooked pancake, then strawberry slices, then Cool Whip and repeat until your hat is as high as you want. 

Yummy Parfaits

"Seussical" Gross Motor Fun

"Cat In The Hat" Ball Toss:  You will need a large Oatmeal container and a paper plate.  Cut the middle out of the plate and glue the rim to the top of your container.  Around the outside of the container, glue strips of red and white paper to make it look like the hat from Cat In The Hat.  You now have a Cat In The Hat ball toss- use small squish balls, ping pong balls, or plastic golf balls to toss into the bucket.  And it to any obstacle course or just play the game! Who can score the most points?

Hop on Pop Fun:  Another Dr. Seuss favorite is Hop On Pop.  You can read it to you children then get up and Hop On stuff!! Cut out squares and write letters or numbers on them.  Call out a letter and that is where your child needs to hop! 

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Did you know?? 

- Dr. Seuss was born March 2, 1904 in Springfield Massachusetts

- His real name was Theodore Seuss Geisel, his friends called him "Ted"

- He worked as a cartoonist and then in advertising in the 1940s. 

- His first book was called, "And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street" which was rejected 27 times before finally being published. 

- Dr. Seuss wrote 44 children's books before passing on Sept 24, 1991

 

Thank You Pinterest Friends!

Compiled by Lisa Walker OTR