Archives for February 2020

Mardi Gras Mask Craft

February 22, 2020 Leave a Comment

For several years, I worked at a daycare for medically fragile children. The kids were bussed in from all around the city to the daycare where they received nursing care and well as developmental therapies – physical, occupational and speech therapy. It was a clinical site for the speech therapy students at LSU, so we had lots of hands and hearts to love on those precious little ones. We were able to do holiday parties, water days, pet therapy, etc. It was a great place!

Mardi Gras was one of my favorite holidays to celebrate with them! We would get all the kids up in whatever kind of equipment they needed – wheel chairs, gait trainers, strollers, wagons…whatever worked! Each class would take a turn parading around the center to “Mardi Gras Mambo” visiting the other classrooms and passing out beads. Seeing those sweet smiles was magical and I will be forever grateful for those memories.

Leading up to the Mardi Gras parade, I would help the kids make Mardi Gras masks as part of their OT session. Decorating the mask is pretty open-ended and can be used for a variety of developmental levels. You can color it, paint it, use do-a-dot paint markers, snip paper to glue on it, glue feathers, sequins, glitter…the list goes on!

Here’s What We Used:

Mask Template (plain)

Mask Template (do-a-dot)

Mask Template (detailed)

Markers/Crayons/Colored Pencils

I linked several, free printable options available for download. I print them on card stock when possible. The template with small details would be great to work on using precise finger movement for fine motor control. I love the do-a-dot option from my friend, Lauren, at busybeespeech.com because it can be used several ways — the dots can be “targets” for do-a-dot markers (of course), but they can also be “targets” for coloring, stickers, torn pieces of paper, dots of liquid glue to place sequins, etc.

If you are local, Hobby Lobby sells pre-cut masks (pictured) that come with elastic attached so they can be worn around the head. (I’m not sure about Hobby Lobby stores outside of Louisiana!) Many of my friends prefer taping the mask to a craft stick rather than wearing it around their head.

Simply cut out the template and decorate it however you would like. My little one is all about the bling, so she had fun with the sequins. We added feathers to the top, then not so patiently waited for the glue to dry.

If you choose the popsicle stick option, simply tape it to the back of the mask after the glue is dry.

Have fun and Happy Mardi Gras!

Uncategorized

Kid Friendly King Cake Recipe

February 18, 2020 Leave a Comment

Happy Mardi Gras, Y’all!

The best part about Mardi Gras season, in my humble opinion, is King Cake! My husband has a February birthday and King Cake is always his birthday cake request. There were several years that we made them from scratch using an Emeril Lagasse recipe from a fancy Cajun cookbook…and waited up half the night for the dough to rise for the 12^th time! Ha! Then one day I came across an Emeril recipe for an easy, crescent roll King Cake and I have never looked back! Over the years, I have adapted it and changed up the process a bit so that it is easier to make with kids.

This certainly isn’t in the healthy category, but I do swap out for better ingredients where possible and when the budget allows. I really don’t know how to replace powdered sugar, so we embrace it as a special treat and share with friends and family! Our favorite is strawberry cream cheese, but you can certainly alter it to your liking.

For the cake:

2 – 8 ounce cans of crescent rolls (we used Annie’s organic)
3 TBS cinnamon
3 TBS butter, melted (we like Kerrygold)
1/2 cup of pie filling – optional (we used homemade strawberry chia seed jam from My Diary of Us for a nutritional boost!)
8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
½ cup icing (see below)
food coloring or sprinkles or colored sugar (gold, purple, green)

For the icing:

1 cup powdered sugar
1 TBS water
1 TBS lemon juice

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
Roll out crescent roll dough into two big rectangles making sure that it is not too thin. Use your fingers to pinch all the seams together. If you can see through it in some places, double it up and use your fingers to press it back flat.

Spread melted butter all over the dough. The back of a spoon works great, but this silicone brush is super fun to “paint” with butter if you happen to have one.

Sprinkle the cinnamon over the melted butter.

Mix softened cream cheese and powdered sugar together. (I used a simple hand mixer). Drop spoonfuls of the mixture and spread it on top of the dough. It won’t be pretty or perfect!

If using, spread a thin layer of the pie filling on top of the cinnamon.
Starting on the long end, carefully roll the dough horizontally with the cream cheese mixture and pie filling inside, ending with the seam side down. Repeat on second rectangle.

Use your fingers to connect the two pieces to make one big oval.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until the dough is golden brown. If you want to put a King Cake baby in the cake, push it through the bottom of the cake while it’s still warm. Let it cool before decorating.

For the icing; Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 1TBS lemon juice, 1 TBS of water. You can put the white icing straight on the cake and use purple, green and yellow sprinkles OR colored granulated sugar to decorate OR you can separate the icing into 3 bowls and use food coloring to color in the icing itself.

Spread the icing on the cake however you would like and enjoy the deliciousness!

I sure hope you enjoy this sweet treat! Lots of love from Louisiana! XO

Uncategorized

VALENTINE’S DAY SENSORY BIN!

February 6, 2020 Leave a Comment

Dollar Tree is usually my first stop for sensory bin inspiration. I’ve had most of this for a few years, but they usually have similar things from year to year. This was my first attempt at colored pasta and it could not have been any easier. Actually, my five year old did it! All we did was pour some pasta into a zip lock bag, added a few squirts of paint (we used washable), sealed the bag, and shook it up. We poured it out on a sheet pan and it was dry in no time! She’s already working on all the colors of the rainbow — sure to make an appearance for St. Patty’s Day. I’ve used this pasta with little hands for a week and have not have any problems with the paint coming off.

I added some pink and red heart table scatter from Dollar Tree, some foam hearts, and some red, white, and pink poms. Will someone please remind me NOT to buy more of these next year?!

I found these cute little heart cups at Hobby Lobby for 40% off and couldn’t pass them up. I always save random scoops from laundry detergent, protein powder, etc., to use in sensory bins, so I threw some of those in, too!

Ways to Play:

*Use to scoops to put items into the cup

*Pouring items between cups

* Search for specific items

*Sort items by color/shape/size, etc

Pink hearts and red hearts
Bowtie pasta and rotini pasta
Big hearts and small hearts
Shiny hearts and plain hearts
Red, white, and pink poms

I always incorporate as much language as possible with my little people and sensory bins lend themselves nicely for basic language — “out,” “in,” “scoop,” “shake,” “ready, set, go!” “more,” “all done”…colors, counting and so much more! Hands on play with repetition is how they learn!

Some of my friends need more help to expand their play skills, but, usually, they surprise me with their own ways of engaging with sensory bins.

Do you think your kiddo would enjoy this activity? I would love to know how they decide to play with it!

Uncategorized

Lacing Heart Fine Motor Craft

February 2, 2020 Leave a Comment

Looking for fun Valentine’s Day craft for your child? This lacing heart is an excellent fine motor activity! It involves folding, cutting, punching holes, lacing and writing.

Materials:

paper
scissors
yarn
hole punch
tape
writing utensils

Have them, or help them draw half of a heart and cut it out.

Next, use a hole punch to make holes along the edges. I really like using single hole punches in therapy. The bigger ones are usually too hard for my friends to squeeze on their own. The small ones are the perfect size for little hands and are great for strengthening those intrinsic hand muscles of the hand that are so, so important! Having them get the paper between the two metal pieces takes some serious coordination, too.

Once they are happy with their holes, cut a piece of yarn and tape it to the back of the heart so that it won’t pull all the way through when they start lacing. Have them lace through the holes all around the heart, then, tape it off at the end. Sometimes I have to put a little tape at the end of the yarn to keep it from fraying while they are lacing.

Lacing is a classic fine motor skill that requires bilateral coordination, a refined grasp (tripod or pincer), distal movement of the fingers, separation of the right and left sides of the hand (think of all the things you do with your thumb, index and middle fingers—buttoning, zipping, turning a key, etc.), hand- eye coordination and motor planning!

Depending on their developmental level, they can draw, write or copy whatever they want on the card. It would be a perfect Valentine for grandparents!

My little one made many of these around Valentine’s Day last year and for many months after—for all occasions! Punching the holes is her favorite part. : )

I hope your little people enjoy this one, too!