It has been a long time since I've posted something fun. I'm a busy mom and a therapy mom - by therapy mom, I mean that I am responsible for helping one of our littles with his therapy during the week.
I'm going to be honest here. Being a homeschooling mom AND a therapy mom is hard - really, really HARD some days. I have amazing kids, and I love them - but there is only one of me and several of them and lots of things to get done!
And one of those things is therapy.
For those moms who have kids in therapy and have to complete exercises at home daily, you'll "get" me. Sometimes the point of therapy is to do the same things over and over and over and over because repetition is key to success. But doing the same things over and over and over can get old really (REALLY) fast.
For those of you therapy moms out there who wish there was a way to make home therapy a bit more playful and fun, this post is for you. If you are short on time - just skip to that section closer to the bottom of the post. :)
Some weeks we have themes in our homeschool (and sometimes we don't because mommy needs a break) - I do this for two reasons: for fun and to cement new ideas and vocabulary in our little one's mind. A recent theme was "Scarecrows".
What could be more fun than eating "hay bales" for breakfast? Perhaps decorating those hay bales to look like scarecrow faces!
What about lunch? How about an open-faced peanut butter sandwich with lots of healthy goodies to make another scarecrow face.
Sensory bins are great for kids who crave hands-on everything. I was sure I could come up with something for our theme, so I turned this (below)....
Into this! Yep - it may not look like much. Trust me though, the fun is in the creativity and enjoyment of textures and colors. Some kids will need help at first. Just show them how to stuff raffia (straw) into a paper sack and rubber band it at the base to create a scarecrow head.
Let your child explore by making different scarecrow faces and then take some pictures.
This activity could easily double as an "experience book" opportunity. Simply print the photos and have your child dictate something about each scarecrow: This scarecrow is happy. This scarecrow is mad. This scarecrow is surprised. And so on. Depending on your child's level of skill, you could even add color, shape, texture words (He has two green eyes. She has a soft nose. etc.).
Do you have a little one who loves to paint? If you don't mind a bit of a mess, grab some raffia and bundle it up to create a "scarecrow arm" brush. Break out the paints and let your child experiment what it might be like to paint with his hand if he was a scarecrow.
I tried to squish some school into the activity by having our little one attempt to paint some of his sight words first. Then I just let him have fun mixing colors and let him paint something of his own.
I thought it might be fun to make a book of some sort to go along with our theme and remembered making a similar thing with another of our children many years ago. I simply cut the sides off of a paper sack, accordion folded it, and added the pieces with our little one. Voila! A fun little book which invites a bit of hands-on reading or just exploring of shapes, textures, etc.
A big part of our day is therapy work. I decided this week to change things up a bit and merge our theme with therapy. I searched the house for different items to make scarecrow faces, eyes, mouths, hats, and noses.
Each time my son had to complete a therapy task, he would earn a piece of scarecrow to build. We'd start with the face (so he'd have a canvas to work on) and build the rest of the face from there. Each time he finished the task and earned his new piece, he would add it to the face. By the end of our therapy session, we had a cute scarecrow face (or even more depending on his interest and stamina).
Remember, it is important to keep things happy and relaxed (you'll both enjoy it more) so let your child choose what he/she would like to put on each time and allow him/her to be silly with it ("A four-eyed scarecrow with two noses and no mouth? I love it, honey!").
The same thing can also be achieved using a Play-Doh face base (great option for busy little fingers that like to squish things) and a variety of items you find around your home (Legos, cotton balls, buttons, felt, bottle caps, beads, stones, etc.). Your child can even help you collect them!
This was something else we did one day to change up our therapy routine. I would draw a piece of a scarecrow face on the mirror we were using for therapy each time he would complete an activity for me. By the end, we had a scarecrow staring back at us!
For those who might be trying to keep up with daily therapy and wishing for a better way to keep track of what you need to do each day, consider making a therapy planner of your own or purchase one!
We are currently experimenting with an Etsy store set up (we also have a website) and are offering our planner at 30% off for Black Friday and Cyber Monday in our Etsy store until November 30th! Here is the link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PACECREWSHOP
For heart lifting words, inspirational quotes, and stories of other individuals facing and overcoming challenges, check out our Facebook page as well: https://www.facebook.com/PaceCrewShop
Please note:
This is a FOUR month planner. The smaller size allows us to keep the planner slightly lighter weight for ease of slipping into a purse or therapy bag for trips to a therapist or medical office.
These planners are pretty generic and can also be used for other purposes as well - prayer journals, regular planners, etc. but were specifically created with therapy in mind.
Hope this post has provided some inspiration for other therapy or homeschooling moms out there! I'd love to hear from you if it did. :)
Happy Thanksgiving!