The Best Therapy Tool Ever!

Do you spend a lot of time telling your child what not to do?  

We all tend to get into those habits of saying, “Don’t throw that.”, “If you do that one more time . . . “, or “Don’t you dare . . . “.  

Your child definitely needs to know right from wrong.  It’s okay to tell your child “no” but all too often we don’t tell them what they can do instead.  Give your child an alternative to throwing.

The reason that I have Pringles cans is because, #1, I like Pringles, and #2, I can make a therapy tool that costs little to nothing to make.  Just wrap some decorative tape around it and you are ready to go.

I use these containers daily, giving my kiddos the instruction to place toys inside for clean up.  This makes a huge difference for kids who throw everything.

I keep the inside bottom of the container bare for children who like the loud sound when the toys hit the bottom.  For children who don’t, I place a piece of felt on the inside.

The focus is then placed on putting items in the container and not on the throwing.

I’ve also used a variety of sizes of boxes and containers for different tasks.  You may want a container with a small opening while working on fine motor skills.  Such as placing pompons in a box.

Here are some other ideas:

1.  If older kids are working with cards or pictures, they can place them in a mailbox type container where they are pushed through a slot.  I’ve had some kiddos that have thought this was the most fun ever!

2.  Place pencils or crayons into a tall container with small holes at the top; also good for problem-solving.

3.  Use a muffin tin for sorting/matching tasks.  I also like to use a 6-muffin tin for kids when I want them to take 6 turns.  It gives them a visual; they can see how many more blocks go on the tower or shapes to be placed or pictures to match.

Let me know what ideas you have!  Happy Engaging!