As we wind down the school year and start planning for 2019
it is good to reflect on the year that has passed.
2018 has been an exciting and successful year at Kidzcan Durban
Our OT practice has been supporting children and families with sensory integration, concentration, play and social development, handwriting, reading, spelling and motor development.
As we believe in evidence based results, we encourage children to engage in a goal setting process where they identify and then work towards specific outcomes. Children score their ability before their first therapy session and then again during the final therapy session when the therapy intervention is concluded. Here are some of the results:
- “Learning to tie my shoelaces”, “Skipping” or “Throwing and catching a ball” improved
on average from 6 out of 10 : to 9 out of 10. - "Writing neatly” and “Finishing my work on time” improved on average from 5 out of 10
to 10 out of 10. - “Writing a story” or “Getting my ideas on paper” improved on average from 4 out of 10
to 7 out of 10. - “Concentrating when it is noisy” and “Remembering what my teacher said” improved
on average from 4 out of 10 : to 8 out of 10.
Due to difficulties with communication, our kids with Autism find the goal setting process a bit more challenging. In these instances we work closely with parents and care-givers to identify goals that will make everyday activities, outings and interactions more manageable and meaningful.
In addition to my private practice, I have also been the lead Occupational Therapist at Whizz Kidz Special Needs Centre. Here I work with a multi-disciplinary team supporting children with autism, cerebral palsy and other developmental disorders.
In conjunction with other therapists and Sid’s wooden furniture, we have designed a specialised school chair that provides good seating and support for our kids throughout the school day, at a fraction of the price of the imported alternatives.
I am part of a team of therapists developing and presenting a training course for care-givers of significantly, physically disabled children. The Nakekela training course aims to provide care-givers with the basic knowledge and understanding of Cerebral Palsy as well as to equip them with the skills to manage a daily physical program, to feed, communicate and to play with the children.
Friends and the parents of the kids I work with, often ask for advice in choosing the “perfect” gift for their little ones. My suggestions always include age appropriate, interactive and educational activities.
Educational activities are often just as much fun but less expensive, than what we get bombarded with through advertising in the festive season.
- Peg Board - Cost R 184 - Age 4+
- Develops: Fine motor skills, pre-writing skills, copying skills, visual attention, eye hand coordination.
- Description: This game requires your child to pick up one small coloured peg at a time and place it in the right hole on a peg board in order to build a complete picture – almost like a mosaic. The set comes with picture example cards and a variety of pegs in primary and secondary colours. You can buy an extra peg board for approx R20 which means siblings or friends can build together.
- Finger Fun - Cost R 72 - Age 5+
- Develops: Fine motor skills, bilateral integration, copying skills, spatial planning, social skills.
- Description: Comes with 2 sets of finger boards and picture cards. Finger board is held horizontally while your fingers poke the holes in the bottom of the board to move the coloured marbles around. The aim is to match your coloured marbles to the pictures. As there are two boards it is a great game to play against a partner.
- Rush Hour - Cost R 275 - Age 5+
- Develops: Copying skills, spatial planning and problem solving.
- Description: Place the trucks and cars in allocated slots to create the traffic jam shown on the picture card. Move the trucks and cars, one at a time in order to relieve the congestion and create a path for the ice cream truck to exit. Practice your listening skills by playing with a friend or family member: read instructions on the back of the cards so that the driver can navigate their way out of the traffic jam.
- Zingo - Cost R 295 - Age 4+
- Develops: Visual attention, picture and word recognition, social skills.
- Description: Slide the card dispenser back and forward to reveal a picture and word card. All players (2-6) check their “bingo” card in front of them to see if they have a matching picture. If you do, place the picture card on your board. The aim of the game is to get a full row of picture cards and shout “ZINGO!
- Brainy Blocks - Cost R 80 - Age 3+
- Develops: Fine motor skills, visual attention, visual perceptual skills, shape recognition.
- Description: Learn about big versus small, shapes and primary colours. Use the 3 dimensional shapes to build a picture by filling in the open spaces on the picture card.
- Tack Zap - Cost R 250 - Age 3+
- Develops: fine motor skills, copying skills, visual attention, visual perception, eye hand coordination.
- Description: A more modern version of hammer tap, in Tack Zap you choose between many wooden pieces to find the right parts of a robot or construction vehicle shown on the picture card. Nail the parts into place on the cork board using the nail and hammer.
- Brain Box - Cost R 210 - Age 4+
- Develops: Reading and spelling, visual perception, listening skills, memory, concentration, social skills.
- Description: Fun for all ages and a variety of topic boxes to choose from. Each player has a few seconds to look at and remember the picture, words or sentence at the front of the card. The player then rolls the dice and gets asked one question (matching the number on the dice) from the back of the card. Play in teams or alone.
- Little Engineer - Cost R 258 - Age 5+
- Develops: Fine motor skills, spatial planning & problem solving.
- Description: This constructional game allows the child to build a variety of cars, houses and characters shown on the pamphlet. It involves screwing nuts and bolts onto flat plastic pieces and even has a cool tool to help with fastening the items. For the more advanced engineers ask your stockist about Play Stix.
