Thrifty Therapy Activities

Some little games to help you teach...

You draw on the chalk board, then help him to do the same. Use large sidewalk chalk for a better grip. Circles...Zig-zags...

Buy a roll of packaging tape, then play with it. This amuses the most unmotivated! Really!

I just pull about 3 feet off the roll and stick it on their nose. They can't resist!

Guide him to manipulate things around the house: Close and open doors and windows, turn lights on and off, turn water faucets on and off, etc.

Set up an obstacle course: Go through it with him, then see if he can go through it alone. For example: Crawl under a table, walk around one chair, sit on another chair, walk in the openings of a ladder as it lies on the floor or ground, walk on a strip of carpeting, etc.

Show how you blow on tissue, a pin wheel, soap suds, a lit candle, or bubbles. See if he'll join you. These activities seem simple, but can initiate reaching out...the beginning of play for children severely delayed and not playing on their own.

Take a cookie, a piece of good for you candy, or something he likes and put it in one hand behind your back. Show him carefully so he'll go after it. If he does, and finds it, reward him with it. Hide it other places more challenging as you go:

• Under a box on the table

• Behind a curtain

• On his head

Sit him in front of you in front of a full length mirror. Point to your eye, his eye, your mouth, his mouth, etc. Interest him in what is happening in the mirror.

Tickle him with different textures: Pieces of wool, silk, corduroy, felt, fur, feathers, cotton, etc.

Good for your incentives:

    Refrigerated Snack Bars

2 cups old-fashioned quick oats

3 cups miniature marshmallows

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 cup seedless raisins

    Heat oven to 350. Toast oats on cookie sheet about 15 minutes, stirring often. Grease an 8-inch square pan. Melt marshmallows with peanut butter and butter or margarine in medium size saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Stir in toasted oats and raisins. Working quickly, place into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Chill until firm; cut into bars. Makes 2 dozen bars.

    Peanut Butter Ball Bites

1/2 cup honey

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup instant non-fat dried milk

3/4 cup quick-cooking oats

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ

Mix together honey, peanut butter and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients and add to honey mixture. Mix thoroughly. Shape into bite size balls. Chill in refrigerator until firm.

Do not overlook the wonderful power of the tummy when needing to motivate the "unmotivated."

Finger painting with:

• Whipped cream

• Cheese spread (Make your own in the blender.)

• Pudding (Chocolate is messy, but most irresistible.)

• Mashed potatoes and gravy from the night before

Directions: Use a cookie sheet or a better still, at the fabric store, purchase a sheet of clear plastic table cloth material and put it on the table with them.

For ease of cleaning, transform your bathroom into a therapy room extraordinaire. Take off the child's outside clothing and put them in a bathing suit. Cook a pot of spaghetti noodles, cool, and dump beside them in tub.

Sound messy. It is. But getting a child playing, even with food, can be the beginning of greater things to come.