Proper Hand Washing Glitter Experiment for Kids!

Patria Lincoln Posted On Mar 5, 2020 | STEM

UPDATE: You spoke and we listened! After learning of the negative environmental effects of traditional glitter we have updated the blog post with edible cake glitter. This particular type of glitter is made with Gum Arabic and dissolves in water.

Kids may understand that germs can make them sick, but it can be hard to explain exactly how easy it is to spread germs at home, school or in public places. Looking for a fun and friendly way to talk to kids about germs and how to stay healthy during cold and flu season, and all year long? Here’s a sparkling way to get the message across at home or in the classroom!

What you’ll need:

Unscented hand lotion
Edible Cake Glitter
Paper towel
Soap and water
20-Second Handwashing Timer

What you’ll do:

Ask everyone who is going to participate in the experiment to wash and dry their hands.
Give one child a small squirt of lotion and ask them to spread it in a thin layer over their hands.

Holding their hand over a trash can or sink, sprinkle a pinch of edible cake glitter onto the palm of one of their hands (a little goes a long way!). Explain in this experiment, the glitter represents germs which we normally can’t see or feel. We used blue to make it extra obvious!

First, have them clap their hands together gently, and see how the glitter transfers from one hand to the other. Ask them what they think might happen if they touched their face or ate their lunch right now? Where would the glitter germs end up?

Next, have them high-five someone else. Ask what they notice about the glitter now? What would happen if the glitter was actually germs?
Give both participants a dry paper towel, and ask them to try to rub off the glitter. What observations do you make?

Ask both participants to try rinsing the glitter with cold water. Is it easy or hard to remove the glitter? What does that mean for germs?

Finally, try washing off the glitter germs with warm water and soap, scrubbing for at least 20 seconds. Use a timer to help the kids understand how long 20 seconds is. How did that go? Which method was best for removing the glitter germs?

Wrap up the experiment by talking about what they learned about how germs spread and how we can keep from sharing our germs with others!

Ways to keep the experiment going:

*If you’re feeling particularly brave, you can take the experiment further by having the kids continue their day without washing the glitter off their hands. As the day goes on, you’ll begin to see the glitter migrating from place to place – just like germs do!

*If several children want to participate, you can start with several colors of glitter. In this version of the experiment, the children can see how their own glitter germs get shared and how they also end up with other’s glitter germs on their own hands, too!

For more great ideas on how to talk to kids about germs and good hand hygiene, here are a few additional resources:

CDC – Teaching Children About the Flu
Be Cold & Flu Season Ready: DIY Hand Sanitizer
KidsHealth.org – K to Grade 2 Germs Teacher’s Guide

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Patria Lincoln | Posted on Feb 20, 2020

Let's LEAP into February 29!

The 2020 calendar gives us an extra day to par-tay! On February 29, we all will be celebrating Leap Day, an extra day at the end of month that only happens every four years.

How will you spend your extra day? With an assist from the Learning Resources’ Magnetic Learning Calendar and Froggy Feeding Fun™ Fine Motor Skills Game, we plan to LEAP into what makes this day on the calendar so unique!

Let's LEAP into February 29 Calendar and Froggy Feeding Fun

What day is Leap Day?

In 2020, Leap Day falls on Saturday, February 29. Soak up that extra 24 hours…it won’t happen again until 2024. And Leap Day only occurs in the month of February.

Why do we have Leap Day/Year?

Every four years, an extra day is added on to our calendar. Our modern calendar consists of 365 days, but the actual time it takes for the Earth to get around the sun (orbit), is just a bit longer. To make up for that time, an extra 24 hours are built into the calendar every fourth year. IMG_6Let's LEAP into February 29 Space Screen Shot

But why do we call it “leap” year?

The typical year is 365 days, referred to as common years. There are fixed dates for every holiday. For instance, New Year’s Day in 2020 was on a Wednesday. After February 29, 2020, has come and gone, an extra day will be added, making New Year’s Day “jump” one day ahead to a Friday. What a leap! IMG_6Let's LEAP into February 29 Date Screen Shot

Let’s celebrate first by looking at our calendar. The Learning Resources’ Magnetic Learning Calendar gives us a great visual. This year, February starts on a Saturday. IMG_6Let's LEAP into February 29 Calendar

This calendar serves as a helpful tool for learning about days and months, and is an easy way to include kids on the schedule for the family. Chances are good they have a classroom calendar, so with their own chart at home, they can be the “calendar helper” every day. It is magnetic, has a wipe-down surface, and even features a way to discuss the daily weather!

Let's LEAP into February 29 Day Next, discuss things that can leap. Kids can leap, and we just learned that days can leap. What about frogs? Yes, frog can leap! In fact, we can’t think of a creature that doesn’t love to LEAP more than frogs! Let's LEAP into February 29 Froggy Feeding Fun

But before they do all that leaping, a frog has got to eat. The Froggy Feeding Fun™ Activity Set is an award-winning game that has lots of options to play. It comes with two adorable frog and lots of spongy flies. Let's LEAP into February 29 Flies

From a sensory standpoint, this activity has lots. The feel of the flies with their soft yet formed shapes make them easy to grasp. They create lots of color in a play space. The first skill to try is opening the frog’s mouth by squeezing the corners.

Let's LEAP into February 29 Feeding the Frog

Once your child gets it down, they might not stop feeding the frog! How many can it fit in its mouth? Let's LEAP into February 29 Frog w/ Fly

This game focuses on strengthen fine motor skills, but also reinforces math skills. A roll of the two soft dice reveals the color and number that the frog can pick up. Number recognition, color recognition, and counting skills are challenged!

Let's LEAP into February 29 Counting Skills Let's LEAP into February 29 Feeding the Frog

With the frog firmly in hand, you can also work on sorting the flies. Set up a pattern for kids to match. Let's LEAP into February 29 Fly Sorting

Rainbow order is always popular. What color comes after yellow? Let's LEAP into February 29 Froggy Feeding Fun Flies Laid Out

Because there are two frogs, lots can play this game. Let’s try picking up more flies!

Let's LEAP into February 29 Froggy Feeding Fun Eating

Squeezing the frog’s mouth open again and again will improve muscle grip for handwriting down the road. These frogs sure ate a lot. Time to leap back to the pond for a nap. Let's LEAP into February 29 Holding Frogs

What great fun you are, Leap Day! See you again in four years! Let's LEAP into February 29 Froggy Feeding Fun Parts

Save it for later!

Patria Lincoln | Posted on Feb 19, 2020

Scissor Skills for Tiny Tots!

“Be Careful! Scissors are DANGEROUS!” or something along those lines is what parents usually shout when they see their little ones holding scissors in their hands. While I don’t disagree with the statement by any means, I want to share all of the ways scissor skills are so important for development, as well as all of the fun ways we can incorporate underlying scissor skills into everyday play…even for the youngest of our learners!

Using scissors efficiently requires a lot of motor planning, coordination, and dexterity. Before a student can successfully use scissors, there are many underlying skills that can be worked on and strengthened so that we can set up the student for optimal success. There are so many ways that we can interact and play with our kiddo’s to help develop the many different motor control areas!

Grasp/Release:

Activities that promote opening and closing of the hands and fingers such as using tongs, tweezers, clips, squeezing, etc.

Two-handed Coordination:

Activities that promote the use of both hands together such as tearing paper and peeling and sticking stickers.

Hand and Finger Strengthening:

Dough, putty, tweezers, tongs, spray bottles, stress ball squeezes, etc.

Visual Skills:

Activities that promote active and intentional use of the visual system such as eye-spy, hidden pictures, following targets with eyes (rolling a ball and following eyes, marble tower, etc)

When introducing scissors for the first time, spring loaded scissors are extremely helpful and can ease the introduction. The spring mechanism will “bounce” back the blades to reduce the amount of strength and coordination required, therefore, allowing kiddos who do not quite have the strength or coordination to still be able to cut! The best part is that once they outgrow the spring, you can “turn it off” and use them as normal scissors.

Scissor Skills for Tiny Tots Pink Stencil

As a School-Based Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA/L), we are often checking out the progression of scissor use in kiddo’s and here is a general milestone timeline that we use as reference.Starting at/around:

25-26 months

We like to see kiddos snipping with scissors in one place

37-38 months

Cut a piece of paper in half

41-42 months

Cut out a 5” line within ½” of the target

49-50 months

Cut a 3” circle within ¼” of the target for 3/4^th of the circle

53-54 months

Cut out a 3” square within ¼” of the line

Scissor Skills for Tiny Tots Cutting Purple Line

While development isn’t always linear, we often see a general progression as outlined and the underlying skills are very important in achieving these skills.

Here are some fun tips and hacks to help your little ones practice their scissor skills:

Start with “snipping”. practicing small snips will help promote practice, as well as success! We want our kiddo’s to feel like they are successfully cutting and expecting them to open/close and move forward can be tricky at first.
Using a more restrictive paper such as cardstock or thicker paper can help with control (much easier to hold the paper steady than flimsy paper or thin material). You can also steady the paper for them to reduce the amount of work and coordination.
Along with restrictive paper, you can also use restrictive materials such as dough, putty, straws, paper plates, index cards, etc.
Teaching “thumbs up” when holding the scissors by placing a small sticker or Washi tape to remind them which side is up – tell them to make sure they can see their sticker.
When teaching the forward motion aspect, make it fun! Pretend like the scissors are alligators, trains, cars, etc and have them cut across a path or road.

Trace Ace Scissors has been a great addition to my therapy toolbox. With my little preschool students, we had fun learning to use a stencil. Mini crayons help reinforce proper pencil grasp as they color, stencils help incorporate the use of the two hands together, and we used cardstock paper so that it would provide more resistance and help stabilize the paper as they cut with the spring loaded scissors. Scissor Skills for Tiny Tots Materials 2

Scissor Skills for Tiny Tots Materials 2

Save it for later!

Patria Lincoln | Posted on Jul 11, 2019

Top 25 Ways to GEAR Up for the New School Year! At the start of summer break, didn’t that first day of school feel like eons away? But hey! Here we are! As the dog days of summer come to a close, prepping your little students to restart the academic year is a crucial part to a successful road ahead.As we kick off a new school year, we're offering 25 tried-and-true tips for GEARing up to what will no doubt be their best year yet. Let’s hit the ground running!

25 Tips & Tricks

Re-introduce proper bedtimes and wake-up times. About two weeks before school starts, hop back into the regular sleep schedule to avoid those oh-so-late nights and morning rushes, perhaps pushing up times by 10 minute increments.
Reunite with old school friends. Call up some much-talked about buddies from last school year for a play date or get together, pumping up kids for a familiar face that first day.
Build a family calendar. A great organizational tool, introducing a color-coded calendar for each child serves as the family’s go-to spot for all that is coming up.
School supply shopping. The school must-haves run is definitely fun for everyone, and is an ideal way for your children to express themselves through their lunch box character or notebook cover.
Make time for breakfast. The most important meal of the day lives up to its reputation – make this a must every morning leading up to the big day.
Distraction-free dinners. For those first few weeks of school, really carve out time to sit down to a family dinner complete with substantive conversations, minus the screens.
Restart the squeaky clean routine. Skipping baths or showers was the name of the game during the summer, but a regular school night cleansing prevents the morning rush that can make everyone run late.
Create a homework schedule. Whether right after school, soccer practice, or dinner, set aside a mutually agreed upon time for your child to do homework each night.
Design a homework station. Designating a spot ahead of time for your children to tackle their nightly assignments – stocked with all the necessary tools – will ensure a routine that makes everyone feel prepped and ready.

Re-establish “Grand Central Station”. Summertime usually means looser schedules and less commitment, so now is the time to keep the supplies, backpacks, equipment, calendars, school shoes, etc. all in one centrally located place.

Limit screen time during after-school hours. Get in the routine in mid-August by saving those magical hours between 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. for extra-circulars or STEM-centered projects, not staring at the TV or tablet.

Join after school clubs or extra-circulars. With your child by your side, decide on after school activities that pique their interests and give them something to look forward to right out of the gate.
Communicate, communicate, communicate. Make it a daily priority to not just find out how school was, but what they liked and didn’t, what they are concerned about, what their friends are up to…the list goes on.
Talk about your own school memories. Most of the time, kids love to hear about your own school experiences that were positive, like teachers you liked or special projects you worked hard on and received good marks.
Keep your cool. Avoid becoming chaotic or high-strung around those first days of school and your children will follow suit.
Wardrobe? Check! Going through your child’s clothes to see what fits or not will definitely help with any early morning anxiety as the first day of school marches closer.
Plan out lunches ahead of time. Most schools release a lunch schedule in advance, so take the time to determine with your child if they will be taking a lunch or eating the one offered, or a mix of both.

Do a dry run. Pile everyone in the car to determine how long it will take you to get to school, or if the bus is in their future, time how long it takes to walk to the stop.
Fight back against germs. Reinforce good hand-washing habits at home before the start of school to combat any potential viruses from making their way to your abode.
Get to know the teacher. Email the teacher ahead of time to introduce yourself and suggest your child write them a “hello” note telling him or her a little about themselves.
Plan a time to read to your child each day. Studies have long proven that children that are read to each day have greater success in school, so make it a daily priority to cuddle up with a good book.

Learn to love first-week mistakes. Did your child put their backpack in the wrong cubby? Laugh about it, learn from it, and teach your child to move on.
Learn the school lingo. A visit to the school’s website, blog, or social media accounts will help you and your child get the school’s vernacular down so its all easily recognizable that first day.
Keep it positive. The end of summer can kick up stress for children who might struggle with certain subjects, so ask them about their worries for the coming year and remind them there is not a problem you can’t overcome together.
Plan for some fun! An ice cream run? A trip to their favorite park? Plan some after-school entertainment to shake away stress from that first day.

The 2019-2020 school year will be a good one, we can feel it! Best of luck!Save it for later! Top 25 Ways to GEAR Up for the New School Year__pin