(Awwww!!!)
BUT we do have a great post for today. The other day, I posted about ways to help transition your child through the Holidays. One wonderful tools we use...that many of you probably already do in your own homes...is have an advent calendar. There are many different kinds to choose from--some with chocolate treats, others just with windows to open up--but this year, Jaimie decided to make her own calendar. And I thought this was just brilliant for a few reasons.
First, she's practising her eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills (we still need work in this area). She's also getting some much-needed calm down time. We have this time every day to come down from the stresses of the day. Without this time, Jaimie has a tendancy to act out with everyone. So, YAY for her to realize she needs this time and uses it most effectively. Finally, she's creating a 'sensational' way to countdown to Christmas. This is an example of the joys of therapy and OT. She's finally learning to self-regulate...figuring out what her body needs to feel better and finding the best way to meet those needs. How awesome is that? So for those of you out there wondering if all that therapy you and your kiddo are going through really works? It does. And it will. Just keep at it!
OKAY! Here's Jaimie.
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| Jaimie's 'sensational' advent calendar. |
Okay, that's my advent calender. I got the idea from a craft book I took out from the library at school. I love crafts. They make my hands happy. Sometimes crafts can be frustrating when I can't do what you're supposed to do to make it look nice. But Mama always says I'm trying and whatever I do is my way of making it look nice and that's all that matters.
So this is super easy to do. All you need is some special craft paper, scissors, a glue stick and markers. See for some of the little pictures, I colored something and for some I cut them from my special paper. I have a whole box of scrapbook paper and other special stuff I got from Grams and Maddie.
Jordy helped me with it. You just think of things that make Christmas special to you then you make little pictures of those things and stick them on one big peice of color paper. You have to make sure you do 25 pictures so you have something for each day to Christmas and the last one is the MOST special! Me and Jordy did a bunch of stuff like snowmen, Christmas tree, gingerbread guys and all that kind of stuff. Then after you get all the little pictures glued on, you cut up white paper for each picture. That's going to be the windows you fold up to see the picture, you know? You have to remember to put a number on the outside so you know what to open on each day. And that's it!
It took me and Jordy a really long time to finish it but Mama loved it so much she put it right beside our Christmas quilt and her big work calendar. She said looking at our calendar makes her feel better about hers. I'm not totally sure what that means but if it makes her happy that's a good thing.
Okay so this is a good craft for all kids, I think. Jordy really liked doing it. For kids like me and Xander, it's good for our hands and for concentrating and stuff, even if it did make me mad sometimes when things wouldn't stick or whatever. And if you use lots of different colors and paper that feels different--like smooth or bumpy or slippery or whatever--or paper that smells, or even use smelly markers then that all helps too. We did that. Mama says this is like a Christmas sensory tool and I think so too.
That's all!
By, Jaimie
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