Monday, 7 January 2019

What Should The Occupational Therapy Kits For Children Contain?

By Joshua Kennedy


Occupational therapy practitioners are usually helping many children every day, either school-based or in their own practices. These children are often of various ages and need different activities to help improve their skills. Given how busy they are, it is very important to have the occupational therapy kits for children ready and planned for any skills or needs they may need to work on.

They are not standard, and they can contain whatever the therapist thinks it is necessary. Still, there are some items that are considered must-have and are a great starting point. For example, colored pencils of different colors, erasers, crayons, scotch tape and rubber bands, straws or tissue paper.

Many therapists choose to create themed occupational therapy kits for children, such as an Easter or Christmas themed one. You can get supplies for them during that season or even off-season, at a cheaper price. Then they think of the skills they need to work with and activities suitable for the task. They work to improve the visual or oral skill, fine motor skill, handwriting, dressing and many more, and each of these require different items. Also, based on the purpose of the task: classroom inclusion, screening, trail, etc.

You do not need to get all the items at once, and most therapists start off with the basics and add new items as they go. Start with a list with the must-have supplies and then you will see what else you need or what items are the consumable ones. Keep in mind that you may need several containers to keep the kits organized by purpose, season, size, however you think it's useful to you.

Based on the budget you have, you can go and buy everything on your list in one place or prioritize them and get the most important ones first. Even more, don't forget to check the weekly or monthly sales and dollar stores for some of the items. You do not have to spend the big bucks for your tools, especially for the consumable one like crayons. Check the craft sections on big retail chains for all sorts of scissors and paper as well, among other things.

Apart from the items mentioned above, the scissors, crayons, glue, the occupational therapy kit can also contain jump ropes for some fun activities, clothespins, which are very versatile, wind-up toys, hole punched pieces and hole puncher, slinky, puffer balls, tennis balls or any type of balls you think are useful for your activities.

Another versatile item is the play dough, and can be used at various ages and for multiple activities. It can also be homemade, if you like to craft your own things. Posable figurines and small manipulatives are very fun for the kids as well, and they are important for some activities. Beads and tongs are also used widely for coordination activities.

Strings and all kinds of stickers are also very appreciated by both the practitioners and children, as they are fun and can be used in a number of ways. The key is finding out what activities you need to make and what tools would be useful. Once you have the basics, you can start purchasing or making new tools or instruments as you see fit from your sessions with the kids.




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