Guidelines on choosing OT Toys and a give-away from Toy Kingdom

I don't know why I was so apprehensive about occupational therapy earlier? We did the school readiness assessments that highlighted some issues that needed to be addressed. I was questioning "How much therapy is needed when there was no need in the first place?" (Ha! Laughing at myself now!) But we did the sessions with Little Miss, until the final OT therapy, and I know we definitely did the right thing! Little Miss is doing very well at school!

Our kids do not get to play as much as they should any more, and they spend far too much time with electronic devices and watching television. A recent research publication in Britain identified that 25% of children aged 2-5 years have smartphones, while 56% are aged 10-13 years. More scary results of studies in the US revealed that over a third of children under the age of 1 year are using smart devices.

I would not mind taking my child for more OT therapy sessions. The OT therapist never used the same OT toy or technique with each session. I was amazed with the variety of toys she had available.

I am extremely pleased to hear that Toy Kingdom places strong importance on using educational toys to help children develop the skills needed to participate in their environment.
Grant Webster, COO of Toy Kingdom, says “Keeping traditional educational toys in the home for playtime is becoming increasingly important in this day and age of electronic devices, so that children can still spend time developing the basic skills associated with play.”

There are different types of toys that can assist in a child’s development at home.


Guidelines of what sorts of toys are suitable to assist in building skills:


Toys that encourage problem solving

Children’s motor and problem solving skills should be encouraged, as it gives them a chance to try and figure things out for themselves.
Examples: Lego and building blocks
Toys that will help build strength in children’s hands. (Prerequisite for writing)
Example play dough scissors.

A ZOOB creation by Little Miss

Smart Logic Game - Anti-Virus

Things that feel ‘weird’
Toys with sticky or slimy surfaces help children to experiment with texture.


Toys that require the use of both hands
Using both hands well can help with colouring, cutting and writing.
Examples: Winds up toys; simply tossing and catching a ball.


Toys that encourage pretend play
Fantasy and play stimulate creativity as well as social skills in children.
Example: Toy Kingdom’s Shopkins range is a perfect set-up for children to play with pretend food and enjoy make-believe scenarios.

Because toys are so expensive, it is definitely a bonus if it addresses developmental needs as well. Even more so when we can strike a balance between screen time and play time with challenging toys!

Play area at Toy Kingdom

One reader can win a Toy Kingdom voucher of R750 to spend on OT toys available at Toy Kingdom in South Africa. There are 12 stores in South Africa already!

I have saved a list of the OT Toys from Ideal Cycle Toys at Toy Kingdom on Google Drive.
It is only a small selection of the OT toys that are available at Toy Kingdom.
Unfortunately this give-away is only open to South African readers.
The Rafflecopter will close at 12 am on 20 April.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.

We got R1500 to spend on OT toys. A lovely lady Siza helped us at Toy Kingdom Cresta to select. We selected The Smart Logic Game - Anti-Virus, Zoob building pieces and Grammar Wise. I will do a follow-up with these specific toys, with another give-away next week.

Good luck!

Grade 1 - we did the right thing!

As parents we are always second-guessing ourselves, and hoping we make the right decisions for our children.

But we also know our children, and know them at their best!

I am so glad we decided to send Little Miss to Grade 1 this year. The school readiness results last year indicated that she was not emotionally ready, and we were sent for occupational therapy as well as visual therapy. We have completed a series of visits to the OT as well as visual therapy. Both therapists have given her the "go-ahead" for Grade 1. The last of the visual therapy was on Saturday and Little Miss drew a heart picture to give to Penny (see picture above). I am amazed at how well she can now control her eyes. She can bring pictures together by only moving her eyes around. (I don't think I can do it, and I am too afraid to even try...)

The first week of school has also been a bit hectic with Little Miss being very tired at the end of the day, and clingy to start with! She also got quite confused with the extra-murals, and we are still searching for lost clothes that gets lost on an almost daily basis.

But, by the third week she started very good with Little Miss saying goodbye at the gate. There are less "Not a lekker day"-remarks that we have to hear at the end of each day! We are still walking her to the class, but she is happy to go off and play. Especially if she has a coin or two to spend at the Tuck Shop... (Which we try not to give in to, but yesterday I was weak again when I had to drop her off!...parenting fail much!)

She has been loving her teacher and her class. We decided not to say anything to her teacher about the extra OT and visual therapy, and to see how it goes! There has not been any complaint or negative feedback from school. Her school work also looks very good when it gets sent home!

She loves learning to read, and she is trying to spell all words she comes across. Out of her own free will, and without any push from us! (She is actually irritating us with trying to spell everything, and of course asking us to help her with it! Sorry, Little Miss! I will try harder at the end of my working day when asked to spell something/e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g for you!!)

She is also doing very well with the maths, and that we can definitely link back to her doing CMaths since last year! It has given her the edge that I have been hoping for! She is not a CMaths whizz-kid, but she has a better grasp of maths than her peer group. That's all we want!

There is a large amount of homework. It keeps her busy for at least an hour to two hours each day which I think is a bit much! But the after-care helps in doing most of it with the children, and we only have to quickly retrace some of it in the evenings. Luckily it is Hubby and I who are there to follow though! We can focus on her alone, which makes it easier on all of us!

I was talking to another mom the other day about her daughter that she kept back for another year, and I realised that I could say that we also did the right thing! Just as her daughter is still not ready for the huge leap into Grade 1, our daughter are now enjoying her Grade 1 year to the max!!

"Phew!"

How much therapy is necessary when there was no need in the first place?

OT play
(photo by Dad)

Little Missy's teachers have never told us that there are any problems. We were not called in to school for any reason. 

Her report cards are very good.

But because she is born in the last month of the year, there is a bit of a worry about her school readiness. I am the guilty party! (l now think that I should have left it!)

We did the school readiness tests at the developmental psychologist and the results did not come back as positive as we expected. I blogged about it already: School readiness results. She referred us to an Occupational Therapist and an Optometrist.

So we are seeing the Occupational Therapist and Little Missy is in occupational therapy every week. We decided to not do tests again, because the OT feels she does not want to test again within six months from the previous testing, and to cut out paying for another round of tests and a report.

The day before yesterday we saw the Optometrist, and although her vision is perfect, she apparently needs glasses to help her eyes relax when she is reading. She also "needs" Visual Therapy to help her before she starts with reading. What is Visual Therapy? (I should have asked, but I was flabbergasted!) 

Luckily Little Missy is besotted with her new glasses, and couldn't wait to use them at school today.

I feel it is all too much! 

To address a problem when there was no problem in the first place?

It is also costing an arm and a leg. (Luckily we have medical aid.)

I would like to know how many children go to one of these assessments and walk out of there without having to go for follow-up therapies? 

Is it not only a big money-making scheme, with referrals keeping them all going? 

For how long are we now going to have to carry on with this?

It is also very disruptive. Little Missy misses a very important hour each week in school because she has to go for OT. Mom and Dad needs to take time off from work to drive her around.

Do we also not place a label on Little Missy for struggling or having issues when there was none before?

School readiness results

The school readiness results did not come back as positive as expected.

We will probably go to an occupational therapist, as well as an optometrist as suggested!

With hindsight I should have gone to the occupational therapist in the first place, and not "waste" my money and time at a educational psychologist.
I got the reference from parents at school, and did not think twice...


Little Missy also did a few unexpected things that could have impacted on the advice:
(As they do!)

- She brought a teddy bear along to the session. She hardly ever plays with her bears, and only once or twice slept with one of them.
There is no favourite bear that goes around with us, such as the blanket that her sister carried around.
But it definitely had an impact on the assessment, and the bear was mentioned a couple of times by the psychologist.

- She drew a terrible self-portrait of only a half person, with no facial features. And announced that it was enough for that picture for the day.
Her pictures are usually the most colourful and I like to share them because I think they are very good!
(See the picture on top.)

- She told the psychologist that her secret is that she was still drinking "Boobies" until quite recently. It was never a secret in our house, or to the outside world.
It seems that this confirms to the psychologist that she is still emotionally not ready, although I personally (and Natural/Attachment parents) think that it breeds a very emotional strong and resilient person! (As well as a HEALTHY person!)

- She also admitted to manipulate us with her tantrums, until we give in to her demands!
When do we give in to her demands?
The fact that she is able to verbalise and knows what she is doing, is telling me that she is already able to control her tantrums.

- She was also only able to sit still for 15 minutes, before she got bored. In the written feedback it even says 20 minutes.
I think it is quite a long time for a little person to sit still? Maybe the stuff got boring?

- She also told the psychologist that we still sleep with her. It is true in part because we lay with her in her bed until she falls asleep. But then we get up again.. And then we only go to her at night when she calls, and sometimes falling asleep with her!
It is a parenting style that we as parents are both happy with!
It seems that the psychologist thinks we are still baby-ing her, and therefore she is not emotionally ready!


I know that the psychologist only got to see her for a an hour and a half.
We will not only base our decision on her inputs, but what we get from the OT's assessments.