A little sparkle or bling in therapy sessions can offer fantastic sensory benefits! It takes a bit of planning and patience while the glue drys and you’re set for an array of glittery options!
The only things you’ll need to make the items are a pack of glue-glow pens markers, cardstock (which is more dense than regular paper) and scissors.
The glitter is an elevated surface that has the appearance of a “bumpy” surface. Instruct your children to “feel” using their fingers as they move across the dry glitter. This will provide your child with tactile information , in combination with visual information. The tactile feedback can assist in learning names, letters, shapes and more.
You can also disperse the glitter so that your child can paint over the glitter. This is great for youngsters who are having trouble “colouring” in lines or the whole surface they have to color. Children love coloring over the rough surface of the glitter.
Here are a few ways that I use glitter in my therapy sessions. Sometimes, my own children benefit as well!
1. Alphabet glitter Use these cards to help you learn the alphabet, separate into families of letters and spell out names for your children, master the correct spelling of letters, etc. If you’ve used or have heard of “sand papers” These glittery letters could be utilized similar fashion at less than the price. They can be made in any size you’d like and also make capital letters as well!
2. Glitter Shapes Make use of glitter glue to outline shapes , or to colour the whole surface of the shape. Imagine coloring within those shapes before “hitting” at the raised border. Your child will gain an understanding of the area to stop coloring. You can draw a line around the raised border in order to understand the number of sides the shapes have as well being able to identify the names for the shapes.
3. Glitter Names The child in your life will enjoy learning the names of their names in glitter! Trace over the letters, write over them, spell…do it all over again while keeping their eyes closed! Train them in the left to right direction of letters, and letters too.
4. Glitter Colouring Do you have a your child who isn’t keen on coloring? Have you tried coloring with glitter? Draw simple images small is best and then fill them the image with glue. Distribute the glitter so that it is thin and then wait for it to completely dry. Aren’t these Easter eggs attractive? Your children will be delighted to color the eggs and they can use the images as an egg hunt.
My reluctant-colourer Mr was thrilled to colour these, following which Miss 8 put them in the yard for him to search for. Fun and a little some pencil control there , too. Win-win, I say!
I’m not a fan of letting students I visit for OT make use of glitter glue pens because I usually see children at schools. It’s hard to know if that the area is there for art to dry and we won’t create a massive mess!
This next task is something I’d like to like to do from home.
5. Glitter drawing – Ask the child an easy picture using markers. Then , give them glitter glue and let them trace their sketch. The process of squeezing glitter glue is an excellent way to stimulate the grasp of a pincer and to work the hand muscles.
Did this inspire you to pull out the glitter glue? I can assure you that it easy to clean up and does not take a lot of time to arrange. Your children will be thrilled with the effort you’ve put into it! Visit our glitter store to start today!
