I just discovered a new game, thanks to one of our OT’s. It’s Scaterpillar Scramble by Hasbro. Of course looking at it with a PT mindset, I love it because it has lots of marbles that a kiddo can try to use which means lots of repetitions of any activity I want them to do because of course after each repetition they get to put a marble on the caterpillars hand! The OT side of our office love it for different reasons.
They love that the tweezers/tongs let kids work on the mechanics of a tripod grasp. It is a pretty light tweezer/tong so if you are looking to work on strengthening you may need to pick up a separate one elsewhere. It also requires precision and fine motor control. When kids are working on control its amazing how many of them (and adults too) have increased shakiness in their hand. You can limit the frustration by only putting one or two marbles out and having the kids try to place them on the bottom hands (which are easier) and then they can have the caterpillar dance (if they tolerate sound well) when they complete the specified number so they get a built in reward. You can increase the challenge by increasing the number of marbles, having them move up higher on the caterpillar hands, and/or having it ‘dance’ while you try to put the marbles in place.
The marbles come in different colors because the game is meant to be a race between players but the colors can provide a good visual cue for the child as they work on their visual motor control by trying to precisely place the marble on the hand. If you have two kids you can have them work on turn taking putting the marbles on.
I love discovering new games! What have you used this game for?
