Worm Composting at Airport

When I taught preschool, one of the best things I ever implemented in my classroom was a vermicomposting initiative to make use of the classroom food waste. Ever since I've been QUITE obsessed. And I am apparently not the only one. This article from NPR, One Airport's Trash Is 2 Million Worms' Treasure, discusses how the Charlotte Airport has introduced a massive worm composting project. Some might call it disgusting (that's what my roommates thought when I brought up the idea for our house a few years ago), but it makes me excited to have my own colony of red wiggler worms again!

FALLing Leaves

I have been waiting and waiting to do an autumn post, and now that I finally have a moment to write it, the appropriate time has almost past. However, I shall do it anyway! Fall is normally not my favorite time of year. Having grown up in Michigan, the coming of September meant a quick dive from the glorious heat of summer to the cold and wet misery of winter. Thanks to the long and temperate South Carolina autumn, though, I have a new found love for it!

The one part of fall that I have always loved is the beauty of the changing leaves and the satisfaction of stomping on as many as possible to hear the CRUNCH. And leaves provide such an easy way to incorporate nature with occupational therapy!

You can go outdoors and:
- look for leaves of just one color, shape, size
- use a field guide to help discern which leaves you've found
- rake a big pile of leaves and jump into it
- try to walk on the grass without stepping on any leaves or ONLY stepping on leaves
- try and shake down all the leaves from a small tree.

You can bring a bunch of leaves inside and:
- count how many points are on a leaf
- complete some leaf rubbings or beat a leaf (see the "indoor activities" section for more instructions)
- make patterns based on color or shape
- use a leaf for tracing onto paper
- make leaf people by adding faces with permanent markers
- make a leaf garland
- crumble up leaves and use the pieces to glue a design onto plain paper
- Sort the leaves by color, size, or shape.

Do you have any other ideas? I'd love to hear them!

The Ocean and Sensory Processing Disorder

I had the privilege of spending this summer just a few minutes away from the ocean, and with a blessed 3-day weekend every week (I know, I was a little bit spoiled, but it did make for some long work days), I made a point of going to the beach almost every weekend. As I was sitting there one day, listening to the waves crash and watching the pelicans and seagulls, it hit me how brilliant a place the ocean is for children who are sensory seekers. Consider it: there's the varying textures of wet and dry sand, plus the rolling water; there's the strong taste of sea water; the generally bright sun gives extra visual input; the unceasing sound of the waves and other people playing provides auditory stimulus. The vestibular and proprioceptive senses are challenged by time spent in the moving water and walking on or digging in the unstable sand. So, for those children, the beach is the perfect place to visit, and one of the few places where you can let children who desperately need it run amok (within safety rules, of course).

For children who fall on the other side of things, though, the ocean can be a scary place. The water is constantly moving, the ground is unstable, and there is an unending barrage of light and sound. So what might you do for these kids? I think there are a number of ideas that might make it easier -- and if you have any further suggestions, please comment below! I would love to hear them. If the child is sensitive to the brightness, try visiting on an overcast day or give them a pair of sunglasses (the latter, of course, might result in other sensory challenges). If they have a hard time negotiating different surfaces, try to attain a place in hard packed sand. If they are bothered by the moving water, consider a beach where when the tide recedes there is a shallow pool left behind. If they are bothered by sand being stuck to them, provide them with a chair so that they are less likely to end up with pants full of sand and bring along a watering can to make it easy to fill up with sea water and rinse off. Water shoes can also be a way to help keep sand from creeping between their toes. Make sure their bathing suit fits snugly, but not too snugly, to prevent chaffing and irritation.

Children who are have sensory defensiveness might also benefit from a social story that talks about some of the things they might see and feel, in order to give them a chance to prepare. It would even be better to add in some textures, like sandpaper to represent the feel of sand and a (well-sealed) bag of gel or paint to approximate the feeling of water. For these children, it is important to not push their limits too far. Give them the chance to accustom themselves to this new and different location, to touch the sand with a shovel before digging in with their fingers or to wade with just their toes in the water before going in up to their tummies. It may be best to first try the beach on a day that is less busy, to prevent them from becoming overwhelmed by a crowd as well. And for a first trip, a short time might be all that they can handle -- next time they will better understand what to expect and might be able to play longer!

The Hunger Games and OT

 It has been a while since I've posted, which has been filled with the end of school, a trip of epic proportions (18 states in 20 days), moving to a new city, and finally starting my first clinical rotation at MUSC in Charleston, SC!

I have a significant obsession with The Hunger Games. And for some reason it became the first thing I would read between semesters, so I've read the series four times now. I've been joking about how to make the Hunger Games themselves into an occupational therapy intervention, and while I haven't solved that yet (any ideas, friends?), in this last reading of it I did make a connection between the characters + the importance of occupations + nature, which I would like to share with you all.

If you have never read the books and don't like to know anything at all about the story prior to doing so, there are some SMALL SPOILERS ahead, from book three.

You were warned.

In Mockingjay, Katniss finds herself living underground, recovering from a myriad of psychosocial and physical problems. What's worse, District 13, where she is currently residing, is structured so heavily that residents only have a half hour of free time a day, not nearly enough to engage in play and leisure activities that are critical for emotional, mental, and physical well-being. Now, Katniss, despite being so young knows herself well and recognizes that the best way for her to be able to recover is by spending time outside, partially for hunting. When she gets the opportunity, she makes that part of her deal with the administration. What's more, she convinces them that allowing her sister's cat to remain with them is also necessary. (And when everyone is stuck underground, playing with the cat relieves the tension for everyone.)

What's rather funny is that while I was considering composing this post, I came across this interesting article from NPR entitled To Rehabilitate Young Vets, Go Hunting, which is about having injured vets hunting in the woods and the impact that it has on those soldiers.

Sound familiar?

Coffee Ground Fossils

So, I actually used one of the activities that I had listed and even took a picture of it for you all! The original recipe didn't say this, but I added a little bit of vegetable oil so that it wasn't as sticky when handling the dough. I don't much like it when my hands are dirty anyway, but slimey goo is even worse, so that was a definite improvement. The directions are as follows (copied directly from the "indoor activities" portion):

Materials

One cup used coffee grounds, ½ cup cold coffee, 1 cup flour, ½ cup salt, waxed paper, mixing bowl, tin can, natural objects

Procedure

1. Stir the coffee grounds, coffee, flour and salt until well mixed.

2. Knead the dough and flatten onto waxed paper.

3. Use the can to cut out circles.

4. Press objects firmly into the dough and then lift off.

5. Let the fossil dry at least overnight.

Activity Analysis

Delay of gratification waiting for the fossils to set.

Frustration tolerance if the fossil does not look how they want it.

Muscle strength to flatten the dough and press out circles.

Bilateral integration to press down with both hands in the dough and on the tin can.

Smell processing with the aroma of the coffee.

Tactile processing for the wet texture of the dough.

Problem solving to determine how to place the object into the dough.

And here's what they looked like when they were done:

I think it actually took about 4 days for them to properly dry, but I didn't measure the amount of liquid I poured in, so I can't say if that's normal or not! It has an interesting texture and a fantastic smell and look, so you should definitely try it out!

The Secret Garden

I was encouraged to edit my little expo book and submit it as an article to an occupational therapy magazine, which I have officially done, as of ten minutes ago! (We'll see what come of it...) However, it was sadly too long for their writing specifications, and I had to cut out some of my favorite (albeit extraneous) ideas, so I thought that this would be the perfect venue for me to discuss them. I have a rapt audience, I know (ha).

The book The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett, has always been one of my favorites, but since starting OT school, the story has begun to strike a new chord and makes me excited all over again about the benefits of occupation as therapy. In the book (or musical, if you are thus inclined), the recently orphaned Mary Lennox finds herself in a manor house abandoned, for the most part, to her own devices. She is sad and serious, but as she spends more time outdoors, making friends with a local robin and finding her way into a long abandoned garden, she gains both physical strength and emotional stability. When she meets her infirmed young cousin, Colin, who has been relegated to being a cripple and seems to be facing imminent death, Mary brings him into the secret garden, he makes miraculous strides – literally; he begins walking. So what did it take for these two characters to make these physical, cognitive, and psychosocial gains? A little bit of nature and some purposeful activities!

Things I learned in OT School

 As my coursework draws to a close (oh my, how did that happen?!), I wanted to share some key (tongue in cheek) things I've learned. Enjoy!

"If not you, then who?"

"Stroke it, don't poke it."

CVAs may cause emotional lability, but so do excessive group projects.

You can feel like a failure all semester and still pass the class.

"Practice makes permanent."

If you know activity analysis well enough, you can make most anything therapeutic.

"It depends."

"When in doubt, make it bigger and longer."

"The pelvis is your friend."

You know more than you think you do. (At least, I sure hope so!)

Recess?

There was a recent study, a blogger for the LA Times notes, that found that many parents with children enrolled in child care do not take their child outdoors daily. It's actually interesting to me that they would look at this, because as a former preschool teacher, I know that: #1: in many places it's required for children in a formal setting to go outside everyday (barring, of course, bad weather), so the children are getting outside play time and #2: for teachers, being outside is often the hour or two of the day that restores sanity, since children have the freedom to move about and be as loud as they like. So children ARE still getting that outdoor play time (perhaps not in as natural of a setting as would be ideal, but still, they are outside!), even if parents are not the instigators.

This does stress the importance of recess and outdoor play at school, which AOTA emphasizes in the article Occupational Therapy Can Help Save Recess. Recess/active play is critical for helping children to focus better, besides all of the physical benefits!

Vertical Gardening

 I saw the images for this Cucumber TeePee on Pinterest and I would love to try it out with children. This would be a great place for kids to hide under in the summer!

The Zero Waste Home

This isn't directly OT or pediatrics or nature related -- but it does involve being a responsible steward for our environment, which is important to keeping nature (and people) around!

Check out: http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/

Eco-friendly Spring Crafts

Check out this website for some neat ideas to use with children!

http://craftingagreenworld.com/2012/03/22/5-eco-friendly-spring-crafts-for-kids/

Wildflower Bombs

Here's where I got the idea from: http://mademoisellechaos.blogspot.com/2010/03/make-your-own-seed-bombs.html

I found it best to just use my (old) blender, and I put in about 7 magazine pages, 2 sheets of tissue paper (for a prettier color), and 2 cups of water. I blended it up, added seeds, blended a little more. Then I poured it into my strainer to get out the majority of water and squished it into a big ball, getting out as much water as I could. I then split it out into little balls (about the size of a marble) and left it to dry. Drying took decidedly longer than I was expecting, a few days, at least! I'm excited to try them out, and I hope you are too!

This blog was created as a companion to my Expo project for Milligan College's Masters in Occupational Therapy Program. I hope that this information and these activities will be helpful to occupational therapists, educators, parents, and all lovers of nature!