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Building Blocks Pediatric Occupational Therapy Services

Fairfield Connecticut Occupational Therapist

203-341-0178
943 Post Rd E Suite A
Westport, CT 06880
bbpedot@yahoo.com
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Fun and Interactive Learning Apps!

March 2, 2020 By admin

Apps for Learning to How to Read

  • Interactive Alphabet ABCs
    • Ages: 1-5
    • Price:99
    • The child is given the ability to sing, trace, and type their way to becoming a reader. They have the opportunity to explore letters and sounds, while singing the alphabet with 26 dancing robots and tracing mod includes letters, words, and left-handed support. This app is aligned to the Kindergarten Reading Foundational Skills in the Common Core Standards

  • ABC Gurus
    • Ages: 2-5
    • Price:99
    • The child is given the opportunity interact with the ABCs as they personalize each letter into a crazy character. The app gives the ability to scroll through the alphabet and choose a color, add silly faces, cartoon eyes, and a grinning mouth to their letter. As they color their letter, they will hear the phonetic sounds the letter makes. Once he presses the “play” button the letter figure will come to life in a funny animation; making learning fun for the child.

  • Monkey Word School Adventure
    • Ages 3-5
    • Price 1.99
    • Join Monkey and his jungle friends as they explore different letters, phonics, and spelling. The app has a special focus on sight words, and lessons ranging from letter recognition and sounds to word components such as irregular vowels and consonant blends.

  • Learn with Homer
    • Ages: 3-6
    • Price: Free
    • Children have the ability to learn how to read by covering 50 different reading skills, including phonics, pronunciation, upper and lower-case letter recognition, blending and more.

  • Hooked on Phonics – Learn to Read
    • Ages: 4+
    • Price: Free
    • The app comes complete with three lessons, with interactive games that show how sounds become words and words become stories. At the end of each lesson, there is a story for the child to read out loud.

Letter Formation and Handwriting

  • Writing Wizard
    • Ages: 4+
    • Price: 4.99
    • This app allows children the ability to learn how to trace and form letters using 26 different animated stickers. Once the tracing is complete, the child as the ability to interact with the letter on 4 different games that animate the letter.

  • Hairy Letters
    • Ages: 4-6
    • Price: 2.99
    • The child has the ability to learn how to form each letter shape with their finger. The app offers different games to blend each letter into sounds and words. Includes upper and lower-case letters. Letter sounds are introduced in six color-coded stages. The games progress from tree letter words to four and five letter words.

  • Letter Reflex
    • Ages: 5+
    • Price: 3.99
    • Interactive games to help children who struggle with letter and number reversals. Games are included to help children practice disguising between letters such as B, D, P and numbers such as 3, 6, and 9. Children turn and swipe letters until they are in the correct direction of the letter.

  • Pocket Phonics
    • Ages: 4-7
    • Price: 6.99
    • This app gives children to opportunity to master and practice letter sounds, a mix of vowels and consonants, letter tracing and repetitive sounds. The children have the ability to then move onto reading short stories on the letter sounds previously learned.

Improving Memory

  • Elevate
    • Ages: 4+
    • Price: Free
    • This is a training program designed to improve focus, speaking ability, processing speed, memory, and math skills. This app comes with games for critical cognitive skills such as focus, memory, processing, comprehension, and precision.

  • Brain School – Brain Training
    • Ages: 4+
    • Price: Free
    • This app comes with 20 different brain training games and over 100 levels of tricky puzzles. Brain school covers different skills including, math, logic, word search, memory, spatial awareness, and more.

  • Lumosity
    • Ages: 4+
    • Price: Free
    • This app offers 40+ games and puzzles to test memory, logic, math skills, speed, language, and problem solving. Learn your child’s strength and weakness and help them improve in a fun and engaging way.

Learning Games in General

  • 123 Learning Games
  • ABC Animals Toddler Adventures
  • Math Learner: Learning Games
  • Sight Words Learning Games
  • First Words Sampler
  • ABC Kids: Tracing & Phonics
  • Reading Eggs
  • LeapFrog Academy
  • Endless Wordplay
  • Khan Academy Kids
  • Brainwell
  • Color Dots
  • Dexteria
  • Rush Hour
  • Chocolate Fix

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Wondering what happens during an occupational ther Wondering what happens during an occupational therapy session? 
What Is OT and What Will I Do There? was written to help take the mystery out of pediatric occupational therapy. Whether your child is preparing for their very first OT visit or you’re a parent, teacher, or therapist looking for a simple way to explain what OT is, this book makes it easy to understand.
Children will discover that OT is so much more than play. Every swing, obstacle course, craft, game, and activity has a purpose, helping build the skills needed for everyday life, including fine motor skills, sensory processing, self-care, emotional regulation, visual motor integration, and confidence.
My goal is to help children feel excited about therapy and help families understand the “why” behind everything we do. ❤️
Have you ever wondered what OT is all about?
#OccupationalTherapy #PediatricOT #ChildDevelopment #SensoryIntegration #ᴇxᴘʟᴏʀᴇᴘᴀɢᴇ
The Wilbarger Deep Pressure & Proprioceptive Techn The Wilbarger Deep Pressure & Proprioceptive Technique (DPPT)
Also known as the Wilbarger Brushing Protocol

The Wilbarger Protocol is a sensory-based OT intervention that provides deep pressure and proprioceptive input to help organize the nervous system, improve body awareness, and reduce tactile defensiveness.

Who may benefit?
• Tactile defensiveness
• Clothing or grooming sensitivities
• Emotional dysregulation
• Attention and transition difficulties
• Sensory seeking or avoiding behaviors
• Some children with sensory processing differences, ADHD, autism, or developmental delays

Brushing
🖐️ Firm, even pressure
• Brush proximal to distal
• No back-and-forth brushing
• Long, smooth strokes
• Keep the brush flat against the skin
• Brush arms, hands, back, legs, and feet only
🚫 Never brush the face, chest, stomach, or groin

Joint Compressions
🤲 Immediately follow brushing
• Support the limb
• Keep joints neutral
• Compress gently through the joint
• Never twist, pull, or force a joint

Benefits
✅ Better regulation
✅ Improved attention
✅ Increased body awareness
✅ Reduced tactile defensiveness
✅ Greater participation in daily activities

DPPT should only be taught and supervised by a trained occupational therapist and is individualized for every child.

💙 Helping children feel regulated, confident, and successful.

#OccupationalTherapy #ᴇxᴘʟᴏʀᴇᴘᴀɢᴇ #SensoryProcessing #Brushing #WilbargerProtocol
It may look like a simple puzzle, but this activit It may look like a simple puzzle, but this activity is doing so much more!

Lying on a peanut ball helps build core and shoulder strength, postural control, and visual motor skills, all through play.

Want to learn why the peanut ball is one of our favorite OT tools? Read our latest blog. Link in bio!

#PediatricOT #OccupationalTherapy #explorepages #ChildDevelopment #PlayBasedLearning
As a pediatric occupational therapist, I often tal As a pediatric occupational therapist, I often talk about going deeper than just “take a deep breath.” Deep breathing is more than a simple instruction—it’s a powerful tool that helps children connect with their bodies, regulate their emotions, and calm their nervous systems.
One of my favorite ways to teach this is with a breathing ball. It’s simple, colorful, and engaging, giving children a visual and hands-on way to understand what’s happening inside their bodies.
As you slowly open the ball, encourage your child to take a slow, deep breath in through their nose, imagining their lungs filling up just like the ball expands. This helps them become aware of how their body feels when they breathe in.
Then, as you slowly close the ball, have them gently blow all the air out through their mouth until their “chipmunk cheeks” are completely empty. Encourage them to keep blowing until every last bit of air is out. This full exhale is just as important as the inhale—it helps release tension and signals the body to relax.
Repeat this several times. The movement of the ball helps children pace their breathing and stay focused, making it much easier than simply telling them to “take a deep breath.” Over time, this builds body awareness, supports self-regulation, and helps children learn how to calm themselves when they feel overwhelmed.
This is an easy strategy to use at home, in the classroom, before homework, before bed, or anytime a child is feeling anxious, frustrated, or needs a reset.
Sometimes the simplest tools can make the biggest difference. 💙
#ᴇxᴘʟᴏʀᴇᴘᴀɢᴇ  #SelfRegulation #DeepBreathing #Sensory #Interoception
Sometimes the most meaningful therapy doesn’t lo Sometimes the most meaningful therapy doesn’t look like “therapy” at all.
Through play, children are building the foundational skills they need for everyday life. During this activity, we’re targeting balance, core strength, coordination, motor planning, bilateral coordination, visual tracking, and postural control—all while keeping therapy engaging and fun.
Play isn’t a break from learning. For children, play is learning.
#OccupationalTherapy #PediatricOT #OT #ᴇxᴘʟᴏʀᴇᴘᴀɢᴇ #ChildDevelopment
Did you know that visual perception is about so mu Did you know that visual perception is about so much more than eyesight? 👀

Visual perception is the brain’s ability to make sense of what the eyes see. These skills play a huge role in everyday activities like reading, handwriting, completing puzzles, finding items in a backpack, and even getting dressed.

Swipe through to learn:
✨ What visual perception is
✨ The 7 visual perceptual skills
✨ How these skills impact daily life
✨ How occupational therapy can help

Want to learn more? Our newest blog takes a deeper dive into visual perception and how OT supports these important skills. Check out the link in our bio!

#PediatricOT #OccupationalTherapy #VisualPerception #VisualPerceptualSkills #ᴇxᴘʟᴏʀᴇᴘᴀɢᴇ
My journey to find occupational therapy may have t My journey to find occupational therapy may have taken a bit longer than others, but I 'm grateful for each experience that got me to where I am today!

For those who don't know me, my name is Colleen McGuinness and I have been completing my fieldwork rotation at Building Blocks Pediatric Occupational Therapy as an OT student for the past 3 months. So before I go, I want to tell you about my journey into OT!

Check out our latest blog post using the link in our bio to read more about my journey into OT!

#OTStudent #JourneytoOT #PediatricOT #ᴇxᴘʟᴏʀᴇᴘᴀɢᴇ @nbcot @aotainc
✏️ Not sure which pencil grip is right for you ✏️ Not sure which pencil grip is right for your child?

Each pencil grip is designed to support different needs, and choosing the right one can make writing more comfortable and efficient. Check out this quick overview, then head to the blog (link in bio) to learn more about each grip and how to choose the best fit!

#OccupationalTherapy #PediatricOT #FineMotorSkills #ᴇxᴘʟᴏʀᴇᴘᴀɢᴇ pencilgrips
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