So are our kids destined to be less creative adults since our kids’ scores are declining? How can we encourage more creativity?

I work with parents every day, encouraging them to provide great toys and open-ended props for play–a  blank cardboard box and markers, a scarf, a stick or a Kleenex box. I love when I come to a home and am greeted by a child in a home-made costume by the child himself. Duncan had watched a TV show about a disc jockey and had a Kleenex box taped to a belt around his waist, which was his boom box. Yesterday I was with Christopher who loves Toy Story characters and looked at me in the middle of play and said, “We need the rocket!” He went over to the dining table and brought back a lantern that he unlatched to open and let Buzz and Woody in for a ride!

If parents allow kids to have more unstructured time, give them some props and even play a little  along side them to get the play going, we may see some creativity scores on the rise.

This week I used two books of a similar theme: “Please, Louise! “by Wishinsky and Gay and “Beatrice Doesn’t Want To” by Laura Numeroff. Both stories involve an annoying younger sister who bothers her brother in effective ways such as continuous talking, tapping, staring, and clinging. Beatrice was a simpler story with less complex drawings so a good place to start. We crossed our arms in defiance acting out her stubbornness to go to the library. Kids had fun giving dialogue with some prompts–”I don’t want to go” and “Stop that!” They especially loved the staring and tapping to annoy the other character. Louise has a little twist when her brother, Jake, has been pushed to the limit and says, “I wish you were a dog!” When a Louise disappears and a dog comes around the corner there is an opportunity to explore more abstract language. With higher level learners, have them compare the two stories talking about same and different.

Kids love to roll dice–now they can toss nine picture cubes with clever images on each of the six sides and tell a story using the face up images. Set a theme ahead of time–”On our vacation we…” or just take turns adding to the story. The creative fun begins when kids choose a cube’s picture and start the story, interpreting the drawing as a concrete object or a more abstract concept. Kids chose the flashlight to continue their story on a more concrete level–”He grabbed the flashlight for the walk in the woods,” or to represent a more abstract concept–”The power went out.” The image of a hand represented “strength,” the cartoon bubble became “He had an idea,” and the eye conjured up “a three-eye alien.” There was no limit to the ingenuity that these cubes elicited. It was fun to sit back and watch childrens’ minds create. Many of the drawings are slightly obscure so a child can extrapolate as the abacus became a fence or a door and a co-centric series of arrows became a compass. With 54 possible images to use, there is unlimited potential for creative language learning with Rory’s Story Cubes. I have successfully used this storytelling game with kids younger than the recommended age of 8, and even had fun with kids on the autism spectrum as they learn to be more flexible and abstract with language.

Recommended age: 8 and up although younger kids can play

The opinions expressed are soley those of the author. “Rory’s Story Cubes” were provided for review by Gamewright.

Speech therapists and teachers have been busy preparing their rooms, lists, and making schedules. When I was working in the schools for 20 years, the first two weeks were crazy–finding kids, making a schedule and changing it multiple times. I feel for all of you who are in the throws of that right now. It’s funny, even in private practice, I have to make a whole new schedule at the beginning of each summer and each school year, so I don’t even escape that. At least I don’t have schedule around gym, art and music classes!

As a private therapist I have a unique opportunity to coordinate with classroom teachers and therapists at a child’s schoool. I have several children whom I see every few weeks at their nursery school to communicate goals and progress with teachers. This fall I am waiting a few weeks for kids to get adjusted and then will go into their preschool classes and assess whether their language skills are carrying over into the classroom. Often with preschool children, they might offer more language and seem more advanced in an individual session than when they are in a group setting of peers and adults. I worked with one child from 2-3 years of age and as his language improved, he still didn’t apply his skills in talking with peers. I ended up working with him in his preschool setting to prompt his interactions with peers. For some reason he was very comfortable engaging with the adults, “Sherry, your orange purse is on the table.” By the end of summer camp, he was starting to initiate dialogue with peers and I was able to dismiss him.

Back to school means many things, but for me it means I have another venue in which to watch and assess a child where he is comfortable and among familiar peers and adults. I just have to wait a little while until he is adjusted and it feels like home.

Things are hopping at the Ring-A-Ding Diner as players compete to quickly fill their orders before their opponents do. A game of fast reactions, “Orders Up”  builds excitement as players race to ding the bell, winning the right to add a card to their array of yummy dishes. Select two food cards  filled with  delectable delights like ice cream floats, spaghetti, or a banana split for you to match.  Roll the dice and follow the options to try to be the first one to cover all the food dishes on the card to fill your order. Wild cards like “Special of the Day” or “Free Entree” add to the strategy of the game. Kids hope for the dice to land on the picture of the silver bell,  so they can be the first to ring it, even if their hand gets smashed by others, competing to be first.

The opinions expressed in this review are solely of the author. “Order’s Up” was provided for review by Gamewright.

One of the problems is that with parents holding their kids back just to give them a leg up, it creates an environment where there is a year and a half age span as well as a wide range of social emotional development within a class. That is tough for kids and teachers to deal with. Also, some districts are strict about the cutoff date and don’t allow parents such an option. Not every parent can afford an extra year of preschool.

Certainly it is important to look at each individual child and assess, with the help of their knowledgeable preschool teachers, whether they are “ready” for kindergarten. Readiness comes in many areas. If you talk to kindergarten teachers they will tell you that they would rather a child have some of the emotional maturity and social skills than know their alphabet or even be reading. “I’ll take a child who can sit and raise their hand over one that can show off academic skills any day,” said a psychologist who worked in a public elementary school. In the past I have been on both sides of kindergarten screening–as a speech therapist who assessed kids’ language readiness skills, and as a parent whose kids were screened in 5 areas to counsel parents on their child’s readiness. One of my three “failed”–my November birthday was assessed as needing more time to mature socially. I took their advice and watched his friend of the same age begin kindergarten and then repeat it the next year. Perhaps I made the right decision.

Anyways, it is such a delicate subject and needs to be addressed on a personal basis with input from professionals who know and work with your child whom you can trust to guide you.

When I attended “Time To Play’s Spring Showcase of Toys,”  Their no-stain, no-dye, nontoxic bubbles really do work better and last longer in the air, which leads to more fun time and language expression. Here are some of the products that I liked for therapy and just plain fun:

“No-Spill Bubble Tumbler:” This is perfect for portable therapy and play since it really doesn’t spill, I like the one that has multiple wands so three kids can play at once.

“Jelly Belly Scented Bubbles:” Only a few inches long, this portable bubble toy holds scented bubbles for a child to blow.

“Big Bubble Friends” produce their own bubbles, so the child doesn’t benefit from the oral motor action of blowing their own bubbles, but my big cow was a load of fun. Tip back the head of the cow and as he lets out a “Mooooo,” a stream of bubbles is emitted and kids are mesmerized. Use the toy as a motivator, modeling sounds or words for them to repeat and rewarding them with a stream to chase. Toddlers and preschoolers  loved this toy and played independently for up to 20 minutes.

Have a few of these portable bubble entertainers ready to delight kids summer or winter.

The opinions expressed in this review are soley those of the author. The above products were provided for review by “Little Kids’”

On the concepts section of the test, he failed several items that I know he knew in other contexts. It was hard for him to pick out the correct line drawing from a field of four that represented simple concepts.

After sharing these observations, the team started to develop goals for his upcoming year based on the testing. One of the members of the team said, “Well, we don’t want to teach to a test but I think we should teach him test taking skills–how to scan several pictures for an answer, how to listen to a paragraph and stay focused to answer a question, and how to be more familiar with two dimensional drawings for his answers.

I thought that was a great point. Many children with special needs will be tested at least yearly to determine progress and goals. How helpful for them to learn strategies like, “Look at all the pictures and then pick the one that answers the question.”

Yesterday I read, Peter’s Place by Sally Grindley–a beautifully illustrated story about a young boy who’s place is his clifftop home above the ocean. He befriends the birds and animals but his world changes when an oil tanker crashes into the cliff one night, spilling the black oil everywhere. The story is filled with great vocabulary–”ravaged cliff face,” “turbulent ocean,” and “snug in their haven.” There are many opportunities to discuss inference and explain figurative language. Here are the segments from the book and a 10 year-old’s responses:

“seals and otters played and feasted on the sea’s riches”

They had a lot of good food in the sea.

The animals were “snug in their haven”

The animals were comfortable in their homes

“Leaving the tanker to fight its own battle”

The tanker couldn’t steer and had to fight the ocean.

“The seal’s once soft gray fur, now matted with oil, could no longer hold in its body’s warmth.” He will get cold, sick or maybe die.

“A guillemot plucked furiously at its matted feathers, poisoning itself.”

He is poisoning himself by eating the oil.

Why did the oil keep it from flying?

The oil keeps it from flying because the oil is heavy so the bird can’t fly.

Why is Peter crying?

Because many of his birds can’t fly and he loved the ducks.

“Peter marvels at the birds’ survival.”

He is amazed how the birds stayed alive through the oil spill.

“Between the rocks are ugly black scars that can never be washed away.”

Between the rocks, there is some oil that they can’t get off and it reminds them of what happened.

Compare Compare before and after the oil spill:

· Before the spill, the birds flew easily and after the spill the birds couldn’t fly because the oil got into the feathers and it would be heavy to fly

· Before the spill, the cliff was pretty and after the spill, the cliff was ravaged with oil

· Before the spill, the sky was nice and cool and after the spill, the sky was dark

· Before the spill, the water was calm and blue, pink and purple. After the spill, the water had oil in it and it was pitch black

· Before the spill, Peter enjoyed the free time with the birds, calling to them. After the spill, Peter was anxious because his favorite place was ravaged.

· Before the spill, people were fishing but after the spill, people were saving birds and animals

· Before the spill, the tanker was way out in the far ocean and after the spill, the tanker was up close and destroyed

Summarize the whole book:

This book is about a boy who loved a place which got destroyed by a tanker and oil spill and how he saved many bird’s lives.

My journey with author and illustrator Valerie  Gorbachev, began when I grabbed Red Red Red from the library. It was a prefect book to use with a language delayed child as well as a child on the autism spectrum–the illustrations were colorful and simple, the story was engaging but not complicated, and there was a simple action on each page that invited wh-questions. Turtle is in a hurry to find something read and as a result, all the friendly forest animals start a line behind him guessing what could be his red prize–maybe racoon’s roses, goat’s red socks, fox’s red roof or a firefighter’s truck. This little parade of animals finally arrives at Turtle’s destination, a beautiful red sunset. The book lends itself to prediction questions, why? questions, brainstorming other red items and descriptions.

In Chicken Chickens Go To School, our little chicks are a bit timid about their first day at school. As they venture toward friendship by saying hello to classmates, they are stopped with a “Sssssssh” from Beaver, Rabbit and Frog who are busy making a tower, listening to a story and trying to sing respectively. These responses lend themselves to talking about emotions and brainstorming on what the chicken’s might do to gain a friend. Finally, during a trip to the meadow, the chicks are faced with crossing the stream alone. Guess which 3 animals offer assistance? Again, before reading the page, ask your child to predict how the animals might help the chicks get across. Talking about the beginning, middle and end and how the characters changed is a good activity for sequence and memory.

Chicken Chickens introduces the chicks to their first day at a playground. All the fun action drawings are great for description–mother hen rocking her babies, the pigs swirling on the merry-go-round, and the cats swinging high. Talk about cause-effect in regard to the chickens’ fear of each piece of equipment. They might get dizzy on the merry-go-round or fall off the swings. Finally, let’s solve the problem of their fear of the slide. How could the different animals help them down? What could they say to the chickens? How did Beaver solve the problem?

Other favorites are:

The Big Trip

That’s What Friends Are For

What authors of picture books do you like for using with kids with special needs? Let’s get a list going to help others.