Great Tool for the Therapeutic Tool Box

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with Fun and Function founder, Aviva Weiss. Aviva is an OT by trade, mom of many, and now a successful entrepraneur. Fun and Function is a great resource for therapists, teachers and consumers for sensory activities and materials. She also made it clear, that as a company, she is always looking to the consumers of the Fun and Function products to provide insight to use and feedback. So after she sent me a free package of Discovery Putty for taking the time to speak with her, I only thought it appropriate to provide a review. I have now been using Discovery PuttyAnimal Rescue daily, within my school based therapy sessions. The putty is brown, and looks like melted Tootsie Rolls. I had to stop myself (and some of my students) from putting it in the mouth because it looks so good. But after I found self control, I am finding it to be a very useful product. The putty itself is a firm, therapeutic putty. Contained with it, is a set of 15 small (choking hazard size) plastic animals. So under close supervision do I use this product. I have been able to engage students preschool through 5th grade, easily. There is something about searching for things in a firm, smooth, but sticky substance. I have incorporated basic math and language concepts into the activities to support the child's IEP goals. For example, using a number board 1-15, the students must develop 1 to 1 correspondence, counting left to right how many they found, how many are left, etc. With a visual aid, Boardmaker pictures, the children can "tell me" what they found, by either pointing only to the picture or creating a sentence "Look, I found a___." I have also photocopied the animals so the students have to work on visual matching skills. And I have made a letter sound board for students to identify first, middle or end sounds to the items they find. There is quite a variety that can be done with a container of therapy putty and a bunch of chotchkies. For $12.99, it doesn't break the bank. However, I found it disappointing that there was only another Discovery Putty Grab the Goodies with food items, which would not fit my students' needs because of mouthing tendencies. I did contact Ms. Weiss and hope that maybe we will see more varieties of theme based add-ons to the putty in the future. I know I have been putty beads and paper clips into my therapeutic putty for years, but now there is a simple grab and go product that can easily be added to your tool box.

So Many Uses!

"I have used the traditional putty with my preschool children for awhile with beads, pennies, etc, but it quickly grew tiresome both for me and my kids. When I saw these Discovery Putty products, I was so excited and immediately bought. I have been brainstorming since then on different skills that could be worked on. Obviously, fine motor strength, pincer grasp, bilateral hand use, use with chopsticks for added challenge, as well as playing with this on their belly to increase strength in the shoulders. I also want to work on visually scanning and discrimination by making flash cards with each object's picture so they have to search, find, and match each item appropriately!! I am so very excited to incorporate these products in my treatments!!" Kendra, Occupational Therapist