CleverMe Occupational Therapy

23/04/2025

23/04/2025

Play isn’t just fun—it’s how children learn, grow, and connect with the world around them! But sometimes, knowing how to make the most of playtime can be tricky. That’s where The Big Play Date comes in!
Designed and facilitated by Paediatric Occupational Therapists, this special event goes beyond everyday play. It’s a chance for you and your child to bond and explore enriching activities in a supportive, engaging space. Discover new ways to encourage your child’s development through movement, sensory exploration, and interactive play.

What to Expect:
✔️ Fun, hands-on activities designed to support early childhood development
✔️ Sensory-rich experiences in a relaxed, playful environment
✔️ Guidance from experienced OTs to help you engage meaningfully with your child

📅 Date: 24 May
📍 Venue: Peter Pan Park
👶 Age Group: 18 months – 3.5 years (siblings welcome!)
⏰ Time: 9:00am – 11:00am
🎟️ Tickets: Available on Quicket
💰 Price: R100 for the first child | R80 per additional child

What to Bring:
🍼 A water bottle and any snacks your child may need
👕 Comfortable, weather-appropriate clothing (we’ll be moving and exploring!)
🎟️ A copy of your booking (digital or printed)
Come play, learn, and create special moments with your little one! 🌈✨

https://www.quicket.co.za/events/310976-bug-ydate #/

02/08/2023

I wonder if this little boy knows something we don't know with the cute little baby in the tummy! 🤣

30/07/2023

Sitting at a coffee shop while my kids play, and they have communal wool and knitting needles, to finish off or start a square, to make blankets for donation. What a great idea!

It got me thinking about what a wonderful activity knitting is for practicing fine motor control, bilateral hand use, eye hand coordination, planning, concentration, patience and so many other skills!

I learnt to knit at school when we used to make blankets, but when I shared this some of my friends said they don't know how to knit.

Do your children know how to knit if they are old enough? I would love to teach my children at some stage.

Share below!

19/07/2023

There are lots of benefits of working on an elevated surface (upright against a wall, mirror, black or whiteboard)!

Including:
- Development of strength and stability in the shoulders and arms, which helps with fine motor control
- Integrating head and eye movements for working of a board in class
- Perceptual motor skills
- Midline crossing for effective use of our hands on the opposite side of the body

14/01/2023

Just past half way on SOS training for picky eaters and problem feeders. So excited about this knowledge and amazing new skills to apply for children who struggle with the many factors that impact eating! growing

01/12/2022

Fine motor Christmas activity for one of my littlest ones.
He did so well with sequencing, using his pincer grip, and he sat calmly through this activity, listening to instructions. He was so pleased to take it home!

06/09/2022

Poly dough numbers
We used this as a work up to number formation with pencil to paper. But the tactile input, planning and hand strengthening combines with motivation and interest of the child which promotes more effective learning!

18/08/2022

Mister munch!
Squeeze to open his mouth, strengthening hands and working on bilateral integration (effective use of both hands together). Fun for kids to repeat at home, to improve strength over time. This little guy named his friend 'Frankie' 😅

16/08/2022

Memory! An old classic that fires up visual memory skills, spatial awareness and in this case we worked on letter reversals.

We used /b/ and /d/ to play a memory game and kept score by writing the number we got of each. This brought letter formation and motor control into a fun visual perceptual game.

This little guy LOVED the game and stayed motivated and focused.

It's so easy to recreate at home with any concept your child needs to practice from letters, shapes, colours, numbers etc!

And because we made it together we also practiced cutting and pasting, important fine motor skills.

12/08/2022

Oral motor skills:
When working with children, OTs are interested in ensuring success in all areas of development, while keeping the child regulated, motivated and engaged.

Oral motor skill development can help with
👄speech and articulation
🍎 picky eating

Oral based activities like sucking, blowing, biting and chewing can also help with sensory regulation and tend to be calming.

We use Oral motor input frequently in SI OT, so will definitely post more ideas soon!

In this activity we had to feed the frog by blowing the big pom poms with a straw and sucking and placing the small pom poms in his mouth.

11/08/2022

Water beads! Such great sensory input (touch), with endless possibilities of activities and really fun for kids. Here we sorted into colours and then this little guy decided to make a special sauce. He had to use refined proprioceptive awareness (squeeze too hard and they break, too soft and they slip out of hands), fine motor (pincer fingers), motor plannig and heaps of other skills.
Stay tuned for more activities with water beads to come!