This stunning plate, created by Max, is remarkable for three reasons:
• He painted it by himself, without any help from me.
• Note the color—NOT PURPLE!!! Except for one little splotch in the middle! He made it for an orange-loving girl in his class—Max has a crush, I think. Perhaps this is a turning point. I am a little weary of purple. And it's about time we married him off.
• It could probably sell for millions of dollars in an art gallery. I'm on it.
A new occupational therapist did a session with Max last night. You always get new tricks from different therapists, and sure enough, she had a good one. How's this: Painting with marshmallows! She poured fingerpaint onto a plate and presented Max with a bag of marshmallows.
Max was enchanted. First, he wanted to eat one. Then he grabbed one between his fingers (SCORE!), made some dots then and swooshed the paint around. The marshmallow makes the paint glide easily—I was dying to try! This was, by far, the easiest time he's had painting. He needs so much help learning to grasp things, and this was totally inspiring.
We've had some success with brushes. Alex Jumbo Chubby Beginner Paint Brushes are easy to grasp:
I found these Creatology ones at Michaels:
Alex also makes versions with thick handles:
Got any great tricks you've recently learned from your occupational therapists for inspiring kids to use their hands? Share! And any OTs reading this...spill!
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