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9 Skills You Can Practice With Your Child Using ONE Melissa and Doug Puzzle

Melissa and Doug make fantastic toys. I really love their magnetic puzzles, and for good reason. Not only do they have a ton of options, there are also a number of skills that you can work on while playing with your child.  Below are 9 skills you can practice with your child with ONE puzzle!

1. Fine Motor and Manual Dexterity Skills

Increases small and precise movements of the fingers and hands to manipulate the puzzle pieces to fit into the proper place on the puzzle

2. Bilateral Coordination

Requires the child to hold the magnetic net/pole in one hand while pulling off the puzzle piece against the magnetic force with the other hand utilizing both hands in a coordinated manner

3. Motor Planning

Requires the child to hold the magnetic net/pole in their hand and move their arms, wrists, and hands steadily above the puzzle to try and pick up the pieces.

4. Hand-Eye Coordination

Increasing the child’s ability to coordinate what they see with their eyes and what their hands do to complete the puzzle.

5. Visual-Perceptual Skills

Encourages the child to determine where the puzzle pieces fit and how to manipulate the objects to fit appropriately in the spaces by turning/maneuvering them. Increases the child’s ability to locate items/piece items together with a visually cluttered background to increase their visual-perceptual skills.

6. Cognitive Skills

Problem solving skills are utilized to solve the puzzle such as memory and shape recognition: The child is required to remember where the pieces were and how to accurately place them in the correct shapes.

7. Patience and Reward

Teaching your child patience while trialing various spaces in the puzzle to locate the correct placement for pieces and learning the reward and feeling of accomplishment once completed.

8. Crossing Midline

Encourage your child to reach across their body with their opposite arm with the net/pole to increase their ability to use both sides of their body in a coordinated way while increasing their trunk strength and control.

9. Shoulder Strengthening

Increases your child shoulder strength while holding their arm out straight over the puzzle to try and pick up the pieces. Have your child try using both arms!
Melissa and Doug have a variety of fun options to choose from such as catching bugs, fishing for ocean animals, and car towing!

Bug Catching Magnetic Puzzle on their website for $9.99:

Fishing Magnetic Puzzle Game on their website for $9.99

Car Towing Magnetic Puzzle Car Game on their website for $9.99

Which one is your favorite?

Kelsey Bobek OTR/L

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Crystal Scheibe

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Great place, glad we found them. Been going to Medina over 2 months now and he loves Lauryn and Kyler. Wish they had more ABA therapy places available... live in Wooster and long drive everyday.

Karrie Swan LaRock

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My 11 year old son has dyslexia and has made noticeable gains in working At LLA THERAPY. Katie is strong in her approach toward him and also keeps him comfortable enough to perform well. We will continue visiting both the Fairlawn and Hudson offices and recommend them highly.

Ron Monroe

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My 9 year old just completed about 9 months of weekly speech sessions (due to his stuttering) with Matt Hagge at LLA and we are thrilled with the experience and results. What I thought might be a negative (what kid really wants to go to speech class?) was made very positive by Matt, and my son never hesitated or complained when we talked about class. He really enjoyed it and really took what Matt taught him to heart. His speech has been greatly improved and we definitely recommend LLA. Thank you so much!

Heather Dougherty-Pantoja

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My son’s Occupational Therapist, Jess, is an amazing OT! She gives practical tips on working with my son at home and school!

Terri Apgar

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I cannot say enough good things about LLA Therapy. My daughter was a client of Teal Simmons’ for approximately 2 years and was just released from speech therapy! She was diagnosed with Apraxia in 2015 and worked with Teal twice a week. Through Teal’s application of PROMPT therapy, my daughter had age-appropriate speech after one year. All of the staff we interacted with at LLA were absolutely wonderful. They really care about what they do and making sure your child achieves their goals.

Kelli Geisler Davisson

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LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for my son as well as my family! My son always asks, "When can I go see Ms. Jeannine again, is it Monday??" He has also made huge gains in only 5 months! I would highly recommend LLA and have already shared my experience with friends looking for services!

Victoria Hansford-Price

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We are so grateful for our Speech Therapist Ms.Teal. We have seen a great improvement with our sons confidence and communication abilities since we have started "Prompt" therapy. What we love the most about LLA and Ms. Teal is that Kohl feels comfortable and relaxed which has played a critical role in his progress. Thank you Ms. Teal for all you have done.

Laura Lee Hogsett

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They have helped in numerous ways. Speech, OT and behavioral. I've had numerous compliments on my son's progress thanks in very large part to LLA. I would recommend LLA before I recommend our local children's hospitals, though they are good, they don't have the staff that LLA does.

Amy Furukawa

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We had a great experience with Matt Hagge at LLA! Our Middle School age son was becoming very conscious of his voice, which is nasal due to a cleft palate. Matt helped him to better form his sounds and project his voice in a way that makes the unavoidable nasality less noticeable.Our son is more confident and outgoing & even took on a speaking role in the church play. Matt has the perfect personality to relate with our son, and we would recommend him to anyone needing speech therapy services!

Jessica Havalotti

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LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for our daughter. I would highly recommend LLA. Miss Grace was so amazing and I can't believe how quickly our daughter showed improvement. Thank you!
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