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OT Toolbox: Amazon Finds To Help Improve Fine Motor Skills

As an occupational therapist, I have a variety of tools that I like to use with different students to improve their fine motor skills. These are items that would also be beneficial for students to use at home on their homework, or while writing and coloring for fun. Parents will often ask if there are any items that I recommend for them to use at home to improve their children’s fine motor skills and these are on my must have list!

Pencil Grips

If your child has difficulties with their grasp on a writing utensil, pencil grips can be an easy and effective way to improve writing skills. This one is my favorite because it incorporates the whole hand and the visual makes it easy for children to use.

Adapted Scissors

If your child’s hand is too small for standard children’s scissors if if they are having difficulty opening scissors, loop scissors are a great first pair of scissors for many kids. Here are the ones that I recommend.

As their scissor skills begin to progress, a great next step is to use spring loaded scissors. This pair has a moveable spring loaded piece so they can begin to practice cutting without the spring loaded component.

Egg Crayons

These are great first crayons for children because they are able to use a whole hand grasp to hold the crayon. With these, children can begin to scribble, color in shapes, and imitate pre writing strokes (vertical & horizontal lines and circles).

Large Writing Utensils

Larger pencilscrayonsmarkers, and colored pencils are easier for children to hold and are great for pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade students. Many of these tools also come in a triangular version that can help encourage a tripod grasp.

Toys

Along with writing, coloring, and cutting, there are a wide variety of toys that can help improve your child’s fine motor skills and these are some of my favorites:

For additional recommendations, feel free to contact your child’s therapist. If there are different tools that they are using with your child, carrying over the use these tools at home may be beneficial!

– Morgan Petroff, OTR

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Patient Reviews

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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