Fine motor skill development made fun!!! Art attack.

This week was our first Thursday without therapy. Master 4, sorry Master 5 now! Has one more session next week which we are combining with his brother Master 6 before they finish for the year and take a well earned rest.

While they both love therapy, even though it is exhausting, it has always been our plan for the boys to take a break from structured sessions over the summer and concentrate on fun motor skill development at home. So we have been sourcing a range of tools and equipment that can fasilitate this.

Today Master 5's art easel arrived. This was a rather expensive purchase and it took months of research and product testing to choose. Why, you may ask? Well Master 5 is not always in control of his body or his mood if we are being honest.

He has serious depth perception issues and is unaware of the difference between gentle and rough. This gets him into a bit of trouble, not just with his general movements but with his interactions with people and objects.

While he has absolutely no strength when it comes to writing or drawing or control of his fine motor skills. He is the polar opposite when he is throwing or jumping. His strength is incredible, but he still has no control over it.

So when choosing this easel we had to be sure that it could take Master 5 and all his energy and frustration without collapsing into a pile of broken pieces within the month. I also had to be sure it was safe for the younger members of the family, Miss 1 seems to think every thing in our house is just there for her to climb on at the moment so that was another factor.

We started our search at our local K mart, I straight away had my doubts about this easels durability. I was correct, within 5 minutes of Master 5 drawing on it he had managed to knock the whole thing down, luckily it wasn't broken, but it was automatically crossed of my list and we made a hasty exit.

Next stop was an art store, while they had a lovely range, none of their products was suitable or sturdy enough. So I hit the internet. After looking at no less than100 photos and reading their feature guidelines and warranty packages I finally found what I had been looking for.

I ordered the "little partners" Deluxe Learn and Play Art Easel from Zanui. At a cost of $215.00 plus shipping it was really was a stretch for us, however Master 5's OT had suggested that this could make a massive difference for our little guy.

This easel is fantastic, it is designed so that small children can not knock it over. It also has two shelves not just for storage but for added durability. They are also positioned so that even if a child was to climb onto them, the easel will not fall or colapse. It has also already made a big difference for Master 5.

The way he holds his hands is inverted. So when he is writing he does not have the proper position to write correctly, if he was to write on his white board or chalk board he has to hold his hands in the flex position and this will strengthen the muscles needed to write correctly.

It has also added an element of fun to his writing time, he has extended his writing practice to nearly 30 minutes over the last few days since his easel arrived. He has even initiated the writing sessions, which I normally have to bribe him to participate in.

We are heading to the shops later this week to pick up some new paints, something he requested, and that he had never shown any interest in before. Again, even painting will help strengthen those hand muscles so I'm very excited to see how we go over the summer.

Thanks for reading!

@mumofmany