October News 2024

Hello Therapy Busy Box Family!

Happy October! We are so excited for the spooky season and to bring you some Halloween-themed fun and activities that can boost your fine motor skills. Whether you’re recovering from an illness, looking for treatment ideas, or just looking for fun ways to stay engaged, we’ve got something for everyone.

5 Fun Facts About Halloween:

1. Candy corn was originally called “chicken feed” because it looked like corn kernels, which were used to feed chickens.

2. Jack-o’-lanterns were originally carved from turnips, not pumpkins.

3. The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed over 2,600 pounds!

4. Halloween is the second-largest commercial holiday after Christmas.

5.Black cats weren’t always considered bad luck—In ancient Egypt, black cats were actually revered and considered good luck.

Why Fine Motor Activities Are Important After Illnesses Like Stroke

Fine motor exercises help stroke patients recover faster by promoting neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to rewire itself. Repetitive movements improve coordination, strength, and precision in the hands and fingers. Without these exercises, muscles can weaken and stiffen, slowing recovery and reducing independence. Engaging in fine motor tasks actively retrains the brain and muscles to regain lost skills.

5 Halloween Fine Motor Activities for Adults:

1. Pumpkin Seed Sorting: Use tweezers to sort pumpkin seeds into cups by size or use tweezers to lay seeds in shapes like, circle, square, triangle. 

2. Spider Web Threading: Use a pen to draw a pattern of a ghost, pumpkin, or spiderweb on a piece of cardboard or paper plate then use a needle and thread or thin string to sew the patterns.

3. Pumpkin Punch Art: Use a hole punch to create designs in orange paper, then use the dots you’ve punched out to glue them onto cardboard or paper plate in the shape of a pumpkin or ghost. 

4. Sensory Rice Jar: Fill a jar with Halloween-themed objects hidden in rice. Find the items with your fingers or XL tweezers.

5. Pumpkin Carving Tools Practice: Use pumpkin carving tools to improve grip strength and precision.

5 Halloween Fine Motor Activities for Children:

1. Sticker Monsters: Peel and place stickers to create silly monsters.

2. Monster Mash Buttoning Board: Sew buttons onto felt monster cutouts, and have children practice buttoning and unbuttoning their monster’s clothes.

3. Pumpkin Painting: Use small brushes to paint tiny pumpkins.

4. Skeleton Bead Stringing: String beads on a pipe cleaner to make skeleton bones.

5. Ghost Tongs Game: Use tongs to pick up cotton ball “ghosts” and place them in a jar.

We’re Going to TOTA!

We are thrilled to announce that Therapy Busy Box will have an exhibition booth at this year’s Texas Occupational Therapy Association (TOTA) Annual Conference in Frisco, Texas November 15-16th! We can’t wait to meet you in person, talk about all things fine motor, and show you our products. We’ll even have a few fun giveaways! Be sure to stop by and say hello!

Thank you for being part of our Therapy Busy Box community. Wishing you a spooky, fun-filled, and skill-building Halloween!

FUNctionally yours,

Amanda Glassburner, COTA Founder and Owner