Products I <3

When reading some of Karen's posts about peds friendly products, I thought about some of the things I've been using and like too. I've included a lot of pictures of crayola products, not because they pay me (or send me free samples), but because they seem to be on the edge of developing the kind of tools that are great for the kids.



Pipsqueeks Markers: these are becoming more and more mainstream and I love the fact that someone bought these for our facility before I started working there. The small size is so much easier to elicit proper grip with, and the colors are quite cute.

Heads n Tails: These are similar to the Handwriting w/o Tears crayons that facilitate in-hand manipulation

Twistables: I included the Slick Stix here because they require very little pressure to create vibrant color. The twist factor also continually elicits fine motor work w/o breaking out rote twistable manipulatives (nuts and bolts)

Stetero Grips: Put your thumb on the star and get a great grip. Doesn't get much simpler than that, I plan to send several kids back to school w/ these.


Tactile Stim Pencil Grips: I personally love these- be they foamy, bumpy, squishy- anything but sticky. I found terrific mini mechanical pencils w/ grips already on them at KMart and use them for all my Alert Program kids. Fatten up your favorite writing implement and give yourself something to touch.

Wikki Stix- made to work on handwriting, but I love using these to teach shoe tying. The stickiness is great to build up a tactile defensive person's tolerance for unpleasant stimuli.