Hi, I’m Cindy from CreativeCOTA! I’m a school-based Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant with over 25 years of experience supporting preschool and elementary students. I share practical classroom ideas, occupational therapy activities, no-prep resources, seasonal learning fun, and helpful tips for teachers, therapists, and parents. My goal is to create engaging activities that build fine motor, visual perceptual, handwriting, and learning skills in fun and meaningful ways. Join at CreativeCOTA.com!
Dollar Tree vs. Amazon:
|
Hi Reader, If you've followed me for a while, you know I'm always looking for ways to make my therapy budget go further. After 28 years as a school-based OT, I've learned that not everything has to come from an educational catalog. Some of my favorite therapy supplies cost just a few dollars! Here's what I always grab at Dollar Tree when I find it:⭐ Blank yard sale stickers (one of my favorite alternative pencils) ⭐ Muffin tins for sorting, matching, counting, and fine motor activities ⭐ Small cookie sheets to use with magnetic letters, play dough, or shaving cream ⭐ Shaving cream for sensory writing and letter formation ⭐ Small plastic figures. I always check the toy aisle because you never know what you'll find! Recently I've picked up Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, Disney, and Sesame Street characters. ⭐ Seasonal mini erasers, stickers, and small manipulatives that are perfect for sensory bins, I Spy activities, rewards, and themed lessons. For these items, I don't mind hunting a little because the prices are hard to beat. What do I usually order from Amazon instead?The supplies I use every single week. Things like my favorite games, Brother label maker, magnetic letters, paint stick markers, bingo daubers, and other therapy tools that have held up through years of student use. I've put all of my favorites together in one place to make them easy to find. 👉 Check out my Amazon storefront here: Wherever you shop, remember that you don't need a room full of expensive materials to make therapy meaningful. Some of the simplest supplies become the ones you reach for the most. Happy shopping! Cindy Some links in this email are affiliate links. If you use the link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you, which helps support my small business—thank you! |
CreativeCOTA LLC
Hi, I’m Cindy from CreativeCOTA! I’m a school-based Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant with over 25 years of experience supporting preschool and elementary students. I share practical classroom ideas, occupational therapy activities, no-prep resources, seasonal learning fun, and helpful tips for teachers, therapists, and parents. My goal is to create engaging activities that build fine motor, visual perceptual, handwriting, and learning skills in fun and meaningful ways. Join at CreativeCOTA.com!
Hi Reader, I wanted to share with you the student behind this course. One of my students, a non-speaking autistic kindergartener, loved letters. I always provide them in some way during my OT sessions. During one therapy session, he recreated an entire sentence he had seen on a sign in our school using the letters from a Mellissa and Doug Puzzle. We did not have enough n's, and he hesitated. I showed him that a u could look like an n, and he finished this sentence. Only one word out of order....
Hi Reader, Today, my therapy bag includes: ✔ Magnet letters ✔ Dot stickers ✔ Plastic animals ✔ Address labels ✔ Dry-erase markers and locker magnets ✔ iPad ✔ Label maker Basically...all my favorite alternative pencils in one place. Of course, I still have the usual tools of our trade as well. I have pencils, fine-motor and visual-perceptual games, and printables as well. I've been taking pictures for the course and realizing how many tools I've collected over the years. None of them are...
Hi Reader, As I've been recording my course this week, I've been pulling out many of the materials I use every day with my students. One of my favorites? A simple magnetic alphabet letter set. I honestly use it almost every single day. I love that the letters are plastic and easy to keep clean. I dislike foam letters :) We use it for: ✔ Name writing ✔ Letter matching ✔ Uppercase and lowercase matching ✔ CVC words ✔ Sight words ✔ Building sentences It's amazing how many literacy opportunities...