Learn more about ADD


The ADHD Child Can Play - Toys for Children with ADHD

Childhood should be playful. Play is said toinappropriate  behaviors. For example, if a
be the work of children. But, sometimes, the
ability to play becomes strained whenchild with ADHD has been overly aggressive
children have conditions such as Attentionwith  other  children,  acting  out  the
Deficit Disorder, with or without
hyperactivity (ADD/ADHD).Part of living withconsequences with animal puppets can offer a
a child with ADHD is to understand themore painless and effective lesson.Record it
special  needs  of  these- Getting the performances down on tape gives
everyone  more
children in order to maintain a happy and
healthy  balance.  This  includes  theopportunities to laugh and enjoy it all over
again.  There's  a  difference  between
necessity of selecting the right playthings
so  playtime  activities  do not become moretaping the children playing at creating the
performance  and  "making  a  movie"  of the
stressful by conflicting with what these
children  can  comfortably manage and enjoy.show, and both are wonderful to watch again
and  again.  Taping  the  children  at  play
One way we've heard ADHD described is that
it's  a  performance  disorder  and  not  ashows their performance, as well as the
behind-the-scenes  preparation.  Making  a
deficiency of knowledge or skill. It is
primarily manifested as a set of symptomsmovie is just a matter of trying to capture
thatwhat  the  audience  would see. All you have
interfere with the ability to focus on ato do is prepare the children for the scene
task and get it completed.Child psychologistsand  start  and stop the camera at the right
and psychiatrists value the importance of
play  in  therapy  fortimes - and move on. You can even start with
a  title  card  the  children  can  make for
children with ADHD. The right types of play
allow  children  to  express  themselves  inthe show - using their own artistic
skills.If the child acts out while taping is
ways they can't do otherwise. Play withinunderway,  continue  shooting, but keep your
the  right  context  and  with  the  right
reprimands to a minimum. Put your energy
supervision can also improve a child'sinto  trying  to  refocus  the  child's
focusing abilities and help him or her to
learnattention toward continuing the performance
or  easing  into  a  hastier  conclusion.
the basics of getting along more
cooperatively with other children. MedicalLater, when viewing the tape, the child may
attentionbe  able  to  see  problem  behaviors  more
for proper diagnosis and consideration ofclearly, rather than focusing more on your
medication  are  certainly  the  core  ofanger.Dollhouses and activity sets - Playing
with  dolls  and  action  figures is another
treatment of ADHD. But in many situations,
proper  managing  of  a  child'svaluable opportunity for pretend play.
Dollhouses,  toy  pirate  ships,  castles,
environment and activities can do a lot to
keep  the  symptomatic  behavior  underfirehouses, farms and other traditional
activity sets have the magic to let children
control.A toy doesn't have to be full of
moving or electronic parts to stimulate aget lost in their imaginations. Even the
child'smore  popular  activity sets based on movies
imagination. Children with ADHD often haveand TV shows allow the same opportunities.
difficulty  with  multi-step  instructionsAnd  don't  forget  what  imaginations  can
and have an inability to stay focused on thedo with boxes, blocks and anything that can
task  at  hand.  They  frequently  becomebecome  the  setting  for  a  creative  play
frustrated with themselves in thesesession.Blocks - Toys for children with ADHD
situations. Toys can be very simple and stillshould  be  simple  and encourage the use of
do  a
their imaginations, and one of the most
better job of keeping a child focused andbasic of toys is building blocks. Block play
entertained  as  well  as  giving  them  an
can be great for many ages. From simple
outlet to express their feelings. Two suchstack-up  and  knock-over  fun  to
toy  categories  are  pretend  play  and art
imaginative building. Blocks teach
supplies.The flexibility of theseproblem-solving skills, because a child
traditional play activities can be as simplediscovers
or  involved  as  the
how stacking and matching can produce
opportunity permits. So, because these typesdifferent  results.  They  can  also  become
of  play  are  events  of  totally  variable
components of pretend play, because a child
lengths, a child can complete the activitycan  fantasize  what  the  structures  are.
and  feel  a  sense  of  accomplishment  and
There are also big foam blocks that are
build confidence.Another advantage ofalmost  "life  size" and let children create
pretend play and artistic activities for
children  with  ADHD  istheir own fantasy playhouses. These
lightweight blocks are so versatile, they can
that these categories of play allow parentsbe
and  caregivers  to  provide  positive
climbed on or tunneled under. Magnetic block
feedback and reinforcement that isand  construction  sets  have  pieces
invaluable in keeping the child focused...and
that connect in more ways than can
conventional plastic snap-together blocks and
invaluable for the child's self
esteem.Pretend Play - Children of almost
every age enjoy pretend play and benefit fromallow even more imaginative opportunities.
theWe  also  carry  a  selection of traditional
exploration of feelings that it affords.and colorful wooden blocks that are full of
Dolls  and action figures, puppets, costumesfantasy building opportunities.Blocks, like
many traditional toys, have other educational
and even blocks are all toy categories thatadvantages  for  a  child  with
allow  a  child  to  fantasize  and  act out
ADHD. The number of positive outcomes is
situations. Under the right supervision,limitless,  so  children  can  continue
children  with  ADHD  can learn the value of
playing until they've reached a level of
considering the consequences of theirpersonal satisfaction. Whether the child is
actions. As they decide what happens next in
building with traditional blocks or
their fantasy, they can get a bettershoeboxes,  try  to  show  interest in every
understanding of how others react to certain
structure. Encourage the child to name
actions. In situations where you cancreations, even if it's simply Wobbly Land or
encourage them to finish their story line,
you
Crazy Tower. Showing interest without
also can help them get used to followingcriticism  offers  your child valuable, long-
through on a task.Drama - Dramatic activities
such as skits, recitations, puppet shows andlasting affirmation.Art Activities - Any
simplemedium such as crayons, markers, chalk, paint
and  clay  can  give
storytelling can let a child concentrate on
being  a  different  character  for  a shorta child a wealth of expressive
opportunities. Sometimes you may want to
time. Put a costume on them and watch howsuggest  a
quickly  they  start  getting  into
subject idea to get them started. Art
character. However, it may take directionsupplies  are  some  of  the least expensive
from  you  to  keep  them  focused  and
educational toys you can provide. Gwynn used
enjoying the event.Costumes need not beto  bring  home  old  stationery  and
elaborate to let a child be another
character. It  need  only  beunused printed samples to give her children
a  virtually  unlimited  supply  of  art
representational. A single feather in a
headband,  a  necktie,  a  hat,  sunglasses,paper. She'd also purchase low-end copy
paper,  offering  the  kids  free  rein on a
scrubs or even just a sign or patch fastened
to  clothing  is  enough to let a child jumpgiant stack of blank paper.And here's
something you can try on a big scale. Sid
into another role. Let the child use his orused  to  get  leftover  paper
her  imagination  to  help  find  costume
billboards from the local outdoor company
pieces as part of the dramatic play process.and  tack  them  on  his  backyard  fence,
And  don't  restrict  them  to  the  costume
backside out, to give the children blank
box. Colanders make great space helmets.Whengiant-size  panels for murals. The change in
Sid's children were growing up, they had a
"costume  closet"  with  anscale of their artist's canvas gets them
thinking  of  possibilities  in  a different
assortment of coats, brightly colored
shirts, hats and accessories such as scarves,perspective and keeps them intrigued for
hours.  Another way to give structure to art
belts, wigs and, of course, masks. If anactivities is with their own easel. We carry
article  of clothing became outdated, beforea  selection  of  folding,  double-sided and
disposing of it, they'd consider its costumeadjustable easels that provide a convenient
potential.  Putting  together  a costume forsupply  of  paper  and  drawing  surfaces in
Halloween was always a big event. On top ofa self-contained, accessible environment.One
that,  living  in  New  Orleans  offeredrule of thumb to follow to help inspire your
kids  to  express  themselves  is  to
them Mardi Gras as a second costuming event
each year.Playhouses and play tents - Givingencourage all efforts. Today's crooked
a child a space of his or her own is a greatstick  figure  could  lead  to  tomorrow's
way  to
Picasso. Most important, artistic
encourage imaginative pretend play. Whetherexpression is highly therapeutic to your
it's  stretching  a  sheet  over  diningchild,  even
room chairs to make a house or a purchasedif it doesn't happen to please your
indoor  or  outdoor  playhouse  or  playeye.Books - There are many books that can
hold a child's attention. The public library
tent with a theme, a child is free tois
role-play  and  make up scenarios that could
a great start and your librarian can help
happen in the space.At The Creativityyou.  Garage  sales  and  community  book
Institute, we carry several types of
playhouses,  play  tents  andfairs are a great way to build a library of
your  own. Collections  of rhymes, poems or
tunnels in themes that include a teepee,
theater  tent,  castle  and  militaryshort stories are a good way to start with a
child who is easily distracted.The Oppenheim
camouflage. We also carry puppet theatersToy Portfolio listed the top toys for
that  can  double  as  play stores and otherchildren  with  attention-deficit/
types of play spaces. Our big foam blockshyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and included,
are  large  enough  to  construct  make-among  other  things,  a  magnetic
believe buildings and tunnels a child canconstruction set, a tree-house-theme
climb  over  and  under.  We  also have playdollhouse  play  set, a decorate-it-yourself
panels that can be moved around to create anbirdfeeder, board games and a simple, basic
ever-changing  mix  of  playrubber  ball.  Oppenheim  also  suggested
environments. This type of pretend play isthe toy general categories of dramatic play
also  conducive  to  playing  with  others,and artistic activities.*The National
Institute of Mental Health recommends that if
offering an opportunity for a child toADHD  is  suspected,  the
develop  those  all-important  socialization
diagnosis should be made by a professional
skills.Puppet shows - Puppets allow a childwith  training  in  ADHD.  This  includes
to act out many different roles and have fun
child psychiatrists, psychologists,
with character voices. There are manydevelopmental/behavioral  pediatricians,
sources for skits that can be adapted to the
behavioral neurologists and clinical social
puppet stage and even ready-to-performworkers.  After  ruling  out  other possible
scripts  in  your library and on the Web. At
reasons for the child's behavior, the
The Creativity Institute, we have a sectionspecialist checks the child's school and
devoted  to  puppetry  with  puppets  andmedical
puppet theaters. You'll find links to scriptrecords and talks to teachers and parents
resources  on  the  Internet, puppeteer tipswho  have filled out a behavior rating scale
and even a free sample scripts we adaptedfor the child. A diagnosis is made only
for  the  puppet  stage.  To  make it easierafter  all  this  information  has  been
to get started, we've bundled togetherconsidered.After a combined six decades of
puppets  and  puppet  theater  packages  anddeveloping award-winning advertising,
creative
even grouped puppet casts with accompanying
scripts,  ready  to  perform.  There's  andirectors Gwynn Torres and Sid Berger
decided  to  spread  creativity  beyond  the
Aesop's Fables Puppet Starter Set with five
puppets  and  four  fables  adapted  to  theworld of marketing. They founded an online
educational  toy  store  specializing  in
puppet stage. There's also an Old MacDonald
Puppet  Starter  Set  with  Farmertoys that nurture creativity in children.
They handpick each toy for its potential for
MacDonald and seven barnyard animal puppets
and  an  accompanying  script  of  thedeveloping vital creative resources in your
child. The benefits of nurturing creativity
song. Again, your direction will be
invaluable in providing enough structure forcan be profound, offering children tools for
thesuccess  in all endeavors athletic, artistic
event that will let the children have aor academic. Gwynn and Sid are also
greater  sense  of  accomplishment  and stayaccomplished  musicians and songwriters, and
interested longer.And because puppets offerbetween them they have managed to produce
a degree of separation from real issues, theyfive  wonderfully  zany  and  significantly
can  offer
creative children.
lots of opportunities for learning about



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