Saturday, February 4, 2012

Cool coloring stuff for kids with special needs and other Stuff Worth Knowing About

Great crayons for kids with special needs: Alex Creamy Crayons glide so easily—they've really enabled Max to color. You can wrap modeling clay, gauze or Coban Wrap around them to make them easier to hold. They get expensive only if your kid will only use purple ones. Not that I know any kids like that.

Love these cards! Save The Children has adorable, limited-edition Valentine's Day Cards designed by popular children's authors including Mo Willems (Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus!) and Ian Falconer (Olivia!). Give $25 and you'll get a set of 30, 6 cards of each design. The donation will help kids in the U.S. living in poverty. If you order by Feb 6, you'll get them in time for V-Day.

A great art activity: Marjie, one of Max's awesome occupational therapists, tried this Color-Fillz Mosaic with him the other week and he loved it. The pieces are made of modeling compound so he could get a grasp and pick them up to assemble into the shape.

Enter this giveaway: Debbie over at Finding Normal, another mom to a kid with special powers, is giving away this cute Organizing Utility Tote from Thirty-One Gifts (note, the bag won't be personalized, as it is above). You can enter from now until Sunday, Feb 19. Please do!
Get a new playground for your 'hood! A Let's Play playground I helped build when I was in New Orleans this spring at Mom 2.0 (above, the before and after) is now totally done—and there are more Let's Play grants available. Go get 'em!

Attention Club Med fans: Club Med has a cool new mobile app with features like "Shake and Escape" that allows you to shake your iPhone for destination ideas. I'm still hoping for an app that does your packing for you.

Nominate a book for kids with autism to win a prize: MeeGenius is running an ebook contest; readers can vote for the next great children's book author. An online friend mentioned that her pal, Greg, has written a book about autism from a child's perspective. You can read the book online, and then vote for it.


Need a mani-pedi? A massage? I do. So, Dave, FEEL FREE TO BUY ME A SPAWEEK GIFT CARD BECAUSE THEY ARE 10 PERCENT OFF UNTIL FEB. 15. HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT and HINT ETC.


Club Med/WallyBaba
at

11 comments:

  1. SandraFebruary 4, 2012 at 9:29 AM

    Wouldn't it be great if someone would break down boxes of crayons and repackage them as single colors? Because if one child wants only purple, I'm willing to bet there are those who want only green or red or orange or...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ellen SeidmanFebruary 4, 2012 at 10:54 AM

    Actually, a neighbor brought over a tin of all-purple Crayolas the other day, she got it at FAO Schwarz (people who know Max often bring him random purple gifts). I think they may only sell them at that store or in specialty stores. But they were the regular, skinny kind; the Alex ones are so much easier for kids to grasp!

    ReplyDelete
  3. NicoleFebruary 4, 2012 at 2:49 PM

    Thanks for the crayon tip, Ellen! I just ordered a set for Ian! He too has trouble pushing down enough to make a mark. I had been letting him use markers, but I'm excited to try these with him!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gregory G. AllenFebruary 4, 2012 at 5:15 PM

    Thanks so much for including my children's book on autism on your blog. I really appreciate it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. FeliciaFebruary 5, 2012 at 4:20 AM

    Ellen--packs of crayons, all purple!

    http://www.enasco.com/product/9728694(H)

    Or any color you choose!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Julia O'CFebruary 5, 2012 at 10:57 AM

    I was in the Apple store the other day, saw this and immediately thought of MAX:

    store.apple.com/us/product/H6925B/A/disney-cars2-appmates

    If he doesn't already have them, Max NEEDS them, Ellen!!* They'll help with his...fine motor skills...yeah, for his fine motor skills!! Let's stick with that story!

    *I deny that Max is paying me to send you this message. Anything you hear to the contrary is false and categorically denied.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Julia O'CFebruary 5, 2012 at 11:00 AM

    Side note: I actually do think they'd be great for OT. After seeing this video, I'm going back to the Apple store to get a couple for Emmett.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm7AN6S-NwU

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ellen SeidmanFebruary 5, 2012 at 1:58 PM

    Felicia, you are The Finder Of Amazing Things on the web. Always! These will be great to have around, tho the creamy texture of those Alex crayons is hard to beat.

    And Julia, guess what, Max has and loves AppMates! We tried it out and mentioned it in the holiday toy gift guide I did back in November. AppMates have been very motivating for using his pincer grasp, and they are F-U-N!

    Note, Julia, I will take your word that Max didn't pay you to say that but if, however, you ever suggest that we paint our house purple with a Lightning McQueen mural or something, I will know for sure that you two are in cahoots.

    ReplyDelete
  9. JulieFebruary 5, 2012 at 9:14 PM

    Great ALEX tip! Color Wonders has crayons that seem to be a lot like these too. I hadn't tried those with my daughter yet, but I might have to dig them out of my son's art basket. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beebs and BroFebruary 6, 2012 at 1:13 AM

    We love those crayons! and I'm totally looking into the playground cover, we live in so Cal and I'm still wondering why those are not standard? Any how Julia, that cars app is the greatest thing ever!!!! I'm all over it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. JackieFebruary 8, 2012 at 10:39 PM

    love the playground cover, what an awesome idea!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for sharing!