Visual Dressing Charts

Hi everyone...it's been a crazy 8 months since I last blogged, but it's happily been due to sheer busyness with my business (see what I did there?? ;o). I have so many little friends who are visual learners, and I wanted to come up with a solution for a visual chart that was more fun, motivating, and play-based than the typical icons. I was inspired by one of my favorite preschool teachers, Wren Hayes at Building Block School in Exeter, NH who uses a similar setup to teach kiddos to put on their winter clothes (clearly we're blessed with extra parenting challenges up here in New England!). 

Visual charts like these can help children learn sequencing, body scheme/awareness, spatial relations, and basic activities of daily living in order to promote overall confidence, independence, and motor planning through functional activities (the core of Occupational Therapy!).

All you need are the following:

• Felt scraps
• Thick cardstock or construction paper
• Laminator
• Velcro dots (here's a link to the ones I order from Amazon - less expensive and work just as well as name brand!)
• Printer or adequate drawing skills (link to the doll I printed)

Some Tips!

• Use a glue stick to adhere the doll to colored paper before laminating (or just print on the paper you laminate)
• I eyeballed the felt clothing and it worked fine, but you could lightly trace the approximate sizes onto felt if you traced against a window or other light source if you'd like
• Use Sharpie markers to write the numbers after you laminate (or write numbers on paper prior to laminating)
• I put a double Velcro on the undies, so they could stick to the doll and then the pants could stick to them
• Make a separate set of jammies for nighttime, outdoor clothing, shoes, backpacks, or even accessories like a hairbrush, toothbrush, or teddy bear 

Thanks for visiting - I hope you found this helpful and inspiring.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Winter Solstice to all, and to all a good night...stay warm!