SENSE-sational FUN-damentals is now offering classes in Armonk and Chappaqua, with a goal to help children ages 3-6 develop skills for future success. It was created by Kristin Ciorra MS, OTR/L, a mother of three children and occupational therapist of 12 years, who saw a need for children to develop the skills that are not currently addressed in traditional community classes or school programs. She wants to be able to provide all kids with fun class to address these underlying needs required to succeed in community classes and school, including sensory, strength and school-skills areas through play-based sessions.
“People tend to think that OT has something to do with jobs. And when you think of jobs, you think of an adult. But our definition of occupation is whatever that age group has to engage in, in their daily life. The occupation of a child is to play, the occupation of an adult would be to work or be a parent,” says Owner and Chief Instructor Kristin Ciorra. “I’m trying to get people to realize that our skill set is based on so many different areas and is not just for children who may have a diagnosis or disability — it’s for everyone. We can help anyone who just wants to get better at something or correctly learn a skill from the beginning.”
When a caregiver and child engage in activities at a young age, it enhances the bond between them. In order to identify the skills that Kristin is addressing, caregivers have an option to participate in the class, or receive the information when they pick up their child. Each class has a maximum of six children and are 45 minutes long. There are weekly classes for the six weeks in a semester. Two classes will begin this month.
SENSE-sational School Skills 101 will offer activities through different games and strategies that Kristin has used in her 12 years, that are for every kid. It’s focused on the underlying skills like “fine motor skills,” which is typically assumed to be scissor skills and using a pencil. Further fine motor skills that she’ll be working on include finger dexterity like finger isolation, hand separation, and different pinch grasps, that are introduced through play-based activities. The next semester will over both 101 and 102 classes, for new students to enter, and for students who finished 101 to advance to 102.
The second class is called SENSE-Sational Messy Play. It’s focused on making fun, different types of mediums like flubber, snow or gas, to then be played with using motor-skills required in preschool or kindergarten. By creating a new, fun substances and then playing with it, children develop skills necessary for daily success, developmental writing, fine motor skills and more. The second semester will offer different mediums.
SENSE-sational & Creative Cooking will be offered in the Spring. It will be fun, playful cooking that children can make on their own after the class. Each week they’ll add an index card recipe to a personal cookbook so they can go home and recreate what they made with the help of their parents or their siblings. They’ll love showing off their creations!
These classes are offered at two different locations: Congregation B’nai Yisrael in Armonk and World Cup Schools in Chappaqua. The class schedule and registration information can be found on the website.
Main Image courtesy Sense-sational Fun-damentals.
