Crafts and Recipes from Parents Magazine

Photo Scott Little

Yarn Cornucopia Treat Cup

This mini cornucopia is just the right size for filling with an after-Thanksgiving dinner treat.
Make It: First make a mold by covering a 6-inch plastic foam cone with aluminum foil, crumpling excess foil at the tip to make a curved end. Then dip a 3-foot length of brown yarn into a bowl of white glue, removing excess glue between your fingertips, and wind the wet yarn around the cone. Continue wrapping lengths of glue-covered yarn around the cone until covered. Let the cone dry for a few days, then twist the cornucopia off the cone.



Photo Scott Little

Bubble Wrap Indian Corn

Resist the temptation to pop those leftover scraps of bubble wrap and put them to good use as a colorful Indian corn display for Thanksgiving.
Make It: Cut three long ovals from bubble wrap scraps, then paint the ovals yellow, tan, and rust. When dry, go back and paint individual bubbles shades of brown, blue, and gold to mimic Indian corn colors. Glue the painted corn pieces onto card-stock backings, punch a hole at the top of each corn, and tie on raffia before hanging the grouping from a doorknob or on a wall.



Photo Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Curried Lentils and Butternut Squash

Ingredients
· 1 cup lentils
· 1 small butternut squash (1-1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
· 1 tablespoon curry powder
· 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
· Salt and pepper to taste
· Toasted coconut, optional
Directions
1. Butter an 8 x 11-inch baking pan and set aside. Combine lentils and enough cold water to cover in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium; add butternut squash. Simmer until squash and lentils are tender, about 25 minutes.
2. Drain. Put chunks of squash in a medium bowl, then mash roughly with a fork or potato masher.
3. Heat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, combine lentils, squash, and remaining ingredients except coconut. Spoon mixture into baking dish. Bake 20 minutes. Top with coconut, if using. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.




Photo Brian Hagiwara

Spaghetti squash primavera

Ingredients
· 1 spaghetti squash (about 4 pounds), stem removed
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
· 1 medium-size onion, chopped
· 2 cloves garlic, chopped
· 1 can (8 ounces) stewed tomatoes
· 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
· 1/2 cup prebrowned all-protein vegetable crumbles, thawed (see Note, below)
· 1/2 teaspoon sugar
· 1/4 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 1/4 teaspoon pepper
· 3 tablespoons heavy cream
· 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Directions
1. Halve squash; remove seeds. Place cut side down in microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high power 20 minutes, rotating once, until tender.
2. Heat oil in large skillet. Add onion and garlic; cook over medium heat until softened, 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, crumbles, sugar, seasoning, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover; simmer 10 minutes. Stir in cream; cook to heat through, 2 minutes.
3. With fork, scrape strands from squash onto serving platter. Top with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with parsley. Makes 4 servings.
Note: This sausage-like product can be found with vegetarian products in frozen-food case.

To visit Parents Magazine online, click HERE.

Holiday Travel

Travel map, 1954, From RMC's Travel Brochure and Map Collection

The holidays are approaching!
As one of the biggest times of year for travel, your family may be one of the many who are planning a trip.

Click HERE to be linked to a fun quiz about whether your child is ready to travel.

Some ideas for traveling with children:

-Talk about your journey together with your child in advance. Show pictures of places or people you will see, plot out your destination on a map, and give your child a simple travel agenda so they know what to expect. Sometimes it's helpful to sketch simple pictures to go along with a written agenda.


-Let your child choose a favorite blanket or stuffed animal to take with them and let them know that while they may be away from home, they'll aways have their special item with them during their time away. Favorite books are always comforting too.

-Bring a blank book or spiral-bound notebook and create a travel diary with your child; older children can do this activity on their own to keep them busy while riding in a car or on an airplane. It's easy to do and will preserve special memories for a lifetime. In addition to recording each day's activities, you can add photos, postcards, ticket stubs, and even make your own drawings to commemorate the trip. For speech therapy clients, this could make a wonderful opportunity for your child to sit and talk about their activites with someone after they've returned from their trip.

-Travel Seek and Find: Create a list of things for your child to keep a look-out for during their travels and have them check them off as they see them.


-On car trips, older kids may enjoy keeping a list of license plates. See how many different state license plates you can spot!

-Buy inexpensive toys or books and wrap them. Dole them out to your child at prescribed intervals during the trip. This gives them something new to play with and something to look forward to.

-Definitely don't forget to bring non-sugary drinks and bags of healthy snacks to keep kids from getting thirsty, hungry, and cranky! You'll save money too.

-It is tempting to bring along enough DVDs to keep kids quiet during car rides, but seize the opportunity to exercise your child's creativity and imagination. Try an audio book; as they look out the window they can create images with their imagination as they listen to the story. Also consider a book by Oxford press called "250 Word Games"; they're verbal games you can play with your family. Create unique memories and great conversation!

Happy travels!

Fall has come to Clear Speech, Inc.

Natural elements are not only beautiful but are often of great interest to children, like these colorful fall pumpkins and gourds in our front room, arousing the interest and curiosity of our young visitors.

Can you believe these are paper plates? We love to have a gracious and child-friendly place to welcome our clients.

Colors and textures bring a warm autumnal atmosphere.

Welcome fall and your beautiful colors,

Glorious fall with all your wonders.

In autumn when the trees are brown

The little leaves come tumbling down

They do not make the slightest sound

But lie so quietly on the ground

Until the wind comes puffing by

And blows them off towards the sky.

Working with Vowels

A young client, also shown in a recent blog video (8/21/09), has progressed to practicing his vowels with his speech pathologist Lorioux Loup CCP-SLP, founder of Clear Speech, Inc. and Toft House.

Proloquo2go assistive communication ap

If you’ve ever priced an augmentive communication device or communication board, you may have discovered that they can cost up to an eye-popping $8000. The world of assistive communication may have been revolutionized by a new ap called Proloquo2go. It works on the Itouch and Ipod and sells for around $200. For demos and more information, click HERE to go the the Proloquo2go website.

"Free Friday Night Live" at Imagine Children's Museum

Great news for parents: Imagine Children's Museum in Everett, "Best Museum for Kids" by Nickelodeon Parent's Picks and Seattle Magazine is now featuring FREE admission 5:30-9:00pm the 3rd Friday of every month. For more information about the museum, click HERE.

Gross Motor Movement with Fun Activites can Stimulate Language Production

Gross motor movement, coupled with fun activities, can help language production for children who have verbal communication challenges. The home video below (featuring a Clear Speech client interacting with his sister) shows a young child’s first attempts at verbalizing when prompted with the promise of a highly-motivating, exciting activity. It can be very encouraging for a child to be rewarded for their attempts at language, even if their pronunciation is far from typical. It’s often very difficult for children with communication challenges to form sounds and words; focusing on meaningful play acts as a reinforcement and helps create a desire to keep trying and, ultimately, to be successful.

Challenge Air for Kids and Friends

Did you know that Challenge Air for Kids & Friends, a non-profit organization, provides special opportunities for children with disabilities and their two special guests to fly in a small private plane for a 30 minute flight around areas of Puget Sound?

Once a year, the Castle & Cook Hangar at Paine Field in Everett is tranformed into a carnival-like atmosphere where participants and their families can enjoy themselves before and after their special flight.

Private pilots offer their skills and use of their small aircraft so children with disablities can experience the freedom of flight.

Participants can forget the challenges of their disability as they gain a new perspective when they soar through the skies.

As quoted from the Challenge Air website: "Any child or youth living with a physical disability or life-threatening illness may pre-register for the program. Here is a list of qualifying examples: Spinal Cord Injury Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis, Downs Syndrome, Spina Bifida, Autism, Cancer, Leukemia, Sight/Hearing Impaired, and others."

Visit the Challenge Air for Kids and Friends website for more information for becoming a participant, pilot, or volunteer. http://challengeair.com/

Fourth of July Colors of Freedom Festival

Everett has many family events on the 4th of July including a festive Colors of Freedom Parade, complete with bands, clowns, floats, and more; Music & Family Fun Festival with children's activities; Imagine Children's Museum 2 for 1 admission; and Fireworks in the evening. For details click here.

Consider using the opportunity to talk about the activites with your child(ren), draw or make paper flags, take photos of your outing, then have your child use the pictures to tell someone else about their special 4th of July celebration.

Surfer's Healing

We love to inform our clients of special opportunities for children, especially for those with special needs. We recently learned about a free surf camp in San Diego for children with autism. It is called 'Surfers Healing'. Their website has some very touching pictures of children feeling the freedom of riding the waves along with a trained surfer. According their site, many autistic children have found relief from their sensory overload when riding the waves. Click here for more information.

Challenge Air for Kids and Friends

"Pilots take disabled kids into the sky at Paine Field" read one headline from the Everett Herald. Rick Amber founded Challenge Air with the belief that, "every disabled person should see the world from a different view…out of their wheelchairs and crutches and from the sky."

Any child or youth living with a physical disability or life-threatening illness may pre-register for the program to receive a free flight in a small aircraft with two guests as well as attend a fair at the hangar. Here is a list of qualifying examples: Spinal Cord Injury Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis, Downs Syndrome, Spina Bifida, Autism, Cancer, Leukemia, Sight/Hearing Impaired, and others.

For more information, click here.

Summer Reading Program

Reading stimulates children's language development; listening to stories will enhance their vocabularies and help them use longer sentences.

The Everett Public Library's Summer Reading Program begins June 13th, 2009.

A reading program for every age from babies to high school students. Prizes free programs and activites.

For more information consult the mail library at 2702 Hoyt Ave. or the Evergreen Branch at 9512 Evergreen Wy. in Everett.

Sorticulture, Everett’s Garden Arts Festival
June 12, 13 and 14, 2009

Friday, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Legion Memorial Park
145 Alverson Blvd. at West Marine View Dr.
Everett, Washington 98201

Children's activities and fun for the entire family. For more information, click here.

Summer Camp Opportunities

Whenever we at Clear Speech Inc. hear about great opportunities for special needs children we want to pass that exciting information on to any of our clients who might benefit.

Please click here for a wonderful Summer Camp resource.

To easily share this with a friend via email, click the envelope icon at the end of this post.

Sensory Friendly Films: Night at the Museum 2

For most typical families, taking their children to the movie theater promises all the excitement of stepping into a darkened theater clutching a tub of mouth-watering buttery hot popcorn and other tasty treats while their children stifle giggles in eager anticipation of the experience. Although for some parents, who have special needs children, the mere thought of taking their children to the theater can be enough to make them want to reach for an aspirin as they try and imagine asking their special child to fit the mold of accepted behavior of movie-goers; sitting still and being quiet for two hours. If you can identify with that at all, you may want to attend the next Sensory Friendly Film!

AMC Entertainment (AMC) and ASA have teamed up to bring families affected by autism and other disabilities a special opportunity to enjoy their favorite films in a safe and accepting environment on a monthly basis with the "Sensory Friendly Films" program.

Playing: Night at the Museum 2

May 23, 2009
10 a.m. local time

In order to provide a more accepting and comfortable setting for this unique audience, the movie auditoriums will have their lights brought up and the sound turned down, families will be able to bring in their own gluten-free, casein-free snacks, and no previews or advertisements will be shown before the movie. Additionally, audience members are welcome to get up and dance, walk, shout or sing - in other words, AMC’s “Silence is Golden®” policy will not be enforced unless the safety of the audience is questioned.

Tickets are $4-6 depending on location and can be purchased on the day of the event.
Find a participating theatre near you by clicking here. One of the three Washington locations is in nearby Woodinville.

Social Story for a Speech Therapy Visit

Social stories are a wonderful and fun way to rehearse an event with a child to help them feel comfortable and know what to expect, especially in new situations. The social story below will help any child to prepare for a visit to Clear Speech of Everett. It is especially beneficial for young children with speech delays, children on the autism spectrum, or any child who likes to know what to expect. Please feel free to read this story to your child as often as you both care to before your child's first visit to Clear Speech or even before every speech therapy visit. A link to this social story is provided on the blog sidebar.

When I go to speech therapy, I will learn to communicate with others.

Learning to communicate helps me get what I want.

I don't need to knock or ring the doorbell. I can go right into the therapy house.

I will take off my shoes and leave them in the front room.

I can also leave my coat in the front room if I want.

Sometimes I will wait for the therapist to come and get me

from the front room; other times, she may come to me right away

and I don't wait.

If I am waiting, I can sit, read, or play with toys.

When the therapist comes, she will talk to me.

I can say "Hi" to her, or I can wave my hand.

We will go together to the bathroom sink and wash hands.

Next, we will go to the activity room.

We will play games or do other activites.

Most children like the games or activities very much.

I will learn and have fun at the same time.

When we are finished, my therapist will tell me we are all done.

We will walk to the front room where I can put on my shoes,

and my coat if I have one that day.

My therapist will say "Goodbye" to me.

I can say "Bye" to her, or I can wave my hand.

Therapy was fun. I will come back again soon.

Transitioning from Tube Feeding

Parents and caregivers of children who currently have, or have had, a feeding tube know that it can be very challenging and sometimes overwhelming to rehabilitate a child to oral feeding. At times, parents can be at a loss as to where to begin when transitioning a child from a feeding tube. There can be many concerns such as oral sensitivity, aspiration, ensuring adequate nutritional intake, and more. Clear Speech Inc. can partner their many years of experience and expertise with you to help you and your child be successful in this type of transition.



'Brent' is a client at Clear Speech, Inc. After several months of taking all nutrition through a feeding tube, Brent had a long way to go and many obstacles to overcome in order to be free of his tube.

"We had no experience to draw on and more questions than answers," Brent's mom, Susan, said about facing the prospect of rehabilitating her son to oral feeding.



"Thanks to therapy and a lot of hard work, Brent's feeding tube is a thing of the past," Susan adds. "Many parents take it for granted when their baby or toddler picks up finger food and can eat it. Not us," says Susan, "We are very thankful that Brent now eats regular food and can feed himself."

Please call Clear Speech, Inc. for a consultation if you and your child could benefit from our feeding services. Our contact information is listed on the blog sidebar.