This Viking Long Ship was created by two adolescent boys who both had a love for mythological characters. Students in our Occupational Therapy programs often feel a need to connect with things they are close to. It is a great way to obtain their attention and build on other skills from this activity. This one activity involved all of the following skills and goals:

• Improving Instrumental Activities of Daily Living skills (IADL’s) This project required the use of twist ties to hold the sail to the boom. Utilizing twist ties is a very difficult task for some children as it requires bilateral coordination, wrist rotation, lateral pinch strength, rhythm and timing skills.
• Increasing Grip Strength This project utilize a material called Wikki Stick to form the rope ladder on the boat. To utilize this material you have to use scissors and be able to cut non-paper materials. This material has wax in it that creates a resistive force when cutting it. It helps to strength the muscles in the hands used for cutting. Also a great deal of finger pad strength is required to adhere one piece of Wikki Stick to another
• Improving Scissor Skills Scissor skills are graded in many different ways, from line thickness, cutting curved or straight lines, thickness of the material you cut, and weather you use paper or non-paper items when cutting. This project involved cutting thin flag type material which was very difficult, but challenging for our students.
• Building Social Skills through Team Work Projects often require more than one set of hands, so it is a good activity to use to build friendship and trust with others. This project required one person to stabilize the joints while the other one applied glue to the joint. Often extended stabilization and holding time is required, so endurance and strength are also being worked on.
• Visual Perceptual Skill Building This project was created from a picture in a reading book. The student first read the story and then became interested in the ship. It required the visual perceptual skill of copying information accurately. And then building it in 3D form while utilizing spatial relationship skills to assemble it.
• Building Prehension Skills w/Fine Motor Coordination The body of this boat is ceramic, and therefore required painting. Paint brushes can be held in many different ways, but to learn how to hold a brush correctly takes practice in order to get perfection. At times a dynamic tripod pencil grasp is needed for fine details and at times a brush grasp is better. Practice always make perfect results.