OT Activity of the Day:
Treasure Map
Target Age Range: 4 and up
I love this activity for so many reasons. Kids have such a wonderful imagination and I love seeing it at work. You can have the kids hide their treasure somewhere in the house and then have them plan out a way to get to the treasure. Or the treasure and the map can be completely made up. It's entirely up to you and your kiddos.
To make a map, all you need is paper and crayons. When drawing the details on the map the kiddos are working on using those prewriting strokes or words depending on the level and wishes of your child. To get the paper to look "older" and mysterious, you have to ball the paper up and smooth it out several times. This is great for using those two hands together in a coordinated fashion and improving in-hand manipulation.
I drew a map to treasure that is hidden in my house. I will be doing this task today with several of my kiddos and I wanted them to see how I completed the activity. This is also great for those kiddos who have a harder time creating a plan and sequencing. They are working on making a plan and efficiently executing the plan while having fun at the same time.
Enjoy!