OT Activity of the Day:
Play Doh Fun
Target Age Range: 3 and up
Parents are always asking me what games or activities I would recommend them buying to help their children thrive. For the most part any game that you can buy will focus on certain aspects of your child's development, so rest assured you can't go wrong in the game or toy isle.
Here I have a play doh activity set that I recently bought and have been able to use for a variety of different children. For example:
1. Sequencing and Thought Organization: How do we build a pizza? What do we need to make first, second, last? Make a plan!
2. Fine Motor Manipulation and Strength: There are several small utensils in this set that you can use for for wonderful tool practice. You can also add larger plastic silverware to really practice fork and knife skills, just be sure to monitor! You can also "kneed" the dough and challenge your child to squeeze the play doh with both hands together or just use one hand at a time. Challenge your child's bilateral skills by having them make a "dough" ball first before using the rolling pin to roll out the pizza.
3. Handwriting: Be a pizza restaurant! Have your child write down your order first or maybe they want to make a menu of what their restaurant offers.
These are just a few ways I have adapted a store bought play doh set to meet my OT needs. There are other ways of adapting this I'm sure, so be creative!
Enjoy!