OT Activity of the Day:
Homemade Jungle
Target Age Range: 2 and up
We've been doing a lot of sit down crafts lately and today we are feeling like we need to get up and MOVE! This is such a fun activity and can be done by children of all ages. To create your jungle, all you need to do is gather random objects from around the house. They could be pillows, chairs, couch cushions, blankets, or anything else that is not easily broken. Next you set up the objects all the around the room much like I did here with my pillows, cones and chairs. Finally you can challenge your child to walk through the jungle without touching anything. Be creative and say that the objects are trees that are covered in snakes, or poison ivy, or something else that your child wouldn't want to touch. Another challenge would be to see how many different ways your child can complete the jungle.
This activity targets your child's ability to be aware of their body. This is a great activity for those children who appear to be more clumsy and are often bumping into others. This activity also targets your child's ability to motor plan or problem solve as they pick their way through the maze carefully and in different ways.
I also threw in the hippity hop as an added challenge. Not only can they maneuver their body but can they keep tabs on the hippity hop as well? Enjoy!