Improved Hand Strength and More!

OT Activity of the Day:

Clean the House!

Target Age Range: 3 and up

So it has been raining and cool pretty much the entire month of May here in Northern Virginia and SUNSHINE and warmth are finally in the forecast.  You know that means? Time to get outside!  

Grab a sponge, fill up a bucket of water and let your kids go to town "cleaning" the house!  It doesn't have to be the house, it can be a driveway, a porch, a patio, or even a car.  When kids are squeezing the sponge to ring out the water they are working on improving hand strength.  When they are using their arms and upper body to "wash the wall" or car or even on all fours to "wash" the driveway they are working on improving shoulder stability.  You can present it as a fun activity by putting on their bathing suits or other clothes that can get wet and they can even squeeze the sponge on each other.  As with all activities it really can be catered to whatever you and your child want!

Enjoy!   

Improved Fine Motor Skills

OT Activity of the Day:

Large paper coloring

Target Age Range: 2 and up

I always say children will do what they can.  No child wants to upset their parents or their teachers and if they are struggling to complete tasks there is generally an underlying reason they are doing so.  When a child comes to OT to work on fine motor skills I already know they are going to avoid these tasks at all costs.  So you have to get creative.  

I love this activity.  All you have to do is buy large brown shipping paper and unroll it on the ground and you're set.  The child isn't sitting at a desk so it doesn't feel like work and they are able to use any coloring tool that they want (I didn't put a pencil in here because that can have a negative association if they struggle with writing, however you can also add pens or pencils).  If your child choses finger paint, they are focusing on finger isolation.  If they want to color with dot markers, they get to work on wrist forearm rotation and fine motor manipulation to untwist the top.  If they chose markers or crayons they can practice the "best way" to hold a marker (between the thumb and index finger web space).  Your child can color independently at first, then you can challenge them to try different shapes or letters.  You can create a town and write street names, you can trace their body and then they can color or draw in their face and clothes, there are so many options!

Enjoy!   

Improved Hand Strength

OT Activity of the Day:

Squeeze Darts

Target Age Range: 3 and up

I've used squeeze darts in so many ways over the years.  I've used them as a calming toy (kids love watching the darts fly up and down and this calms them and distracts them during meltdowns), hand strengthening activity, and an a hand/eye coordination activity.  I've challenged motor planning abilities by asking kids how many different ways, or parts of their body, they can think of or use to squeeze the darts.  I've added point values to places around the room and we've practiced adding and writing numbers.  You can also place sight words or spelling words around the room and practice writing as you hit the various words.

They are incredibly cheap ( I bought 10 for 4 or 5 dollars at Target) and always a hit! Enjoy!

Improved Fine Motor Manipulation

OT Activity of the Day:

Finger Golf

Target Age Range: 4 and up

All you need are golf tees, play doh, and poms or cotton balls.  You can set up the play doh and tees however you would like on the table.  The challenge is to get the poms, or cotton balls, to balance on top of the tees-you'll need to practice lots of strength grading and light touch!  Then you can use your fingers to flick the poms off the tees, just like golf!  You can make more of a golf  course on the table using construction paper and other supplies, or just assign point values on the table and keep track of who gets what.

This is a great way to work on fine motor manipulation and to have fun at the same time. Enjoy! 

Adapt a Game

OT Activity of the Day:

Adapt a Game

Target Age Range: 3 and up

By the age of 3 most kids should be able to play simple board games like "Candyland".  As the kids get older, the games become more complex and challenging.  They are targeting skills sets such as attention, sequencing, fine motor manipulation, and overall executive functioning.  While some kids can play games as they are, some benefit from adapting the games to meet their needs.  

This game that I have highlighted is called "Pop the Pig".  I am going to list the ways that I can adapt just this one game.  Hopefully this will give you ideas to adapt your games at home to help meet your child's needs.

1. I will be placing these small hamburgers around the room.  This way, when it's your turn, you have to get up and move to collect the appropriate color.  This built in movement should help with extending the attention your child has for the game.

2. If I wanted to work on more executive functioning and sequencing, I would have the child read the directions and then describe to me how to play the game.  Throughout the game, I may also "play dumb" and forget how to play and have the child recall the directions and sequence the game's steps to me again.

3. If I wanted to work on problem solving and ideation, I would ask the child to come up with a different way to play the game.  Many games can be played in a variety of ways.  I often forget the "main" way to play games as I'm always mixing it up.

4. If I wanted to work on fine motor manipulation I would add the scissor or regular tongs.  You can pretend the hamburgers are too hot to touch so you have to use the tongs to pick them up.

The two most common forms of adaptation for me are to add movement and tongs.  I have found that kids are very accepting of playing games differently, and if not, it's always a great way to work on flexibility.

Enjoy!

Improving Bilateral Coordination

OT Activity of the Day:

Marble Maze

Target Age Range: 5 and up

This is an activity that would be good for kiddos who struggle to efficiently use and coordinate both arms/hands together.  These would be the kiddos who struggle to use a helper hand when writing (the hand that holds the paper), or struggle to use both hands efficiently when cutting and holding paper.  

All you need is an old cooking tray, empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls, tape and marbles.  You can design the maze or you can have your child design the maze.  Either way, I had a great time putting this together and then testing it out.  You can challenge your child to have the marble pass through all obstacles or you can time your child to complete the marble maze in a more specific way.

Enjoy! 

SensoryMotor

OT Activity of the Day:

Body bowling

Target Age Range: 3 and up

It's totally fine if you don't own a set of bowling pins, I don't either, however that doesn't mean you can't bowl!  Here I'm using empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls.  You can also use old water bottles, empty soda bottles, pillows and blocks.

Next set up the pins!  This is a great way to work on strength grading and light touch, I had to use both to get these rolls to stay up on the mat.  After the pins are set up have the child log roll or forward roll into the pins to knock them down.  You can also use a scooter board and have your child scoot towards the pins, or you can use a rolling pin and have the child crawl on their knees while rolling the rolling pin towards the target with their hands.  I don't play this to be a "winning" game, just a game that gets your child up and moving.  It's just fun to knock over the pins and take turns.

Enjoy! 

Fork/Knife Skills

OT Activity of the Day:

Fork and Knife Skills

Target Age Range: 5 and up

I've often had parents come in and ask me to help their children manipulate and use a fork and knife.  To do this I've always used play doh, it's easier and less stressful than practicing at dinner time when everyone is hungry.  

In this picture I've even used a potato masher to make the play doh flat before using a plastic (and clear, sorry you can barely see the utensils!) set of fork and knife to cut the play doh in half.  You can add a variety of kitchen tools to make this activity more fun.

Enjoy! 

Sensory Bin

OT Activity of the Day:

Cotton Ball Sensory Bin

Target Age Range: 2 and up

This is a "no mess" sensory bin designed for those children who absolutely do not want to get messy.  You can put only soft items in or mix textures, whatever you and your child prefer.  

Here I'm using it as an "ice cream station".  Scooping with the ice cream scooper works on wrist forearm rotation and putting the cotton balls on the empty toilet paper roll (ice cream cone) is great practice for 2 handed use.  I then used small craft poms as "sprinkles".  

Again, just one idea, you can mix this up and customize the bin as much as you would like! Enjoy!

Sensory Motor

OT Activity of the Day:

Roll a...

Target Age Range: 3 and up

Here's a quick game designed to get your kids up and moving.  Grab some dice, I used one, but you can use two and work on higher levels of counting if you would like, paper and pencil.  Write down all the numbers that will be in play and then designate movements for each number.  You can write the movements or draw pictures depicting the movements depending on the level of your child.  You can pick some ways to move and your kids can pick some ways to move.  Then start rolling and moving!

Enjoy!

Fine Motor Development

OT Activity of the Day:

Connecting the Dots

Target Age Range: 3 and up

Want an easy and fun way to promote fine motor development?  Use stickers, markers/crayons/chalk, and construction paper and make some simple dot to dots!  Here I've used star stickers to make a constellation.  Now I'm almost 100% positive that this does not actually represent a real constellation, I think I left out a star, but you get the idea.  

This activity is great because you're promoting fine motor manipulation with peeling the stickers and then fine motor control when you connect the stickers.  You can also allow your child to be as creative with the stickers as they would like before connecting them.  Label/name what you draw to practice letter formation. Enjoy!

Right/Left Identification

OT Activity of the Day:

Right and left identification

Target Age Range: 4 and up

There are so many ways to teach and practice identifying right versus left, it's hard to pick just one to highlight.  Here I'm focusing on teaching the concept with paper and markers! 

First trace your child's hands and then label the hands respectively.  This label doesn't have to be words, it can be as simple as the right hand has an "R" next to it or beside the left hand is a sticker.  Next give your child simple, or complex, directions such as color the right thumb green or the left index finger purple. (In addition to working on right and left ID, you are also practicing color/letter ID and following simple or complex directions)  As with other activities, switch up who is giving the directions for added entertainment!

Here are some other ways to work on right versus left: Hokie Pokie, Twister, and Simon Says.  I have done all these activities in one on one sessions as well as groups.  They tend to be big hits!

Enjoy!      

Drawing Activity

OT Activity of the Day:

Rainy Day Activity

Target Age Range: 2 and up

So it's raining for what feels like the 23986 day in a row here in Northern VA.  Might as well take advantage of the rain and turn it into a fun activity! 

All you need is a paper plate, markers, and maybe a squirt bottle if you want to cheat a little like I did.  The front side of my paper plate was very glossy and the markers tend to smear on that type of surface so I flipped the plate over to use the back side.  All you have to do is draw a picture, write a sentence, do both, on the paper plate and then stick that paper plate outside and watch it turn into an abstract work of art.

If your child has little patience, or would like to stay inside, you can always spray the paper plate with a squirt bottle.  Just make sure to do this over some paper or a sink, the colors will drip down.

With this activity you are working on fine motor manipulation with marker use, improving hand strength if you use a squirt bottle, and improving handwriting if you opt to write.

Then let the plate dry and ta-da, an abstract masterpiece. Enjoy!

Improving Fine Motor Manipulation and Letter Recognition/Formation

OT Activity of the Day:

Play doh and letters

Target Age Range: 3 and up

All you need for this activity is play doh and letter cards.  I am using the Roll A Dough letter cards from Handwriting Without Tears (www.hwtears.com), but you can make your own letters or use other letter cards you may have scattered around the house.  Your child can pull parts of play doh and roll it into letter lines or they can pick small pieces off and place it on the lines.  Either way they're working on fine motor manipulation so I'm not picky.  This is also a great way to introduce upper case or lower case letters!

Enjoy! 

Improving Scissor Skills and Much More!

OT Activity of the Day:

Pizza!

Target Age Range: 3 and up 

I have found that whenever I ask a kid what their favorite food is, 9 times out of 10 they will say pizza.  I have also found that kids love to "make" food for their friends and family.  So why not combine these two ideas!  

This activity can be scaled up and down very easily.  If you have a younger child, you can pre-make all the "ingredients" and put them in a tin for your child to play with.  You can place an order and ask for a specific amount of cheese or pepperoni so the child is working on counting.

If you have an older child, you could "place an order" and have the child first write your order and then cut out the ingredients.  You can also switch roles and have the child practice ordering what they would like.  You can use glue to make the pizza more permanent or if you would like to play another day, don't use glue and just keep the pieces.

Bonus if you have the book "Pete's A Pizza" by William Steig.  You can read the book, turn your child into a "pizza", and then make a pizza with paper and scissors!

Enjoy!  

Improving In-Hand Manipulation and Prewriting Strokes

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!

Improving Finger Isolation and Prewriting Stokes

OT Activity of the Day:

Paint in a Bag

Target Age Range: 2 and up

Want to finger paint mess free?  Put the paint in a ziploc bag!  This way your kids can draw/write then "erase" over and over again.  You can practice those prewriting strokes, practice writing letters, or just draw.  Challenge your child to use different fingers so all fingers can get a little work out.  Or use a Q-tip (or eraser end of the pencil) so your child can work on their pencil grip while having fun!  For a fun twist you can add several different paint colors to create new colors!

Enjoy!    

Improving Finger Manipulation

OT Activity of the Day:

Finger Gym

Target Age Range: 3 and up

All you need is a colander and pipe cleaners!  Your child can make any design they want and there is virtually no mess to clean up.  You can always throw some play dough in the mix and make eyes, nose and a mouth for the colander and create a person, or animal, with funny hair.  Then style the "hair" however you please!  Great exercise for the hands and fun for the kids!

Enjoy!

Improving Hand Strength

OT Activity of the Day

Busy Box 

Target Age Range: 4 and up

This is a great activity that not only works on counting and hand strength, but it keeps your young child occupied on this rainy, dreary day.  

Any kind of paper will do and Michael's has just about every different shape and size hole puncher you could want.  Pick out your child's favorite paper color, give them a hole puncher with a shape they love (they have butterflies, hearts, squares, etc...) and let them go to town.  If they don't want to count and just want to make holes, that's fine too!

Enjoy!    

Improving Handwriting

OT Activity of the Day:

Letter Fun

Target Age Range: 4 and up

You can use a chalkboard, here I'm using a large chalkboard hung on the wall, though Handwriting Without Tears makes smaller chalkboards. You could also use a dry erase board or even a window.

Most kids hate practicing their letters, especially those children who struggle with writing. So the trick is to find ways to make it fun and to move it away from the traditional paper and pencil.  I have used a chalkboard, dry erase board, and even windows in my efforts to engage kids in practicing letters.  

In this picture, I am erasing the chalk letters with a wet Q-tip and a small wet sponge.  For older kids (6 and up) I would use a Q-tip, the younger kids (4-5) would do best with a small piece of sponge.  I always find it works best if the kids get to pick most of the letters they practice, so ask them what letters they would like you to write. Then write the letters on the board and have the children practice by erasing them.  After they've picked the letter a few times, "challenge" them with a harder letter that you would like them to practice.  Switch it up, have them write the letter and you erase! 

To clarify, on windows you can use window markers or even dry erase markers, both work well. The Q-tip and sponge will work just as well on this surface!

Enjoy!