Thankful Turkey

OT Activity of the Day:

Thankful Turkey

Target Age Range: 2 and up

This is the time of year where we get to reflect on what we're thankful for.  To help, we decided to make a Thankful Turkey!  Each kiddo gets to make a feather and on that feather they get to talk about what they're thankful for.  

The older kiddos get to write and draw, while the younger kiddos get to draw.  Depending on the age of your child, your child can cut out the feather or it can be pre-made.  Either way, this is a fun and festive way to work on fine motor skills!

Enjoy!

Stuff the Turkey!

OT Activity of the Day:

Stuff the Turkey

Target Age Range: 2 and up

This may have been the best Pinterest find in a while!  I also shop at Whole Foods, and I was too lazy to paint the finished product.  It took me longer than I would like to admit to make this little guy ha.  In any case, I used all my paper bags and put together this "cooked" turkey.  All it needs now is the stuffing!  

So today I have some older kiddos (Pre-K through 2nd) so I am using my pom poms, dice, and tongs to facilitate fine motor manipulation, hand strength and bilateral coordination.  Tomorrow I have some younger kiddos (2-4 years old) and we may just rip paper, then ball it up and put it in.  This will work on bilateral coordination and fine motor manipulation as well.  Either way, we get to stuff the turkey!

Enjoy!

Hand Turkey

OT Activity of the Day:

Hand Turkey

Target Age Range: 2 and up

It's turkey time!  This is an oldie but a goodie.  This craft is perfect for kiddos of all ages and places emphasis on various fine motor skills and bilateral coordination.  For the kiddos who are in Pre-K and up they should be able to use their dominant hand to trace their non-dominant hand.  For the kiddos who are younger than that, they can have their hand traced or use a already made template from your hand.

For the older kiddos, they can then use glue and glue some feathers on and for the younger kiddos they can simply just color.  It's entirely up to you and what's available in your house.  When you're using glue remember to use the bottle versus the stick, the bottle provides an added hand strengthening component.   

You can have the turkey be the end of the craft or you can cut the turkey out and glue it on other paper and draw a few details, it's up to you and the level/interest of your child!

Enjoy!

Pop the Pig- Halloween Edition

OT Activity of the Day:

Pop the Pig- Halloween Edition

Target Age Range: 3 and up

Just like the regular Pop the Pig, only with pumpkins!  These small pumpkins fit into the pig nicely and we' swapped out the color dice for regular dice.  We also added tongs for some added fine motor work.  Feel free to use any type of tongs you would like!

First, I had the client collect these pumpkins out of my sensory box.  This was added visual scanning and tactile discrimination work. Then we played!  This game supports fine motor skills and bilateral coordination.  A fun holiday twist on an already fun game!

Enjoy!

Halloween Sensory Box

OT Activity of the Day:

Halloween Sensory Box

Target Age Range: 3 and up

This is a personal favorite.  I anxiously wait all year long to be able to pull out this sensory box.  For easy clean up I typically lay out a sheet to put the sensory on while playing.  This ensures easy clean up should the beans and other goodies fall out of the box. The sheet captures the items and then you can gather the sheet and dump the items back in at the end. A solid tip for any sensory box!

I've added a variety of tongs to work on fine motor strength, endurance, fine motor manipulation, and scissor manipulation. 

Enjoy!

Mummy

OT Activity of the Day:

Mummy

Target Age Range: 3 and up

This activity is another great scissors activity.  With the Jack-o Lantern scissor activity I noticed many kiddos fatigued due to all the cutting and it also was a great way to work on BLC/fine motor manipulation.  So this week we're using our scissors again and making a mummy!

For the younger kiddos I would suggest providing a guideline so they can practice fine motor control (staying within 1/4 inch of the line).  For the older kiddos I've been giving them half a sheet of black construction paper and letting their imagination do the rest!

The gluing and task organization are other targeted skill sets with this task.  Always use squeeze bottle glue to work on hand strength and strength grading!

Enjoy!

Acorns and Apples

OT Activity of the Day:

Acorns and Apples

Target Age Range: 5 and up

Today we were playing a game with acorns and apples.  First we established that for the odd numbers we would get an apple and for the even numbers we would get an acorn.  Then we predicted which we would get more of by the end of the game (8 rolls).  For some kiddos I had them use a scooter board to scoot back and forth on the mat while for others I had them use a balance beam or balance steps.  Each kid really got into the predictions and for most games, the odd numbers won!

We worked on our bilateral coordination, number recognition, balance, and writing our numbers all while having some Fall fun!

Enjoy!

Pumpkins!

OT Activity of the Day:

Pumpkins

Target Age Range: 3 and up

I originally created this for all my Kindergartners, however this was easily scaled down for the younger ones!

For my Kindergartners, this was the perfect scissor skills activity.  Not only did they cut out the pumpkin, but then cut all the strips of paper.  Depending on the level of your child you can provide guidelines for the strips or they can "free cut".  After all the paper was ready we glued them down and added the facial details.  Some kids chose to use yellow paper and some kids chose to use markers, it was their preference!  

For the younger kiddos, I simply gave them the pumpkin cut out and they used dot markers to decorate!  Dot markers are a great way to work on fine motor manipulation with the twist tops!

Enjoy!

Play Doh Apples

OT Activity of the Day:

Play Doh Apple Trees

Target Age Range: 4 and up

This has been a fun activity so far this week!  It's been fun and a great way to work on fine motor grasping patterns, bilateral coordination and hand strength.

First you make a tree!  You can have your child make the tree if they are older and able to manipulate the more abstract lines, or you can make the tree yourself.  Then you'll need some dice and red play doh.  Then the fun starts.  As the child rolls the dice they then have to make that many apples.  You can play up until a certain number, or until the play doh is gone, it's up to the players!  

Enjoys!

Friendship Wreaths

OT Activity of the Day:

Friendship Wreaths

Target Age Range: 3 and up

Today we started Friendship Circles at a local preschool.  During our time together we will explore how to be the best friend we can be in addition to bringing sensory motor and fine motor work to the classroom.  

Today we talked about how to introduce ourselves (high five, handshake, fist bump, elbow bump, etc...) to our friends.  We also discussed what a friend means.  I looked it up, and Google told me that a friend is someone you like.  It is someone you treat with kindness and respect.  So we made a wreath to remind us to be kind and respectful to our friends!

Enjoy! 

Apple Trees

OT Activity of the Day:

Apple Tree

Target Age Range: 3 and up

If you can't tell, this is my favorite time of year.  I love coming up with different fall crafts, and I will continue to do so all season long:)

Today we made an apple tree out of coffee filters, tissue paper and popsicle sticks.  First I had the kiddos color the coffee filter, or leaves, whatever color they wanted.  Most chose green, however one kiddo when with a rainbow pattern!  Coloring is a great way to naturally work on fine motor endurance.

After the coffee filter was colored, we started in on the apples.  I had yellow, green, and red tissue paper.  Each child then had the chance to tear off small pieces of tissue paper and smush them into small balls (rip and then smush).  This not only worked on the children following a multi step direction, they were also working on their fine motor manipulation.  After we made all the apples we glued them onto the leaves and then glued on the popsicle stick to the back!  

Enjoy!

Apple Picking

OT Activity of the Day:

Apple Picking

Target Age Range: 2 and up

Today's activity can span all ages.  I picked out some green, yellow, and red poms and pretended they were apples.  I then put them in a bucket and depending on the age the task varied.  

For the young kiddos I just worked on promoting age appropriate grasp patterns (pincer grasp) by having them pick up the "apples" and then placing them in the bucket.  For the older kiddos I added tongs (hand strength and fine motor manipulation work) and spread the "apples" around the room and the kiddos collected them with the tongs.  For some kiddos I even added dice (bilateral coordination when shaking the dice with both hands) so that they had a specified number of "apples" to gather during their turn.

All in all, this was a perfect fine motor activity! Enjoy!

School Strategies

OT Activity of the Day:

School Strategies

Target Age Range: 5 and up

This was a game that I played this morning with my school visit.  I'll admit the name is not fun or engaging, however it was 8am and I did what I could at that point haha.  Name aside, this game was the perfect game to help my friend start the day right, calm and focused!  I set the timer for 10 minutes and we took turns moving and wiggling our bodies!

Enjoy!

Willy's Wiggly Web

OT Activity of the Day:

Willy's Wiggly Web

Target Age Range: 3 and up

This game was a hit today!  This is a great game that focuses on scissor skills, problem solving, and collaborative play.  This is a game played as a team so if you lose, everyone loses together.  I especially like this type of game for the kiddos who need to share a loss.

This game also focuses on teaching kids right and left, a skill that sometimes still eludes me!  So open up that Amazon account and add this to your next purchase, it's a keeper for sure!

Enjoy!

Apple Tree

OT Activity of the Day:

Apple Tree

Target Age Range: 3 and up

I love making community projects.  It motivates the kids because they actually want to participate and then place their art work on the wall!

This month we're doing an apple tree!  On each apple we're focusing on the child's writing goals.  For some it's tracing the first letter of their name, for others it's writing their name, and then for the older kiddos they get to write sentences describing their first name and the grade they just entered.  Some kiddos even wanted to add a favorite activity of the year so far.

In addition to writing we also targeted our scissor skills.  Some kiddos had precut apples while others were able to cut theirs out.  It all depends on the ability of the child.  So many fine motor options!

Enjoy!

Apple Grab

OT Activity of the Day:

Apple Grab

Target Age Range: 3 and up

Apples, apples everywhere!  Today we focused on building fine motor skills through Apple Grab!  All you need are some toilet paper rolls, construction paper, poms, and tongs.  We used scissor and regular tongs, however you can use whatever tongs you have at your house.  

We spread the apples (poms) around the room and had the children gather them and place them in the correct apple.  You can play apple grab this way or in any other way you can think of!

Enjoy!  

Apple Tree

OT Activity of the Day:

Apple Tree

Target Age Range: 3 and up

It's apple season!  This is a simple and easy craft that promotes scissor skills and fine motor manipulation.  You can also tack on writing to the activity should your child want to write their name on their tree. 🌳 

With this activity we're cutting straight lines (tree stump) and circles (tree leaves).  Both of these skills should be integrated by the age of 4, so this should be good practice!  After you cut out the tree stump and tree "leaves", you're ready for the apples!  I used tissue paper (it's easier to glue onto the paper), however you can use regular construction paper.  The goal is to have your child rip small pieces of paper and ball them up as apples 🍎:). Lastly, glue the apples wherever your child should like!

Enjoy the season and the craft!

Nature Scavenger Hunt

OT Activity of the Day:

Nature Scavenger Hunt and Tree

Target Age Range: 3 and up

With Labor Day weekend fast approaching and the summer heat winding down, it's the perfect time to play outside!  We are so excited by this cooler weather here in the Northern Virginia area that we created an outdoor scavenger hunt for some outside fun!  

If you search google or Pinterest you are sure to find any number of outside scavenger hunts, or you can make your own based on the items located right outside your house.  We created our own:).  This was a great way to practice simple fine motor skills (crossing off items located) and visual scanning skills (looking around the yard or park to locate the items needed).

Once we located all the items, we brought them in to build a tree!  With this part of the craft, we grabbed some scissors to cut out the tree stump.  A great fine motor addition to this already fun activity!

Enjoy! 

Name Apples

OT Activity of the Day:

Name Apples

Target Age Range: 3 and up

While it's not September yet, I couldn't help myself! Today we're making name apples!  All you need is a paper plate, markers, construction paper, scissors and glue.  This can also easily be scaled up or down depending on the level of your child.

For the younger kids you can keep to writing their name on the paper plate or you can even do just the first letter of their name.  For the older kids, you can even have them write a sentence about their favorite apple/fruit/or food in general.

After you write your name/phrase/sentence, you can decorate the plate!  I used dot markers, but you can use markers, crayons, or whatever else you may want!  Lastly you can cut out the stem and leaf and glue them all together.

Happy Almost Fall and enjoy!

Abstract Art

OT Activity of the Day:

Abstract Art

Target Age Range: 3 and up

Today we were using craft scissors, paint stampers that we made out of pipe cleaners, glue, glitter, and paint.  We used a variety of items to help us make abstract art!  The only piece that was central to each client was the pipe cleaner paint stamper.  Other than that, the project was an expression of themselves!  Not only that, but this craft promoted all the fine motor skills you can think of; fine motor strength, bilateral coordination, scissor skills, fine motor manipulation, and visual motor skills.

To make the pipe cleaner stampers, first you take a pipe cleaner and then you bend one end into the shape you would like.  In the model above, I made a heart stamper.  The client who is pictured made a circle.  This is the perfect craft to promote fine motor manipulation.

Let the fun begin and enjoy!