adult Archives - Therapy Fun Zone

Activities, ADL, adult, buttoning, child, Craft, felt, fine-motor, hand strengthening, Motor Planning, OT, pipe cleaner, spring

Make Button Flowers

Flowers make a great spring time activity, and there are so many ways to incorporate flowers into therapy to work on fine motor, visual motor, and coordination. I have many flower activities, such as ones that use clothes pins, but today we…

accessibility, ADL, adult, OT, Product Review, Range Of Motion

UnBuckle Me

At Therapy Fun Zone, we focus a lot on activities for children that develop their skills. However, I was recently contacted by an Occupational Therapist, who has invented a new product to help adults who struggle to unbuckle their child’s…

Activities, adult, bimanual, child, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, games, gross motor, lower extremity strengthening, Motor Planning, motor planning, OT, preschool, PT, Range Of Motion, Sensory, teenage, toddler, Trunk strengthening, tween - middle school, upper extremity strengthening, visual perceptual

Balloon Volleyball

Balloon Volleyball is such a simple game to play that is fun for young and old. It can be played standing up or sitting down, although when sitting down, someone will need to retrieve the balloon when it is out reach. I don’t think I need…

Activities, ADL, adult, bimanual, child, dressing, fine-motor, Motor Planning, OT, preschool, Therapy techniques, visual perceptual

The Visual Motor Aspect of Buttons and Zippers

Buttoning Progression When you are good at fastening buttons, you can do it with your eyes close, and probably don't look at all when fastening your pants. It takes some time and practice to get to the point of being able to button completely…

Activities, activity printable, adult, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, Free Printable, OT, pencil template, Printable, teenage, visual perceptual

Game to Practice Erasing and Writing

Hey, John, your letters look really good in that sentence, but I am having trouble seeing what you wrote because you didn't erase the first one you wrote well enough. Have you ever run into this problem? Is it a struggle to get your kids to…

Activities, adult, child, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, fine-motor, games, hand strengthening, in-hand manipulation, Motor Planning, OT, play dough, Reach and grasp, sensory motor, teenage, tween - middle school, upper extremity strengthening, visual perceptual

Play Doh Connect Four

Play Doh Connect Four is a fun activity that was created by Marie Logan, an Occupational Therapist with UAB Pediatric Neuromotor Clinic. This activity is a great way to combine the benefits of using play doh, and the fun of playing connect…

Activities, ADL, adult, bimanual, child, christmas, Craft, Craft, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, fine-motor, holiday, in-hand manipulation, Materials, Motor Planning, OT, ribbon, scissor cutting, season, teenage, tween - middle school, tying, visual perceptual, winter

Ribbon Christmas Tree

This ribbon Christmas tree activity is the most awesome therapy activity ever. It incorporates practicing tying into a nice craft that looks beautiful when it is done. The kids all loved it, and they were all very proud of what they had accomplished.…

physical activity while making ice cream

Activities, ADL, adult, bimanual, child, cooking, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, Motor Planning, OT, Reach and grasp, sensory motor, teenage

Using Motor Skills While Making Ice Cream

We have a challenge this summer to make things and experiment with making different stuff. We decided to start off our challenge with making ice cream, and the first type of ice cream that we made only needs 3 ingredients, some ziplock baggies,…

Activities, adult, bimanual, child, Craft, elementary school age, hand strengthening, Motor Planning, Sensory

Make Your Own Squishy Ball

Have you made your own squishy stress ball? You use a balloon (actually several) and fill them with different materials to squish and squeeze. You can fill them with flour, play dough, beans, beads, rice, and many other materials. They…

accessibility, Activities, ADL, adult, child, equipment, OT, Product Review, Resources

Adapting With Sugru

Have you heard of Sugru? It is an Occupational Therapist’s dream come true – really it is. These are the things that we dream about. Sugru is a mold-able rubber that dries in 24hrs, and is then very strong. It sticks to practically everything…

accessibility, Activities, adult, child, Duck Tape, elementary school age, OT, pool noodle, preschool, Quick Tip, teenage, toddler, tween - middle school

OT Life Hacks: #OTtips

In Occupational Therapy, our whole job is centered on making life a little easier and making sure that people can be successful. Most of what I post about are activities to work on specific problem areas, but I have posted a few things that…

Activities, adult, child, Clothespin Activities, elementary school age, fine-motor, hand strengthening, Handwriting, OT, teenage, Trunk strengthening, tween - middle school, upper extremity strengthening, visual perceptual

Can we practice handwriting without a pencil, please?

Let me start by saying that I'm probably one of the few pediatric occupational therapists who needs help with arts and crafts! No, seriously! I am so thankful for the many wonderful websites and blogs whose authors share some of the most…

Activities, ADL, adult, bimanual, child, cooking, Craft, elementary school age, feeding, fine-motor, Nature, OT, preschool, Sensory, teenage, tween - middle school

Sensory Bird Feeders

A fun way to incorporate different sensory experiences, including food experiences, is to make pine cone bird feeders. I have three different types to make that each utilize a slightly different sensory experience. To start with, you…

Activities, adult, child, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, games, gross motor, Motor Planning, motor planning, OT, PT, Range Of Motion, sensory motor, summer, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Keeping Active in the Summer: Tennis

It is Summer and the kids are out of school. During school, the kids have recess and P.E. most days so they stay relatively active and work on many skills during school. In the Summer, if left to their own devices, many kids will choose…

Activities, adult, bimanual, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, games, hand strengthening, Munchy Ball, OT, preschool, Product Review, teenage, toddler, tween - middle school

New Vinyl Munchy Ball for Fine Motor

I am excited that the vinyl Munchy Balls are in the shop and they have great resistance to work on fine motor skills and hand strengthening. The great thing about them being vinyl balls is that they are washable, which is important when working…

Activities, adult, child, Clothespin Activities, elementary school age, featured guest, fine-motor, games, hand strengthening, Handwriting, OT, preschool, teenage, tween - middle school

Guess Who Clothespin Game

This is a guest post by Donna Abramson, OTR Opening and closing clothespins is a wonderful way for children to develop strength in the muscles of their hand, particularly the webspace - which helps them to hold the pencil with a correct tripod…

Activities, adult, child, elementary school age, favorite toys, fine-motor, hand strengthening, OT, preschool, season, Sponges, summer, teenage, toddler, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Favorite Summer Toy: Six Water Play Tools for Fine Motor Skills

A group of therapist bloggers have gotten together to share what our favorite summer toys or activities are. This post is about my favorite summer toy, which is playing with water via squirt guns and other water tools. In order to see all…

Activities, adult, App Review, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, OT, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Osmo Is an Amazing New iPad Tool For Real Life Object Manipulation

I just heard about this new iPad tool that looks like it will be amazing for therapy. It is not yet available, but you can pre-order it for 50% off, and I heard that the pre-order price is available until June 22. It is called Osmo (referral…

adult, child, elementary school age, Forms, home program, OT, Printable, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Visual Perceptual Class Program with accommodations

Here is a class program for visual perceptual problem areas, activities, and accommodations that I compiled from multiple sources. I am unable to find those sources now, so if you know of them, let me know so that I can share them.

Activities, adult, child, elementary school age, hand strengthening, OT, preschool, teenage, tween - middle school

Latex Free washable Munchy Ball

I searched and searched, and cut open a lot of balls to find one that would have a good resistance when squeezing it. I wanted the ball to be not too difficult, but also not too easy. I finally found one through a web store that sells printed…

Activities, adult, child, elementary school age, favorite toys, fine-motor, games, OT, Product Review, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Squint Junior Game for Visual Perception

I love playing the swish game for visual perception, and saw the Squint Jr Game , which has some similar components, so thought I would try it out. It has clear cards with lines on them that you have to match up to copy a design. In…