adult Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Therapy Fun Zone

Activities, ADL, adult, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, OT, preschool, Product Review, Resources, teenage, tween - middle school, tying, visual perceptual

Greeper Laces Never Come Untied

Tying shoes is an important skill to learn, and there are many tricks that can be used, which I have posted about before. At some point, you may decide that the process of tying is no longer the goal, but just having your shoes tied is the important…

Activities, adult, bimanual, bouncy balls, child, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, fine-motor, games, in-hand manipulation, OT, Product Review, sensory motor, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Bouncy Balls are Great for Therapy

I love using bouncy balls in therapy, and use the small balls for in-hand manipulation as well as catching them in cups when they roll off of the table. I use the balls in cups when I evaluate a child as it gives me a good idea of the student's…

Activities, adult, App Review, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, hand strengthening, Handwriting, iPad, teenage, tween - middle school

The Kaleidopaint App serves 2 purposes

I have written about coloring detailed geometric shape pages to work on hand and finger strengthening and visual perception in older students. You can buy a book of these coloring pages on Amazon, but you can also now make your own using the…

adult, child, elementary school age, featured guest, OT, preschool, Resources, teenage, Therapy techniques, toddler, tween - middle school

How Laughter Can Be Good Medicine for Occupational Therapists and Their Patients

Guest Post by Dr. Kurt Hubbard, OTR You’ve heard that old adage: Laughter is the best medicine, right? Well, as an occupational therapist or assistant, there are plenty of opportunities to inject a little levity into your regular routine…

Activities, adult, bimanual, child, Duck Tape, elementary school age, hand strengthening, Motor Planning, OT, Range Of Motion, Reach and grasp, Recycled, sensory motor, teenage, Trunk strengthening, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Make Your Own Zoom-Ball

Every clinic needs to have a Zoom Ball since it is so great for working on so many skills. You hold the handles and pull them out wide so that the zoom-ball moves along the two strings to the person holding the other handles. In order…

Activities, adult, bimanual, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, hand strengthening, Motor Planning, OT, Product Review, Shapes, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Weavable Toys by The Recycling OT

I am sure that you have heard of The Recycling OT (and if not, then you need to come play on the internet more). Barbara’s (the recycling OT) claim to fame, and what she does best is cut up plastic detergent bottles to make toys and activities. …

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

Using Paper Battleship to Work on Pencil Control

Last week I posted about regular (and mini) battleship games to work on fine motor skills and visual scanning, but have you ever played paper battleship to work on fine motor and writing skills? Paper battleship is played the same way as regular…

Activities, adult, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, games, in-hand manipulation, OT, Product Review, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Battleship to work on fine motor skills

The mini travel games really challenge fine motor skills because the pieces are much smaller than the full size games. I love the connect 4 to go game, so I had to try out the tiny Battleship Travel Game as well. The little pegs are very,…

4th of july, Activities, adult, child, elementary school age, gross motor, OT, Sensory, sensory motor, summer, teenage, tween - middle school, upper extremity strengthening, visual perceptual

Summer Ice Bowling

In therapy I use bowling as a part of many different activities, and to target many different skills, such as scooter board bowling, bowling in a swing, and bowling on a balance board. For summer, I thought we would try a little ice bowling. To…

Activities, adult, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, games, Motor Planning, OT, season, summer, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Game Made With Golf Tees and Marbles

This summer, we spent some time on Hawai’i, the big island. We had a wonderful trip, and while there we were introduced to the game Konane. It is a game that is usually carved into lava rock or wood, and the game pieces are black and white…

Activities, adult, bimanual, child, elementary school age, games, Motor Planning, OT, Product Review, sensory motor, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Ogo Sport

I saw the Ogo Sport Disc during some random internet shopping, and they looked like they would be fun to play with. I did not realize how fun they would be though until my son started playing with them. They are round discs that have…

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

The Monkey Hand Exerciser

I have wanted to post about this little Pediatools monkey pediatric hand exerciser for about a year now, but I had only seen it on the internet, and had never seen one in person, so I didn't know if I loved it. Now that I have seen it and tried…

Activities, adult, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, games, Handwriting, Motor Planning, OT, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Jenga Blocks Writing Game

At Christmas, I got my kids a generic Jenga game for really cheap, and I got myself an extra one because I knew that I would want to make a therapy game out of it. I didn’t give it much thought until I was brainstorming new game ideas and…

Activities, adult, bimanual, child, Craft, elementary school age, fine-motor, hand strengthening, OT, play dough, preschool, Product Review, Reach and grasp, Sensory, teenage, tween - middle school

Kinetic Sand

I went to an Occupational Therapy Conference last week and found a cool new product while I was there. It is called Kinetic Sand, and it is seriously the coolest stuff. It is sand, but it does not act like sand, and it is a wonderful sensory…

Activities, adult, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, Handwriting, iPad, OT, Product Review, teenage, tween - middle school

Dexteria App Review

Most of the apps that I have been using lately have been for me improve my productivity and paperwork, or as a reward for a student at the end of the therapy work. That being said, I recently tried out the Dexteria App to see what it does and…

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

iPad App: Rollercoaster Builder

I primarily use my iPad as a productivity tool, and type reports on it. It is very rare that I use it during direct treatment, although I do use it as a reward at the end of a session. One app that I absolutely love for direct treatment…

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

Using Little Magnets With Games for Fine Motor

I found these little magnets that are perfect for working on fine motor skills while playing games. I used the games from my clothespin games, and put them on a cookie sheet instead of the clothespin frame. Then the magnets can be used as…

Activities, adult, child, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, gross motor, OT, Range Of Motion, Trunk strengthening, upper extremity strengthening, visual perceptual

Seated Balloon Volleyball

I have been working in skilled nursing this summer, and it is very different from the therapy that I do with kids. There are some things that transcend age groups though and that people want to have fun. What is fun for a child is not necessarily…

Activities, adult, child, elementary school age, Motor Planning, OT, pool noodle, Range Of Motion, teenage, tween - middle school, upper extremity strengthening, visual perceptual

Pool Noodle Javelin Throw

When working on visual motor skills, you can work on building accuracy with being able to hit a target. I used a pool noodle that I duct taped together into a circle. Then I hung it from a command hook over an archway. We then used a pool…

Activities, adult, child, elementary school age, games, Motor Planning, OT, Product Review, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Perplexus

I had heard good things about the Perplexus maze game, so I got one to use for therapy. If you haven’t seen one before, it is a large clear ball that has a three dimensional platform maze inside of it, and you have to rotate the large ball…

Activities, adult, child, elementary school age, games, OT, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Swish Game For Visual Perception

Have you heard of the game Swish? I ran across it during one of my extensive internet surfing expeditions, and it looked so unique that I had to give it a try. The game consists of clear cards that have colored spots and colored circles.…