preschool Archives - Therapy Fun Zone

Activities, bimanual, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, hand strengthening, Motor Planning, OT, preschool, scissor cutting, visual perceptual

Slowing Down With Scissor Cutting

I recently was doing an evaluation, and the student was just snipping at the paper as fast and furiously as she could. When I tried to help her position the paper or the scissors better, she just pushed me away and kept snipping. She gave…

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, Animals, bimanual, child, Craft, elementary school age, felt, fine-motor, Fun Foam, OT, Paper, preschool, Recycled, recycled, toddler, visual perceptual

Feed the Animal Fine Motor Activity

I always love the fine motor activity of putting objects into a hole or slot, and it makes the task more fun and engaging when you are pretending to feed an animal. Plastic deli containers or yogurt containers are perfect to cut a mouth…

Activities, ADL, buttoning, child, dressing, elementary school age, fall, felt, OT, preschool, season, spring, summer, winter

Seasons Button Tree

I have added another button activity to my arsenal of fun things to button. This one is a seasonal tree, so you can button on the different seasons. It includes white snow for winter, green for spring, orange and red for fall, and fruit of red…

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, ADL, child, dressing, felt, Materials, OT, preschool, toddler

A Button Snake With Lots of Buttons

Button snakes are a very simple way to practice buttoning. They have a ribbon and a button on the end and you string pieces of fabric onto the string. I made one with different types of fabric, and now have a new one that has multiple buttons…

Activities, child, elementary school age, equipment, equipment, gross motor, lower extremity strengthening, Motor Planning, motor planning, OT, preschool, PT, sensory motor, teenage, toddler, tween - middle school

Making a Crash Pad

A crash pad is a big foam filled squishy mat that you can fall onto and you land on the squishy foam. Crash pads are great fun for kids who like a lot of movement and body input since they can roll around in the big foam nest. Kids need to always…

ADL, baby, child, elementary school age, OT, preschool, Resources

Things You can do at Home to Help Your Child In School

Being able to function and participate in school will mean different things for different kids. So, it is best to look at your child and see what it is that they will need to work on in school, and then you can support the teacher to help your…

Activities, child, Crossing Midline, favorite toys, fine-motor, Handwriting, in-hand manipulation, Motor Planning, OT, preschool, Range Of Motion, toddler, upper extremity strengthening, visual perceptual

Car Mat for Pre-Writing

Young pre-school kids love playing with cars, and they are developing a whole slew of skills while they are playing. It is the perfect activity that is simple, can be self-directed or adult influenced, and every part of the activity works on…

child, equipment, home program, OT, preschool, Printable, toddler, Toileting

Modifications for Potty Training

Your sweet toddler has shown all of the signs for being ready to potty train, and you are excited to get started when you realize they are going to fall right off (or in) the toilet. Toileting and potty training is often challenging with typical…

Activities, child, Chopstick activities, elementary school age, equipment, fine-motor, hand strengthening, Handwriting, in-hand manipulation, Motor Planning, OT, preschool

Chopsticks

Mature and refined grasp patterns, as well as in hand manipulation, require use of the small finger muscles, and they use the two sides of the hands separately. It can be challenging learning how to coordinate the pinky finger side of the hand…

Activities, activity printable, ADL, child, Clothespin Activities, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, fine-motor, hand strengthening, OT, preschool, Printable

Clothesline Matching

A simple and fun activity for young kids is hanging play clothes on a clothesline. This activity happens to be great for targeting fine motor skills, finger strength, and visual perception. It is a lot harder than you think to hold clothes up…

Activities, child, elementary school age, hand strengthening, OT, play dough, preschool, Reach and grasp, Sensory, sensory dough, toddler

Clean Mud

Playing in mud is a great sensory and tactile activity, but it can be very messy. This “clean mud” activity gives a similar sensation to regular mud, but you come away from the activity cleaner than when you started. You need a plastic…

ADL, baby, child, elementary school age, essential oil, OT, preschool, Sensory, teenage, toddler, tween - middle school

Sleep is So Important

Sleep is an incredibly important factor to healthy development, but a large number of kids do not get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation in children can result in hyperactivity, inattention, impulsivity, oppositional behavior, moodiness, irritability,…

therapy fun zone - practice writing and cutting with flower petals

Activities, activity printable, bimanual, child, Craft, Craft, elementary school age, fine-motor, Free Printable, Handwriting, OT, Paper, pencil template, preschool, Printable, scissor cutting, Scissor Cutting, spring, visual perceptual

Flower Writing Lines

Spring is here and it is time to brighten things up with flower activities. I created a craft to draw on the flower petals, cut them out, and then glue them onto a paper. The petals have light lines to trace with zig-zags, loops, lines, and…

Activities, child, elementary school age, OT, preschool, Sensory, toddler, visual perceptual

Sensory Search in Rice and Beans

An activity that uses the tactile and visual motor sensory systems is to search for items in a box of rice and beans. You get a small box (shoe box size or larger) and put in some dry rice and beans so that it is about half way full. Then…

Activities, ADL, child, Edible play dough, elementary school age, feeding, fine-motor, OT, play dough, preschool, Sensory, sensory dough

Delicious Strawberry Play Dough

When working with kids who have food aversions, I like to do some fun activities with food that provide some of the sensory experience of food, but in a fun atmosphere without the required eating of the food. I want the fun item to be edible…

foam shapes and squigs are great to put on the glass

Activities, child, Crossing Midline, equipment, fine-motor, Fun Foam, gross motor, Materials, Motor Planning, motor planning, OT, preschool, PT, Reach and grasp

Fun foam on the Mirror

One of my absolute favorite activities with young kids is playing with fun foam shapes on a mirror. It works well in the bathtub, shower, or on a glass door too. You spay the glass surface with water (great squeezing activity) and then the foam…

Activities, activity printable, child, essential oil, fine-motor, Free Printable, in-hand manipulation, OT, play dough, preschool, Printable, Sensory, sensory dough, sensory motor

Citrus Orchard Play Dough with Printable

Winter in Southern California is orange season, and the smell of citrus is just wonderful. I made an orchard play dough mat and made some orange and lemon play dough to go along with it. To make the experience even better, I added lemon…

Activities, ADL, child, cooking, Craft, Edible play dough, elementary school age, feeding, fine-motor, hand strengthening, OT, play dough, preschool, Sensory, sensory dough

Rubbery Marshmallow Play Dough

I have joined some other bloggers to share recipes and posts about sensory dough called the Twelve Months of Sensory Dough, and this month’s play dough is snow dough. When I think of snow, I think of white, and since marshmallow fluff worked…

Activities, baby, child, OT, preschool, Product Review, PT

Putting Ourselves In A Box To Help Parent’s Think Outside Of Theirs

There is an awesome new product in the shop that was created by a pediatric PT and a Speech therapist. It is a set of cards focused on early intervention development and activities called 1-2-3 Just Play With Me. I will let the creators…