Crossing Midline Archives - Therapy Fun Zone

Activities, bimanual, child, Chopstick activities, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, fine-motor, hand strengthening, Handwriting, Munchy Ball, OT, sensory motor, tween - middle school

Search and Find Fine Motor

Everyone has those days where you just need to pull an activity out of your bag that is simple and requires no extra preparation. I have quite a few of those types of activities lurking at the bottom of my bag, and a favorite is the alphabet…

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, bimanual, child, Crossing Midline, fine-motor, Motor Planning, OT, Reach and grasp, Sensory, sensory motor, upper extremity strengthening, visual perceptual

Using Gel Clings in Therapy

We have a guest post written by Kristi Rapp, COTA. When it comes to finding items to work with that are therapeutic, budget friendly, and versatile it can sometimes be a challenge to find just the right item to use. I have found a hidden…

Activities, bimanual, child, Craft, Craft, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, fall, fine-motor, Free Printable, Handwriting, holiday, in-hand manipulation, Motor Planning, OT, Paper, pencil template, Printable, scissor cutting, Scissor Cutting, season, Shapes, Thanksgiving, visual perceptual

Scissor Cutting Turkey Template

Making Turkeys for Thanksgiving is a great time to incorporate a lot of skills into your therapy session. I love that the feathers are perfect for writing on and being able to create a thankful craft. Cutting with scissors is a skill that works…

Activities, activity printable, child, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, fine-motor, Handwriting, OT, Paper, Printable, teenage, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Crack the Code Visual and Writing

When you have kids that need a higher level of challenge for visual scanning, visual perception, and writing, it can be hard to find activities that are difficult enough for them to do and that give enough of a challenge. I want to work on visual…

Activities, bimanual, child, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, hand strengthening, Motor Planning, OT, sensory motor, tween - middle school, visual perceptual

Developing Visual Skills and the Playground

Annie, don't slide down the slide head first! I could hear a mother yell to her child as the little girl went down the slide on her back head first. I told the mom that it was actually good to slide down this way as it gives her body a new experience…

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…

Activities, activity printable, bimanual, child, Clothespin Activities, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, fine-motor, games, hand strengthening, Handwriting, OT, Printable, visual perceptual

Wild Animal Clothespin Game

One of our favorite games is the Ocean Animal Clothespin game, so I made a variation of the game named the Wild Animal Clothespin Game, with some different animals so the kids can enjoy working on finger strengthening using clothespins while…

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.…

Activities, bimanual, child, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, featured guest, fine-motor, games, hand strengthening, Materials, Motor Planning, OT, Paint, Paper, Range Of Motion, Reach and grasp, Trunk strengthening, upper extremity strengthening, visual perceptual

Sticker Squash Game

This is a game that was submitted by a therapist, Marie Logan, OTR/L. It is a simple game that is played on paper, and it is similar to the game Battleship. During the game, you work on eye hand coordination and hand positioning, challenge…

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…

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,…

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, 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, bimanual, child, Craft, Crossing Midline, Duck Tape, fine-motor, hand strengthening, Motor Planning, OT, preschool, Reach and grasp, Recycled, Shapes, toddler, visual perceptual

Color matching velcro block fine motor toy

I love all of the recycling activities that the Recycling OT does, but I am not as good at saving items to recycle. I used an empty tennis ball can, and put colored duct tape stripes on it in the colors of the items that I wanted to attach…

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, activity printable, ADL, bimanual, child, cooking, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, feeding, Free Printable, hand strengthening, OT, Pom Poms or cotton balls, preschool, Printable, Range Of Motion, scissor cutting, toddler

Play with Scooping Ice Cream for Skill Development

Scooping is an important skill to have, and can easily be worked on in a fun and playful way. I decided to have fun with it with an ice cream scooping session, using large home made pom poms as the scoops of ice cream. I neglected to make toppings…

Activities, activity printable, bimanual, child, Clothespin Activities, Crossing Midline, elementary school age, fine-motor, Free Printable, games, hand strengthening, Motor Planning, OT, preschool, Printable, Reach and grasp, Trunk strengthening, upper extremity strengthening, visual perceptual