fine-motor Archives - Therapy Fun Zone

Activities, activity printable, child, Craft, elementary school age, fine-motor, Free Printable, in-hand manipulation, Motor Planning, OT, Printable, tween - middle school

Perler Beads

Perler beads are tiny plastic beads that you place on little spikes on a board in order to make a design. They are quite small, so they require precision and care to get them placed on the design board. Once the design is finished, you then…

Activities, child, elementary school age, Free Printable, Handwriting, OT, pencil template, Printable, teenage, tween - middle school

Handwriting Self Check

Kids make a lot of changes with their handwriting legibility when they are aware of the expectation and know that they will need to fix what the teacher can't read or that doesn't meet the teacher's expectation. For those kids, it makes sense…

Activities, activity printable, child, Craft, elementary school age, fine-motor, Handwriting, OT, Paper, pencil template, Printable

Using push pins to develop fine motor skills

Holding small objects is a benefit of good fine motor skills, and to work on developing and perfecting those fine motor skills, you can use small objects as a tool. Push pins or thumb tacks that you would use in a cork board are usually a perfect…

Activities, bimanual, child, elementary school age, felt, fine-motor, games, hand strengthening, Handwriting, OT

Fun Ice Cream Clothespin Game

I am always working on interesting and fun ways to work on fine motor skills, and love using clothespins to work on the skills. The kids enjoy pretend playing with ice cream, but for some kids, the ice cream buttons are too hard for them to…

Activities, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, OT

Fine Motor Skills - Why Ask Why?

Today we hear from a seasoned Occupational Therapist named Stacie Erfle, MS, OTR/L. She is the creator of the Fine Motor ABCs book. A quick Google search will lead to endless possible activities to build fine motor skills. Pinterest is full…

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, child, Craft, elementary school age, OT, Paper, scissor cutting

New Scissor Skills Book

Are you looking for some ideas and information to help children learn to cut? Do you struggle with helping your child use scissors? This is a wonderful new book written by a group of therapists that goes over all of the skills areas that are…

Activities, bimanual, Craft, Craft, fine-motor, Motor Planning, OT, scissor cutting, Shapes, visual perceptual

Scissor Cutting Shapes: Pizza

When working on cutting skills, it is fun to create something out of what you cut. This week I had some of my students make some pizza. I made a template for the shapes needed to make the pizza, and they traced the shapes, cut them out and glued…

Activities, activity printable, Animals, bimanual, child, Clothespin Activities, elementary school age, fine-motor, Handwriting, OT, Paper, Printable

Fine Motor Pet Feeding

Animals are great fun for kids and can make it motivating to work on skills. I don't have any real animals to work with, so I made some pet store animals for the kids to feed, use clothespins, and practice some writing. The activity is simple…

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…

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, activity printable, buttoning, child, Craft, elementary school age, felt, fine-motor, Free Printable, OT, Paint, Paper, Pom Poms or cotton balls, Printable, spring

Rainbow Fine Motor Activities with Q-tip Painting

It is fun to do rainbow activities as you can include color sorting and matching along with working on fine motor skills. I have done many different rainbow activities over the years, and have also incorporated a Q-tip painting template into…

Activities, activity printable, ADL, buttoning, child, elementary school age, felt, fine-motor, Handwriting, OT, Printable

Using the Button Sandwich for Sequencing and Writing

I love using the button food for practicing buttoning and working on fine motor and visual perceptual skills. I made some order forms so that the kids can practice writing and sequencing their sandwich toppings as well. The kids can take…

Activities, child, fine-motor, Handwriting, OT

10 Fun Ways to Incorporate Writing into Therapy

When I am working in a school, I have so many skills that I would like to work on, but I also need to make sure that practice of writing fits into our therapy session. I have heard many people talk about doing warm up activities before their…

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, activity printable, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, Handwriting, OT, Paper, pencil template, Printable

New Pencil Adventures to Work on Pencil Control

I love the pencil adventures and pencil obstacle courses, and love to use them as a warm up or as a pencil control activity for kids who are very reluctant to write. I will frequently just draw out a path for kids to follow spur of the moment,…

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, christmas, Craft, elementary school age, felt, fine-motor, holiday, in-hand manipulation, Materials, Motor Planning, OT, season, visual perceptual, winter

Felt Christmas Tree

Here is a fun little Christmas activity of decorating a Christmas tree with felt ornaments. I got a styrofoam cone from the craft store and wrapped green felt around it. I then cut out some ornament shapes from different colored felt. You could…

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, 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, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, Handwriting, OT, Paper, teenage, tween - middle school

Writing Made Funny

I love it when the kids get creative when they are writing, but it is sometimes so hard for them to come up with good ideas. Some kids can come up with some creative writing, and it is really fun to come up with funny stories one sentence at…