OT Archives - Page 3 of 26 - Therapy Fun Zone

Activities, bimanual, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, Fun Foam, games, hand strengthening, Handwriting, Motor Planning, Munchy Ball, OT

Practicing Letters and Finger Strengthening

Resistance keeps your muscles strong, and the little muscles in the fingers need to work and get strong along with the rest of the muscles of your body. I love having kids get letters randomly in order to practice writing the letters and words,…

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, activity printable, fine-motor, Handwriting, Motor Planning, OT, pencil template, Printable, spring, summer, visual perceptual

A Bunch of Bee Themed Activities

To work on pencil control, it really is great to do activities where you are having to control your pencil. For this I use pencil paths, pencil adventures, circles, and coloring. I really enjoyed using the flower honeycomb activity that I…

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, child, elementary school age, fine-motor, Free Printable, Handwriting, OT, Paper, Printable, spring

Flower Pollen Honeycomb Fine Motor

I was working with some kids the other day, and we were coloring flowers, working on holding the pencil in a good grasp, and getting some good strokes of the colored pencils, and one little guy was not able to move his fingers independently…

Activities, child, Resources, sensory motor

Restricting Children's Movement and Play Time Causes More Harm Than Good

Sit Still! Be Careful! Stop Spinning! Get Down From There! Why restricting children’s movement and limiting their ability to play outdoors causes more harm than good This is a guest post by Angela Hanscom, Pediatric Occupational…

Activities, ADL, child, dressing, elementary school age, OT

Work on Dressing Skills Through Play Activities

Dressing skills are the bread and butter of the Occupational Therapy profession, but not every setting or session is an appropriate time or place to have your client get dressed or undressed. I used to joke around with a Physical Therapist…

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

The Simplest Way to Get a Good Pencil Grasp

You can try every pencil grip available at Amazon, and you may have no success with changing the way a child holds their pencil. Really, the simpler the solution the better, and if it is simple, it makes it more likely that the child, teacher,…

Activities, child, elementary school age, Motor Planning, OT, Therapy techniques, Trunk strengthening, upper extremity strengthening

Ten Games to Play With Wheelbarrow Walking

Wheelbarrow walking is a great upper body and trunk strengthening tool, and it is easy to incorporate it into a game. When wheelbarrow walking, you are strengthening your arms and your trunk since you have to activate a co-contraction through…

Activities, child, elementary school age, featured guest, OT, Sensory

5 Ways to Help Children who Have Tactile Defensiveness

This is a guest post by Kimberly Z Syers OTR/L- BabyOT.com As a Pediatric Occupational Therapist, I work with children with tactile defensiveness on a daily basis. These children are hypersensitive to tactile (touch) stimulation and frequently…

accessibility, Activities, ADL, child, OT, teenage

The Roll of OT in Driving Readiness with Adolescents most At Risk

The important role of Pediatric Occupational Therapy in “Driving Readiness” with Adolescents Most At Risk This is a guest post written by Missy Menzes, occupational therapist and founder of Extra Credit! LLC. For teenagers, driving is…

ADL, OT

How Play Makes Therapy Better

Let's compare two therapy sessions. Billy has hemiplegia and needs to work on using his left hand, as well as using both hands together. The therapist gets out some pom poms and has Billy pick them up from one side of the table that he is…

Activities, bimanual, child, Craft, elementary school age, fine-motor, in-hand manipulation, Munchy Ball, OT

Making it Fun With Munchy Ball

I pick up a little girl from her classroom (we'll call her Emily), so that I can do a fine motor evaluation, and this is the first time that she has met me. I tell her who I am and what we will be doing and we head off to do our work. Emily…

q-tip painting templates for fine motor control

Activities, activity printable, child, Craft, Craft, elementary school age, fine-motor, Free Printable, Handwriting, OT, Paper, Printable, visual perceptual

More Q-Tip Painting Templates

When I first gave a student q-tips to paint with, she did a lot of smearing and squishing of the paint on the paper. She was working those fine muscles of the hand, but there was a little something missing from the picture. It was a very…

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…

ADL, child, OT, toddler, Toileting

Toddler age Potty Training Tips

Here are some tips that have helped me with potty training both my own kids and some of the kids that I have worked with. Naked Time · Have some “naked time” at home when able to be well supervised. You want your child to feel what…

Activities, ADL, bimanual, hygiene, Motor Planning, OT, Reach and grasp, teenage

Tips on Shaving for Teenagers who have Hemiparesis

This is a guest post by Marie Logan, OTR/L about teenagers and shaving when they have hemiparesis. As children mature into teenagers there are undoubtedly times of transition that can be a bit awkward for them as well as their parents. As…

Activities, activity printable, child, Chopstick activities, elementary school age, fine-motor, Free Printable, Handwriting, OT, Pom Poms or cotton balls, Printable, visual perceptual

Color Pop Game For Fine Motor and Writing

The color pop game is a great game that incorporates quite a few skills within one game. Some of the skills used in the game are fine motor, visual scanning, writing, counting, and finding coordinates on a chart. I use either colored porcupine…

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

Fine Motor Requirements For Handwriting

What exactly are the fine motor movements that are used in writing? In a mature dynamic grasp, the fingers do the majority of the work, but the whole hand is required in order to stabilize and provide strength for the activity. The most important…

Activities, OT, Resources

New series starting this week

There is a new series starting this week that will be about functional skills for kids. It is a collaborative series with other therapy bloggers. You can read all about it at the page

Activities, child, Craft, Craft, elementary school age, Materials, OT, Paint, Paper

Using Stick Paint in Projects

I love doing projects and activities in Occupational Therapy because the kids can get a chance to fine tune their skills and abilities while they are doing an actual task. Painting is great for projects ,but it is really hard to transport and…