Pencil Obstacle Courses from School-OT
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To work on pencil control, I created some Pencil Adventures. When I started making the pencil adventures, I was inspired by the pencil obstacle courses that were created by another Occupational Therapist, Jennifer Dodge. I now have her obstacle courses available here on Therapy Fun Zone, and I am so excited about it. These ones are hand drawn, and are very creative. Some of them work on erasing skills as well as writing skills. There are 13 different obstacle courses to work on accuracy with a pencil while making all different shapes. Two of these target speed as well.
I think that the creativity in these ones are great, and make them very fun. I hate to say it, but they are probably better than mine (although I wish I could digitize them and add color because I am a bit obsessed with that).
The obstacle courses include:
Pencil Control
- Amusement Park: Stay in paths, loops, x’s, copy words, visual scanning
- Explore the ancient cave ruins: Stay in paths, color in a space, write words in
abc order - Circus: Stay in paths, lots of loops
- Mars: Stay in path, plan out a path, write initials
- Day at the un-races: Slow down while tracing
- Time Warp: Stay in paths, X’s inside circles
- Jungle: Slow down, speed up: compare which was more accurate. Draw clock hands
- Pirates: Stay in path, retrace, count & make X’s
- Playground: “Lazy 8’s” – good bilateral/diagonal practice, Stay in paths
- Skateboard: Stay in paths, controlled circles, in-hand rotation, drawing
Scissors
- Berserk Robot: Fairly easy cutting across a page, with curves
- Fabulous Art: Much more difficulty cutting spiraling in from edge to center of
page
Erasing
- Dragon’s Maze: Stay in paths, erase completely
These obstacle courses are very creative and fun to use. You can order them as a digital download, or as a cd with the files on it.
Materials:
Skills:
- Fine Motor
- handwriting,
- visual perception
- fine motor precision
- scissor cutting
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I have a 5th grade student that let me know that he hates to read because the letters move when reading.
Can you suggest any materials/provide a sample so I can see if these work before I purchase?
Should I request an OT evaluation?
Hi Katie, he needs a binocular vision exam (eye exam that evaluates how the eyes work together and for any presecription.) When words shake on the page, he is likely struggling to keep his focus (accommodation) and the strain is literally making him shake. This can be fixed with physical therapy, perhaps glasses prescription, or both. Usually OTs are on staff to help with the physical therapy!
http://Www.Covd.org will help you find info and providers in your area. I’ve seen lots of kids benefit!