This rainbow ladder activity is a rainbow themed visual motor activity that is perfect for building visual motor integration skills needed in handwriting and reading. Visual motor integration activities like this one help kids to work on the skills needed to form letters and numbers correctly, to write on lines, and to copy words and sentences from a model, and make a great addition to rainbow activities that promote child development of essential skills. Kids will love to create a rainbow ladder with this scented marker activity as they work on skills they need in a creative and fun way!
Rainbow Ladder Activity
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You’ll need just a couple of materials for this visual motor integration activity:
- Markers in a rainbow of hues (We used Mr. Sketch scented markers for a fun alternative.)
- Paper
To prepare this activity, you’ll need to draw dots in a vertical column down the left side of the paper and matching dots in a column down the right side of the paper. Then, use a black magic marker to make vertical lines for the sides of the “ladder”.
Visual Motor Integration Activity
When doing this activity, be sure to ensure the child is connecting the dots from the left to the right. Try these tips to make sure the child is building those visual motor skills:
Ask the child to start the marker on the left dot. If they miss the dot, use verbal or visual cues to help them with the remaining dots.
Watch the child’s horizontal lines across the page. If the line goes up or down below 1/4″-1/2″ from an imaginary strait line, use verbal and visual cues for the remaining trials.
Ask the child to stop at the right dot. If the line stops before the dot or extends beyond the dot, use verbal or visual cues for the remaining trials.
Use the black vertical lines as a visual cue to slow down the marker stroke for improved accuracy.
More ways to extend this activity to address visual motor development:
Use large paper (easel paper or butcher paper) hanging on the wall.
Stand at an easel or dry erase board.
Try making diagonal lines or arched lines like in this occupational therapy slide deck for working on prewriting skills and line formation in a visual motor letter rainbow.
Try these visual motor activities for more fun ways to build skills needed for handwriting:
Rainbow Handwriting Kit– This resource pack includes handwriting sheets, write the room cards, color worksheets, visual motor activities, and so much more. The handwriting kit includes:
- Write the Room, Color Names: Lowercase Letters
- Write the Room, Color Names: Uppercase Letters
- Write the Room, Color Names: Cursive Writing
- Copy/Draw/Color/Cut Color Worksheets
- Colors Roll & Write Page
- Color Names Letter Size Puzzle Pages
- Flip and Fill A-Z Letter Pages
- Colors Pre-Writing Lines Pencil Control Mazes
- This handwriting kit now includes a bonus pack of pencil control worksheets, 1-10 fine motor clip cards, visual discrimination maze for directionality, handwriting sheets, and working memory/direction following sheet! Valued at $5, this bonus kit triples the goal areas you can work on in each therapy session or home program.
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
