Fall Crafts for Kids

Fall crafts for kids

If there is one thing occupational therapists love, it’s crafts to develop skills, and these Fall crafts for kids are just that! These fall themed crafts support development of skills in all the best ways this Fall! Use the best of the season this time of year with Fall leaf crafts, Halloween crafts, ghost crafts, pumpkin crafts, and more in occupational therapy sessions, or to build skills at home!

Fall crafts for kids

Fall Crafts for Kids

Some of our top picks for building skills are sorted out by theme. You’ll love these fall crafts that support development of skills in kids:

  • Autumn Art Activities– includes sensory painting, fingerprint art, painting leaves, corn husk painting, and more.
  • Fall Fine Motor Activities– Work on precision, pincer grasp, tripod grasp, hand strength, hand-eye coordination, and more with these fall themed activities that are perfect for OT sessions or therapy at home.
  • Fall Tree Crafts– This set of craft ideas include leaves and all the beautiful colors of the trees during this autumn season.
  • Halloween Occupational Therapy Activities– Pick the activities that meet the needs of your OT clients to support development of fine motor, gross motor, sensory motor, and visual motor skills.
  • Fall Occupational Therapy Activities– This mini e-book describes OT activities to support sensory and motor development this time of year.
  • Turkey Crafts for Kids– This time of year, turkeys, feathers, and Thanksgiving crafts are great ways to develop fine motor skills with a fun theme!
  • Thankful Turkey Templates– These free printables can be used in so many ways to work on scissor skills and fine motor skills. Includes a gratitude turkey cut out, too.
  • Print off this hot chocolate craft and target different skills. You can even make this into a pumpkin spice latte or a hot apple cider craft!
  • Thanksgiving tree– Another great Fall craft is to make the leaves to hang on a gratitude tree. You can target many skills with this one: scissor skills, handwriting, gross motor skills, and more.

Easy Fall Crafts Kids

Let’s break down these fall craft ideas to help you find just the craft that supports the development of skills.

Fall leaf craft

Fall Leaf Sewing Craft– This Fall craft for older kids builds fine motor skills.

This fall craft idea supports development of:

  • bilateral coordination
  • crossing midline
  • eye hand coordination
  • pincer grasp
Fall craft with a gratitude garland

Gratitude Leaf Garland– Cut out the paper leaves and write things you are thankful for this Fall.

This fall craft supports development of:

  • scissor skills
  • crossing midline
  • hand strength
  • handwriting
Cute pumpkin craft for fine motor skills

This Fine Motor Pumpkin craft develops precision, pincer grasp, and tip to tip grasp.

This fall pumpkin craft supports development of:

  • scissor skills
  • precision
  • dexterity
  • eye hand coordination

Thanksgiving suncatcher craft

Make this gratitude suncatcher craft for a window craft that brings color to the drab Fall weather.

This autumn craft supports development of:

  • scissor skills
  • handwriting
  • working on a vertical plane
  • sensory motor input

Pumpkin seed craft idea using dyed pumpkin seeds

Dye pumpkin seeds and use them to make mosaics, suncatchers, and more.

This pumpkin seed craft supports development of:

  • pincer grasp
  • eye-hand coordination
  • tactile play
  • sensory motor input

Sunflower craft made from a cupcake liner

This sunflower cupcake liner craft is a fun fine motor activity for fall. Add this to a sunflower theme for therapy this Fall!

This fall craft supports development of:

  • pincer grasp
  • scissor skills
  • planning and prioritization
  • problem solving

Harvest craft made with bottle caps

These cute harvest bottle cap crafts are a great fine motor math activity for the Fall season.

This fall and harvest craft supports development of:

  • executive functioning skills
  • scissor skills
  • planning and prioritization
  • problem solving

scarecrow craft for a farm activities theme

Use this scarecrow craft as a math activity for the Fall and to develop fine motor skills.

This autumn scarecrow craft supports development of:

  • fine motor skills
  • scissor skills
  • planning and prioritization
  • problem solving

School bus craft for Fall

Fall means back-to-school and that’s where this school bus craft comes into play.

This fall craft supports development of:

  • scissor skills
  • planning and prioritization
  • problem solving

Cute racoon craft

This cute racoon craft doubles as a fine motor activity and a fun hands-on math activity for kids.

This craft supports development of:

  • scissor skills
  • graded precision
  • hand strength
  • problem solving

Bat craft for fall

Use this bat craft to work on scissor skills and handwriting!

This bat craft supports development of:

  • scissor skills
  • handwriting
  • tactile sensory play

Stellaluna craft

Speaking of bat crafts, this Stellaluna craft is perfect for the Fall season.

This Stellaluna craft supports development of:

Pumpkin craft made with toilet paper tube.

Recycled Paper Roll Pumpkin Stamp Art– Make stamps using a toilet paper roll and create pumpkin stamps

This pumpkin craft supports development of:

  • tactile sensory play
  • pincer grasp
  • tripod grasp
  • hand grasp
  • graded grasp and release

Pumpkin seed suncatcher craft

Dyed Pumpkin Seed Sun catchers are perfect for pincer grasp with a Fall pumpkin seed theme.

This craft supports development of:

  • tactile sensory play
  • pincer grasp
  • tripod grasp
  • eye-hand coordination
  • graded grasp and release

Autumn craft idea for preschoolers-leaf placemat

Make a Leaf Placemat Craft which is the perfect autumn craft ideas for preschoolers.

This craft supports development of:

  • proprioceptive input
  • tactile sensory play
  • tactile sensory play
  • eye-hand coordination
Turkey napkin ring craft

Turkey Napkin and Silverware Ring craft– This is great for a harvest with kids.

This craft supports development of:

Cardboard turkey craft that doubles as a juicebox cover and an oral sensory tool

Turkey Juice box Cover– These are so cute for a kids Thanksgiving table.

This craft supports development of:

  • precision skills
  • pincer grasp
  • eye-hand coordination
  • scissor skills
Paper towel roll turkey craft

Recycled Paper Roll Turkey Stamp Craft– Grab a recycled toilet paper roll and make these turkey stamps.

This craft supports development of:

  • tactile sensory play
  • pincer grasp
  • eye-hand coordination
  • scissor skills
  • planning and prioritization
Corn husk painting

Corn husk art is a fun way to celebrate the season. This Corn Husk Stamping is a sensory art activity kids love.

This craft supports development of:

  • tactile sensory play
  • pincer grasp
  • eye-hand coordination
Ghost craft

This ghost craft is a powerful fine motor activity for kids and develops scissor skills and hand strength.

This craft supports development of:

  • scissor skills
  • hand strength
  • arch development
  • bilateral coordination
Ghost craft made from bread ties

Use bread ties to make mini ghosts from bread ties! They are so cute in a Fall sensory bin.

This craft supports development of:

  • precision skills
  • sensory play
  • crossing midline
  • bilateral coordination
Ghost craft made from milk cartons

Use recycled milk cartons to make this Ghost Catch Craft and Game. It’s a great tool for gross motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and core strengthening and stability.

This craft supports development of:

  • gross grasp
  • eye hand coordination
  • posture
  • upper body strength
Pumpkins made from egg cartons

These Egg Carton Pumpkins are always fun to make and to use in fall sensory bins!

This craft supports development of:

  • precision
  • hand strength
  • tactile sensory play
  • hand strength
Pumpkin emotional development activity

Identifying and Expressing Emotions Pumpkin Craft is a great Fall craft for toddlers and preschoolers.

This craft supports development of:

  • social emotional development
  • learning emotions
  • eye hand coordination
  • crossing midline
  • visual motor skills

Baked cotton balls turned into apples

Did you ever make baked cotton balls? These apple baked cotton balls are so much fun!

This craft supports development of:

  • tactile sensory play
  • scissor skills
  • pincer grasp
  • tripod grasp
  • hand strength
  • following directions
Apple stamps

This apple stamp art is fun for kids and great for developing visual perceptual skills.

This craft supports development of:

  • visual perceptual skills
  • hand grasp
  • eye-hand coordination
  • tactile sensory play
Toilet paper tube apple art

Recycled Paper Roll Apple Stamps are fun for a Fall apple theme.

This craft supports development of:

  • tactile sensory play
  • eye-hand coordination
  • graded grasp and release
  • direction following
Pumpkin activity kit
Pumpkin Fine Motor Kit

Grab the Pumpkin Fine Motor Kit for more coloring, cutting, and eye-hand coordination activities with a Pumpkin theme! It includes:

  • 7 digital products that can be used any time of year- has a “pumpkins” theme
  • 5 pumpkin scissor skills cutting strips
  • Pumpkin scissor skills shapes- use in sensory bins, math, sorting, pattern activities
  • 2 pumpkin visual perception mazes with writing activity
  • Pumpkin “I Spy” sheet – color in the outline shapes to build pencil control and fine motor strength
  • Pumpkin Lacing cards – print, color, and hole punch to build bilateral coordination skills
  • 2 Pumpkin theme handwriting pages – single and double rule bold lined paper for handwriting practice

Work on underlying fine motor and visual motor integration skills so you can help students excel in handwriting, learning, and motor skill development.

You can grab this Pumpkin Fine Motor kit for just $6!

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.

Doubles and Near Doubles

doubles and near doubles craft

If you have a second grader, than you may be familiar with doubles and near doubles. This form of math facts with doubles numbers (adding two numbers that are the same) and near doubles (adding two numbers that are almost the same), can help kids quickly learn math facts with a brain trick. We created a spider activity that was a fun way to practice doubles and near doubles!

Adding Doubles and Near Doubles in Second Grade Math up to 20, with a hands-on math, spider theme.

What are Doubles and Near Doubles?

We explained this a bit, but let’s expand on these math definitions.

You might be thinking, “What!?” I have to admit, adding near doubles is a concept that I learned along with my oldest when she went through second grade.

What is Doubles and Near Doubles in Second grade math?  

Doubles are the addends that are exactly the same.  These are addition facts that second graders need to know to add within 20.

Near Doubles are those addends that are almost a double fact. So, 4+5 is very close to 4+4.  Students can easily recall that the double fact for 4+4=8 and by adding one more, they quickly know that 4+5=9.  These are math fact tools that can help second graders add within 20.

Doubles Math Facts

Doubles math facts include:

  • 0+0=0
  • 1+1=2
  • 2=2+4
  • 3+3=6
  • 4+4=8
  • 5+5=10
  • 6+6=12
  • 7+7=14
  • 8+8=16
  • 9+9=18
  • 10+10=20

Near Doubles Facts

Near doubles facts depend on the doubles that the numbers are near.

  • 0+0=0
    • 1+0=1
    • 0+1=1
  • 1+1=2
    • 2+1=3
    • 1+2=3
    • 0+1=1
    • 1+0=1
  • 2+2=4
    • 3+2=5
    • 2+3=5
    • 1+2=3
    • 2+1=3
  • 3+3=6
    • 4+3=7
    • 3+4=7
    • 2+3=5
    • 3+2=5
  • 4+4=8
    • 5+4=9
    • 4+5=9
    • 3+4=7
    • 4+3=7
  • 5+5=10
    • 6+5=11
    • 5+6=11
    • 4+5=9
    • 5+4=9
  • 6+6=12
    • 7+6=13
    • 6+7=13
    • 5+6=11
    • 6+5=11
  • 7+7=14
    • 8+7=15
    • 7+8=15
    • 6+7=13
    • 7+6=13
  • 8+8=16
    • 9+8=17
    • 8+9=17
    • 7+8=15
    • 8+7=15
  • 9+9=18
    • 10+9=19
    • 9+10=19
    • 8+9=17
    • 9+8=17
  • 10+10=20
    • 11+10=21
    • 10+11=21
    • 9+10=19
    • 10+9=19

You can see how learning just a handful of doubles facts builds a bigger repertoire of math facts. This is a particularly good path strategy for learning tricky addition facts that kids often struggle with, especially with adding the higher 6’s, 7’s, 8’s, and 9’s.

Adding Doubles and Near Doubles 

Adding doubles is a math fact memorization technique.  It is easier for kids to remember that 2+2=4, 6+6=12, 7+7=14, 9+9=18, etc.  

Kids can first memorize the doubles facts. Once they’ve got those addition facts down pat, recognizing that the near doubles facts are just one off from the double makes learning a whole new set of numbers easy.

For example:

First the student would memorize the near double of 6+6=12.

Then, when that becomes a math fact they know by sight, they can look at the math problem 6+5 and recognize that the addend 5 is just one less than the doubles fact for 6. They can know the number sense that the problem 6+5 is one less than 6+6 and easily identify the answer of 11.

Similarly, if the student is presented with the near doubles problem of 6+7, they can recognize that the addend 7 is one more than the doubles fact for 6. They can identify by number sense that the answer for 6+7 is one more than 6+6 and that the answer is 13.

Near doubles assist students with adding one more or one less than the doubles facts.

By this, we mean that once a student knows the doubles fact of 6+6=12, they then also know:

  • 6+5=11
  • 5+6=11
  • 6+7=13
  • 7+6=13

You can see how the doubles and near doubles concept builds number sense and allows students to become much more fluent and efficient at math problems.


Doubles and Near Doubles Activity

We made this near doubles activity to help with second grade math concepts, specifically in adding Doubles and adding Near Doubles., using a fun spider craft. The OT in me loves that it works on quite a few fine motor skills and scissor skills too!

I wanted to create a hands-on math activity using the doubles and Near Doubles addition facts with a spider theme.  

It’s an easy and quick activity to set up, that will help second graders realize how to quickly figure out more addition facts quite easily.  This is a math skill appropriate for Common Core Standards CCSS 2.0A.1 and CCSS 2.0A.2.  You can see those Common Core standards here.

To make your Near Doubles Spider Activity

Cut out paper strips to write doubles and near doubles addition facts.

You’ll need just a few materials for this doubles and near doubles practice activity:

  • Black construction paper
  • White colored pencil
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Googly eyes

To make this doubles and near doubles craft, complete these steps:

  1. Cut out 8 strips of black construction paper.  These will become the spider’s legs.
  2. Using a white colored pencil, write out doubles facts on one side of the black paper strips. You’ll need to write the following doubles facts on the paper strips:
    • 2+2=__
    • 3+3=__
    • 4+4=__
    • 5+5=__
    • 6+6=__
    • 7+7=__
    • 8+8=__
    • 9+9=__
  3. On the other side of each spider leg paper strip, write with your white colored pencil:
    • 2+3=__
    • 3+4=__
    • 4+5=__
    • 5+6=__
    • 6+7=__
    • 7+8=__
    • 8+9=__
    • 9+8=__
  4. Cut out a circle out of the black paper for the head.
  5. Glue googly eyes onto the spider’s head.  
  6. Glue the legs to the spider head so the Doubles are all on one side and the Near Doubles are all on the other side.  

Kids can flip the legs over to see how closely the doubles are to the Near Doubles and how knowing the Doubles facts can quickly help them figure out the Near Double facts.

You can make multiple versions of these numbers, using the commutative property of addition

Spider craft to work on doubles and near doubles facts.

Adding Doubles and Near Doubles in Second Grade Math up to 20, with a hands-on math, spider theme.

More Hands-On Math Activities you will love:

 
 Commutative Property of Addition  How to Add with Regrouping  Use play dough in math  Bottle caps in first grade math

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.

5 Tips for Completing a Feeding Evaluation

feeding evaluation

An integral part of an occupational therapy feeding evaluation is the food questionnaire or checklist. This is the foundation for building your learner’s food repertoire based on their likes and dislikes. When discussing preferences with the parent and child, the more details they are able to provide, the smoother the sessions will go.

Feeding evaluation tips

How to Do a Feeding Evaluation

The first step to a feeding evaluation is often a comprehensive Food Inventory Questionnaire. By understanding what a child is and is not eating helps the therapist to better understand food preferences in the way of food texture issues, flavors, colors, tec. The food inventory is a great tool for consistent data collection. Accurate data collection will helpful be able to provide a just right challenge. Before beginning any feeding program, it is important to become educated on feeding therapy, treatment, and problem areas in a thorough feeding assessment. This guide will provide a basic understanding of sensory versus oral motor feeding concerns.

Check out the tips below to help guide your discussion.

Tip #1: When Planning a Feeding Evaluation, Provide Questionnaires Ahead of Time 

If at all possible, try to provide a feeding assessment checklist or questionnaire ahead of time, or ask the parent to come prepared with a list of foods that their child does or does not like. This is SUPER important, because asking a parent during the feeding evaluation, does not typically go well.

It is likely that you will not get a complete picture, or the parent will forget some key pieces of information–such as what brand of cereal their child eats or be so overwhelmed they claim their child eats “nothing”.

Not all of the problems presented will be sensory food issue related. There are times when they stem from an oral motor deficiency. It is important to be able to spot the difference before beginning treatment.

Tip #2 During a Feeding Evaluation: Ask About Food Jags 

What is a Food Jag?

The term “food jag” is fairly new term referring to a preference toward a couple of foods, eating them all of the time; suddenly stopping eating a once highly preferred food, refusing to add it back into their repertoire. A food jag refers to the case of children only eating one type of food or a small number of food items. Some common food jags include:

  • The child that only eats chicken nuggets, crackers, and French fries (all foods are consistent in taste and texture.
  • The child that only eats Goldfish crackers, dry cereal, and crackers (all foods are bland, have some crunch, but are thin in width
  • The child only eats yogurt tubes or yogurt smoothie drinks (the consistency and sweetness of the yogurt flavors are satisfying)

Food jags include any small group of limited food selections. These food limitations can change over time.

You’re looking to see if this has happened over the course of the child’s feeding history as it may be indicative of trauma (i.e.-choking), emergence of sensory processing difficulties, and feeding developmental milestones that occur in leaps and stages.

This is also common in people who do not eat a variety of foods. They get tired of eating the same three foods over and over. Food jags can happen to people who eat a variety of foods also, but generally people have other foods to put in its place.

For instance, I may eat peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day for three weeks, then get tired of it. That is fine because I can switch to yogurt, or ham, or turkey. A person with limited food choices loses a preferred food and does not have anything to replace it with.

If you notice a trend of food jags in the child’s history, make sure that you provide education on how food jags occur and how to prevent food them, before they leave the evaluation. 

Tip #3: Complete a Sensory Evaluation of Food- Review Each Food Category 

Even if the parent fills out a feeding assessment checklist/questionnaire and hits all the food categories, fruits, vegetables, starches, dairy, protein (meat, eggs, nuts) and other (snack foods), make sure that you go through the list with the family.

When you review each category, even briefly, it may spark the parent to remember something regarding the child’s eating patterns. 

Consider the sensory evaluation of food including differences in types of food categories, and how there can be minute or vast sensory differences in foods based on preparation (cooked in the oven or cooked in the microwave, different brands (drier consistency vs. saltier flavor), or types of foods (spaghetti pasta vs. smaller elbow noodles).

A food evaluation should take the sensory evaluation of foods into consideration for each meal.

Questions to ask regarding food preferences:

For example, if the parent reports that their child eats noodles, you might want to ask what kind of noodles.

  • Do they eat only elbow noodles?
  • All types of noodles?
  • And all varieties of noodles-egg noodles, veggie noodles, rice noodles? 

Another example of food variables is seen in fruit.

  • Fruit can be whole, peeled, fresh or comes in a container.
  • Apples can be peeled, sliced, or presented whole.
  • How does the child eat them?
  • Mandarin oranges come in syrup or can be freshly peeled. Which does your learner prefer?

If the parent reports that their child is very specific or limited on how they will eat their food, this is a starting place for pushing their food limits and boundaries in the first couple of sessions.

Tip #4: Ask About Brands 

This tip ties into Tip #3 when discussing the categories of foods. You want to know if the child will only eat a specific brand of food. This is common with cereal, snack foods, pizza, and pastas such as macaroni and cheese. It can happen with all foods, so it’s good to ask.

This may indicate that the child has challenges with processing novel experiences and may be easily distressed by change, from a sensory perspective. It also indicates that the child is very rigid in their thinking and expectations for mealtimes.

You will need to build confidence and trust, as something as small as changing brand of cereal might be a big leap.

Tip #5 during feeding evaluation: Ask About Temperature 

Another aspect to the sensory evaluation of food is the temperature of preferred foods. Ask how the child likes their food served–hot, cold or room temperature. While this may not seem like a big deal, but it can be for a child who is already struggling with introducing new foods and experiences into mealtimes.

It’s also a very personal preference, and by knowing that preference, you have an increased understanding of the child which leads to trust, and eventually a broadened food repertoire.

Sometimes the issue at hand is not the food at all. It is the learner’s difficulty getting it into the mouth. There are many choices when it comes to spoons, bowls, plates, cups, and serving ideas.

Check out some of these ideas to see if these may help your learner with self feeding or trying new food challenges.

Feeding therapy is complicated

Feeding therapy is complicated. Without the right knowledge and tools, therapist/parents can make the problems worse. Take time to get educated on correct feeding therapy techniques. In the meantime, feel free to engage your learner in messy play. This is a great first step to understanding and tolerating new foods.

Other areas to consider in a feeding assessment include:

  • Anatomical considerations of the mouth and tongue
  • Mobility of the jaw, tongue, lips, and cheeks
  • Positioning and body posture
  • Body awareness
  • Developmental progression of oral motor skills
  • Muscle considerations and issues that impact musculature (digit sucking, extended use of bottle or pacifier, reverse swallow/tongue trust, tongue, chewing habits, lip closure, vertical chewing during food prep stage,
  • Structural abnormalities (teeth alignment, tongue tie, palate, tonsils, lip symmetry, etc.)
  • Movements and range of motion in mouth, cheeks, lips, jaw: Jaw Thrust, Exaggerated Jaw Movements, Jaw Instability, Jaw Clenching, Tonic Bite, Jaw Retraction, Tongue Retraction, Tongue Protrusion, Stability Bite
  • Alignment of teeth
  • Presence of gagging or choking on foods
  • Speech skills
  • Sleep habits (sleeping through the night, snoring, light sleeper/heavy sleeper) Support sleep hygiene and even addressing newborns not sleeping through the night as sleep has a role in feeding routine and schedules.
  • Tooth Grinding
  • Phases of food swallow- Oral preparation, Oral Propulsion, Pharyngeal phase, Esophageal phase
  • Vision and Visual motor skills
  • Tone and musculature of the body-impacting range of motion, posture, etc.
  • Fine motor skills

You’ll want to contact a pediatric occupational therapist who is experienced in feeding evaluations, including the oral motor aspect of food assessments.

Use the Food Inventory Tool- A Parent Report Screening Tool to incorporate into feeding evaluations to ensure successful feeding therapy.

This tool provides the therapist with a data sheet for a child’s repertoire allowing for consistent data collection over the course of feeding treatment. It also provides the therapist with a professional looking tool and talking point during the initial feeding evaluation to ensure that a comprehensive list of foods the child eats is gathered to support successful feeding therapy.

Click here to get a copy of the Food Inventory Tool- A Parent Report Screening Tool.

Contributor: Kaylee is a pediatric occupational therapist with a bachelors in Health Science from Syracuse University at Utica College, and a Masters in Occupational Therapy from Utica College. Kaylee has been working with children with special needs for 8 years, and practicing occupational therapy for 4 years, primarily in a private clinic, but has home health experience as well. Kaylee has a passion for working with the areas of feeding, visual development, and motor integration.

*The term, “learner” is used throughout this post for readability, however this information is relevant for students, patients, clients, children of all ages and stages or whomever could benefit from these resources. The term “they” is used instead of he/she to be inclusive.