This Halloween cutting craft is an old one that’s been on our site since October, 2018. We love this activity for so many reasons, and wanted to share it again. The ghost cutting activity that we did all those years ago supports development of hand and grip strength, bilateral coordination, eye hand coordination, and more. This is a Halloween occupational therapy activity you’ll want to add to your therapy plan this Fall!
We made these fine motor ghosts years ago, but still love to use them to work on fine motor and visual motor skills.
This Ghost Craft is a fun Halloween cutting craft idea that kids can do while boosting the skills they need for scissor skills and other fine motor skills. Use this ghost craft idea to work on occupational therapy activities and OT goal areas in a fun and festive way, perfect for Fall activities and ghost theme therapy ideas!
For more ways to build skills, try our other quick and fun ghost craft that will boost those fine motor skills.
This ghost cutting craft can be modified to meet the levels of various student skills.
Ghost Craft to Work on Scissor Skills
This scissor skills craft is an easy craft to set up and one that you can pull together in in no time, making it a nice craft for on-the-go school based OTs looking for a ghost themed craft that addresses OT goal areas.
Kiddos will love this ghost craft as it’s a cute craft idea that is motivating. In fact, kids won’t even realize they are working on skills like hand strength, separation of the sides of the hand, arch development, scissor use, or bilateral coordination.
Kids love this ghost cutting craft because you can add different facial expressions.
Ghost Craft for Kids
To create this ghost craft and work on scissor skills as well as fine motor skills, you will need only a few materials (affiliate links are included below):
First, it’s important to talk about where to start with know what a child can benefit from when it comes to paper type (construction paper, printer paper, cardstock, and other paper types all play important parts in addressing needs in scissor skills. Read about the various paper choices in addressing scissor skills in our scissor skills crash course.
In that crash course, you’ll also find information related to line thickness when it comes to teaching kids to move through the stages of scissor skills.
Steps to Make a Ghost Craft and Work on Scissor Skills
To make this ghost craft (and boost those scissor skills), simply draw a semi circle on the edge of a piece of paper.
Ask kids to cut out out the ghost craft along the curved line. You can draw visual cues on the paper to cue kids on where to hold the paper as they turn the paper while cutting.
Next, draw or ask the child to draw circles for the mouth and two eyes. They can then use the hole punch to punch holes inside the circles of the eyes and mouth.
Graded Scissor Skills Craft
There are several ways to grade this ghost craft to make the craft easier or more difficult depending on the child’s needs:
Use lighter or heavier paper grades. Some ideas are tissue paper, newspaper, wrapping paper, paper towels, or coffee filters to make the craft more difficult. Some ideas to make the ghost craft easier include cardstock, manilla folders, poster board, or thin cardboard.
Add more details to the ghost craft such as a bottom that the child needs to cut along a 90 degree angle to cut the bottom of the ghost.
Add a wavy line to the bottom to require more details and scissor movement.
Make larger or smaller ghosts.
Looking for more scissor skills crafts? Try these:
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.
They say it takes a village to raise a child. Likewise, it takes a dozen different methods to teach one. Unfortunately, kids are not the same, nor do they learn like one another. Just when you have one figured out, along comes another child with a different set of ideas and learning methods. We have been featuring different methods and resources to teach chores and other tasks. We started by learning about appropriate ages for chores, moved on to task initiation strategies, continued to find ways to prevent the summer slide, and finally we are onto the task trackers.
As a pediatric OT, I use a form of a task tracker in most therapy sessions, in the way of a checklist or visual schedule of some type. This is another version that is great for specific needs.
Free Task Tracker Worksheet
Once you have established a set of chores/tasks that you would like your learner to complete, it is time to implement a few different task trackers and charts. In this post you can get access to our free Task Tracker worksheet.
Simply add your email below, and the OT Toolbox will send you the free PDF for downloading. Better yet, you can become a member of the OT Toolbox. This will save you from having to add your email address each time we post a fabulous new resource. Plus, the membership area has a lot of resources that are exclusive to members. I love that the posts and other information on in the membership area is grouped by different categories. One quick search will bring you dozens (or hundreds) of cool resources.
WHY DO WE NEED A TASK TRACKER?
In some ways, increased paperwork might seem like more work. In reality, paper charts cut down on your overall effort, by streamlining tasks and ideas. How many of you benefit from to do lists, calendars, and visual aids? I know I do. I have several checklists, charts, and worksheets to help me remember everything I need to do in a timely manner.
Without a visual aid, it is difficult not only to complete all the task but makes self-reflection more difficult. As a therapist, I am often data driven. We log what we see and do, not only to document it, but to reflect.
HOW DOES THE TASK TRACKER WORK?
Like many resources from the OT Toolbox, there are different ways to use this task tracker. By the time you have a task tracker, you have most likely modeled, taught, and reviewed the tasks several times. The task tracker comes in when your learner is working on doing their chores (or daily tasks) mostly independently.
Your task tracker can be as unique as your learner. You can use one tracker for each day or week. The list can include several trials of the same task, or a complete list to finish.
THIS OR THAT?
At the top is a column called “this or that”. You can use this column in several ways.
Prefill in this section with two choices in each box. Your learner can circle the one they choose for the day/week/hour, or whatever time frame they are allowed for each task.
Your learner can repeat the same two tasks (picking whichever one that day) for the allotted number of trials.
Example of This or That: I might put do the dishes and/or fold laundry in the “this or that” column. Scenario one allows for multiple trials of the two selected task. Scenario two would add two different variables in each row.
Another way to fill in this area is to have a separate list of chores, or tasks. Your learner can fill in each box with their choice from the list. Giving your learner some autonomy and choice will help them get motivated to complete the task (or get started if they are struggling in this area).
One way to complete this activity section is to make sure that all the tasks get done at some point. Therefore, your learner has a choice in the order they do things, but everything eventually gets done.
Maybe you think differently and truly want to give your learner autonomy in what help they provide. There are benefits and drawbacks to this approach.
HOW YOU ARE WORKING ON IT TODAY
This section of the task tracker has another great visual. Your learner can check to the right if they are doing it, or have it finished. The middle-dotted line can be left blank, or your learner can describe how it is getting done.
I see the “how are you working on it” section for tasks that have multiple parts, require practice or trials, or need to be problem solved.
Your learner can keep their to do list organized by visually documenting if they are in progress, must get started, or have already completed the tasks.
DATE ACTIVITY CHECK MARK
This section below in the task tracker is yet another visual reminder for logging tasks. This works great for accountability, but also if you are working on a reward system. Your learner can log the number of trials they have done, practices, or the list they have completed.
THE TOP WIN on a Task Tracker
As an exercise in executive functioning and task completion, this section lets your learner reflect on their progress. What was their top win for the week? Perhaps they have logged the same task eight times, and on the eighth time they did it without help. Maybe you got all your tasks done for the week. That is certainly a top win.
You might need to help your learner reflect at first. They may not have the sight to reflect on their accomplishments yet. Try not to give the answers, but maybe ask questions. Was there something you did by yourself? Did you get more than you thought you would done?
I FED MY ENERGY BY
This section on the task tracker is another exercise in self-reflection. How did your learner get through the tough times? What did they use for motivation to get started?
They might think literally like “I ate seven snacks a day” or “I drank lots of water”. These are indeed ways to feed ones’ energy. Other ways to feed energy might be working toward a reward, realizing some tasks build muscle and strength, or pleasing someone else. Hopefully they did not feed their energy by fearing what would happen if they did not finish the task, or refused to get started.
Fear of retribution is a good motivator, but not the best idea. Far better to work toward a positive reward, than fearing a negative one.
WAYS TO MODIFY AND PERSONALIZE YOUR TASK TRACKER
There are many ways to modify, personalize, and adapt your task tracker:
Laminate the task tracker to make it reusable.
Make it bigger. Blow up the task tracker to a larger sheet of paper to post somewhere prominent
Make it smaller. By shrinking the task tracker, you can make it pocket sized
Add picture symbols for non-readers
Prefill some of the areas and have your learner circle their choice. This can be done in all sections, especially if your learner has difficulty reflecting and writing answers
Print it onto colored paper – colored paper can be motivating
GLITTER! I love some glitter. The shinier the better. When I walk by a glittery list , it may help me get started.
Change the types of tasks. Tasks do not need to be chores. They can be school work, self care, activities of daily living, or daily tasks. Your list might have reading/writing/math for 20 minutes. My list might have brush your teeth/take a shower/get dressed as items to be completed.
This task tracker does not need to be exclusively for children. Young adults, or anyone who struggles with executive functioning can benefit from visual resources and reminders to get them through tasks. At first these types of activities take time, but with practice they tend to go quicker. Once your learner is adept at doing tasks and chores, they may not need this list, or be able to visualize it in their mind. Many learners get stalled at the idea of doing tasks, or their first roadblock. Use visual guides to help them succeed.
Free Task Tracker Sheet
We have a printable task tracker sheet that you can use starting today. We love to use this worksheet to support executive functioning skills by breaking down the steps of tasks. We love this as school based OTs for completing school assignments, homework, projects with multiple steps, chores, and daily functional tasks. Use it in a way that works for your needs!
Victoria Wood, OTR/L is a contributor to The OT Toolbox and has been providing Occupational Therapy treatment in pediatrics for more than 25 years. She has practiced in hospital settings (inpatient, outpatient, NICU, PICU), school systems, and outpatient clinics in several states. She has treated hundreds of children with various sensory processing dysfunction in the areas of behavior, gross/fine motor skills, social skills and self-care. Ms. Wood has also been a featured speaker at seminars, webinars, and school staff development training. She is the author of Seeing your Home and Community with Sensory Eyes.
This Fall leaf activity is a fine motor task that supports development of so many skill areas. I love that you can gather a handful of colorful leaves from your lawn and work on areas like scissor skills, fine motor skills, line awareness, and bilateral coordination. Then, you can use the snippings as leaf mulch in a compost bin or right back in the lawn. This is a fun activity that kids love! It would be a great addition to a Fall sensory bin, too.
Use colorful fall leaves to work on scissor skills with kids this Fall.
Leaf Cutting Activity
This simple leaf cutting activity can be modified to meet a variety of skill needs. You can make the lines thicker or thinner, or make curved lines or angled lines. You can cut smaller leaves or bigger leaves. It’s easy to adapt to the needs of the student.
I have a small obsession with helping kids learn how to use scissors. It was one of my favorite areas to work on in the school-based Occupational Therapy setting. (And I’ve got a few scissor skills activities to show for it!)
Add this leaf cutting activity to our other Fall leaves activities:
Leaf Handwriting– These Fall writing prompts include leaf writing prompts, among other fall themed prompts. Includes sentence prompts and single words, all with a Fall and leaf theme.
Pre-Writing Lines Activity- Work on Pre-writing activity with real leaves. Use real leaves to work on eye-hand coordination, visual motor skills, and pre-writing lines with hands on fine motor work.
Bilateral Coordination Activity: Use this Leaf Craft to address bilateral coordination skills. Use real leaves to make a craft that builds bilateral coordination, heavy work proprioceptive input, and scissor skills.
Cut Real Leaves for Scissor Skills
Let’s get on with the Fall leaves cutting activity…
Today’s activity is all about scissors, cutting on lines, and leaves. This Fall, use those pretty leaves before they are covered with snow and practice cutting on lines.
This scissor skills activity is completely easy.
Go outside and gather some pretty fall leaves. Like our leaf hole punch activity (also very good for working on scissor skills), you want leaves that are not crunchy and are freshly fallen.
You might want to gather leaves that are still on the tree for easier cutting of lines. If you are working simply on the snipping of scissors, totally go for those crunchy leaves. They provide a fun auditory feedback to the snipping of scissors and fun Fall confetti!
Cutting the leaves gets you whiffs of the leaves, too. What a great way to incorporate the sense of smell into a scissor activity.
All you need are colorful leaves for this activity!
Practice line awareness with scissors using Fall leaves
I drew lines on the leaves for the kids to practice cutting along, but you can use just the lines of the leaves for older kids. Holding the small leaf and snipping along the veins is a fantastic bilateral hand coordination activity for kids. When cutting with scissors, bilateral hand coordination is essential for the assisting hand to move the paper accordingly as the dominant hand snips with scissors.
Cutting along lines in simple and complex shapes is an issue when visual perceptual skills are difficult for a child.
They might demonstrate difficulties with cutting within a line. Cutting choppy lines is apparent when a child has poor scissor control or visual motor skills with tools like scissors.
Cutting leaves is a creative scissor activity (Find a ton more creative scissor activities here!) and will be a hit with your kids this Fall. Save it for spring and cut those green leaves, too!
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.
