Colleen Beck OTR/L

Colleen Beck, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist and the owner and author of The OT Toolbox website. She manages all of The OT Toolbox social media accounts and runs the popular newsletter. Colleen created The OT Toolbox in 2011 and since then has written thousands of blog posts designed to support therapy providers, educators, parents, counselors, admin, and caregivers in promoting the healthy development of kids. Check out Colleen's blog posts below:

Indoor Recess Ideas

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There are certain times during the school year when indoor recess becomes a must. When the temperatures are below freezing or there is constant rain, i seems like there are days on end of indoor recess. We wanted to put together a list of indoor recess activities that can support attention spans and keep kids from wreaking a classroom.

indoor recess ideas

Recess is a must for moving and getting the brain breaks needed for learning. It’s a sensory coping tool built right into the school day!

Indoor Recess Activities

Looking for indoor recess ideas? Below, you’ll find winter indoor games and activities to add to the recess line up when it’s too cold to go outdoors for recess. We’ve tried to come up with indoor recess games for older kids AND indoor recess ideas for kindergarten and the younger grades.

Some of these ideas work well with traditional indoor recess group activities, and others are better suited for socially distancing during indoor recess, while still allowing kids to move! All of the inside recess ideas can be used to add activity and movement when it’s raining or too cold for outdoor recess!

Indoor recess activities can use materials you have in the classroom like games. Sometimes just rotating games during these days helps.

Other ideas use crayons from the student’s desk and a stack of paper. The goal is to curtail the mess but also allow kids to get up and move.



Indoor Recess Winter Activities for Kids

Here are more ways to get the kids moving this time of year:

MONDAY- INDOOR RECESS IDEAS

TUESDAY- WINTER BRAIN BREAK IDEAS

WEDNESDAY- WINTER BILATERAL COORDINATION ACTIVITIES

THURSDAY-WINTER MINDFULNESS ACTIVITIES

FRIDAY- WINTER FINE MOTOR ACTIVITIES


Indoor Recess Ideas

This time of year can be a real struggle for kids. They’ve got a long school day, where it’s too cold to go outside for recess. Many are on screens during much of that day, especially if schooling is done virtually or at home with distance learning.

After school brings continued cold temps and an  followed by coming home to an early sunset. Not to mention, many kids have after-school activities scheduled. It’s no wonder that kids are less active than ever before.

Because of this, I wanted to share these indoor recess ideas that can be used to add activity, motor planning, visual motor skills, midline crossing, and general movement!

1. Turn on the music and have a Crossing Gross Motor March. Crossing Midline is a developmental ability that is important for so many gross motor tasks.  When a child has difficulty with crossing midline, they may demonstrate inefficiency with other areas like fine motor skills, bilateral coordination, hand dominance, self-care, reading, handwriting, and so many other areas. This can be done in a socially distanced format in a well-spaced out area such as a gym or hallway. And, for our virtual learners, this activity is fun for the whole family.


2. Add proprioceptive and vestibular input with an Indoor Skating activity! All you need for this activity is a pile of paper plates or old tissue boxes. If you have a carpeted area in the classroom, this can be a great way to identify a space for indoor ice skating during indoor recess. Add specific moves and have kids copy the ice skating moves to really incorporate motor planning and direction following.


3. Do the Hokey Pokey. Need some fresh ideas when it comes to the classic hokey pokey? Try playing “Snow-key Pokey” with a snowman theme. Just label the various body parts a snowman would have. For example: Snow cap, stick arms, boots, snow bottom, etc.


4. Animal Races- Gather a group of kids and have relay races in the hallway or gymnasium area. Kids can split into two teams and race against one another. Each child will need to come up with an animal walk as they race back to tag another person on their team. Some animal walk ideas include: donkey kicks, penguin waddles, bear walks, crab walks, frog jumps, elephant walks, snake slithers, etc.


5. Arctic Animal Yoga- Add animal walks with an artic theme. These would go perfectly with an animal theme and add the bonus of calming stretches. They are a great movement break during the day, use at circle time, morning meeting, free time or for use during stations. These cards are fun for use during physical education or in group/individual physical and occupational therapy. They are a great way to add simple movement into the day which we know is essential for learning and concentration. Use them with an arctic unit! These polar bear gross motor therapy activities can be used as a winter brain break or recess activity.


6. Freeze Dance- Turn on YouTube and dance to the music. When the music stops, everyone needs to FREEZE!


7. Charades- Ask each student to write on a slip of paper a character, animal, or object. Combine themes from the curriculum, favorite books, or movies. Students can act out the people or objects on the cards while the rest of the class guesses what the student is describing with movement.


8. Indoor Balance Beam- Try some of these indoor balance beams using everyday items or a roll of painters tape. There are so many benefits to using balance beams. It’s a fun way to break up indoor recess into centers, too.


9. Ribbon Wand Dance- Make a handful of DIY ribbon wands and sneak in some gross motor skills and movement by dancing to music.


10. Indoor Gross Motor Game- Get the whole class involved in gross motor play with jumping, hopping, and more with this Dinosaur Gross Motor Game uses mini dinosaur figures. Grab the free printable game spinner and activity here. 


11. Bean Bag Games- This group gross motor core strengthening activity is a fun way to get the whole class involved in a group game! Make it a winter theme with these snowflake bean bags.


12. Play the Four Corners Classroom Game– Add movement and sneak in some auditory processing work with this fun game shared over on The Game Gal.


13. Who Am I Game- The kids can write down book and movie characters on a sticky note and stick it to their forehead. They can ask other students questions as they move around the room, trying to figure out who they “are”!

11. Winter Toothpick Art– Use the Winter Fine Motor Kit materials to get kids moving with the toothpick art activities. These can be used on cardboard or a carpeted area to help kids build fine motor strength and tripod grasp.

12. Winter Crumble Art- This is another fun fine motor activity for indoor recess. Use bits of tissue paper or crumbled up construction paper to create a winter picture. These sheets are in the Winter Fine Motor Kit, too.

Quiet indoor games for the classroom

If you need quit games or activities kids can do in the classroom without a lot of gross motor movement like charades or yoga, pull out the crayons. Here are some ideas to try during indoor recess:

  • Tic Tac Toe Tournament
  • DIY Pictionary
  • Paper Dolls
  • Paper Snowflakes
  • Doodle Relay
  • Fold-and-Pass Story Drawing
  • Crayon Rubbing Art
  • Origami with Notebook Paper
  • Connect the Dots Challenge
  • Crayon Resist Art
  • Grid Drawing Challenge
  • Paper Chain Contest
  • Draw Your Favorite Animal
  • DIY Board Game Design
  • Collaborative Mural
  • Symmetry Drawing
  • Maze Creation
  • Hidden Picture Challenge
  • Letter Art Contest
  • Create a Comic Strip
  • Crayon Texture Collage

How do you make indoor recess fun?

What ideas to you have in your toolbox for an indoor recess that allows kids to move?


I hope these ideas are helpful in creating opportunities for movement and activity during these indoor recess months at school! 

winter fine motor kit

The Winter Fine Motor Kit has materials to print-and-go, including arctic animal finger puppets to develop finger isolation, toothpick art activities with winter themes, crumble art pages, coloring and pencil control activities for building strength and endurance in the hands. All of these materials are included in a 100 page packet with winter themes: snowmen, mittens, snowflakes, penguins, polar bears, arctic animals, and more.

 
 

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.

Toys to Improve Pencil Grasp

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Juguetes para agarrar el lápiz

Have you ever used pencil grasp toys to support development of handwriting? Helping kids with pencil grasp can be a challenge, so using motivating and fun activities to support the underlying skill areas is essential. Today, we’re going over the best occupational therapy toys that target pencil grasp development. Pencil grasp toys to challenge precision, dexterity, endurance, separation of the sides of the hand, and other skills needed for a functional pencil grasp. All of this can happen through play using toys to support stronger hands by focusing on grasp pattern development through play!

Amazon affiliate links are included in this blog post. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.

The best pencil grasp toys to support the fine motor skills needed for a better pencil grip.

Recently, we shared fine motor toy ideas and then gross motor toys. Both of these areas are closely related to a functional pencil grasp, so be sure to check out those toy suggestions, too.

Pencil Grasp Toys

We love coming up with fun play and craft activities designed to work on the development of an efficient grasp.  Being the season of gifting to others, we thought it would be fun to bring you our top recommended toys to work on tripod grasp, intrinsic muscle strength, rotation of the pencil while handwriting, and an open thumb web space. 

Children who have difficulty with handwriting may completely HATE to work on letter formation and pencil grip.  Why not gift them with a fun toy this holiday that will work on the developmental skills necessary to improve their grip on the pencil?  Make the exercise fun as they PLAY their way to a better pencil grasp!

Handwriting is more than just pencil grasp! Manipulating a pencil to write letters and numbers has a lot to do with visual perceptual skills. You’ll find easy and fun ways to work on visual perceptual skills through play here. 


You will also love these Games to Improve Pencil Grasp

Best Toys to Improve Pencil Grasp

Toys that will help improve pencil grasp

{Note: This post contains affiliate links.}

Toys That Improve Pencil Grasp

Coming up with this list, we thought about the skills needed for an appropriate pencil grasp and age-appropriate handwriting.  This toy gift guide is broken down into toys that will help with different sets of problem areas when it comes to a poor pencil grasp.

Let’s take a closer look at toy suggestions for these areas:

  • Toys for Tripod Grasp
  • Toys for an Open Thumb Web Space
  • Toys for Hand Strength
  • Toys for Extended Wrist

Toys for Tripod Grasp

Tripod grasp: The most efficient way to hold the pencil when writing is with a dynamic tripod grasp. While not necessary…a functional grasp works, too…a tripod grasp is a term we’ve probably all heard described before.  So WHAT is a tripod grasp? 

A Tripod grasp starts with a nice round circle made with the thumb and index finger.  The pencil is pinched with the tips of the thumb and index finger and held close to the point of the pencil.  The pencil is resting on and assisted by the middle finger.  The ring finger and pinky fingers are tucked into the palm.  All movement should happen with the fingers and thumb.  The wrist and arm should not move while writing, coloring, or drawing. 

Often times, new pencil and crayon users will hold the writing utensil in a different way.  You might see four fingers opposing the thumb to hold the pencil.  You might see the pencil positioned in the knuckles between the index and middle fingers.  Maybe they hold the pencil away from the tip where the lead is and instead hold it in the middle of the pencil shaft.  There are SO many variations of awkward and inefficient pencil grasps.  If your little hand writer is showing some version that affects their letter formation and pencil control, try a few of these fun toys…

A few toys that help to encourage a tripod grasp:

Light Brite: (affiliate link) Picking up and manipulating those little colored pegs encourage a tripod grasp.  Pushing them through the paper and into the holes is a great resistive exercise…disguised as FUN! 

We have this Lite Brite Flatscreen – Red (affiliate link) from Hasbro and love making pictures with the pegs!  When the child holds the pegs in his hand, it’s a great way to encourage the ring finger and pinkie finger in a tucked position.  Show your child how to pick up a handful of pegs and “squirrel them away” in their palm while they push one peg into the board.  What a great fine motor exercise!  Not to mention, the dots of the guide paper is a great visual motor activity…so important in handwriting!

Lacing Cards: (affiliate link) Lacing cards are a great way to encourage a tripod grasp.  This set of Lacing Shapes (affiliate link) from Patch Products come in simple shapes with bold colors. The child must hold the tip of the string in a dynamic tripod grasp to push through the holes of the card.  If your child has their thumb squashed up against their index finger while threading the cards, be sure to show them how to make a nice round circle for an easier time.

Peg Boards: (affiliate link) Grasping pegs encourage a tripod grasp especially while pushing them into the holes of a peg board.  Here are homemade pegboard ideas and even a precision pegboard you can make using perler beads (see below).

This Lauri Tall-Stacker Pegs Building Set (affiliate link) from Lauri is great for building peg towers while learning colors and shapes. 

Older kids might love Fusion Beads like the Perler Beads 6,000 Count Bucket-Multi Mix (affiliate link) from Perler.

Spike the Fine Motor Hedge Hog– (affiliate link) This fine motor toy builds a stronger tripod grasp, and when positioned appropriately, can place the wrist into an extended position, too. This helps to further refine precision movements for accuracy and dexterity. These are great skills to carry over to pencil control and pencil movements during handwriting tasks.

Learning Resources 3 Prong Tong– (affiliate link) This tong tool promotes a better grasp on objects…but only if the hand is positioned correctly. If you allow kids to just pick up the 3 prong tongs and start using them, they likely will position the tong into their hand with a gross grasp, or by using all of the fingers along the length of the prong. This can actually strengthen the wrong muscles, and promote an ineffective motor plan that becomes muscle memory when writing with a pencil.

When kids use these tongs, they should have their hand positioned almost under the tongs, as if it were a pencil. When used this way, the tongs can strengthen the intrinsic muscles and promote a tripod grasp. These 3 prong tongs can work well when used correctly, but be sure to work along side a child with this one.

Toys for Open Thumb Web Space

Sometimes you will see a child who is holding their pencil with a closed web space.  This happens when the thumb web space is the area between the thumb and the index finger.  If the thumb is squashed up against the side of their index finger, they are not able to manipulate the pencil with small movements.  They might move their whole arm to make letters instead of just the hand.  A closed web space is an inefficient way to grasp the pencil and will lead to poor handwriting.  This type of positioning requires activities that strengthen and stabilize the thumb.

A few toys that help encourage an open web space:

Tweezer Games:  Tweezer activities promote an open web space and stabilization of the thumb.  This Avalanche Fruit Stand (affiliate link) from Learning Resources is a colorful way to encourage an open web space.  The vertical surface is perfect for encouraging an extended wrist.

Bead Sets: (affiliate link) Stringing beads is a good way to encourage an open web space.  The child must hold the bead and string between their thumb and index fingers.  Collapsing of the thumb web space will happen when the child demonstrates weakness in the muscles of the thumb.  Beading is a repetitive activity and promotes strength. 

This Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Stringing Beads with over 200 beads (affiliate link) from Melissa & Doug has over 200 beads in different colors and shapes, and even letters!  You could even form sentences for the child to copy and practice their improved pencil grasp!

Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots: (affiliate link) Often times, a child will wrap their thumb around the index finger when they are writing with a pencil.. This indicates instability in the thumb and the muscles that allow for smooth pencil motions. 

Pushing down on the buttons of the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em ROBOTS Game (affiliate link) from Mattel really strengthens the muscles of the thumb and allows for more stability leading to an open web space and ultimately more fluid motions of the pencil in letter formation.  Plus, this game is just plain old FUN for kids of all ages!

Toys for Hand Strength

Hand Strength:  If a child has weakness in their hands, they may complain that their hand is tired when they write or color.  Then, to compensate for muscle fatigue, they resort to an inefficient hand grasp.  They may grip the pencil with four fingers or with their whole palm.  many times, a child will start off with a nice tripod grasp and then switch to a less efficient grasp…or even switch hands!  Do they complain that their hand is tired or that it hurts?  These kiddos need to work on hand strength.  To allow for increased endurance when writing and coloring, this child would benefit from strengthening exercises.

A few toys that help encourage hand strength:

Pop Beads:  (affiliate link) Pushing pop beads together is a perfect way to strengthen the intrinsic muscles of the hands including the arches of the hands. 

Pop beads are such a fun toy that can be used to make patterns, different lengths, bracelets, necklaces, and even shapes. This Pop Beads (affiliate link) from ConstructivePlaythings are unique in their shape, color, sizes, and textures. A twist on the classic bead, this set will excite girls and boys of all ages.  Be sure to shop for size-appropriate beads for your child’s hands.

Play-Doh: (affiliate link) Play dough is the ultimate open-ended toy for hand strengthening.  There are unlimited ways to play all the while encouraging hand development. 

We love this Play-Doh 24-Pack of Colors(affiliate link) for lots of creative play!  Hide coins, beans, or beads in the dough and allow the child to find the items.  Roll small balls of dough using just the thumb, index, and middle fingers. 

Roll a play dough snake with the dough and have the child pinch the dough between their thumb and index finger.  Just get creative and make some things with your play dough.  Most of all, have fun!

Tissue Paper Art: (affiliate link) There is possible no better art project for hand strengthening than tissue paper art!  Crumbling little bits of tissue paper is perfect for strengthening the small muscles of the hand. 

Encourage your child to use just their finger tips to crumble the bits of tissue paper rather than two hands to crumble.  This ALEX® Toys – Early Learning Tissue Paper Art -Little Hands 521W (affiliate link) from Alex Toys is bold, colorful and just plain fun art!  Even better for the intrinsic muscles of the hands is tearing bits of paper before crumbling.

Squeeze Toys:(affiliate link) a gross grasp is using the whole hand to squeeze and flex into a grip. 

What a great way to strengthen the muscles of the hands!  This Lobster Claw Catcher (affiliate link) from is a fun way to encourage hand strength and endurance for coloring and writing.

Geoboard Activities– (affiliate link) Using a geoboard supports hand strength to enable endurance in handwriting. Manipulating the rubber bands promotes finger isolation, open thumb web-space, and and extended wrist.

Learning Resources Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set Toy– (affiliate link) This set of fine motor tools includes an eye-dropper, scissor scoops, and tongs. The sensory bin scoops and tools support hand strength through manipulating small objects or water.

These tools are a great way to strengthen the exact muscles needed for a functional pencil grasp.

Toys for Extended Wrist

Extended Wrist:  An Extended wrist is a slightly bent back wrist.  When a child’s hand is bent forward toward the palm, they typically exhibit inefficient grasp on the pencil and weakness in the hand. A slight bend in the wrist towards the back of the hand (bent up toward the ceiling when writing) allows for better movement and flow of the fingers when forming letters.  Often times a child with a poor handwriting demonstrates a “hooked wrist” or a flat wrist and it leads back to inefficient control of the pencil and messy handwriting. 

A few toys that help encourage an Extended Wrist:

Easel: (affiliate link) An easel can be used in so many ways while encouraging an extended wrist.  Paint, draw, color, or write on the elevated surface.  We love taping contact paper to our easel and sticking all kinds of craft supplies. 

This really encourages an extended wrist while using a tripod grasp or tip to tip grasp to manipulate little items (think tissue paper, sequins, foil squares…the possibilities are endless!) This Easel (affiliate link) is great for extended wrist activities.  And, it even folds down to reveal a desk surface.  It’s the perfect gift to promote improved handwriting!

Ker Plunk: (affiliate link) The Ker Plunk Game (affiliate link) from Mattel encourages an extended wrist as the child pushes the sticks into the holes of the game.  They are encouraged to use a tripod grasp to hold the sticks as well.  Rotating the sticks encourages two types of in-hand manipulation.

Take this game a step further in handwriting exercise for strengthening and play laying down on the floor, propped up on your elbows.  Getting down on the floor to play will activate the large muscles of the back and the shoulder girdle to improve precision in pencil grasp.

Montessori Boards-(affiliate link) Precision and dexterity activities are needed for pencil grasp and when you add in dexterity tasks and manipulation of tongs, spoons, or tweezers to move and place objects, it’s a win-win.

This precision Montessori board (affiliate link) builds the skills needed for pencil grasp: a stabile wrist, in-hand manipulation, open thumb web space, and dexterity.

Best toys and ideas to help kids improve their pencil grasp

Looking for a few activities to improve handwriting skills? Check out our round-up of the best handwriting activities from our blog and these other toy suggestions:

More Therapy Toy Ideas

Want to find more therapy recommended toys to help kids develop specific skills? Check out the list of skill areas below.

  1. Fine Motor Toys 
  2. Gross Motor Toys 
  3. Pencil Grasp Toys
  4. Toys for Reluctant Writers
  5. Toys for Spatial Awareness
  6. Toys for Visual Tracking
  7. Toys for Sensory Play 
  8. Bilateral Coordination Toys 
  9. Games for Executive Functioning Skills
  10. Toys and Tools to Improve Visual Perception
  11. Toys to Help with Scissors Skills
  12. Toys for Attention and Focus

Printable List of Toys for Pencil Grasp

Want a printable copy of our therapist-recommended toys to support pencil grasp?

As therapy professionals, we LOVE to recommend therapy toys that build skills! This toy list is done for you so you don’t need to recreate the wheel.

Your therapy caseload will love these PENCIL GRASP toy recommendations. (There’s space on this handout for you to write in your own toy suggestions, to meet the client’s individual needs, too!)

Enter your email address into the form below. The OT Toolbox Member’s Club Members can access this handout inside the dashboard, under Educational Handouts. Just be sure to log into your account, first!

Therapist-Recommended ​
PENCIL GRASP TOYS HANDOUT

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    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.

    Spatial Awareness Toys and Activities

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    Toys for spatial awareness

    For kids that struggle with body awareness, position-in-space, and overall spatial understanding, spatial awareness toys are fun ways to develop a specific set of skills that impact function of every day tasks. Occupational therapy toys like these space-based play support development of these areas. Want to help kids become more aware of their body position, the space that they need to function, write, and perform tasks through play? Here we are talking spatial awareness toys!

    Let’s talk toys to support spatial awareness skills.

    Amazon affiliate links are included in this blog post. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Spatial awareness toys and spatial awareness games to develop visual spatial skills.

    Spatial Awareness Toys

    In this post, we’ll cover a few different things:

    • Spatial Awareness Definition
    • Spatial awareness activities
    • An easy spatial awareness tool for handwriting
    • Spatial awareness toys

    Kids are often motivated by play as a means to support development of skills. When games and toys develop skills in which they struggle, it can be meaningful and engaging for the child. They may not even realize they are developing those skill areas through play. Before we get to the toy ideas, let’s go over spatial awareness in more detail.

    Spatial Awareness Definition

    First, let’s cover the definition of spatial awareness. You might be thinking…ok, I know a child who might be having issues with awareness of space during functional tasks… But exactly what is spatial awareness?

    The definition of Spatial Awareness is being aware of oneself in space. Incorporating body awareness, visual spatial skills, and orientation, spatial awareness involves positioning oneself and/or functional items (pencil, a ball, a bag of groceries, etc.) in relation to oneself and the world around.

    Spatial awareness means several things:

    • Awareness of spatial concepts can look like reaching for items without overshooting or missing the object.
    • It can mean use of a map to navigate streets or a new middle school.
    • It can incorporate spacing between letters and words in handwriting.
    • It can mean navigating a crowded hallway while carrying a backpack and a stack of papers.
    • It might mean walking in lines in school or waiting far enough apart from other students so that each individual has their own personal bubble of space.

    Being able to reason about the space around us, and how to manipulate objects in space, is a critical part of everyday life and everyday functional tasks. This specific skill allows us to safely cross a street, fold clothing, load the dishwasher, place objects in a locker, put together a piece of “some assembly required” furniture, and other functional cognitive tasks. And these skills are especially important for educational success in particular handwriting tasks, math, STEM, and science.

    Most of us realize as we walk through a doorway that we need to space ourselves through the middle of the door.  Those with poor visual spatial skills may walk to closely to the sides and bump the wall.

    Visual-spatial skills are used when a middle school or high school student uses a map to navigate a new school. Orienting yourself on the map and then relating that to the real world to make turns, movements in a large space takes a complex set of skills guided by visual spatial relations.

    Spatial awareness skills also involve the fine motor tasks of coordinating handwriting with writing in spaces allowed on paper, placing letters within an area (lines), and forming letters in the correct direction.  

    So what is spatial awareness? Let’s break it down even further…

    Spatial awareness and spatial perception

    Spatial Awareness can be broken into three areas, specifically related to spatial perception: position in space, depth perception, and topographical orientation.

    1. Position in Space– where an object is in space in relation to yourself and others. This skill includes awareness of the way an object is oriented or turned.  It is an important concept in directional language such as in, out, up, down, in front of, behind, between, left, and right. Children with problems with this skill area will demonstrate difficulty planning actions in relation to objects around them.  They may write letter reversals after second grade.  They typically show problems with spacing letters and words on a paper.  
    2. Depth Perception– Distances between a person and objects.  This ability helps us move in space. Grasping for a ball requires realizing where the ball is in relation to ourselves.  Kids with deficits in this area may have trouble catching a ball or walking/running/jumping over an obstacle. Copying words from a vertical plane onto a horizontal plane may be difficult and they will have trouble copying from a blackboard. 
    3. Topographical Orientation– Location of objects in an environment, including obstacles and execution of travel in an area.  Kids with difficulties in this area may become lost easily or have difficulties finding their classroom after a bathroom break.

    Visual Spatial Skills develop from an awareness of movements of the body.  If a child has true visual spatial skills, they will likely demonstrate difficulties with athletic performance, coordination, and balance.  They may appear clumsy, reverse letters and numbers in handwriting, and may tend to write from right to left across a page.  They will have difficulty placing letters on lines, forming letters correctly, and forming letters with appropriate size.   

    When kids struggle with the ability to perceive where they are in space…when children are challenged to identify how much room they need to navigate the world around them…These are all examples of spatial awareness skills.

    What is spatial awareness and how does it relate to handwriting

    Visual Perception and spatial awareness in kids. What is Spatial awareness and why do kids have trouble with spacing between letters and words, reversing letters, and all things vision. Great tips here from an Occupational Therapist, including tips and tools to help kids with spacing in handwriting.
    Letter size and use of margins also fall under the term “spatial awareness”. Use these spacing tool ideas to support spatial awareness in handwriting.
    What is spatial awareness? Tips and tools for handwriting, reading, scissors, and all functional skills in kids and adults, from an Occupational Therapist.
    Visual Perception and spatial awareness in kids. What is Spatial awareness and why do kids have trouble with spacing between letters and words, reversing letters, and all things vision. Great tips here from an Occupational Therapist, including tips and tools to help kids with spacing in handwriting.
    You can use a spacing tool to support spatial awareness skills in kids.

    visual spatial relations activities

    Addressing spatial awareness can occur with a handwriting spacing tool like the one we made, but other spacing activities can help with visual spatial relations, too. Try some of these activities:

    • Create an obstacle course using couch cushions, chairs, blankets, pillows, and other items in the house.
    • Try this activity for teaching over, under, around, and through with pretend play.
    • Create a paper obstacle course.  Draw obstacles on paper and have your child make his /her pencil go through the obstacles.  Draw circles, holes, mud pits, and mountains for them to draw lines as their pencil “climbs”, “jumps”, “rolls”, and even erases!
    • Write words and letters on graph paper.  The lines will work as a guide and also a good spacing activity.
    • Use stickers placed along the right margin of  to cue the student that they are nearing the edge of paper when writing.  
    • Highlight writing lines on worksheets.
    • Draw boxes for words on worksheets for them to write within.
    • Play Simon Says. Print off these Simon Says commands to target specific skill areas in therapy sessions or at home.
    • Practice directions.  Draw arrows on a paper pointing up, down, left, and right.  Ask your child to point to the direction the arrow is pointing.  Then have them say the direction the arrows are pointing.  Then create actions for each arrow.  Up may be jumping. Down may be squatting. The Left arrow might be side sliding to the left, and the Right arrow might be a right high kick. Next, draw more rows of arrows in random order.  Ask your child to go through the motions and try to go faster and faster.

    spatial awareness Activities  

    For more multisensory learning and hands-on play incorporating the development of spatial awareness skills, visit these blog posts:

    Spatial Awareness Toys

    This post contains affiliate links.

    Looking for more tools to improve visual spatial awareness?  The toy ideas below are great for improving visual tracking and visual scanning in fun ways.  These toys, games, and ideas may be a great gift idea for little ones who have visual perceptual difficulties or problems with spacing and handwriting, body awareness in space, letter reversals, detail awareness, or maintaining place while reading.  

    SO, save these ideas for grandparents and friends who might ask for gift ideas for birthdays and holidays.  These are some powerhouse spatial awareness ideas!

    Spatial awareness toys and spatial awareness games for kids

      When working on spatial awareness in handwriting, kids can count the number of holes in the pegboard in this Construction and Building Toy. (affiliate link) Copy instructions to build 3D structures while working on spacing of pieces and awareness of details in this fun engineering toy. 

    Mini erasers (affiliate link) as a spacing tool. Kids can write while keeping the small eraser on their desk. When they space out words, use the eraser as a measuring tool, just like our button buddy. You can also encourage them to finish their writing task and then go back and check over their work for spatial concepts with the eraser. 

    Practice spatial awareness of the edges of the page by using a Clear Rulers. (affiliate link) Kids can place the ruler along the edge of the paper to know when to stop writing and to use as a visual cue. Sometimes kids try to squish a word in at the end of a line when there is not enough room. Line the ruler up along the edge and as they write, they can see that they are nearing the edge of the paper.     

    Use a highlighter (affiliate link) to draw dots between each word, to provide a visual cue for spacing between words. You can also draw a line along the edge of the paper for a visual cue that the child is nearing the edge of the paper. 

    Wooden Building Blocks Sets (affiliate link) are powerful ways to support spatial awareness development. Similarly, and great for targeting body awareness related to objects in the area around us, is this DIY cardboard bricks activity which children love.

    Spatial Awareness Games

    One study found that children who play frequently with puzzles, construction, and board games tend to have better spatial reasoning ability. 

    To get the whole family in on a spatial reasoning game while working on placement of pieces, try IQ Twist (affiliate link) for a game of logic as you place pieces in this puzzle.

    This related IQ Arrows game (affiliate link) develops spatial relations but is great for adding to an occupational therapy bag. Use the arrows in play dough to work on directionality with heavy work through the hands. Make mini fine motor obstacle courses and other spatial relations activities on a smaller scale.

    Kanoodle (affiliate link) works on pattern recognition, spatial reasoning, and is a great way to practice spacing needed in handwriting.   

    A toy like a geoboard allows a child to copy forms while counting out spaces of pegs. Try these Geoboards. (affiliate link)

    Here are more spatial awareness games and specifically spatial reasoning games: These are Amazon affiliate links.

    Toys for Body in Space Awareness

    These toys specifically address body awareness and directional awareness to help with overall spatial awareness development. Position in space impacts functioning in daily tasks at home and in the community. This plays a part in social emotional development and overall confidence as well. When a child feels confident in their body in space awareness, they can navigate the world around them with ease.

    And, in regards to handwriting, sometimes, spacing problems on paper have to do with difficulties with directional awareness.

    Use Arrows (affiliate link) to start at the basics and practice naming left/write/top/bottom. Use them in whole-body movement activities where the child copies motions based on the arrow placement. Watch to make sure kids are not over stepping their allotted space. 

    Use Wikki Stix (affiliate link) for spacing on paper with physical cues for margins and spacing. Use the wikki sticks to space between words and a “ball” of the wikki stick to space between words.

    Position in Space Toys

    What is spatial awareness? Use these activity suggestions from an occupational therapist.

    More Occupational Therapy Toys

    1. Fine Motor Toys 
    2. Gross Motor Toys 
    3. Pencil Grasp Toys 
    4. Toys for Reluctant Writers 
    5. Toys for Spatial Awareness 
    6. Toys for Visual Tracking 
    7. Toys for Sensory Play 
    8. Bilateral Coordination Toys 
    9. Games for Executive Functioning Skills 
    10. Toys and Tools to Improve Visual Perception 
    11. Toys to Help with Scissors Skills 
    12. Toys for Attention and Focus

    Printable List of Toys for Spatial Awareness

    Want a printable copy of our therapist-recommended toys to support spatial awareness?

    As therapy professionals, we LOVE to recommend therapy toys that build skills! This toy list is done for you so you don’t need to recreate the wheel.

    Your therapy caseload will love these SPATIAL AWARENESS toy recommendations. (There’s space on this handout for you to write in your own toy suggestions, to meet the client’s individual needs, too!)

    Enter your email address into the form below. The OT Toolbox Member’s Club Members can access this handout inside the dashboard, under Handouts. Just be sure to log into your account, first!

    Therapist-Recommended ​
    SPATIAL AWARENESS TOYS HANDOUT

    ​

      We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

      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.

      Toys and Tools to Help With Attention and Focus

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      Here we are talking toys that help kids pay attention. These focus toys can be ways to support concentration or toys to help kids with the working memory skills needed for functional tasks, by allowing them to sustain attention during an activity. Part of our occupational therapy toys lists, this resource supports the development of attention through play.

      Amazon affiliate links are included in this blog post. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.

      Toys to Help with Attention

      Some of the toy suggestions you find here are fidget items. Others are toys or games to support the skills needed to pay attention. Skills like sustained attention, maintaining focus in order to utilize working memory throughout a task, and items to support ADHD or generalized attention challenges can be developed through practice and play.

      Helping kids with attention and focus can be difficult.  Presenting games and toys can be frustrating for these kiddos and their parents or teachers when there are underlying reasons for inattention and lack of focus.  We’ve shared several posts on attention in the past and wanted to put together a list of great toys and tools that can help with attention and focus for participation in games or other leisure activities, school tasks, and daily skills.
       
       
      Use this gift guide to help kids who need tools and toys to help with attention and focus in the classroom, school, or at home.
       
       

      Toys and Tools to Help with Attention and Focus

       
      Affiliate links are included in this post.
       
      These DIY fidget toys  are an option for the classroom or in the home. 
       
      Strengthening the core can have a great effect on helping kids improve attention and focus in the home and in the classroom.  Read more about strengthening the core to help improve these skills.
       
       
       



      A smaller sized therapy ball like this 9 inch Stability Ball (affiliate link) might be a better option for kids who use the balls for floor activities like laying prone on the ball in a superman pose.  This is a great core strengthening and vestibular activity that can help with strengthening and sensory needs.


      Other smaller sized therapy balls would be more appropriate when the balls are used as a seat to help with attention. Proper positioning is essential for handwriting and reading when seated at a desk.  Try this 28 inch therapy ball (affiliate link) for younger kids.

      A Large Stability Ball (affiliate link) is a great tool to have in the home or classroom.  Use it for alerting sensory input or as a strengthening tool to build core strength. 

      Brain Breaks Game (affiliate link) is a great game that allows time for movement during, before, and after learning. Read more about brain breaks and other ways to help kids focus here.

      The Peanut Therapy Ball (affiliate link) is great for inviting movement and sensory input in a variety of positions.  Try this as a seat or to engage core muscles.

       
      Thinking Putty (affiliate link) Squeezing putty provides heavy input through the hands.  This can be calming for children and a valuable tool for allow kids to take focus off sensory needs and onto the task at hand.  This type of putty comes in a variety of colors.
       
       

      It is important to remember that every child is different.  Just as needs and interests differ, the thing that can capture attention and focus will vastly vary from child to child.  Use the interests that your child cares about to improve focus and attention.  

      Try these attention building tips:


      Begin by playing one on one with the child in an environment that is free from distractions.


      Try playing a game or completing an activity for a short period of time with breaks for movement and gross motor activity.  It is not the movements that will boost attention, but rather the break to allow for movement.  Coming back to a desk-top or structured activity or game may be easier for kids with attention and focusing issues.


      Slowly increase the time spent on a task.

      toys for concentration

      Try games without a lot of rules or classic games that do not have a lot of distracting colors, sounds, and lights.  Other children may require toys that light up with sounds and flashes in order to help with attention, based on the use of novel auditory or visual stimuli. 


      Low-tech attention boosting toys and tools might include:

      Checkers (affiliate link) is a classic game that can encourage increased time focusing on an end goal.  This type of game will certainly not work for all children with attention or focusing difficulties.  The limited colors and simple game board can be a benefit for other children, however.

      Connect 4 (affiliate link) Try playing this game on it’s side to eliminate the need to shift the vision and observe distractions.  Use the legs on the game and lay it down on a table surface to have enough slant for the pieces to fall into place. A slight shift might be needed to get the game pieces to fall into place.

      Ring Toss (affiliate link) is a game that can allow for movement during game play.  Try adding weights to wrists or ankles for heavy work input during game play.  Position the ring toss game in a corner of a room to eliminate distractions.  This type of game is often times an incentive to address leaning concepts such as math, sight words, and spelling.



      A Pop and Catch Game (affiliate link) is another movement-based way to encourage focus.  Kids will need to keep their eyes on the ball as they move their cup to catch it before it hits the ground.  This might be a challenge for children with visual motor integration difficulties. Try sitting on the floor, close together.  Then, build up to kneeling, moving farther apart, standing, and even sitting in a rolling chair.

      Use these toys and tools to help with attention and focus including visual attention needed for functional tasks and reading or writing.

      Toys to help with Visual Attention



      For some kids, the attention concerns arise when there are too many distractions in the child’s visual field.  They are unable to pick out the important information. This might occur when a child is trying to find matching socks from a drawer full of unpaired socks.  They can not scan and search to find the sock they need and give up.    

      Other kids simply can not filter out unnecessary information in a cluttered scene. These kids wiggle, fidget, and can’t focus in the classroom.

      Toys and tools can support these areas. Games and activities like a math maze activity that incorporates interests are one idea. Then, you could also try games and toys that are out there on the market.

      toys to help focus

      These toys to support focus and attention are Amazon affiliate links. Each toy can foster attention and focus by playing the game. 

      Some tips to use toys to support the ability to focus and attend during game play, there are a few ways to make the game not only fun and engaging, but also meaningful in development.

      Using toys to develop focus skills in children is an essential aspect of occupational therapy because kids and play are one and the same! Play is the primary occupation of the child, so game play is one way to foster specific skills.

      When using games to develop focus, use these tips: 

      1. Choose Purposeful Toys: Select toys that encourage concentration and engagement. For younger children, toys with vibrant colors, interesting textures, and simple features can capture their attention. Examples include building blocks, puzzles, or toys that involve sorting and matching.

      2. Incorporate Sensory Elements: Integrate sensory experiences into play to enhance focus. Toys with various textures, shapes, and sizes can stimulate different senses, promoting sensory integration. This could include engaging in flexible seating options and varied sitting positions during play (laying on the floor, alternative seating options, etc.). It could also mean a calming corner to play. Or, you could incorporate sensory bins or other sensory materials in game play. Sensory play has been linked to improved attention and focus in children (Case-Smith & O’Brien, 2010).

      Remember, each child is unique, and it’s crucial to tailor activities based on their individual preferences and developmental level.

      Reference: Case-Smith, J., & O’Brien, J. C. (2010). Occupational therapy for children and adolescents. Elsevier Health Sciences.

      Spot It (affiliate link) requires kids to pull out and match items between two cards.  This is a great game for car rides, too!

       
       
      A Maze Puzzle Book (affiliate link) encourages kids to visually attend to the correct line as they scan the puzzle.
       
      Visual Attention Scratch art book
       
       Where’s Waldo Books (affiliate link) are a visual attention and memory game. Focus on the details!
       

       
      Use Hidden Picture Books (affiliate link) like these sticker books to help kids pull out visual information from a cluttered page.  Using stickers can be motivational for kids.
       
       
       
       

      Fidget Toys to Help With Attention and Focus

       
      Finally, there is the sensory need that results in inattention.  When kids are preoccupied with a sensory over-stimulation or under-stimulation, attention and focus lack.  We’ve shared toys and tools that can help to meet sensory needs with fidget toys.  Try these ideas for fidget tools for classroom and home use.
       

      The Tangle Jr. Original Fidget Toy (affiliate link)will keep fingers and hands busy so kids can concentrate on homework or school work. 

      A ball of play dough or this Pull and Stretch Bounce Ball (affiliate link) is a good way to keep kids’ hand occupied as they move with the small motor proprioceptive input. This heavy work for the hands can allow kids to concentrate as they write. 

      The Sensory Desk Stickers (affiliate link) is great for kids who are doing homework as it can sit on a table surface or notebook on the go.

      A pencil topper like these Pencil Tops Fidget (affiliate link) can help kids while they write, and can be fidgeted with on or off the pencil. 

      THE ULTIMATE FIDGET (affiliate link) is a quiet fidget toy that kids can keep in their pocket. 

      Keychain Fidget Toys are another option that can help with attention and focus.

      Toys and tools to help with attention and focus in kids.
      Use these toys and tools to help kids with attention and focus including visual attention.

      More tools for addressing attention needs in kids

      There are so many strategies to address attention in kids and activities that can help address attention needs. One tactic that can be a big help is analyzing precursors to behaviors related to attention and addressing underlying needs. 

       
       
       

      How to Support Students with Attention in the Classroom

      Common questions come up when we support parents and teachers with attention needs in the classroom. I will put my responses as an occupational therapist here.

      Why do so many students struggle with attention and focus in school?
      Classrooms today often require students to sit for extended periods, engage in unengaging lessons, or manage high expectations for behavior. This can overwhelm students, leading to attention and behavior challenges. Addressing these concerns requires a multi-faceted approach, including movement breaks, hands-on learning, and strategies to enhance self-regulation.

      How can therapists help teachers promote attention and focus?
      School-based occupational therapy practitioners can collaborate with teachers by providing strategies that are easy to implement in the classroom. Ideas include short brain breaks using tools like the ones inside The OT Toolbox Membership, GoNoodle, Brain Gym, or MeMoves, and introducing standing desks or alternative seating. Offering staff in-service training on integrating movement and sensory strategies into the school day has proven effective in reducing referrals.

      What role does movement play in improving attention?
      Movement is so critical for self-regulation and attention. Activities like brain breaks, outdoor running, or even a few minutes of yoga can help reset a student’s focus. Encouraging more recess or gym time is another way to give students the physical activity they need to stay engaged and attentive.

      How can individualized strategies support students struggling with attention?
      Individualized movement plans, such as creating movement breaks or providing specific tools like wobble cushions or standing desks, can help active students channel their energy productively. Additionally, teaching students to self-advocate for movement breaks empowers them to manage their own needs.

      What are some easy-to-implement strategies for classrooms?
      One idea I love is to use a Google Chrome extension like Move It for reminders to stand and stretch.

      As the OT in a building, I also like to send out weekly emails to staff with tips and articles related to sensory regulation, motor skills, and attention (e.g., “Motor Monday”). Provide teachers with pre-referral manuals or lists of classroom-based interventions.

      How do sensory strategies contribute to attention?
      Sensory strategies help regulate a student’s nervous system, making them better able to focus. These can include heavy work activities, calming tools, or visual schedules to establish routines. There are more inside The OT Toolbox membership. Combining sensory activities with executive functioning strategies like chunking material or using visual aids enhances classroom participation.

      How can we address pushback from teachers on implementing these strategies?
      Middle school and high school teachers may resist incorporating movement into their classrooms. Offering research-backed evidence and easy-to-apply methods, such as brief standing activities or mindfulness moments, can help ease resistance. Highlighting how these tools benefit classroom management and academic success makes them more appealing.

      Can alternative seating really help students?
      Yes, flexible seating options like standing desks, wobble cushions, and other alternative seating options allow students to move subtly while working, improving focus and reducing disruptive behavior that impacts attention.

      How can therapists address teacher overwhelm about attention issues?
      Regular communication, such as weekly emails with simple, actionable ideas, can reduce teacher stress. Providing clear, evidence-based strategies in handouts or in-service sessions ensures teachers feel supported without being overwhelmed.

      More therapy toys to support specific skills:

      1. Fine Motor Toys 
      2. Gross Motor Toys 
      3. Pencil Grasp Toys 
      4. Toys for Reluctant Writers 
      5. Toys for Spatial Awareness 
      6. Toys for Visual Tracking 
      7. Toys for Sensory Play 
      8. Bilateral Coordination Toys 
      9. Games for Executive Functioning Skills 
      10. Toys and Tools to Improve Visual Perception 
      11. Toys to Help with Scissors Skills 
      12. Toys for Attention and Focus 

      Printable List of Toys for Attention and Focus

      Want a printable copy of our therapist-recommended toys to support attention and focusing skills?

      As therapy professionals, we LOVE to recommend therapy toys that build skills! This toy list is done for you so you don’t need to recreate the wheel.

      Your therapy caseload will love these ATTENTION toy recommendations. (There’s space on this handout for you to write in your own toy suggestions, to meet the client’s individual needs, too!)

      Enter your email address into the form below. The OT Toolbox Member’s Club Members can access this handout inside the dashboard, under Handouts. Just be sure to log into your account, first!

      Therapist-Recommended ​
      ATTENTION & FOCUS TOYS HANDOUT

      ​

        We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

        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.

        Bilateral Coordination Toys

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        Bilateral coordination toys

        Here we are covering all things bilateral coordination toys. When it comes to bilateral integration, coordinating both sides of the body in play can be a challenge for some children. These bilateral skills impact functional use of the body, motor planning, and bilateral integration as a whole. It’s through play with occupational therapy toys targeting bilateral skills that children can strengthen and develop this essential motor skill. Let’s dissect a few select toys that promote this skill.

        Amazon affiliate links are included in this blog post. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.

        Bilateral Coordination Toys

        We’ve previously covered both fine motor toy ideas and gross motor toys. Today’s topic closely mirrors those areas. Today is all about the bilateral integration that goes into motor play. 

        First, let’s talk Bilateral Coordination Toys!

        Bilateral coordination toys are an occupational therapy intervention that helps children develop essential skills in bilateral integration. Toys that use both hands in a coordinated manner help children with bilateral coordination, crossing midline, and using both hands in tasks. These are essential skills that allow for an integration of both sides of the body, but more than that, bilateral coordination tells us that the brain is communicating effectively and sharing information between sides of the brain.

        Today, I’m excited to share bilateral coordination toys and games to help support this essential skill.

        Bilateral coordination toys for kids to develop coordination of both sides of the body.

        Bilateral integration

        Bilateral coordination in functional tasks makes up much of our day! Think of all of the other areas where you are using both hands or both sides of the body at the same time: getting dressed, tying shoes, cooking, typing, holding a book while reading, pouring a glass of water…the list could go on and on!

        Read about bilateral integration in the cross crawl exercise resource.

        This integrated use of both sides of the body can be developed through play.

        Using both sides of the body together is a skill needed for many tasks: writing with a pencil with one hand while stabilizing paper with the other hand is one such activity.

        Another bilateral coordination task is cutting with scissors with one hand while holding and manipulating paper with the other hand.

        For children with difficulty in crossing midline, or using integrated bilateral skills, using toys in play is an effective way to work on and nurture this skill.

        Looking for a toy to work on bilateral coordination to add to your gift giving this holiday season? Today we are covering ways to build bilateral coordination skills using toys and everyday items. We also have another giveaway to share today. This time it’s a fine motor toy that promotes a variety of sills, bilateral integration being one of them. I wanted to highlight this as a toy for building bilateral coordination because as we know, promoting this skill is a valuable building block to other tasks such as handwriting, cutting with scissors, self-care tasks, and more.

        Working on bilateral coordination in play is a means and a strategy for building this essential skill. So, why is bilateral coordination so important? And what exactly does bilateral coordination mean?

        DIY Bilateral Coordination Toys

        We’ve shared quite a few bilateral coordination toys and DIY activities here on this site in the past.

        A bilateral coordination lacing plate is a DIY toy and activity that can be used to work on coordinated use of both hands with a variety of themes.

        Using puzzles and games that you already have with an extra special addition can be a great way to work on bilateral coordination with puzzles.

        Play dough and sensory doughs are fun ways to play while working on skills like bilateral coordination and other motor skills.

        Stickers are an easy way to work on bilateral coordination and can be used in the classroom, clinic, or home and in combination with obstacle courses and other motor activities.

        Pegboards (both DIY and store-bought versions), are a fantastic way to work on bilateral coordination in play and in developing visual motor skills and coordination.

        DIY pick-up sticks are a fun way to address bilateral integration and coordinated use of both hands together.

        Making DIY lacing cards are a fun way to work on bilateral coordination. Making the lacing cards is part of the fun.

        Miniature rhythm sticks can be a musical and creative way to encourage bilateral coordination.

        Lock and keys games like with this DIY lock and key activity makes fine motor development an out of the box way to work on skills kids need for independence and instrumental activities of daily living.

        Bilateral Coordination Toys

        There are many bilateral coordination toys on the market as well. Let’s take a look at some toys and games that you can add to your therapy toolbox.

        Amazon affiliate links are included below.

        Pop Tubes Toy for Bilateral Coordination– (affiliate link) Pop tubes can be used in many ways to work on bilateral skills. Use them for a fine motor bilateral coordination task, or use them to work on a large scale or small scale. Wrap one around a wrist and build off of that tube. Or create a chain of tubes. Hold one and drop objects through the tube and into a container. How will you use this bilateral coordination toy?

        Bilateral coordination toy for use in bilateral coordination obstacle courses and other occupational therapy interventions.

        TruBalance Bilateral Coordination Toy– (affiliate link) This toy requires both hands as well as the eyes to challenge balance, coordination, and bimanual skills. Kids can work with this toy while sitting, standing, or in more challenging positions. Try incorporating couch cushions for a balance activity. Use this toy in a bilateral coordination obstacle course. Kids can use the pieces in a scavenger hunt type of activity where the parts are scattered at various levels and positioning, allowing the child to crawl, climb, walk, or squat while balancing the toy. The options go on and on!

        Use nuts and bolts activities to help kids develop bilateral coordination.

        Nuts and Bolts Bilateral Coordination Toy– (affiliate link) This nuts and bolts activity is great for developing fine motor skills as well as bilateral coordination by requiring the child to use one hand to manipulate the parts while the other hand acts as a stabilizer. This is a nice way to develop skills needed for tasks like handwriting, pouring, stabilizing, cooking, etc.

        Another great option is a tube building toy. This has a lot of open-ended creative building that can be done.

        Zoom ball in therapy can be used to work on bilateral coordination, visual convergence, core strength, shoulder stability, and motor planning.

        Zoom Ball– (affiliate link) This classic toy is such a great way to work on many skills: bilateral coordination, core strength, shoulder stability, visual convergence, motor planning, and coordination. Just like the TruBalance toy, a zoom ball can be used in different positions to challenge balance and vestibular input: Try using the zoom ball in sitting, standing, kneeling, standing on couch cushions, a slant…again, the options are limitless! Use our favorite zoom ball games to get started.

        Thumbs up is a bilateral coordination game for kids.

        Thumbs Up Game– (affiliate link) This bilateral coordination game requires players to place rings on their thumb in a “thumbs up” position while they race to scoop and find the correct combination of colored rings to add to their thumb. It’s a fun racing game that builds visual perceptual skills too: figure ground, visual discrimination, visual memory, as well as the visual processing skill of scanning.

        Lacing cards help kids develop bilateral coordination skills.

        Lacing Buttons– (affiliate link) There is no doubt about the power of lacing cards when it comes to developing bilateral coordination skills. However, this lacing buttons activity takes it up a notch with the eye-hand coordination and visual processing skills. Kids can lace buttons onto wooden shirt pieces while building bilateral skills, fine motor skills, and eye-hand coordination. However, the set also includes puzzle cards that ask the child to lace on colored buttons in specific order so it matches the cards. What a workout in visual processing skills, too!

        use lacing beads to help kids with coordination, fine motor skills, and bimanual skills.

        Animal Lacing Beads– (affiliate link) These lacing beads are chunky wooden animals that help kids develop bilateral coordination, eye-hand coordination, fine motor skills, and visual perceptual skills. As an occupational therapist, I am drawn to this toy because of the different animals that could be used in sequencing activities, sensory bins, pretend play, stacking activities, and so much more.

        Apple lacing activity for bilateral skills.

        Wooden Lacing Apple– (affiliate link) This lacing puzzle challenges bilateral coordination skills and can be used to work on eye-hand coordination, tripod grasp, and motor planning. Use this activity to help with stabilization as well.

        Press blocks offer a sensory feedback opportunity for building bilateral coordination.

        Press and Stay Blocks– (affiliate link) These building blocks require bilateral coordination with a press so they stay, helping kids to develop bilateral coordination and get proprioceptive input to push them together and then take them apart. Building blocks are a great way to build fine motor skills and visual perceptual skills, and these are a great addition to your therapy toolbox collection.

        Labyrinth Game– (affiliate link) This maze game is a favorite in our house, and a tool for building bilateral coordination and visual perceptual skills too. Kids need to manipulate two knobs at the same time and coordinate visual information with one hand or the other…or both. It’s a brain building challenge that involves both sides of the body. Challenge kids to do this activity in a kneel or while standing on their knees at a low table to challenge balance and offer proprioceptive input as well.

        fine motor toy for kids

        Octi Buckle Plush Toy with Hook and Loop Straps– (affiliate link) This play toy is a strategy to encourage development of fine motor skills, problem solving, color matching, coordination, and more. This stuffed play buddy is a toy that promotes development of many skills, bilateral coordination being one of them.

        Using toys that double as quiet time activities, busy bags, or travel toys…all while working on skills is what makes toys like the buckle plush toy a therapist-approved toy. A buckle toy, with bright colors, shapes, straps, and zipper pouch will provide countless hours of recognition activities, brain building games and development puzzles. Your little one will stay busy counting the number of straps, connecting them together, pulling them apart, and starting over again. Kids can hide small items and treasures in the zip pouch, then unzip it later and get excited over their discovery!

        More Bilateral coordination activities

        Amazon affiliate links are included below.

        Also, check out these other toy suggestions based on therapeutic development through play.

        1. Fine Motor Toys 
        2. Gross Motor Toys 
        3. Pencil Grasp Toys 
        4. Toys for Reluctant Writers
        5. Toys for Spatial Awareness 
        6. Toys for Visual Tracking 
        7. Toys for Sensory Play 
        8. Bilateral Coordination Toys 
        9. Games for Executive Functioning Skills 
        10. Toys and Tools to Improve Visual Perception 
        11. Toys to Help with Scissors Skills
        12. Toys for Attention and Focus 

        Printable List of Toys for Bilateral Coordination

        Want a printable copy of our therapist-recommended toys to support bilateral coordination?

        As therapy professionals, we LOVE to recommend therapy toys that build skills! This toy list is done for you so you don’t need to recreate the wheel.

        Your therapy caseload will love these BILATERAL COORDINATION toy recommendations. (There’s space on this handout for you to write in your own toy suggestions, to meet the client’s individual needs, too!)

        Enter your email address into the form below. The OT Toolbox Member’s Club Members can access this handout inside the dashboard, under Handouts. Just be sure to log into your account, first!

        Therapist-Recommended ​
        BILATERAL COORDINATION TOYS HANDOUT

        ​

          We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

          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.

          Visual Tracking Tips and Tools for Treatment

          by

          Here we are covering all things visual tracking, including what visual tracking means, how to improve visual tracking skills, and visual tracking toys to support development of this visual processing skill.

          Amazon affiliate links are included in this blog post. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.

          Visual Tracking toys and tools to improve visual fixation, visual tracking, visual saccades, in handwriting, reading, and so many functional daily tasks and skills in kids.

          What is Visual Tracking

          Visual tracking is typically defined as the ability to efficiently move the eyes from left to right (or right to left, up and down, and circular motions) OR focusing on an object as it moves across a person’s visual field.

          This skill is important for almost all daily activities, including reading, writing, cutting with scissors, drawing, and playing.  According to typical development of visual processing, the ability to visually track objects emerges in children around the age of five.  

          Reading a paragraph without losing their place, copying a list of homework from the chalkboard, misalignment of vertical and horizontal numbers in math problems, confusion in interpreting written direction, mixing up left/right, persistent letter reversals…Does any of this sound familiar? It’s all visual tracking!  

          Vision and visual tracking are tasks that happen without us even realizing.  The brain and it’s jobs is an amazing thing and our eyes are moving, tracking, scanning, focusing, pursuing, and accommodating without us even realizing.     There are many ways to work on visual perception in playful and creative ways.

          Related is the visual figure ground piece, which allows us to pull visual information from a busy background, and track that visual input.  

          visual tracking exercises

          Visual Tracking Exercises

          Using visual tracking exercises like the one described below can be a powerful way to use eye exercises to improve vision in kids. These are the visual skills needed not for visual acuity, but rather, those unseen visual problems that impact visual processing skills.

          Visual tracking exercises can include vision therapy activities that improve areas such as visual saccades or smooth visual pursuit.

          Difficulties in Visual Tracking

          You might see problems with these tasks if a child has difficulty with visual tracking:

          • Losing place when reading.  Re-reads or skips words or lines.  
          • Omits, substitutes, repeats, or confuses similar words when reading.
          • Must use finger to keep place when reading.
          • Poor reading comprehension.
          • Short attention span.
          • Difficulty comprehending or remembering what is read.
          • Confusion with interpreting or following written directions.
          • Writing on a slant, up or down hill, spacing letters and words irregularly.
          • Confusion with left/right directions.
          • Persistent reversals of letters (b, d, p, q) when naming letters.
          • Reverses letters when writing (persistent reversals after 2nd grade.)
          • Errors when copying from a chalkboard or book to paper.
          • Misalignment of horizontal and vertical series’ of numbers in math problems.

          Also related to visual tracking and very similar while being involved in many of these problem areas, is visual scanning.  

          It is important to note that not all of these difficulties indicate a true visual tracking and or visual scanning problem.  For example, many children demonstrate poor reading comprehension and may show a short attention span while not having visual scanning problems.  

          All children should be evaluated by a pediatric physician, behavioral optometrist, and occupational therapist to determine true visual processing and visual tracking or visual scanning deficits.  These recommendations are meant to be a resource.    

          Visual Tracking toys and tools to improve visual fixation, visual tracking, visual saccades, in handwriting, reading, and so many functional daily tasks and skills in kids.

          Visual Tracking Activities

          Today, I’m sharing an easy visual tracking activity that will help kids with many functional difficulties.  This post is part of our new series where we are sharing 31 days of Occupational Therapy using mostly free or inexpensive materials.

          Today’s activity should cost you at most $2 unless you already have these items in your craft cupboard or office supplies.  Add this activity to your treatment bag for multiple activities.  Read on:

          Amazon affiliate links below.

          This Visual tracking activity is easy to set up.  Gather recycled bottle caps.  I used round dot labels (affiliate link) from our office supplies to color the inside of each cap.  You could also use a marker or paint to color the bottle caps.  Use what you’ve got on hand to make this treatment activity free or almost free!   Next, gather matching crafting pom poms. (affiliate link)  These can be found at the dollar store for and inexpensive treatment item.    

          visual tracking activities

          Skills Related to Visual Tracking

          It’s important to mention that there are several skills related to visual tracking. These sub-areas should be identified as a piece of the overall puzzle. Areas related to visual tracking play a role in the eyes ability to fixate on an object and follow it as it moves. These skills include:

          • Visual fixation
          • Peripheral tracking
          • Visual pursuit

          Visual Fixation Activity: (Maintaining vision on an item in the visual field) Work one eye at a time.  

          1. Have your child close one eye and place a colored crafting pom pom onto a matching bottle cap.  They need to use one hand to place the pom pom into the corresponding bottle cap and not move bottle caps around on the table.
          2. After the child has filled all of the bottle caps using one eye, repeat the task with the other eye.  
          3. Then complete the activity using both eyes.    
          4. You can also do this activity by placing the label dots on a paper. Match the bottle caps onto the dots. 

          Visual Stare Activity (the amount of time the eyes can fixate on an object without eye movements)

          1. Hold up one bottle cap on your nose.
          2. Ask your child to sit about 18 inches from you and stare at the bottle cap.  Note their eye movements as they stare.  
          3. Keep track of time that the child can stare at the target without visual saccades (eye movements).

          Peripheral Tracking Activity (visually tracking from the peripheral visual fields)

          1. Arrange the bottle caps on the table.  
          2. Place a pom pom in the center of the table, with the bottle caps all around it.  
          3. Ask your child to stare at the pom pom. While keeping their head still and only moving their eyes, ask them to quickly find a bottle cap with the same color.  
          4. Ask them to scan to another bottle cap of the same color until they’ve found all of the caps with that color.  
          5. You can add a level to this task by writing letters or numbers in the bottle caps and asking the child to find letters in order or numbers in order.

          Visual Tracking Pursuit Activity (watching and tracking a moving object)

          1. Set one bottle cap on the right side of the table.  
          2. Place another at the left side.  
          3. The adult should blow a crafting pom pom from the right to the left and ask the child to follow the pom with his eyes, without moving their head.
          4. Repeat by blowing the pom pom from the left to the right, front to back, and back to front in front of the child.

          Visual Tracking Tracing Lines (Watching a pencil line as it is formed, and following the line with eye-hand coordination to trace with a pencil or marker)

          1. Set one vertical row of bottle cap on the left side of the child.  
          2. Place another vertical row on the right side.
          3. The adult should draw a line from one bottle cap on the left side to a matching bottle cap on the right side.  
          4. Instruct the child to follow the pencil as you draw.  Nest, trace the line with your finger.  
          5. Ask the child to trace the line with their finger.  
          6. They can then trace the lines with a pencil or marker.
          Visual Tracking toys and tools to improve visual fixation, visual tracking, visual saccades, in handwriting, reading, and so many functional daily tasks and skills in kids.

          More eye tracking Strategies

          • Complete mazes
          • Do puzzles.
          • Use a newspaper or magazine article.  Ask your child to highlight all of the letter “a’s”.
          • Draw or paint pictures.
          • Place a marble in a pie pan.  Rotate the pan around and watch the ball as it rolls. Don’t move your head, only your eyes!
          • Find as many things shaped like a a square in the room.  Repeat the activity, finding all of the circular shaped items in the room.
          • Play “I Spy.”
          • Dot-to-dot pictures.
          • Play balloon toss.
          • Use tracing paper to trace and color pictures.
          • Trace letters with chalk.
          • Play flashlight tag on walls and ceilings. The adult an child each holds a flashlight. As the adult shines the light on walls, the child keeps their light superimposed on top of yours. Start with simple strait lines.  Then add curved lines, then a circle.  Tell them what you are drawing next.  Advance the activity by drawing shapes without telling them what you are doing next.
          • Play with wind-up cars.
          • Create a race track on the floor. Follow cars with your eyes.
          • Roll a ball between you and the child.  Roll from left-right, right-left, front-back, back-front, and toss the ball.

          Visual Tracking toys and tools to improve visual fixation, visual tracking, visual saccades, in handwriting, reading, and so many functional daily tasks and skills in kids.

          Visual tracking Toys

          Looking for more tools to improve visual tracking?  The toys below are great for improving visual tracking and visual scanning in fun ways.  These toys, games, and ideas may be a great gift idea for little ones who have visual perceptual difficulties or problems with visual tracking and handwriting, body awareness in space, letter reversals, detail awareness, or maintaining place while reading.  

          SO, save these ideas for grandparents and friends who might ask for gift ideas for birthdays and holidays.  These are some powerhouse visual tracking ideas!

          Use Pattern Blocks and Boards (affiliate link) to work on visual fixation of shapes and sizes of shapes. 

          This Wooden Tangram Puzzle (affiliate link) has many different shapes and forms that can be copied from instructions. Copying from a diagram is a great way to practice visual tracking.

          For younger kids, this Wooden Stacking Toy encourages tracking for color sorting.  Try some of our pom pom activities that we discussed above!

          Mazes are excellent for fostering and building on visual tracking skills. Particularly those that involve a moving ball such as a Marble Run (affiliate link)
          or a labrynth (affiliate link).

          Watching a ball or moving object that is thrown around a room (like a balloon) is a great way to work on tracking in a big area. These Sportime Sensory Balls SloMo Balls (affiliate link) are lightweight and move more slowly than a typical ball, allowing kids to visually track the bright color. These are very cool for games of toss and rolling in all planes and directions. Use them to address peripheral tracking as well. 


          A flashlight can be used in so many visual tracking activities. Shine the light on words or letters taped to walls. Play “I Spy” in a dark room, shine shapes like this flashlight (affiliate link)can for visual tracking and form tracking.

          More visual Tracking Toys

          These visual tracking toys are Amazon affiliate links.

          Also check out these other top occupational therapy toys:

          1. Fine Motor Toys   
          2. Gross Motor Toys 
          3. Pencil Grasp Toys 
          4. Toys for Reluctant Writers 
          5. Toys for Spatial Awareness 
          6. Toys for Visual Tracking 
          7. Toys for Sensory Play 
          8. Bilateral Coordination Toys 
          9. Games for Executive Functioning Skills 
          10. Toys and Tools to Improve Visual Perception 
          11. Toys to Help with Scissors Skills 
          12. Toys for Attention and Focus 

          Printable List of Toys for VISUAL TRACKING

          Want a printable copy of our therapist-recommended toys to support visual tracking skills?

          As therapy professionals, we LOVE to recommend therapy toys that build skills! This toy list is done for you so you don’t need to recreate the wheel.

          Your therapy caseload will love these VISUAL TRACKING toy recommendations. (There’s space on this handout for you to write in your own toy suggestions, to meet the client’s individual needs, too!)

          Enter your email address into the form below. The OT Toolbox Member’s Club Members can access this handout inside the dashboard, under Handouts. Just be sure to log into your account, first!

          Therapist-Recommended ​
          VISUAL TRACKING TOYS HANDOUT

          ​

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            Visual Tracking toys and tools to improve visual fixation, visual tracking, visual saccades, in handwriting, reading, and so many functional daily tasks and skills in kids.

            Toys to Improve Scissors Skills

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            scissor skills toys

            Today we are talking all about the very best toys to improve scissor skills. When kids are learning to cut with scissors, developing scissor skills precision through actual use of scissors to cut various grades of paper is the primary goal and means. But, did you consider different toys that support scissor skill development? These occupational therapy toys specifically develop the skills needed to snip paper, cut, and manipulate scissors to cut!

            Amazon affiliate links are included in this blog post. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.

            Scissor skills toys to help kids use scissors.

            Scissor Skills Toys

            When working as an Occupational Therapist in the schools, one of my favorite skills to work on with kids was scissor skills. I loved working on the fine motor strength to open and shut scissors repeatedly in order to cut a shape with endurance, the eye-hand coordination needed in order to manage the scissors along lines, and the bilateral hand coordination needed to manage the paper and the scissors.  

            There are a lot of little steps needed for each of these components of cutting a shape.  A child can become very frustrated with the task of cutting with scissors if just one of these areas are difficult.  I love that many scissor tasks can be graded according to skill, age, or ability when it comes to snipping.  And I love doing activities with my kids to work on hand strength needed for using scissors or working on visual motor skills  needed for cutting shapes with scissors.  

            When it’s time to look for toys or holidays or birthdays, sometimes parents want a gift that is purposeful for independence or developmental skills like toys to help kids with getting dressed or toys to help with pencil grasp.  This one is all about our favorite toys to help with Scissor Skills!  

            The scissor skills toys listed below will support development of scissor use no matter what type of scissors are used; The recommended toys for scissor use support development of the underlying skills needed for scissor use.

            Toys and ideas to work on scissor skills in kids. These are great gift ideas for preschoolers and Toddlers.

            Toys to Help Kids work on Scissor Skills:

            Scissor sets can help kids work on the developmentally appropriate levels of using scissors: snipping, cutting strait lines, then curved lines and angled lines. Finally simple shapes and complex shapes are covered as the child works their way through the books.  

            Affiliate links are included below.

            Ready, Set, Cut! (affiliate link) from Alex Toys for scissor practice on curved and spiraled lines to create eight crafts.

            Preschool Practice Scissor Skills (affiliate link) book for ages 3-5 with 32 pages of scissor readiness skills for kids.  

            The Melissa & Doug Scissor Skills Activity Pad (affiliate link) with 20 pages of scissor skill mazes, activities, and art.  This book includes a pair of scissors.

            Hand strength for scissor tasks

            Toys that develop hand strength, separation of the sides of the hand, and the endurance needed to manipulate scissors in order to cut through paper can be developed with the use of fun with scoop toys and tong toys:

            Learning Resources Handy Scoopers (affiliate link) are beyond cool for scissor readiness and strengthening.  These scooping tools are great for using the muscles of the hands needed in scissor motions.  The opening and closing motions needed for scissor manipulation can be tiring for some children.  Practice scooping up crafting poms, cotton balls, tiny erasers, water beads, play dough, and more with these fun tools. Cutting playdough builds so many skills, so this is a fun way to make the development even more fun.

              We used bunny tongs in scissor play to work on hand strength.  These bunny tongs aren’t on Amazon right now, but we did find other egg tongs (affiliate link) that will work on hand strength.  You can also use play dough to improve scissor skills.

            Something really neat are these dough scissors (affiliate link) for cutting clay and play dough.  These are great for strengthening the muscles of the hands.

            Tong Toys to work on Eye Hand Coordination

            Cutting with scissors requires precision in eye hand coordination skills. The ability to open and close scissors is a coordinated skill. This is one that develops through practice. These tong games are great for developing hand-eye coordination in scissor skill work:

            How cute is this Barbecue Party Game (affiliate link) that comes with barbeque tongs (great for grasping play!)  

            Equally as cute and equally great for hand endurance is the PlayMonster Stacktopus (affiliate link) which requires repetitive open/shut motions of the hand using octopus tentacles that slip onto the fingers and thumb. These open/shut motions mirror tongs or that of the movement of scissors…and it’s a great pre-curser for scissor skills!  

            Jumbo sized Tongs (affiliate link) would make a great stocking stuffer and are big time fun for grasping erasers, crafting poms, dice, and small items of all kinds.

            Fun Scissors Gift Ideas for Kids: 

            These would be fun stocking stuffer ideas while using tools and toys for scissor skills!

            Zig Zag Cool Cuts scissors (affiliate link) from Alex Toys cut zig zags and wavy edges.  These scissors make snipping fun.  A fun blade can make scissor practice fun for kids of all ages.  Throw this together with a pack of colored paper for an easy gift idea.  

            Cardstock is thicker and can provide more resistance for new scissor users.  This increased resistance will slow snipping paper speed and allow for more accuracy when cutting lines of shapes.

            Loop scissors (affiliate link) are great for children with weakness in extending the thumb, or coordination difficulties.  The loop of the scissors opens automatically and the ease of opening the blades can allow for improved line awareness in cutting if the child does not need to focus on the physical task of opening and closing the scissor blades.

            Spring Assist scissors (affiliate link) are great for a child with hand weakness or fine motor difficulties.  The blades open with a spring assist and are great for beginner scissor users.

            My First Scissors (affiliate link) don’t have loops for little fingers to manage.  These snips are great for small children to use in the whole palm.  There is a spring mechanism to open the blades.

            Ways to work on scissor skill line accuracy:

            These materials make great gifts and are tools to help kids with scissor skill accuracy when cutting lines and shapes. Each material offers different textures or grades of resistance. Add some of these toy ideas to a gift bag for a child working on scissor skills through play.

            Sometimes a child can manage the hand strength, and visual motor skills needed to manage scissors (open and shut with controlled movements) and hold the paper with an assisting hand while holding the scissors with an appropriate grasp.  The difficulty lies in their visual motor skills.  

            Eye-hand coordination difficulties can make cutting along a line difficult.  Slower snipping with the scissors will allow for improved accuracy.  Providing a child with thicker paper can make cutting accuracy easier as increased resistance allows for slower snips.  

            We love practicing cutting skills with foam crafting sheets for line awareness. Foam crafting sheets (affiliate link) make a great stocking stuffer.  Going down the line of greatest to least resistance in scissor skills (and making scissor accuracy more difficult) would be cardstock(affiliate link), then construction paper (affiliate link), printer paper(affiliate link), then thinner paper or materials like tissue paper (affiliate link).  

            bilateral hand coordination for scissor skills

            We’ve covered specific toys for bilateral coordination skills in the past and those toys would be great for kids that need to improve scissor skills. When working to use both hands together in a coordinated manner to hold the paper with one hand and manage scissors with the other, bilateral integration is a must.

            Bilateral hand coordination is needed to hold the paper (and rotate the page when curves and angles are happening) and to manage the scissors with the dominant hand.  These nuts and bolts (affiliate link) are a fun way to work on bilateral hand coordination and strength of the hand.

            Have fun shopping for fun scissor games and activities for your little one!

            Check out these other great occupational therapy toy ideas:

            1. Fine Motor Toys 
            2. Gross Motor Toys 
            3. Pencil Grasp Toys 
            4. Toys for Reluctant Writers 
            5. Toys for Spatial Awareness 
            6. Toys for Visual Tracking 
            7. Toys for Sensory Play 
            8. Bilateral Coordination Toys 
            9. Games for Executive Functioning Skills 
            10. Toys and Tools to Improve Visual Perception
            11. Toys to Help with Scissors Skills 
            12. Toys for Attention and Focus 

            Printable List of Toys for SCISSOR SKILLS

            Want a printable copy of our therapist-recommended toys to support scissor skills?

            As therapy professionals, we LOVE to recommend therapy toys that build skills! This toy list is done for you so you don’t need to recreate the wheel.

            Your therapy caseload will love these SCISSOR SKILLS toy recommendations. (There’s space on this handout for you to write in your own toy suggestions, to meet the client’s individual needs, too!)

            Enter your email address into the form below. The OT Toolbox Member’s Club Members can access this handout inside the dashboard, under Handouts. Just be sure to log into your account, first!

            Therapist-Recommended ​
            SCISSOR SKILLS TOYS HANDOUT

            ​

              We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

              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.

              Writing Activities for Reluctant Writers

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              Here, we’re talking all about reluctant writers. We’ll cover WHY kids hate to write, and we’ll discuss strategies to engage kids that are reluctant to write. You’ll also find TOYS and TOOLS to engage and motivate children that hate writing.

              We’ve already covered fine motor toy ideas and pencil grasp toys, which can be a resource for reluctant writers. Today is all about play–based strategies to support reluctant writers.  Our related blog post on name practice in kindergarten offers more strategies to support the child who is reluctant to write, particularly for beginners struggling with underlying skills needed for handwriting.

              Amazon affiliate links are included in this blog post. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.

              Reluctant Writers

              It’s very common for kids of all ages to be a reluctant to write. Challenges such as not knowing letter formation, struggles with dysgraphia, or difficulties with visual perceptual skills or visual motor skills that impact legibility can mean that kids just hate to write.

              They hate to practice handwriting.

              Motivating struggling writers to actually practice the underlying areas in which they struggle can be a challenge. For kids that HATE to write, meaningful and motivating is key! These writing activities for reluctant writes will make handwriting fun so that kids can work on the skills they need to work on.

              Practice writing?  “But Mom! I don’t like to write!”  Sound familiar?  Many kids (Many, many!) just aren’t into practicing their handwriting at home.  School and homeschooling can be exhausting for kids when they have to do certain topics that they just aren’t interested in.  And handwriting is often one of those topics.  

              Hopefully, you’ll find some motivating handwriting activities in today’s post that will help your reluctant writer pick up that pencil and start writing!

              Functional and meaningful handwriting activities for reluctant writers. These are motivating activities for kids who don't like to practice handwriting.

              Handwriting Ideas for Reluctant Writers

              Many kids just aren’t into practicing their handwriting at home. School and homeschooling can be exhausting for kids when they have to do certain topics that they just aren’t interested in. And handwriting is often one of those topics.

              Often times, kids balk at having to do repetitive writing. I mean, would you want to write a word or sentence 10 times in a row? Sometimes a functional activity that is meaningful and helpful can motivate a child to want to pick up a pencil. In the end, emphasize handwriting quality over quantity and functional handwriting over perfection.

              Here are a few easy hands-on strategies to help with “non-handwriting” ways to work on handwriting:

              Work on Handwriting With Art

              Try some of the handwriting through play ideas in our handwriting library.

              Motivating Handwriting Activities Quick Tip:
              Try using “handwriting toys” to sneak in the handwriting practice in fun ways that seem more like play than writing practice.

              Fine Motor Quick Tip:
              Using a neutral or extended wrist is so important for pencil grasp, endurance in handwriting, and small motor movements of the fingers in isolation of the wrist. If your student is using a flexed (or bent) wrist, try paper position and placement. Encourage fine motor activities performed on a vertical surface or slanted surface.

              .

              Handwriting ideas for reluctant writers.

              How to engage reluctant writers

              {{This post contains affiliate links.}}

              You can throw in the fun colored ink pen for extra smiles from your reluctant writer, but we wanted to share ideas to work on functional skills like handwriting using mainly items you can find around the home. 

              Try a few of these fun ideas with your student or child:

              • Write Jokes. Look up jokes in a joke book and write them on index cards.  Send them to a friend in the mail, drop one in a neighbors mailbox (if you know the neighbor and first let them know to expect something in the mail!) or give one to teachers.  Find a buddy who would be interested in exchanging jokes.
              • Write letters to favorite celebrities.  Use those interests and look up addresses to your child’s favorite artist, musician, or sports hero.  Kids can compose a letter and address the envelope.
              • Exchange letters with a pen pal.  Kids can exchange letters with friends and relatives in other states or towns.  Getting mail addressed to themselves is very rewarding for a child.
              • Pass notes.  Write short notes to members of the family.  Leave them in places where they will be found, like on bedroom dressers or in shoes.  Notes might be simple things like, “Don’t forget about soccer practice today.” or fun things like, “Do you want to play checkers?”
              • Plan a scavenger hunt.  Write out hints on slips of paper.  The child can plan the steps and hide notes for family members or friends.
              • Practice letter formation during fun games like Tic Tac Toe.  Instead of x’s and o’s, write printed or cursive letters in the squares.
              • Write your own comic books.  Draw large rectangles on a page for a comic story. Students can draw pictures and write comic bubbles for handwriting practice.
              • Make a creative journal full of creative handwriting ideas.  We did ours with a cursive handwriting, but you could use these ideas for printed handwriting, too.
              • Tape paper to a window and write on the paper.
              • Location, location, location! Change spaces for something fun and different: go to the library and try the tables there.  Write outside with a clipboard.  Where can you go to write that is new and fun?
              • Change positions.  Sit on the floor and write on the chair seat.  Lay on couch cushions and write on the floor on a clipboard. 
              • Take brain breaks.  Every 3-4 minutes, take a mini-break for jumping jacks or wall push-ups.
              • Write to classical music.
              Engaging activities for reluctant writers

              Functional Handwriting for reluctant writers

              Often times, kids balk at having to do repetitive writing.  I mean, would you want to write a word or sentence 10 times in a row?  Sometimes a functional activity that is meaningful and helpful can motivate a child to want to pick up a pencil, especially when they are hesitant to try a writing task.  Try some of these functional handwriting tasks:  

              • Write out the family grocery list.  
              • Write your family’s return address on bills.
              • Write out a family calendar with sports schedules, outings, and family night events.
              • Write out the phone messages from an answering machine.  
              • Write out the day’s schedule on a weekend day.
              • Write out favorite television shows.  Add the day, and time of each show.
              • Write out a holiday or birthday gift wish list.
              • Write out a list of items to pack for vacation.  Include little squares next to each item to check off as items are packed.
              • Practice forming letters and words in shaving cream.
              • Sensory writing without a pencil.
              • Write words on a foam tray.

              Free Worksheet- Ideas for Reluctant Writers

              Want to print off a list of handwriting ideas for reluctant writers to send home with your therapy caseload? Now you can add this list to your therapy toolbox! Join us in the free, 5 day email series where you’ll get this free 2 page list of writing ideas for reluctant writers. You’ll also access other handwriting handouts to cover areas of handwriting issues.

              Click here to join the free 5 day Handwriting printables series.

              handwriting handouts
              Toys and game ideas for kids who are reluctant writers, and "hate" handwriting.

              Toys for Reluctant Writers 

              Looking for more ways to help your reluctant writer get more “into” writing?  These toys, tools, and games will inspire and encourage your child to want to pick up the writing tool and play.  

              The best thing is, they won’t even realize they are practicing handwriting and doing “work”!  While these tools and toys are not free, they are ideas to try.  If you have family asking for gift ideas, you might want to pass a few of these ideas along.  Here’s to writing and loving it!

              Amazon affiliate links included below.

              • Kids love a dry erase board and this Crayola Dry Erase Activity Center (affiliate link) will be fun for them to practice letter formation and writing. 
              •  The Crayola Dry-Erase Activity Center Zany Play (affiliate link) can be a fun way to practice individual letter formation. Ask your child to practice letters in each box. Kids can also work on starting/stopping the writing tool on the dots, which is great pencil control practice and needed for handwriting legibility. 
              •  Writing on this Crayola See Thru Light Designer (affiliate link) is bright and colorful and a great way to really work on letters while your child is captivated by the light animations and color effects. 
              •  For students who love to draw (or have a slight interest in drawing), this Crayola Light Designer (affiliate link) will be a huge hit. Even though they will not be writing letters and words, kids can draw with the writing tool to create 3D images of their drawings.  This is a motivating tool for reluctant writers, and beneficial for pencil control and dexterity, helpful in handwriting. 
              •  For kids who say “I can’t think of anything to write!” (sound familiar?) This creative storytelling game, Rory’s Story Cubes (affiliate link), will be a fun way to inspire. Play the game and write out stories as a family. This sounds like a great Family Night activity! 
              •  Make writing fun with Washable Window Chalk Markers (affiliate link) by writing on windows, glass, and mirrors.
              • Completing mazes are a great way to practice pencil control, line awareness in handwriting. 
              •  Try a maze book like this Extreme Mazes (affiliate link) with your reluctant writer. 
              • Mad Libs Game (affiliate link) is a great way to practice handwriting on lines and in smaller spaces. For kids who can not write as small as needed to write in the book, use a piece of paper for filling in the answers. 
              •  The handwriting practice that kids get with a Spirograph (affiliate link) is big: Pen control, bilateral hand coordination, and proprioceptive feedback. Creating these fun art pieces are motivating and fun!

              Toys for Letter Formation

              Helping kids to work on letter formation can help them to become more confident in their handwriting. Try these engaging toys to support written work:

              Chuchik Magnetic Drawing Board-(affiliate link) Use the magnetic pen to “write” letters and then erase them, adding repetitions in letter formation.

              Coogam Wooden Letters Practicing Board– (affiliate link) Use the wooden board to trace and form letters. Then place a paper over the board and use a crayon to form the letters using the textured letters.

              Naturskool Sand Writing Tray for Letter Formation with Alphabet flashcards– (affiliate link) Work on letter formation and copying skills with a sensory tray and pencil-like writing stylus.

              More Fun toys to practice pencil formation and handwriting. Below are Amazon affiliate links.

              More Developmental Toys for Therapy

              Be sure to check out these developmental toys, too. These are top-rated occupational therapy toys to support child development of skills.

              1. Fine Motor Toys 
              2. Gross Motor Toys 
              3. Pencil Grasp Toys 
              4. Toys for Reluctant Writers 
              5. Toys for Spatial Awareness 
              6. Toys for Visual Tracking 
              7. Toys for Sensory Play
              8. Bilateral Coordination Toys 
              9. Games for Executive Functioning Skills 
              10. Toys and Tools to Improve Visual Perception 
              11. Toys to Help with Scissors Skills 
              12. Toys for Attention and Focus

              PRINTABLE LIST OF TOYS FOR Reluctant Writers

              Want a printable copy of our therapist-recommended toys to support reluctant writers?

              As therapy professionals, we LOVE to recommend therapy toys that build skills! This toy list is done for you so you don’t need to recreate the wheel.

              Your therapy caseload will love these handwriting toy recommendations. (There’s space on this handout for you to write in your own toy suggestions, to meet the client’s individual needs, too!)

              Therapist-Recommended ​
              RELUCTANT WRITER TOYS HANDOUT

              ​

                We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

                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.

                Visual Perception Toys

                by

                Let’s talk visual perception toys. These games, toys, and play are designed to promote visual perceptual skills: a complex combination of various visual processing skills. These visual perceptual skills are necessary together and in coordination with one another in order for use to see information. Occupational therapy toys that visual information to create responses support functional abilities like movement or processing.

                Amazon affiliate links are included in this blog post. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.

                Visual perception Toys

                Visual perception is our ability to make sense of what we see. Visual perceptual skills are essential for everything from navigating our world to reading, writing, and manipulating items.

                Here is more information about strategies to address visual perceptual skills and handwriting. Also, be sure to check out our blog post on types of eye specialists. and this resource on behavioral optometrists.

                Use these visual perception toys to help kids develop and improve visual perceptual skills needed for handwriting, reading, and writing.


                What are Visual Perceptual Skills?

                  This post contains affiliate links.   

                Visual Perceptual Skills and how they are used to complete tasks like reading, writing, manipulating items, and functioning in everyday tasks:

                Visual Memory– This is one’s ability to store visual information in short term memory.  This skill allows us to recall visual information.  When completing hidden picture puzzles, kids visually store images of items they are looking for when scanning to locate a specific shape or image.  This skill is necessary for handwriting tasks when copying information from a source, such as lists of words, homework lists, and copying sentences.   

                Visual Closure– This visual perceptual skill allows us to see part of an object and visualize in our “mind’s eye” to determine the whole object.  When we see part of an item we use visual closure to know what the whole item is.  This skill requires the cognitive process of problem solving to identify items.  Visual Closure is used to locate and recognize items in a hidden picture puzzle.  In written work, we use visual closure to recognize parts of words and letters when reading and copying work.  

                Form Constancy– This skill allows us to visually recognize objects no matter their orientation.  When completing a hidden picture puzzle, children can recognize the missing object whether it is upside down or sideways.  In handwriting skills, we use this ability to read and know letters and numbers no matter which direction we see them.   

                Visual Spatial Relationships- This visual perceptual skill allows us to recognize and understand the relationships of objects within the environment and how they relate to one another.  

                Visual Discrimination–  This visual perception skill enables us to determine slight differences in objects.  In hidden picture activities, this skill is needed to determine and locate different hidden objects.  When writing and reading, visual discrimination allows us to perceive the difference between “p” and “d”. Puzzles including ones like the wooden letter puzzle described below address visual discrimination. There are many puzzles on the market that meet different age and grade levels. Here are a variety of puzzles (affiliate link) to consider.    

                Visual Attention- This visual perceptual skill allows us to focus on the important pieces or parts of what we see. When we “take in” a scene or image in front of us, we are able to filter out the unimportant information. In this way, a student is able to focus our eyes on the teacher when she teaches. Driving down a road requires visual attention to take in the road so we can drive safely. Visual attention is important in copy work as students copy information from a Smart Board or book onto a piece of paper. As they visually scan from one point to another, they attend to the place they left off. Visual attention is also important and very needed in reading.   

                Visual Sequential Memory- This visual perceptual skill is the ability to visually take in and then later recall the sequence or order of items in the correct order. This skill is important in reading and writing. Visual sequential memory is important in spelling words correctly and recognizing that words are not spelled correctly.  

                Visual Figure-Ground–  This skill enables us to locate items in a busy background.  Finding hidden items in a hidden pictures puzzle works on this skill by visually scanning and identifying items within a busy scene.  In handwriting, visual figure ground is necessary for copying written work from a model and locating the place left off when shifting vision.  

                Toys to Improve Visual Perception

                Highlights Hidden Pictures book set– (affiliate link) Hidden pictures are a fantastic tool for helping kids develop and strengthen visual perceptual skills like figure ground, visual attention, visual discrimination, form constancy, and visual memory. This set of hidden pictures is a nice stocking stuffer that disguises “work” as a rainy day activity.

                Self-Correcting Heads & Tails Animal Match Puzzle– (affiliate link) Puzzles like this one helps kids address visual perceptual skills like visual discrimination, figure-ground, visual attention, form constancy, and visual memory. These are easy puzzles that can be used with younger children. Add this game to an older child’s visual perceptual activities by asking them to write stories or sentences based on the puzzle pieces while sneaking in visual perceptual skill work.

                Self-Correcting Counting Puzzle– (affiliate link) This puzzle is very similar to the previous match puzzle, only it uses math concept to match. Work on visual perceptual skills with a math component.

                Uppercase & Lowercase Alphabet (affiliate link) Help kids develop skills in upper/lowercase letter matching by addressing visual discrimination, form constancy, spatial discrimination, form constancy, visual memory, and visual discrimination.

                Preschool Alphabet Animal Wooden Puzzle (affiliate link) Visual discrimination is a skill needed for noticing differences in letters like letters b and d. It’s a skill that carries over to reading and noticing the differences between words like can and car.  visual discrimination skills enable the eyes to notice differences between the orientation and parts of letters and can promote a more fluent reading ability. This skill is also important in math and spelling.  Puzzles like this one also help with form constancy, visual figure ground, among other visual perceptual skills. 

                Pixy Cubes -(affiliate link) Noticing small differences in colors and direction is an important part of visual discrimination and reading, writing, math, and spelling. These skills are important for fluency as children age and need to complete reading and math skills at faster levels appropriate for grade advances. Matching and figuring out visual puzzles like this one address skills like visual attention, visual memory, visual sequencing, spatial relationships, and visual sequencing.

                Learning Resources iTrax Critical Thinking Game– (affiliate link) This visual perceptual toy allows children to copy and build designs using blocks of different sizes. Children can develop and boost visual perceptual skills such as visual figure-ground, visual attention, visual memory, visual sequencing, and spatial relationships in order to create the mazes that they see on the cards. There are various levels of mazes, allowing for development of skills.

                Learning Resources Dive into Shapes! “Sea” and Build Geometry Set– (affiliate link) This building set is a visual perception activity that develops various visual perceptual skills needed for skills such as handwriting and reading. Using double-sided activity cards, children can develop skills such as visual figure-ground, visual attention, visual memory, visual sequencing, and spatial relationships while they copy the three-dimensional figures they see on the cards. This activity is a powerhouse therapy tool as children can strengthen fine motor skills while building with the pieces.

                Tumble Trax Magnetic Marble Run– (affiliate link) This marble run building set is a visual perception activity that develops various visual perceptual skills needed for skills such as handwriting and reading. Children can copy different levels of marble run forms using activity cards while developing skills such as visual figure-ground, visual attention, visual memory, visual sequencing, and spatial relationships. The magnetic pieces can be used on surfaces such as a refrigerator or large magnetic sheet on the wall. It’s a great tool for strengthening the upper body, developing balance and core stability, and shoulder stability while working on a vertical surface.

                Code & Go Robot Mouse Activity Set– (affiliate link) Use the activity cards to copy maze forms while developing visual perceptual skills such as visual figure-ground, visual attention, visual memory, visual sequencing, and spatial relationships. The maze is a great self-confidence booster for children as they complete mazes for the battery operated mouse. This game provides an opportunity for developing and introducing coding skills. When watching the mouse as it travels through the mouse, children can enhance visual scanning skills.

                Let’s Go Code! Activity Set– (affiliate link) This visual perception game requires children to hop, turn, step, and move through a gross motor maze of directions. Children can develop visual perceptual skills such as visual attention, visual memory, visual sequencing, and spatial relationships. Directionality is enhanced with movement activities such as this one and is much needed in tasks such as writing and identifying direction of letters and numbers. 

                Spot It– (affiliate link) This game is a fun way to help children develop and strengthen visual perceptual skills like figure ground, visual attention, visual discrimination, form constancy, and visual memory. The game is small enough to be used as a busy activity while waiting at restaurants and appointments. It’s a game that boosts skills and can be used during family game night, too.

                Q-bitz Jr.– (affiliate link) Noticing differences in colors, forms, and directions are important skills needed in visual discrimination for reading, writing, math, and spelling. These skills are important for fluency as children age and need to complete reading and math skills at faster levels appropriate for grade advances. This game is a fun way to address skills like visual attention, visual memory, visual sequencing, spatial relationships, and visual sequencing.

                Wooden Pattern Blocks Set– (affiliate link) These copying puzzle activities is a great way to develop skills like form constancy and visual discrimination. Children can look at the picture card and recreate the form using three dimensional blocks. It’s a nice way to develop visual perceptual skills like visual attention, visual memory, visual sequencing, spatial relationships, and visual sequencing.

                Classic Tangoes– (affiliate link) Similar to the tangrams above, children can view the image on a card and use tangrams to re-create the picture in this classic game. This activity develops visual perceptual skills like visual attention, visual memory, visual sequencing, spatial relationships, and visual sequencing, form constancy, and visual discrimination, all needed for handwriting and reading. Read more about using tangrams in visual perception and handwriting.

                Equilibrio Game– (affiliate link) This building activity requires players to copy forms from a puzzle book while re-creating buildings that challenge balance and gravity! When copying and building the forms, kids develop and build eye-hand coordination skills and visual perceptual skills like visual attention, visual memory, visual sequencing, spatial relationships, and visual sequencing, form constancy, and visual discrimination.

                Use visual perception toys to support the development of visual perceptual skills in kids.


                More Therapy Toys

                Looking for more toys to address specific skill areas? Check out these occupational therapy toys:

                1. Fine Motor Toys 
                2. Gross Motor Toys 
                3. Pencil Grasp Toys 
                4. Toys for Reluctant Writers 
                5. Toys for Spatial Awareness
                6. Toys for Visual Tracking
                7. Toys for Sensory Play 
                8. Bilateral Coordination Toys 
                9. Games for Executive Functioning Skills
                10. Toys and Tools to Improve Visual Perception
                11. Toys to Help with Scissors Skills 
                12. Toys for Attention and Focus

                Printable List of Toys for Visual Perception

                Want a printable copy of our therapist-recommended toys to support visual perception?

                As therapy professionals, we LOVE to recommend therapy toys that build skills! This toy list is done for you so you don’t need to recreate the wheel.

                Your therapy caseload will love these VISUAL PERCEPTION toy recommendations. (There’s space on this handout for you to write in your own toy suggestions, to meet the client’s individual needs, too!)

                Enter your email address into the form below. The OT Toolbox Member’s Club Members can access this handout inside the dashboard, under Educational Handouts. Just be sure to log into your account, first!

                Therapist-Recommended ​
                VISUAL PERCPTION TOYS HANDOUT

                ​

                  We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

                  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.

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