Colleen Beck, Author at The OT Toolbox

Stellaluna Activities

September 29, 2023 by Colleen Beck

Today we have several Stellaluna activities that we created many years ago. This Halloween fine motor task doubles down on the skill-building. With one bat craft based on the children’s book, Stellaluna, we’re covering skills like handwriting, scissor skills, math, reading, bilateral coordination, visual scanning, and much more!

Stellaluna Activities

If you haven’t read the children’s book, Stellaluna, then you are in for a treat. The Stellaluna activity and bat games we have to share today are fun ways to read the book and play with a bat theme, and the bat activities would work for a Halloween party with kids, too!

Scroll on for Stellaluna games that teach and are fun!

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon is a sweet story of a bat who is adopted by a bird family after he is knocked from his mother’s grasp during a flight. We see how different and same the bat and the birds are and also notice the differences. We were able to talk about how we as family members are all the same, yet different, and how other people we meet or know might be different and do things differently, but inside we are all the same.

Going on the theme of differences and similarities among the bat and his new bird family, we decided to examine sight words, Upper case letters, and numbers with bats! For more fun, make a bat craft to go along with your Stellaluna game, too!

While this is a great preschool book extension activity, the best thing about our Stellaluna game is that we modified it to fit the needs of my three older kids.

We practiced upper case letter identification with the 3 year old preschooler, sight word identification with the Kindergartner, and math facts with the Second grader. The 16 month old toddler just liked grabbing the bats from the wall.

Very fun and age appropriate, but we’ll share more about what the older kids did today 😉

Stellaluna Bat Activity

This post contains affiliate links.
If you haven’t read the book Stellaluna, grab it up at your library! This was a new book to us, and one that I’m so glad we read.

For this Stellaluna craft, you’ll need just a few materials:

Black construction paper
Bat template
White crayon

Then, if you want to work on visual processing skills needed for reading and writing such as the skills:

visual scanning– Needed to scan on the page or overhead on the board to copy words and sentences. When the eyes shift back to the page and then back to the copying source, sometimes the eyes shift and get lost. This is how we have omissions in handwriting tasks.
visual tracking– This visual skill is essential for following along a line of words in a reading task.
visual attention– When the eyes shift on the pages without sustained attention, we see missing words or lines of text.
visual memory– This skill is difficult for many children, and it’s how we recall what we’ve seen to work on memorizing, reading, and writing skills.

then you’ll also need:

Flashlight(s)
Tape
A yardstick or ruler (for visual tracking skills)

Let’s start with using the bat template to make the bat craft.

First, print off this free printable bat stencil. Cut out the bat and trace it onto black cardstock paper.
We cut out about 15 bats, but you can cut out as many bats as you need. If you’ll be practicing letters, you may want one for each letter of the alphabet.
Write on the bats with a white crayon. We practiced sight words first and wrote out the words my Kindergartener has been working on.
Tape the bats to the wall and get ready to play!

Stellaluna book bat games including sight word games, math facts game, letter identification game. This is a fun twist on learning facts and words for preschoolers, kindergarten, and second grade, with a bat theme! I love the flashlight game!

StellaLuna Activity for Sight Words

First, we played a flashlight sight word activity as a warm-up. I read through a few pages of the book and when we got to a sight word, my son used the flashlight to find the matching sight word on the wall. He really got into this activity.

Note that this activity was done many years ago (2015) and we were focusing a lot on sight words in reading.

Now, this might not be the optimal way to target reading skills. Using vocabulary words from Stellaluna may be more ideal for working on reading skills. Feel free to use this activity with the reading curriculum or standards that work for your classroom or school.

Stellaluna Game

Next, to make this Stellaluna activity into more of a game, we created a flashlight race using the same bat cut outs.

We pulled out a second flashlight and when we reached a sight word in the book, the two older kids raced to flash their light on the sight word.

The first to light it up was the winner.

Using the flashlights in a dark-ish room reminded us of Stellaluna flying at night and how the birds would need a flashlight to see.

Again, feel free to use the words from the book on the bats. Just turn down the lights in the classroom and pull the shades to darken the room. Then, use the flashlights to “race” to find the word that you call out.

StellaLuna Math Activity

We also used these same bat cut outs to work on math skills.

To play the math facts game with my second grader, I wrote out numbers 10-20 on the bats. (Just flip the bats over and use the other side if you are playing more than one game! No need to cut out more bats, unless you need them.)

2. Tape the numbered bats to the wall in a random arrangement. This game was fun for her to practice her math facts up to 20.

3. I called out a number and then had her roll a die.

4. She then had to add the number to the number that I called out and run over to the wall and hit the right number.

We also did a round of subtraction. You can make this more of a game by adding a second player. Then, extend the math activity by using a couple of flashlights to make this a fun racing game in a dark room.

Here are more Halloween math activities that you can also try.

Bat Letter Identification Activity

Finally, we used the same bat shapes to work on letter identification skills.

For my preschooler, we wrote upper case letters on the bats and taped them to the wall.

She played a version of the flashlight game as we scanned through the book. I pointed to a lower case letter and named it and she had to flash the light on the letter on the wall.

We also practiced letter sounds by saying the sound the letter makes and she had to find the letter on the wall.

Scanning for the correct bat on the wall was a great way to incorporate visual scanning and visual perceptual skills into this learning game activity.

More Stellaluna Activities

Looking for more Stellaluna activities? Here are some fun bat activities that pair well with the book:

Make a bat craft.
Get the kids cooking and make a fun Stellaluna Bat Trail Mix.
Stellaluna Night Sky Sensory Activity is a fun way to read the book and play.

Free Stellaluna Bat Template

Print off the template and trace it onto construction paper. Enter your email address into the form below to access this resource. You’ll also find this item inside our Membership club, along with many other bat themed activities and resources.

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.

Positive Self Talk for Kids

September 25, 2023September 25, 2023 by Colleen Beck

This blog post on positive self talk for kids covers how self-talk is a powerful tool in supporting mindset. We’ll also include a positive self talk activity that you can create with kids in therapy sessions or at home as a support tool. Positive self talk is a great coping tool kids for kids, too.

Make a positive self talk kids craft with colorful beads.

Positive Self Talk for Kids

Positive self talk can make a big difference for kids! From seeing that big test in front of them, to walking into a new classroom full of strangers, to gearing up for a big game…kids can become overwhelmed and stressed out from daily tasks.

Each of these situations can be a source of worries that impact functional performance. When the worries become too much, a self-regulation support may be needed.

One such tool is the use of positive self talk.

Teaching kids positive self talk can be a minor tool to use in building confidence, easing anxiety, and helping with attention and focus. As a mom and an occupational therapist, I’ve seen the power of positive self-talk in my own kids and therapy clients.

These self-talk beads are a fun way to show kids how to use positive self talk to their advantage!

This post is part of our series on executive functioning skills and just one tool to have in your toolbox when helping kids build the skills they need for function and independence!

Teach Kids Positive Self Talk

Talk to your kids or students about the power of self-talk. Ask them how they feel when they hear positive and negative self-talk statements.

Show them how they can identify with these feelings during situations in school, on the sports team, or when with friends.

Each child is different, but there are common concerns that kids might have. From anxiety over a test to feeling self-conscious around peers, a positive thought can really help.

Executive functions are heavily dependent on attention. Read about the attention and executive functioning skill connection and the impact of attention on each of the executive functioning skills that children require and use every day.

This alphabet bead kit is perfect.

Positive self talk for kids

Self talk does wonders for kids (and adults!)

Self-talk can boost self-confidence, self-esteem, self-control, and influence impulse decisions. When kids are in a situation where they question themselves or put them selves down in their minds, they can end up struggling even more.

Related read: Read more about attention and how kids can improve attention at home and at school.

Help kids understand positive self talk with these bracelets for helping with attention, self-confidence, self-esteem, and executive functioning skills.

How to make positive self-talk bracelets

We made a self talk craft years ago. It’s a fun way to teach the skill of self-talk to children and the self talk bracelet is a visual and tactile reminder of their superpowers.

(Affiliate links are included in this post.)

You’ll need just a couple of materials for this self talk bracelet.

Yarn
Wooden Alphabet Beads
Star Beads

Any type or style of beads would work, though.

Kids can use these positive self talk bracelets for helping with attention, self-confidence, self-esteem, and executive functioning skills.

To make the self talk craft, follow these directions:

1. First, spread out the beads and start talking with your kids about positive self talk!

2. Assign each of the colored beads to a positive statement.

3. Then help your child to pick out the statements that speak to them.

Use the alphabet beads to create a positive statement they can see on their bracelet. Ideas include: “It’s ok!”, “Yes I can!”, or “I can do this”.

If the children you’re working with don’t want to put words on their bracelet, they can just assign colors to different positive thoughts and add them to their bracelet.

When children wear their bracelet, they can see and feel the colors and remember positive thoughts!

We did a different activity similar to this when we talked about the feelings of others.

Check out our empathy beads, too!

Positive Self-Talk for Kids Information

As therapy providers, it’s essential to understand the concept of “private speech.” This is an easy way for our clients to understand the self-talk concepts they run through their head are a kind of private conversation they have with themselves during tricky situations or tasks.

This concept of private speech was introduced by Les Vygotsky, a psychologist who studied “private speech,” which is when individuals talk to themselves during problem-solving or task completion.

He argued that this self-talk plays a crucial role in cognitive development during childhood.

Private speech, or self-talk, is simply talking to oneself, a practice that everyone engages in, although it’s often considered unusual when done aloud. The goal is to help children externalize their private speech, gradually internalizing it over time.

In therapy, we encourage children to use private speech as a tool. It’s like talking through a problem, which is easy for a child to understand.

However, if private speech turns into verbal speech, or if a child is using private speech about a task that was previously mastered, it could indicate that the child is facing challenges or confusion with the activity. Remember, we all talk to ourselves, especially when we’re tackling difficult tasks. So, encourage your child to use their self-talk and let them know it’s a helpful tool for growth and learning.

Rainbow Writing Letter Formation Activity

September 25, 2023 by Colleen Beck

This quick and easy rainbow writing activity is an easy handwriting activity to working on letter formation and letter construction. Rainbow writing handwriting is a strategy to work on letter formation as a multisensory learning activity for kids. This handwriting activity is an Easy Handwriting strategy that can be so helpful in teaching letter formation and pencil control.

You can practice letters with rainbow writing using different utensils. We used rainbow writing with chalk before too.

What is Rainbow Writing

Rainbow writing might be a handwriting activity that you’ve heard of before. Many times, we see rainbow writing as an option for practicing sight words or high frequency words, especially as a multi-sensory learning options.

Typically, you’ll see rainbow writing as one way that kids can practice writing words and letters: They are asked to write the words in a color of the rainbow and then trace over those letters with another color, thus making a rainbow of letters.

Rainbow writing is a great strategy for practicing handwriting! Kids get multiple attempts at forming letters, working on motor planning, pencil placement, and repetition (practice) that very much plays a part in handwriting legibility.

Things to Watch for with Rainbow Writing

Color mixing rainbow writing activity for helping kids with letter formation

When tracing, there are some things to consider. Especially with rainbow writing, kids can develop bad letter formation habits. Read through this resource on tracing sheets to see the pros and cons of tracing with kids.

Some things you’ll want to consider about rainbow writing activities:

Be sure to watch how the student starts the letters when they rainbow write. It can be easy to start a poor muscle memory for writing the letters if they start at the wrong starting point or form the letters incorrectly. When they rainbow write each letter and it progressively gets worse, this can create an incorrect motor plan in the handwriting process.
Make sure the child that is using rainbow writing to practice letters don’t progressively move their pencil in bigger and bigger strokes as they include each color.
Some kids tend to make the rainbow letters with colors next to each other like a rainbow rather than tracing on top of each color. Ask the student to make a mixed up rainbow by tracing right on top of each color.

How to use Rainbow Writing for handwriting

Rainbow writing is a way to work on legibility of written work.

Helping kids write letters with correct letter formation is essential for legibility, especially as kids get older and are required to produce more written work at a faster rate. Consider the high school student that needs to rapidly jot down notes. If letters are formed from bottom to top or in sections, their speed and legibility will drastically drop. Sometimes it is speed OR legibility that suffers when a child needs to produce more amounts of written work in a specific period of time (i.e. copying down notes as a teacher rattles off details.

The younger student will be affected by inaccuracies in letter formation as well. Around the third grade, students are responsible for jotting down their homework assignments into a planner.

When the child is bombarded by classroom sensory input (pencil sharpeners, students, desk chairs moving, hallway distractions, coughing classmates…) difficulties with letter formation can result in illegible homework lists and trouble with re-reading the assignment list when the student attempts to start on homework.

Rainbow Writing Color Changing Activity

There’s more to rainbow writing than incorporating colors and sensory experiences into handwriting. Color Mixing Rainbow Writing is a creative way to help kids learn the right way to actually form letters, because the task allows children to self-correct their written work right in the moment.

They can see where their letter formation has veered into poor letter size or placement. Rainbow writing then becomes a strategy to improve motor planning in handwriting and pencil control as well.

Affiliate links are included below.

In the handwriting activity shared here, we are taking rainbow writing a step further.

This letter formation activity is really simple and a LOT of fun. Kids can work on typical motor pattern of letters by exploring color mixing.

MATERIALS for Rainbow Writing

When you rainbow write, a student can use different colors of crayons, markers, colored pencils, or even chalk. You can use colors of the rainbow, or if you want to work on color changing, use just a couple of the colors.

You’ll need just three markers for this activity.

Red, Yellow and Blue markers are all you need to work on letter formation with color mixing. We used dollar store markers, but also tried these washable markers and the activity worked too.

How to rainbow write with color changing

For this activity, you’ll need to first write the letters that you are working on in one color. Then, using another color, trace over the letters to create a new color.

2. Mixing the yellow and red made orange letters and mixing the yellow and blue markers made green letters.

Kids can work on letter formation but experience the color changing of the markers when they write over letters in different colors.

Some different options to try with this rainbow writing activity:

Use just 2 colors so kids can try mixing two primary colors to see what the colors make
Not when the colors do not change: did they marker lines go off the lines? Can letters be written again or can the student try again to make the colors change?
Some kids may benefit from a model that is written in one color by the teacher, therapist, or parent. Then, the student can try to keep their letters on the lines to ensure proper size, spacing, and formation
Try making color coded messages to one another using the color changing activity
Work on phonetic awareness, by making vowels or phenomes one color and consonants or letter blends another color.

Rainbow Writing Activity with Color mixing for handwriting.

Tips for Rainbow Writing

Because kids can develop bad habits with rainbow writing, here are some things to keep in mind.

Work on letter formation with this activity by providing kids with the amount of assistance they need to form letters correctly. At first, they may need verbal, physical, and visual cues to form letters correctly.
Encourage students to form the letters from top to bottom and in the correct way. When they re-trace the letters with a second color, be sure they are forming and tracing the letters correctly.
When kids trace over the colors, they will be forming letters slowly in order to trace over the letters and ensuring the colors mix.
By tracing over the lines to form letters, they are building the typical motor patterns needed to write the letters correctly and efficiently.

We worked on cursive letters with this activity, but it would work very well with printed letters, particularly letters that are typically reversed or confused like b and d reversals.

Here is more information on letter reversals to consider.

Looking for more creative ways to work on handwriting? Check out these creative ways to help kids work on their written work:

Functional Handwriting Practice Ideas

What is Visual Spacing

Visual Tracking Tips and Tools

Handwriting Spacing Tool and Spatial Awareness Tips and Tools

DIY Dry Erase Board Handwriting Travel Kit

Rainbow Handwriting Kit– This resource pack includes handwriting sheets, write the room cards, color worksheets, visual motor activities, and so much more. The handwriting kit includes:

Write the Room, Color Names: Lowercase Letters
Write the Room, Color Names: Uppercase Letters
Write the Room, Color Names: Cursive Writing
Copy/Draw/Color/Cut Color Worksheets
Colors Roll & Write Page
Color Names Letter Size Puzzle Pages
Flip and Fill A-Z Letter Pages
Colors Pre-Writing Lines Pencil Control Mazes
This handwriting kit now includes a bonus pack of pencil control worksheets, 1-10 fine motor clip cards, visual discrimination maze for directionality, handwriting sheets, and working memory/direction following sheet! Valued at $5, this bonus kit triples the goal areas you can work on in each therapy session or home program.

Click here to get your copy of the Colors Handwriting Kit.

Tracing Letters with Chalk

September 25, 2023September 25, 2023 by Colleen Beck

Have you heard of rainbow writing? How about chalk rainbow writing? There are many fine motor and visual motor skills that are used when using rainbow writing as a handwriting practice strategy! Let’s break down what rainbow writing is and how this chalk writing activity is a skill-builder for letter formation. Also check out our handwriting library for more ideas.

Tracing letters with chalk is a handwriting practice strategy that helps to build muscle memory when learning letter formations. You can rainbow write on paper or with different utensils such as crayons, colored pencils, markers, or chalk!

Tracing Letters with Chalk

Tracing letters with chalk is a colorful way to practice letter formation. The strategy builds skills in visual motor and hand eye coordination in order to trace over the lines of a letter.

When you use chalk tracing to practice a letter or a word, the child traces over the letter with each color of the rainbow.

They will end up with 6 or 7 trials in writing over the letter.

Some things to consider with tracing with chalk

Tracing over letters with chalk, crayons, or colored pencils is a powerful strategy when practicing letter formation and the line awareness needed for letter size and line placement.

Read through this resource on tracing sheets to see the pros and cons of tracing with kids.

Some things you’ll want to consider about chalk tracing writing activities:

Be sure to watch how the student starts the letters. It can be easy to start a poor muscle memory for writing the letters if they start at the wrong starting point or form the letters incorrectly. This creates an incorrect motor plan in the handwriting process.
Make sure the letters don’t progressively get worse as the student traces over the letters when rainbow writing.
Some kids tend to make the rainbow letters with colors next to each other like a rainbow rather than tracing on top of each color. Ask the student to make a mixed up rainbow by tracing right on top of each color.

Rainbow Writing with chalk

We did rainbow writing with chalk one day. This was a great way to work on letter formation while outside because there was the added benefit of playing on the ground.

Using chalk to practice letters supports development by adding proprioceptive input through the core, strengthens the shoulder girdle for adding more stability for writing, as well as adding strength and stability to the wrist.

Upper body strength in this way supports distal dexterity and mobility needed for writing.

Chalk Rainbow Writing

This chalk tracing activity was a lot of fun.

We have a big ol’ bucket of chalk that we play with almost everyday. Our sidewalk and driveway have been know to be very colorful at times! We took the chalk to our sidewalk squares one day this week and practiced a little letter formation.

Our sidewalk squares were the perfect area to practice forming letters accurately. I used simple verbal cues to describe the formation of each letter (big line down, little curve around, little line) and we started in the corner of each square as we made the letters.

I made the letter first and Big Sister and Little Guy watched. Then we went to work making our letters very colorful!

Tracing the letters over and over again was a great way to practice accurate formation. Big Sister got into this activity. Little Guy only wanted to make a few letters that are in his name.

When the child is tracing the letters over and over again, they become more efficient at planning out and executing the movements needed to make a letter accurately. This activity is great for a new writer because they are given a confined space to practice a letter, and visual cues (and verbal prompts from mom).

Use the activities and ideas in The Handwriting Book for more ways to work on writing skills.

The Handwriting Book is a comprehensive resource created by experienced pediatric OTs and PTs.

The Handwriting Book covers everything you need to know about handwriting, guided by development and focused on function. This digital resource is is the ultimate resource for tips, strategies, suggestions, and information to support handwriting development in kids.

The Handwriting Book breaks down the functional skill of handwriting into developmental areas. These include developmental progression of pre-writing strokes, fine motor skills, gross motor development, sensory considerations, and visual perceptual skills. Each section includes strategies and tips to improve these underlying areas.

Strategies to address letter and number formation and reversals
Ideas for combining handwriting and play
Activities to practice handwriting skills at home
Tips and strategies for the reluctant writer
Tips to improve pencil grip
Tips for sizing, spacing, and alignment with overall improved legibility

Click here to grab your copy of The Handwriting Book today.

Handwriting Practice Kids Don’t Hate

September 25, 2023September 25, 2023 by Colleen Beck

If you’ve worked with kids in school based OT or in peds occupational therapy in outpatient settings than you may need a few handwriting practice ideas that kids’ don’t hate. You’ve probably seen it: Kids that struggle with handwriting really can give push-back on the writing practice, especially when they perceive the task as hard or meaningless. Today, we’re covering some low-key and low pressure handwriting practice ideas that you can add to your handwriting toolbox!

Use these handwriting practice tips to support writing needs.

Handwriting Practice

Handwriting can be a stressful situation for many students. Encouraging written communication in a stress-free environment can help kids write more fluently and legibly.

Kids that are reluctant to write may really stress out or even refuse to practice handwriting! They’ve probably seen their fill of writing pages, rote practice sheets, and letter activities’ that just don’t mean anything to them! It is possible to add a few handwriting practice sessions into therapy or the classroom (and home) while building functional writing abilities…and not totally stressing the kid out!

When you make handwriting practice less stressful, you will gain writing practice that is meaningful and motivating.

Then, you can plug any handwriting samples into a handwriting rubric for monitoring progress on the IEP goals.

Stress Free Handwriting Practice

For the student who is who struggles with handwriting, practicing written work can be very overwhelming. He or she may scribble down whatever is on their mind as quickly as they can just to get the task done.

Encouraging an environment where students feel respected and less handwriting-related stress can help with handwriting legibility.

When kids push-back on handwriting sessions, there may be underlying skills that need developing. These challenges mean that even when the individual practices over and over again, they still may have unmet underlying skills that contribute to handwriting legibility.

Some of those skill areas include:

visual motor skills
visual perceptual skills
fine motor skills
attention and focus challenges
difficulty organizing thoughts on a page
trouble with near point or far point copying skills
other

Use the ideas below to encourage a climate of acceptance and respect where students can write in their own manner.

Stress free handwriting practice ideas

Having a handful of handwriting practice strategies in your therapy toolbox (or parent or educator toolbox!) helps to make the handwriting practice sessions less stressful for both you and the student.

Try some of these tips when it comes to handwriting practice sessions:

Break Tasks into Smaller Steps: Just like we break down tasks that seem overwhelming or too big, we can make a handwriting task seem more manageable by breaking up the requirements into steps. If a task feels too big or complex, break it down into smaller, more manageable sub-tasks. This can make the overall task seem less daunting.
Incorporate mindfulness: Yep, really! When things seem too difficult, sometimes a mindfulness session is a practical way to reset the overthinking and just do the thing we need to do. This can work for handwriting practice needs, too. One easy way to do this is to use some deep breathing exercises and then write about it. Use that time to practice areas such as legibility and letter formation.
Encourage an environment of acceptance students can then right as they like without worrying about how letters are formed how they’re spaced or how hard they’re pressing with their pencil.
Use rewards. Do you have a little box of prizes for therapy sessions? This can be motivating for some kids. Celebrate achievements like forming letters correctly or writing on the lines.

Encourage the freedom to write as they like. Let the students know it’s OK to write as they normally do and to be spontaneous and written work. This simple freedom can enable students to write more fluently and efficiently.

Take away the stress by limiting criticism, comparison, judgment, and competition regarding handwriting legibility. In this way students can know that what they are writing down on paper is more important than the way it looks. This is important to limit the stress of writing. You don’t want the student to get into a perfectionism mindset. Teach them to accept that handwriting tasks don’t always have to be perfect. Show the student that they can do their best, but recognize when handwriting is “good enough.”

Make writing fun! Take away the seriousness of handwriting practice by balancing freedom to experiment with ideas putting ideas on paper and producing clear written work. Encourage a fun writing assignment but make sure the student knows that it does take work to make written material legible.

Share excitement and encouragement about handwriting. Kids that see that handwriting practice can’t be fun will be more eager to practice. Use big motions, music, songs, rhymes, and any creative ideas like fun ways to work on letter formation to help kids spark enjoyment of handwriting practice.

Remove the obstacles of handwriting. Take away comparison, Over-analysis, judgment, and over-reactions to mistakes to help kids feel more at ease with handwriting.

Allow time. Give kids lots of time to put their ideas on paper. A graphic organizer can be one way to help kids get ideas down on paper in a visual way. They can then use the graphic organizer as a sloppy copy to help hand writing occur in a timely but efficient manner where they are given enough time to put their words on paper. Many times kids can work practice letter formation in legibility of him ready when they don’t have to think about what they are writing.

Let kids write without asking them to stop and correct mistakes. Students can write down their ideas and get answers on the paper without worrying about legibility mistakes or letter formation mistakes. Use a short period of time at the end of the assignment to quickly go over and check any legibility errors.

Collaborative writing. When kids right with others they can see the momentum that goes into hand writing. For the reluctant and writer sharing good ideas in writing in a group setting can help them to see that others are writing just as they are. Kids can also see good writing skills happening. Create a small group writing area where students can sit at a desk or table of 3 to 4 other students and each writes about one particular item that is sitting in the middle of the table such as a bowl of pipe cleaners. Use that physical picture as a writing prompt for students.

Balance the seriousness of handwriting with the freedom to experiment in written work. Kids should know that writing does take hard work but it can be fun to put your words on paper so that others can read them. Set up a writing pen-pal relationship where students correspond with students in another school. Here are a few sites to find a pen pal for students.

Handwriting Practice Activities

Now that you’ve got some strategies to support the student in mind, what are some stress-free handwriting practice activities?

Here on The OT Toolbox, we LOVE to share all things handwriting, so you’ll find many fun and engaging writing activities to keep kids interested.

Some ideas you may want to try include:

Make it motivating by writing lists about the things that interests the individual. Use our Interest Lists resource for ideas and writing sheets.
Bold Line Paper for Line Awareness
Select writing prompts that are meaningful. Here are many writing prompt ideas to get you started.
Use a middle school journal prompt for middle school students.
Color Mixing Rainbow Writing Letter Formation Activity
Small Pencil Trick for Helping with Pencil Grasp
Thumb IP Joint Flexion Pencil Grasp Trick
Take away the stress by using paper that meets the needs of the individual. Here is our list of adapted paper.
Pair writing with fine motor skills. Use this Spring Handwriting Cootie Catcher to mix things up.
Here’s a Fall Handwriting Cootie Catcher for the Autumn months.

What are your favorite ways to encourage stress-free handwriting?

Stress-free handwriting practice ideas for kids who hate handwriting or have practiced handwriting but continue with frustration.

Try these handwriting ideas to work on the skills needed for legible handwriting :

Small pencil trick for helping with a better pencil grasp

Thumb IP joint flexion pencil grasp trick

Strategies to address letter and number formation and reversals
Ideas for combining handwriting and play
Activities to practice handwriting skills at home
Tips and strategies for the reluctant writer
Tips to improve pencil grip
Tips for sizing, spacing, and alignment with overall improved legibility

Click here to grab your copy of The Handwriting Book today.

Handwriting Rubric

September 25, 2023 by Colleen Beck

In this blog post, you’ll discover how to use a handwriting rubric to collect handwriting data for the IEP, progress reports, and to monitor progress on handwriting goals. When I became a school-based therapist, I was taken aback by the steep learning curve. Honestly, I felt lost for quite some time and it took me a while to get my bearings in the new “IEP world”.

A handwriting rubric is a data scoring tool used to collect and analyze data by outlining specific criteria and performance expectations for assessing handwriting quality.

Handwriting Rubric

It can be hard to translate what we do as occupational therapy practitioners into IEP goals. And, it can be equally as challenging figuring out how to measure progress on those goals you worked so hard to formulate. This might be especially true for handwriting.

If you are looking for guidance on how to collect data on handwriting and to use that data in documentation, you’ve come to the right place. Like it or not, this is a goal area we often spend a lot of time on as pediatric occupational therapy practitioners, and in particular, school based occupational therapy professionals.

Since “IEP world” is so data-driven, using a rubric for handwriting to guide your data collection is a game-changer.

Read on for a step-by-step breakdown on how to step up the data collection game by using a handwriting rubric for progress monitoring.

How to Collect Handwriting Data

Below, we’ll cover the steps of using a writing rubric to collect data. A quick overview of the process is as follows:

Collect a handwriting sample.
Select your data collection method (type and format of handwriting rubric tools).
Fill out the rubric.
Assess the data to update progress reports and IEP handwriting goals.

Let’s discuss each step of this process in more detail.

Step 1: Get a handwriting sample that meets your goal criteria.

A solid IEP goal should have measurable conditions (the “M” in the wonderful “SMART” acronym). Read about breaking down goals for more information.

I typically do something like “student will self-generate a 4-6 word sentence” or “student will near-point copy 2 sentences.”

If the goal I am reporting on has specifications – it’s important that the data is taken from a sample that meets those criteria! It wouldn’t be a good representation if my data is based on a 3-word sentence, but my student’s goal is to copy a short paragraph.

Your goal may not have a specific condition and that’s OK – just get an appropriate handwriting sample for your student that is a good representation of their abilities.

Step 2: Choose your data collection method (legibility rubric)

During my years of working in school systems, I’ve come up with two tried-and-true handwriting data collection methods. Both are great options, depending on your needs and style.

Handwriting rubrics make collecting data on handwriting goals a breeze.

Types of Handwriting Rubrics

In order to collect data and use that data to write reports, report on handwriting goals, and assess goal achievement, a handwriting rubric can be used to support the OT provider.

There are two types of rubrics for writing skills that you could use:

Objective Handwriting Legibility Rubric
Subjective Handwriting Legibility Rubric

It’s also worth mentioning that individual circumstances may help you decide what is the right rubric for you. For example, I tend to use the subjective rubrics more in teletherapy (where it can be harder to get objective data).

Let’s explore each of these types of handwriting rubrics…

Objective Legibility Rubrics

This type of handwriting rubric provides a detailed breakdown of each letter/word of the sample to obtain percentages.

This is the most objective level of data collection. It requires more time and precision, but it will give you hard numbers to work with.

Subjective Legibility Rubrics

This type of handwriting rubric uses terms such as “most”, “some”, “few”, etc. with correlating scale terms “good”, “fair”, “poor”.

This is for therapists who prefer not to get bogged down with detailed numbers, but still provides a consistent and specific rubric in order to be able to adequately demonstrate progress to other team members.

handwriting rubric Formats

Now once you’ve decided on using the objective or subjective rubric, it’s time to decide on your record keeping format. There are two formats that we’re covering here:

Handwriting Rubric PDF – printable PDF for use with paper and pen
Digital Handwriting Rubric – online access via a file or Google form

Personally, I am an old fashioned pen-and-paper (or more accurately, pretty colored flair pens) kind of gal. My preferred method of data collection is printing out a legibility rubric, filling it in by hand, and then attaching it to the handwriting sample. I love that when I look back at a students’ file, the sample and hard data are side by side.

If digital paperwork is more your jam, the google forms legibility rubric may be a better fit for you. You simply input your data on the google form, and the magnificent G-suite works its’ magic. You can see all of your data digitally for a nice comparison.

Completing a Handwriting Rubric

After you’ve selected your type and format of writing rubric, the next step is to fill in the handwriting data.

Step 3: Fill out your handwriting legibility rubric based on the collected writing sample.

Here is where we get into the nitty-gritty of handwriting criteria. This is the most time-consuming step. While it is dreaded by many therapists, I personally find it relaxing and cathartic (especially when paired with a nice cup of coffee).

Whether you are using the printable rubric or google forms, your legibility rubric will guide you to break the sample down into the following components:

Letter formation: how many letters are formed accurately (i.e. they look like the letter they are supposed to look like?)

Letter spaces: how many of the spaces between LETTERS are an appropriate amount of space (not too close or too far)?

Word spaces: how many of the spaces between WORDS are an appropriate amount of space (not too close or too far)? Spacing between letters and words is spatial awareness in handwriting.

Letter sizing: how many letters are the correct SIZE (i.e. tall letters should be bigger than small letters). This is also considered letter size awareness.

Line adherence: how many letters are placed age-appropriately on the baseline? Also known as line awareness.

For the subjective rubric, you will take the time to really look at the handwriting sample in respect to each category, then make a judgment call based on your professional opinion. If your gut is telling you MOST of the letters are formed accurately, you will circle that category.

By the end, you’ll be able to say that this student has “good” letter formation, “fair” letter spaces, etc.

For the objective rubric, you sit down and do the math calculation. First, add up the total number of items for that category. So, for letter formation, add up the total number of letters. For word spaces, add up the total number of spaces between words.

Then, record the number of letters/spaces that meet expectations. Complete the division problem to obtain your percentage.

At the bottom of each rubric, there is a category for “overall rating”. Just take the average of each individual component to get your overall legibility score. This is super helpful when looking at the big picture of the handwriting sample.

Use a Handwriting Rubric to Update Progress Report

After you’ve collected the data and run it through the writing rubric tool, you can use that data to write your progress report and update goals.

Step 4: Use the data to update student progress over time.

The process may seem tedious, but it does get quicker the more you do it. Once you get the hang of it, it should be a painless process.

It’s important to take these samples a few times per reporting period to make sure you have enough data samples to compare progress. Trust me, you’ll be grateful you did come progress report time!

The Handwriting Rubric Bundle includes printable PDFs and digital Google Drive formats for both print and cursive handwriting.

Handwriting Rubric Bundle

To help out my fellow OTs, I’ve put all these resources together in the Handwriting Legibility Rubric Bundle. It includes both the objective and subjective rubrics in the printable & google forms versions.

Even better, it includes each rubric for both manuscript and cursive! The cursive rubric is essentially the same as print, but it breaks down differently to be more representative of cursive writing (for example, “letter connections” instead of “letter spaces”).

Click here to get your copy of The Handwriting Rubric Bundle.

I hope this writing rubric tutorial has shed light on the possibilities of success using handwriting rubrics. Using these rubrics has made me feel more confident as a practitioner (especially in IEP meetings!), and I hope they do the same for you.

Rachel Burgess, OTR/L is an occupational therapist with 5 years of experience, graduating from Nova Southeastern University in 2018. Rachel currently focuses on school-based services, both in-person and teletherapy.

ADLs and Occupational Self-Care

September 21, 2023September 21, 2023 by Colleen Beck

In this blog post, we are discussing ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) for kids and teens. These occupational self care tasks are tasks that make up day to day living. Let’s break this down. For additional information on various roles, check out our article on IADLs.

Occupational self care refers to many things. Occupational therapy practitioners support individuals with daily activities that are part of a functional life. One of those important daily tasks is personal self-care, or the ability to care for one’s own being. From dressing oneself to toileting, all of these include daily occupational self care tasks.

In this blog post, you’ll find resources and activities to support children of all abilities in self-care skills.

When exploring the topic of occupational self care, you’ll also want to check out our resource on developmental checklist as a tool for understanding typical development of skill acquisition.

ADLs are self-care skills

Self-care skills, also known as Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), are essential tasks that individuals of all ages perform to take care of their own physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

For children, occupational performance in ADLs is dependent on the child’s age and stage. We can take a look at various stages of development with regard to ADL participation. Those stages include:

infancy
toddlerhood
early childhood
elementary childhood
adolescense
adulthood

Each of these stages will involve different components and abilities when it comes to occupational performance and ADL skills. You will see and expect different occupational roles, adaptive behaviors, self-care skills and abilities, and changes in self-management needs.

Infant Self-Care Skills

Infant self-care involves receiving nurturance of parents and guardians. Self-sufficiency involves primitive reflexes and accepting self-care. ADLs in the infancy stage is mainly regarding family participation which is a vital role.

The infant responds to nurturing, and takes nourishment they receive from their parent or caregiver. They are learning to move and communicate. During the infant stage, babies gain control of their body as they learn to move in daily self-care tasks.

Toddler Self-Care Skills

For toddlers, self-care continues to involve acceptance of the self-care routines provided by parents or guardians. However, at this age, there is more independence beginning as well. You’ll see preference and willingness in toddler ADLs.

Toddlers are refining and mastering some of the skills that they have passively participated in during the first 2 years of their life.

They start to develop self-sufficiency in eating, dressing, washing, and toileting areas.

Childhood Self-Care Skills

During the ages of 6-12, children have continued occupational roles as a daughter or son, friend, and now as a student. These new roles with peers bring on additional self-care tasks as well as adaptive behaviors in childhood ADLs.

The self-care skills of a child include continuing to master ADL skills with more self-sufficiency, routine participation (brushing their teeth each morning and evening with greater independence) and less support.

Children develop preferences in expressing themselves in hairstyles and clothing, which impacts self-care. There are also new learning opportunities which impact occupational performance, including social skills and peer interaction.

Refer to our blog post on occupational therapy for middle school for the end range of this stage.

Adolescence and Self-Care

The years between ages 13 and 19 bring on even more development and self-sufficiency during adolescence. They also have more occupational roles such as an employee, a driver on the road, a teammate, volunteer, and may have a different peer group than before.

Self-care, and ALDs in the teen years include mastery or independence of ADLs and IADLs. There is self-expression, building relationships, and defining occupational roles involved in this stage. The adolescence is preparing for independent living, so self-care supports that transition.

Check out our bog post on occupational therapy for teens for more information.

Occupational therapy practitioners are skilled in analyzing, evaluating, and creating detailed plans of care of ADLs at all stages of life.

What are ADLs?

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) are daily tasks, or activities, that make up a person’s day. They are tasks that are required for participating (or living) in an environment such as a home or workplace. ADLs involve occupational roles or the various roles one plays throughout their day.

These skills are fundamental for daily life and can vary depending on a person’s age and abilities.

Activities of Daily Living Examples

Self-care skills encompass a wide range of activities and typically include:

Personal hygiene
Bathing or showering: The ability to clean one’s body, including washing hair, face, and body.
Oral care: Brushing teeth, flossing, and mouthwash.
Hair care: Brushing hair, combing, and washing hair with shampoo and conditioner
Grooming- hair care, shaving, hygiene
Makeup application
Washing face
Caring for hair styles including using a ponytail holder, styling hair, etc.
Handwashing: Proper handwashing techniques to maintain hygiene.
Dressing and clothing management
Dressing: Putting on and taking off clothing, including clothing fasteners like buttons and zippers.
Selecting appropriate clothing: Choosing weather-appropriate clothing and outfits suitable for different occasions.
Putting on and tying shoes or fastening shoes
Nutrition and meal preparation
Eating independently: Holding utensils to eat, using utensils, drinking from a cup, and managing food.
Meal preparation: Basic cooking skills, such as preparing simple meals or snacks.
Toileting and Bathroom Skills
Using the toilet: Going to the toilet independently, managing clothing, and proper wiping and perineal hygiene skills
Toilet training: Learning to use the toilet for children.
Mobility and transfers
Safety skills in daily tasks
Awareness of danger: Recognizing and responding to potential hazards.
Emergency procedures: Knowing what to do in emergencies, such as fire drills or safety protocols.
Medication management
Taking medications: The ability to take prescribed medications independently and follow dosing instructions.
Time management and organization to participate in daily tasks
Scheduling: Managing daily routines, appointments, and activities.
Staying on task: Using calendars, reminders, or tools to stay organized.
Transferring or mobility in daily tasks, like moving from one surface to another, sitting and standing from the toilet, getting into and out of a car, moving in and out of the shower or bathtub, getting into and out of bed, sitting and standing from various surfaces and seats. All of these are considered functional mobility in ADLs.

Self-care skills are crucial for promoting independence, maintaining health, and participating in daily life. These skills are typically learned and developed throughout childhood and adolescence, and they may need to be adapted or supported as individuals age or face physical or cognitive challenges.

Occupational Self-Care

Occupational therapy professionals often work with individuals to enhance or regain occupational self-care skills as part of rehabilitation or therapeutic interventions.

Personal care tasks are part of life. As children grow, they tend to want to “do it myself!” Sometimes however, children grow and tend to continue to require continued support to perform self-care functional tasks. Parents, caregivers, and support staff can use varying degrees of verbal and visual cues to encourage independence in personal care tasks, but sometimes it’s just not enough.

Be sure to check out our resource on toddler behavior red flags for more information on participating in daily activities at the toddler age.

This month in the Functional Skills for Kids series, 10 Occupational Therapist and Physical Therapist bloggers have come together to analyze and dissect personal care skills. Take a look through the links below to find tricks, tips, developmental milestones, and creative ways to encourage independence in personal care tasks.

These therapist-approved strategies are perfect for typically developing children and those with special needs.

Tips and tricks for helping kids learn to take care of their own personal care skills. These self care skills are helpful for special needs children and kids who are typically developing, part of the Functional Skills for Kids series from Occupational Therapist and Physical Therapist bloggers.

How to Help Kids Learn Self Care and Personal Care Skills:

Task Analysis – Independent Bathing in Children | Your Therapy Source

Tips and Tricks for Teaching Hand Washing with Kids | Growing Hands-On Kids

I can brush my teeth! Tips for Tooth Brushing and Oral Care! | Your Kids OT

Tips to Help Kids Who Hate Haircuts | Mama OT

Sensory Friendly Tips for Kids Who Have Trouble Sleeping | The Inspired Treehouse

Your Child With Special Needs: How to Conquer Showering Independently | Miss Jaime OT

Adolescent Hygiene Challenges | Therapy Fun Zone

Sensory Red Flags and Toddler Behavior Red Flags

September 21, 2023 by Colleen Beck

Parents of young children may notice sensory red flags, or sensory preferences in their children that bring up a few questions. For parents of toddlers, this can be a gut feeling that milestones may be delayed, regressing, or “off”. Below, we’re covering red flags related to sensory, including toddler behavior red flags that might indicate a need for consultation with a pediatrician. Let’s go deeper…

Sensory red flags can help parents recognize their child’s’ sensory processing issues. These gut feelings can help kids to get the sensory input they need for independence and functioning.

Sensory Red Flags

Sometimes parents just know there is something “off” with their child. That deep, inner gut feeling is what lets us know that there is just something different about the way their child interacts, processes information, or performs in daily tasks.

That ability to recognize gut feelings allows us to know there is an unsuspected ear infection in our toddler or it might be the one red flag that nags at us during sleepless nights that something bigger is going on with our child.

You might have heard it said before: Mom’s always have that gut feeling about their child. Well, sometimes that inner voice can be a loud scream that a child has sensory issues or it can be a quiet nagging sense that there are underlying sensory processing problems.

Below, you’ll find common and more unique “gut feelings” that might indicate a sensory processing problem in children. These are the quieter indications that might make you furl your eyebrows or question a behavior that your child seems to show over and over again.

Use these sensory processing red flags as a way to put the whole picture together for your child. Any one behavior or tendency that shows up with your child may be a meaningless coincidence, however if a child presents with several items on the list below, it may be necessary to speak to your child’s pediatrician.

Use these sensory processing red flags to ease that gut feeling that you have and seek out the information or help that is needed for your child.

Identifying sensory issues can mean there is a need not being meant. These sensory red flags are just some things to consider. One or two items on the list may not mean anything. Seeing many of the red flags listed below may mean that a consultation with your child’s pediatrician is in order.

Sensory Processing Red Flags

Get a free printable checklist version of this list below.

My child has specific behaviors during his/her day.
My child has strange tendencies.
My child seems different in many ways than other children his/her age.
My child has trouble “switching gears”.
My child has trouble with transitions.
My child seems “off” during outings such as the grocery store, church, or doctor’s offices.
My child has trouble in social situations such as holiday get-togethers, birthday parties, or classroom free time.
My child doesn’t seem confident.
My child prefers certain textures, sounds, sights, tastes, scents, positions, or movements.
My child avoids certain textures, sounds, sights, tastes, scents, positions, or movements.
My child doesn’t act like other kids.
My child gets upset by confined spaces.
My child gets upset by certain sounds like lawnmowers.
My child is difficult to calm down at times.
My child wakes up at “full speed” and doesn’t stop all day.
My child can not control the volume of his/her voice.
My child can not stop jumping/spinning/bouncing/crashing.
My child strictly avoids jumping/spinning/bouncing/crashing.
My child is drawn to specific repetitive motions or activities.
My child strictly avoids specific repetitive motions or activities.
My child seems to have a problem that is difficult to pin point.
My child seems to struggle to keep up with other kids.
My child has no fear.
My child has extreme fears.
My child seems withdrawn at times.
My child doesn’t seem to notice details.
My child seems overly preoccupied with details.
My child doesn’t seem to notice when they fall and get hurt.
My child doesn’t notice dangerous situations (age-appropriately).
My child avoids certain food textures.

Do any of these gut feelings sound familiar? There are many red flags on the list above that are conflicting signs of different problems. Not every concern that is noted above will be seen of every child with sensory processing difficulties.

Parents of toddlers are often the first to notice when something seems different or “off” with their child’s behavior. When we refer to toddler behavior, remember that we are referring to the way that the toddler acts or behaves in any given situation.

Toddler Behavior Red Flags

When therapists refer to “behavior” in the context of a toddler’s development or therapy, they are typically talking about the observable actions exhibited by the child in various daily situations. This includes how the child responds to their environment, interacts with others, and manages their emotions and impulses. There is a lot going on in toddlerhood that we can observe!

While it’s essential to remember that children develop at their own pace, there are signs that may prompt parents to seek guidance or evaluation from a healthcare professional.

Here are some common toddler behavior red flags that might be connected to sensory needs and preferences:

Social interactions
Fearful of others
Little to no communication with others
Doesn’t engage with others at all
Won’t copy facial expressions
Doesn’t respond to their name
No stranger danger
Extreme separation anxiety
Regression in skills
Repetitive actions like rocking, hand flapping
Rigid patterns in play and daily activities
Not aware of others in a room
Limited interest in other children
No interest in daily functional tasks such as dressing, feeding, etc.
Fearful of stimuli
Repetitively seeks out stimuli
Difficulty managing certain foods or textures
Sensitive to sensory stimuli such as lights, sounds, or textures
Aggression
Behind on several developmental milestones like walking, speaking words, etc.
Delays in language or speech
Frequent meltdowns that are out of proportion for typical toddler development
Little to no gesture use in communicating wants or needs
Regression in previously acquired skills such as self-care, language, or social skills
Self-injury

The parent questionnaire for guardians of toddlers can include some of the sensory red flags listed above, however it is geared toward the typical toddler development that happens in the 1-3 age range. This may be a time when sensory red flags become apparent to parents and guardians.

A parent questionnaire for a toddler well visit, particularly when assessing developmental milestones and potential signs of Autism, may include questions related to various aspects of a child’s behavior, self-care skills, and communication. These could be related to sensory processing needs, which impact functional performance and typical development at this age.

Here are some sample questions that could be included:

1 Communication: Some children with sensory needs may struggle with social skills and communication, which can impact their ability to understand, participate in daily activities, follow self-care instructions, etc. Communication support and social skill development may be necessary. Being aware of these milestones is important.

- Is your child using words to communicate their needs and desires?
- Can your child follow simple instructions, such as “give me the ball” or “come here”?
- Does your child make eye contact when interacting with others?
- How often does your child engage in babbling or attempts to speak?

2. Social Interaction: Social skills and sensory red flags go hand in hand. For more information, check out our social skills checklist.

- - Does your child show interest in playing with other children or adults?
  - Does your child respond to their name when called?
  - Is your child able to imitate simple gestures or actions, like waving goodbye?
  - How does your child react to new people or unfamiliar situations?

3. Behavioral Concerns: For some, activities like rocking, hand-flapping, or spinning objects may provide a calming or organizing sensory input. Noticing these behavioral habits can be a predictor of sensory needs.

- Are there any repetitive behaviors or unusual movements that you’ve observed in your child?
- Does your child have intense reactions to sensory stimuli (e.g., lights, sounds, textures)?
- How does your child handle transitions or changes in routine?
- Are there any specific fears or phobias that your child exhibits?

4. Self-Care Skills: Taking a look at age-appropriate self care skills in children, (or the ability to complete functional tasks like dressing, potty training, feeding, etc.) is important because at the toddler age, there should be an interest in “doing things myself” or becoming more self-sufficient. A sensory red flag may mean that there sensory sensitivities and preferences that impact the child’s ability to notice or perform age-appropriate self-care tasks independently.

- Is your child showing interest in self-care tasks like dressing themselves, feeding, or potty training?
- How well is your child able to use utensils and drink from a cup?
- Can your child independently perform basic self-care tasks, such as washing hands or brushing teeth?

5. Play and Imagination: Play is the work of the child but when sensory needs predominate, play can seem habitual or repetitive as a means to support sensory preferences. This can offer a sense of predictability and comfort to some children. Noticing these play preferences may convey their needs, sensory preferences, or discomfort.

- Does your child engage in imaginative play, such as pretending to cook, play house, or use toys to represent real-life scenarios?
- Is your child interested in a variety of toys and activities appropriate for their age?
- How does your child explore their environment and play with objects?

6. Sleep Patterns: Sleep hygiene impacts functional performance of the whole family and sometimes during the Toddler years, we see a change in these habits, possibly related to sensory needs.

- What is your child’s sleep routine like? How many hours does your child sleep at night?
- Does your child have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep?

7. Feeding Habits: Sensory preferences may impact the food tolerance, resisting trying new foods, food texture issues, a tendency toward extremely picky eating, or other sensory food aversions.

- What is your child’s typical diet like? Are there any aversions or strong preferences?
- Is your child able to self-feed with utensils, or are they still primarily using their hands?

8. Safety Concerns- Do “sensory” considerations seem to impact direction following, the child running off in a crowded space, not listening about touching the stove or outlets, seeming to seek out unsafe situations, or other safety aspects?

- Are there any safety concerns or behaviors that you find challenging to manage?
- Does your child engage in any repetitive or potentially harmful behaviors?

It’s important to remember that these questions serve as a screening tool and not a diagnostic tool. If parents have concerns about their child’s development or behavior, they should discuss them with their healthcare provider for a thorough evaluation and appropriate guidance. This may be part of an indicator for exploring early intervention for Autism or other developmental needs.

Every child is different, but the concerns noted above will be indications to seek out more information and issues that should be brought up to your child’s pediatrician.

Be sure to check out our resource, our sensory processing disorder chart, to better understand how differences impact kids in different ways.

Get a free printable checklist version of our sensory red flags checklist below.

Parents and gut feelings about sensory processing issues

You may also be interested in the free printable packet, The Classroom Sensory Strategy Toolkit.

The Classroom Sensory Strategy Toolkit is a printable packet of resources and handouts that can be used by teachers, parents, and therapists. Whether you are looking for a handout to explain sensory strategies, or a tool for advocating for your child, the Classroom Sensory Strategy Toolkit has got you covered.

And it’s free for you to print off and use again and again.

In the Classroom Sensory Strategy Toolkit, you’ll find:

Fidgeting Tools for the Classroom
Adapted Seating Strategies for the Classroom
Self-Regulation in the Classroom
105 Calm-down Strategies for the Classroom
Chewing Tools for Classroom Needs
45 Organizing Tools for Classroom Needs
Indoor Recess Sensory Diet Cards

red flags checklist

Print off a copy of our Sensory Red Flags checklist. This printable tool can be a helpful resource when it comes to noticing and identifying sensory considerations that impact day to day functional performance.

To get the printable, enter your email address into the form below. You will receive a handout via email.

As always, if you suspect an area of need, consult with your child’s physician for individualized information and recommendations. This sensory red flags checklist and the toddler red flags list in this blog post is for informational and educational purposes only.

This red flags checklist is also available inside our Membership Club, along with all of the printable downloads available on The OT Toolbox website. Level 2 members can also access over 1500+ resources, sensory activities, handouts, ebooks, and much more.

For more information on sensory processing, development, and how to incorporate sensory needs and preferences into daily life, check out our ebook, The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook.

The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook walks you through sensory processing information, each step of creating a meaningful and motivating sensory diet, that is guided by the individual’s personal interests and preferences.

The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook is not just about creating a sensory diet to meet sensory processing needs. This handbook is your key to creating an active and thriving lifestyle based on a deep understanding of sensory processing.

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