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. Read about Colleen's experience and career as an occupational therapist, including how The OT Toolbox began on our About The OT Toolbox page: https://www.theottoolbox.com/about-us/ 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:

Building Fine Motor Skills Through Play

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fine motor skills in play

Play is a child’s primary occupation.  The occupations of a person are the meaningful and purposeful activities and adults have distinctly different occupations than children.  A child develops functional skills, learns about their abilities, grows in motor, language, interpersonal skills, and learn the value of their capacities, all through play.

fine motor skills in play

Children are drawn to the pleasure they feel through play activities that provide sensory experiences, ones that allow repetition as they master new skills, and enable them to explore or interact socially.  They naturally use play to develop skills and refine deficits. 

Fine Motor Skills in Play

And toys and games are tools of function when it comes to using play to build independence in all tasks.

Play activities and games offer numerous ways to build and improve fine motor skills for use in functional tasks such as handwriting, counting individual fingers, clothing fasteners, shoe tying, and other occupations.  


Today, I’m sharing ways to work on fine motor skills through play.

It is important to note that a child’s fine motor dexterity is dependent on bigger things. In order for a child to use their hands for fine motor tasks, they first must demonstrate strength and control of their core, shoulder, and arm.  If any of these areas are not fully developed in stability or control, then the child will show compensatory strategies as they try to use their hands in play or functional tasks like self-care, handwriting, or cutting with scissors. 


Building fine motor skills through play

 

Use play to develop fine motor skills:

This post contains affiliate links.


Improve Isolation of the fingers through Play-  Isolating the individual fingers is needed for tasks such as typing, pointing, and tasks that require moving individual fingers in isolation from the rest of the hand.  These skills can be difficult for some children and result in poor pencil grasp and handwriting, shoe tying difficulties, and other functional tasks.

Finger Isolation Ideas

Amazon affiliate links are below.

  • Finger games (Where is Thumbkin, Itsy Bitsy Spider)
  • Finger puppets
  • Finger painting
  • Fingerprint art
  • Finger Trap
  • Animal Shadows on a wall
  • Count on individual fingers one at a time
  • Paper Football


Motoric Separation of the Two Sides of the Hands- Separation of the two sides of two sides of the hand is important for tasks like holding a pencil while stabilizing the hand along the table, cutting with scissors, tying shoes, holding multiple items in the palm of  the hand, and managing coins. 

Refinement of fine motor skills in the hand (the radial side) happens when the power half (the ulnar side) is stabilized.  A functional fine motor grasp and manipulation of objects is more accurate when the ring and pinky fingers are flexed (bent) into the palm. 

An alternative to a flexed position of the ring and pinky fingers are when theses two digits are fully extended out and stretched out away from the hand (abducted).  T

his positioning stabilizes the MCP arch and allows for control of the pointer and middle fingers. Separation of the two sides of the hand allow for more precise use of the thumb. Hand separation starts when a baby bears weight through their arm and ulnar side of the hand while carrying a toy in the radial side.  This simple activity developmentally lengthens the muscles of the ulnar side.   

Separation of the Hand Play Ideas:

  • Flip coins
  • Roll play dough into small balls
  • Squeeze a spray bottle with the pointer and middle fingers
  • Pick up small items and “squirrel them away” into the hands: mini marshmallows, cereal, small beads, coins, water beads. (This is also called translation toward the palm.)
  • Release the items (This is also called translation away from the palm.) Place coins into a piggy bank or beads into a cup.
  • Hold a cotton ball in the palm with the ring and middle fingers while coloring, writing, or cutting with scissors.

Hand Dominance-Hand dominance in children is important for refining the skills needed  to perform functional tasks.  

While Toddlers begin to show a hand preference, a true hand dominance doesn’t typically develop until 2 to 3 1/2 years.  While a toddler can show a hand preference, hand usage is experimented with during different activities throughout the Toddler and Preschool years.  There is typically variability in hand preference as toddlers and young preschoolers poke, pick up, throw, color, and play.  

Another consideration is that often times, kids of this age are influenced in which hand they choose by position of toy, location of the adult or playmate, method materials are presented, and sitting position of the child.  

Lateralization refers to the brain’s ability to control the two sides of the body.  Each hemisphere of the brain controls different tasks and functions.  

When a child shows difficulties with laterality, they might switch objects between the two hands in functional tasks.  As a child grows, they are challenged to become more efficient with tools in school.  

True hand dominance may not be completely integrated in the child until around 8 or 9 years of age. Use play activities to build consistency with the child’s preferred hand dominance.  If your child shows a preferred hand, set up the activity to work on scooping with the typically used hand.  If your kiddo uses their right hand most of they time in natural situations  

Hand Dominance Play Ideas:

  • Using tools like a hammer or screwdriver
  • Threading beads
  • Scrubbing and “cleaning” with a towel on walls and windows
  • Driving cars on a floor mat
  • Scooping beans and beads with spoons, shovels, or scoops
  • Catching and tossing bean bags into a target
  • Opening and shutting plastic ziplock bags

Open Thumb Web Space- An open thumb webspace is essential for true 
opposition of the thumb to the precision side of the hand.  A round “O” shape 
allows the thumb to rotate and oppose the pointer finger in pincer grasp activities. When kids write or color with that web space area squashed shut, it’s a sign of problems.  

Then might be compensating for thumb instability, underdeveloped hand arches, and/or poor strength.  Each of these problem areas will lead to difficulties with handwriting, dexterity, manipulation of small items like beads, and pencil grasp. Writing with a closed web space is inefficient and will cause poor and slow handwriting, especially as kids grow and are expected to write at faster speeds. A closed web space while attempting to manage fasteners such as buttons and zippers will lead to fumbling and difficulty.   

Open Thumb Web Space Play Ideas- 

  • Beading (like our idea we shared above!) Other beading ideas include threading plastic beads on a string, placing cereal O’s onto toothpicks, and stringing straws onto yarn.
  • Pick-Up-Sticks 
  • Wind up toys.
  • Barrel of Monkeys game. Encourage your child to pick up the monkeys with an open web space. 
  •  A game like Chinese Checkers encourages an open web space when the child grasps the small pegs with a pincer grasp between their thumb and the pad of their index finger. 
  • You could also try peg games like this HABA Color Peg. 
  • Push coins into a piggy bank.
  • Tweezers activities are great for an open web space. 
  • If handwriting and poor pencil grasp is an issue, try a pencil grip.
  • Pop beads. 
  • Roll play dough into small balls using the pads of the thumb and index finger. This is a great activity for developing arches of the hands and opening the thumb web space. 
  • Pop bubble wrap.
  • Screw and Unscrew nuts and bolts. 
  • Fold and crease origami. Crease the paper between the thumb and pointer finger.
  • Pinching clothes pins.
  • Lacing cards are great for opening the thumb web space.  Prompt your child to keep their thumb web space open while managing the thread.  We’ve got lots of ideas here.

  Precision of Grasp- Precision skills allow a person to manipulate and release of small objects.  Precision provides efficient grading movements in very small dexterity patterns like threading a string through a needle.  

Difficulty with precise motor movements of the hand may cause fumbling with zippers and buttons and trouble with advancing the pencil on small lines of paper. Precision occurs with development of grasp when child to use the pads of the index finger, middle finger, and thumb to manipulate objects with opposition.   

Precision release is needed for stacking blocks without toppling them over, placing cards on a pile, opening scissors just a small amount, or placing small beads into a bowl.  

Precision is needed for a child to let go of an item in a controlled manner.  

If they are not exercising precision in release, you might see them rolling or tossing an object as they let go.  They will knock over a stack of blocks, or over open the scissors when cutting lines, making their accuracy very choppy.   

Precision in grasp is related to the picking up of items.  A graded lateral grasp is needed to cut with scissors and only squeeze the scissors halfway shut for accurate cutting lines in some situations.  

Around 3-4 years, a preschool aged child typically develops a greater variety of grasping patterns, including precision.  They begin to grade their scissor strokes so that they can cut a line or shape without opening and closing the scissors completely.  Grasps in babies typically begin with a raking motion and work towards a pincer grasp.  Precision in this skill occurs when the child is able to pick up very small items like beads with accuracy and graded movements.  

Precision in rotation is another task that children develop around age 5.  Rotation is a portion of in-hand manipulation and seen when turning a coin on the edges and the child rotates it in a circular motion.  Precision in rotation also occurs when holding a pencil between the fingers and the child rotates it over and over.   

Precision Fine Motor Play Ideas-

Neat Pincer Grasp- Neat Pincer Grasp is a precision grasp using the very tips of the thumb and the pointer finger to pick up and hold very small items.  Sometimes, the fingernails are used in the grasp of items.  

Neat pincer grasp is used to pick up and hold a pin, a needle in sewing activities, or super small beads like Perler Beads.  This can be a tricky grasp for kids with difficulties in fine motor skills or core weakness.  

Neat Pincer Grasp Play Ideas- 

  • Threading string into a needle for embroidary art.
  • Beading with string
  • Quickels or 
  • Sort small items
  • Art or play with tape

Pinch Strength and Control- There are a few different grip postions of the 
hand and fingers that are used in play with children.  Difficulties in using and 
maintaining any certain grasp may interfere with tasks that require using the 
hands. Types of grasp patterns include: 

  • Lateral Pinch Grip (aka Key Pinch Grip)- The thumb opposes the lateral side of the pointer finger.  This grasp is used when holding and and using a key. A sub group of this type of pinch is the Lateral Prehension Grip– The thumb is flexed (bent) and it’s pad opposes the lateral side of the tip of the pointer finger. This grip is used to hold an index card or paper, sometimes.
  • Three jaw Chuck Pinch Grip– The thumb is flexed (bent) and opposes the pads of the pointer finger and middle finger. Holding a small cap like a toothpaste lid uses this grip. This is the grip used in holding a pencil.
  • Tip to Tip Grip– The tip of the thumb touches the tip of the pointer finger.  The thumb and pointer finger form an circle (or open thumb web space). This grasp is also called a pincer grasp.  It is used to pick up small items like cereal or beads.  If very small items are picked up (like a needle), a Neat Pincer Grasp is being used.
  • Lateral Grip– Pinching an item between the pointer and middle fingers use this grip.  You would use this grip in holding a cigarette.  While this is not a functional grasp for kids (obviously), you might see kiddos fiddle with a pencil by holding it between two fingers.

Pinch Strengthening and Control of Grasp Patterns Play Ideas-

  • Line the edges of an index card with clothes pins.  Try using the different pinches described above. 
  • Make clothes pins into superheros and pinch them onto strips of paper. 
  • Paint with Pom Poms (Fantastic Fun and Learning)
  • Write letters on each clothes pin and match them to letters written along the edge of a piece of paper like we did here to spell sight words.
  • Pinch clothes pins onto a ruler. Encourage pretend play like hanging clothes on a line.
  • Use clothes pins to pinch and grab small items like crafting pom poms, small erasers, or crumbled up pieces of tissue paper.
  • Craft with rainbow clothes pins.
  • Paint wooden clothes pins different colors and clip them to matching paper scraps.
  • Create an outdoor scavenger hunt for letters like we did here.
  • Wrap clothes pins in colored string and match them to crafting pom poms.
  • Make a fun animal craft.  These bees were fun to make!
  • Make a butterfly garland.
  • Create a tree using the clothes pins as the trunks, like in these Cherry Blossom trees.

Gross Hand Strength and Grasp- Gross grasp is used when squeezing all of the fingers shut around an object, like when holding the handle of a suitcase.  Gross grasp is important in tasks like handwriting and scissor use.  

To do these activities, you need to squeeze your whole hand shut and maintain endurance to complete the activity.  Development of hand arch and thumb web space is important for these functional skills and gross grasp plays a part.    

Gross Hand Grasp and Strength Play Ideas- 

  • Squeeze spray bottles
  • Squeeze sponges
  • Cut resistive materials with scissors.
  • Use a hole punch
  • Tug of war
  • Hand grippers

Flexion of the Thumb IP Joint- Many times a poor pencil grasp or difficulty with precision in opposition is a result of lacking flexion of the thumb Interphalageal joint.  

A flexed tip of the thumb is required to grasp and manipulate items such as  a pencil, zipper pull, shoe laces, and buttons. If there are muscle weaknesses in the forearm or hand, a hyperextended thumb IP joint will present as a form of providing stability by the thumb.  

Instead of using the opposition muscle of the thumb to grasp the pencil, the child is using the adductor muscle. Rather than manipulating items with the tips of their thumb and index finger, the child is using musculature of their wrist and forearm.


In order to improve this grasp, a child needs to strengthen the opposition muscle, Opponens Pollicis, along with Flexor Pollicis Longus to bend the tip of the thumb or the Interphalnageal Joint (IP Joint) of the thumb. Strengthening the intrinsic muscles along with addressing an open web space will improve IP flexion.  

Thumb IP Joint Flexion Play Ideas-

  • Games that require the thumb to bend
  • Where is Thumbkin hand games
  • Thumbprint Artwork

Thump Opposition- Thumb oppositon occurs when the thumb is rotated at the
carpometacarpal joint.  Opposition of the thumb to the fingertips is essential 
for tasks such as holding a hairbrush, managing buttons, and even grasping a door 
knob.  

Thump opposition coincides with an open web space in functional tasks.

Thumb Opposition Play Ideas- 

  • Pop Beads
  • Pegboard activities
  • Wind up toys
  • Tong Games and activities
  • Stringing beads
  • Connecting chain links
  • Peeling stickers from a sheet
  • Spinning tops
  • Geoboards
  • Squeezing small glue bottles in crafts

Palmer Arches- In the palm of the hand, there are arches that shape the hand’s grasp on objects of all shapes and sizes.  

There are two transverse arches that cross the hand at the  carpals and at the metacarpals.  There is a longitudinal arch for each finger.

These arches allow for skilled movements of the hands and first develop during crawling.  Arch development is essential for manipulating small objects such as a writing utensil.

Palmer Arch Development Play Ideas-

  • Finger and hand games like Itsy Bitsy Spider
  • Cupping water with the hands in water play
  • Shaking dice in the hand
  • Using tools to cut play dough
  • Pouring and scooping sand
  • Tongs games
  • Tweezer games
  • Squeezing spray bottles

In-Hand Manipulation- This skill is essential for managing small items within the hand for accomplishment of tasks. There are three parts to In-hand manipulation…translation, shift, and rotation.  

We shared two fun activities to work on these skills here.  In-hand manipulation typically begins to develop around 18 months, with the greatest skill development occurring between 2 and 2 1/2 years old.  

There are subcategories of in-hand manipulation. 

Finger-to-Palm Translation is the movement of an object from the fingers to the palm i.e. picking up a coin and moving it to the palm.  

Palm-to-Finger Translation: Movement of an object from the palm to the finger tips.  (i.e. moving a coin from the palm to the fingertips to insert into a vending machine.)  

Shift: Slight adjustment of an object on or by the finger pads. (i.e. adjusting a pencil up and down in your hand.)  

Simple Rotation: Turning or rolling an object 90 degrees or less with the fingers moving as a unit. (i.e. unscrewing a toothpaste lid).  

Complex Rotation: Turning an object more than 90 degrees using isolated finger and thumb movements. (i.e. Turning a paper clip)  

Each of the above skills can occur with items “squirreled away in the palm using the pinky finger and ring finger.  This is called “with stabilization”.  If other items are not pocketed away in the palm while in-hand manipulation occurs, it is called “without stabilization”.  Stabilization typically occurs around 2 years of age.  

In-Hand Manipulation Play Ideas:

  • Lite Brite 
  •  Lacing & Tracing Dinosaurs 
  •  Lacing & Tracing Sea Life cards
  • HABA Color Peg
  • Peg Board with 1000 Pegs 
  •  Manipulating coins is such a great way to work on in-hand manipulation.  A coin bank is a fun bank to practice with! 
  •  Spinning tops like Standard Tops
  • Ker Plunk Game
  • Roll play dough into small balls using only the fingertips.
  • Tear newspaper into strips, crumble it, and stuff an art project.
  • Use tweezers to pick up small items.  This works on the intrinsic muscles of the hands.
  • Lacing cards
  • Coin or button matching, sorting, and stacking.  We loved playing with coins for fine motor fun.
  • Pegboards
  • Dropping small items into bottles with a small opening like we did here.
  • Pick up beads from the floor and drop into ice cube trays.
  • Press buttons into a slit cut in the lid of a plastic tub.
  • Pick-up sticks.
  • Games with small chips.
  • Beading.
  • Twisting lids on/off water bottles.

Bilateral Coordination- Bilateral coordination is the functional use of the two hands together in a coordinated manner.  It’s coordinating both hands together and is closely related to hand dominance.

When a child has an established hand dominance, there needs to be a  fluid use of the two hands together.  In development of the child, children use both hands together then progress to using one hand at a time and finally using both hands together.  


Refined bilateral coordination skills allow a child to use both hands in separate tasks fluidly.


Bilateral Coordination Play Ideas-

Wrist and Hand Development- A prerequisite to controlled movements of the hand and fingers are strength and stabilization of the wrist.  Control in the wrist allows for manipulation of small items and grasps with the fingers A functional position for the wrist  in most activities requiring fine motor skills is slight extension and neutral positioning.  


This is an optimal position for handwriting or tasks such as manipulating buttons.  
Other activities like using a toothbrush or managing a utensil during feeding require slight ulnar deviation. Stabilization of the wrist is essential no matter what the task.  


In order to allow precision of fine motor tasks, the wrist should be stabilized in extension with precision tasks performed on a vertical surface, putting the wrist into optimal positioning and facilitating thumb abduction for distal work to the fingers.


Wrist and Hand Development Play Ideas- 

  • Painting on a chalkboard or easel
  • Vertically positioning a Magna Doodle, Etch a Sketch, or pegboard
Building fine motor skills through play
Building fine motor skills through play

    There are so many fine motor skills that can be addressed through play.  Fine motor development is not limited to the ideas, games, toys, and activities listed in this resource.  There are many more toys and games that can work on these fine motor skill areas.

Functional Skills for Kids



This post is part of the Functional Skills for Kids series by 10 Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists.  You can see previous months posts here.

Stop by to see what the other professionals have to say about Play:  

Gross Motor Skills and the Development of Play in Children | Your Therapy Source

Miss Jaime OT Help! My Child Won’t Play – Adapting Play for Individual Kids | Growing Hands-On Kids How Play Makes Therapy Better | Therapy Fun Zone

How the Environment Shapes the Way Kids Play | The Inspired Treehouse

Why is my child “just playing” when they see an OT?  | Your Kids OT  

Are you looking for more ways to build fine motor skills through play? Let me know what you’re working on!  

Lastly, let’s cover some important things to keep in mind when working on fine motor skills through play.

Age Appropriateness: Choose activities that are suitable for the child’s developmental stage to ensure they are engaging and challenging, but not frustrating. Don’t try to push kids to do more than they are developmentally ready for.

Variety of Movements: Incorporate a range of motions, such as pinching, grasping, squeezing, and twisting, to target different fine motor muscles and skills.

Focus on the Process, Not Perfection: The goal is to have fun, right?

Adapt Activities as Needed: Modify tasks to match the child’s individual needs and abilities, ensuring they are challenging yet achievable.

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.

Pumpkin Sensory Activities

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Pumpkin sensory activities

During the Fall months, pumpkin-everything is all we see, hear about, and smell…so why not incorporate pumpkin sensory activities into therapy planning and play-based learning? These sensory-based pumpkin activities support development of motor skills and incorporate sensory processing in various ways, but there’s more to it: Using pumpkin sensory play is a fun way to integrate the environment during the Fall months using a therapy tool many may not have thought about: the pumpkin!

Be sure to check out our latest sensory idea- a Pumpkin pie sensory bin! It’s so much fun for this time of year.

Pumpkin sensory activities for sensory processing and Fall therapy strategies

Pumpkin Sensory Activities

Fall…It’s a time of crunchy leaves, pumpkin-scented everything, shorter days, and a chill in the air. There are many senses associated with the season! Maybe that’s why it’s the perfect time of year to incorporate sensory experiences into daily activities and a formal or informal Sensory Diet designed to meet the needs of an individual.

Try adding the sensory based activities listed in this booklet right into your Fall bucket list this year. I’ve included many activities that are easy to incorporate into your day and family free time. Many families struggle to fine free time with work, school, sports, and weekend activities. Adding in much-needed sensory activities to a full day’s schedule can be difficult.

These fall activities are an easy way to challenge sensory skills, provide input needed for organization and regulation of the sensory systems. Using typical Fall daily activities can establish levels of sensory needs in ordinary ways.

When it comes to sensory seeking behavior and feedback, what helps one child might help others, though maybe in different ways. Use the ideas below to address the sensory systems while building on and developing functional skills, fine and gross motor development, coordination, balance, attention, and independence.

There are a few reasons why the average pumpkin is a great sensory tool:

  1. A pumpkin is a sensory tool anyone can use- Whether it be the home, the therapy clinic, or schools, one thing is for sure: You are likely to see a pumpkin in all of these places as a decoration during the Fall months.

2. Pumpkins offer many sensory options- Think about how heavy a pumpkin is. Picking up a pumpkin is just the beginning of the sensory input. Then there is the messy sensory experience with pumpkin guts. Pumpkin recipes offer another sensory experience. Pumpkin crafts, science experiences, and carving all offer different sensory options.

Let’s break down the various pumpkin sensory activities by sensory system.

Pumpkin Heavy Work

Heavy work offers calming proprioceptive input. This can be achieved by heavy work input through the body…picking up heavy pumpkins is one way to support this area. Another way is through deep breathing as it offers heavy work awareness through the mouth, lips, and chest.

Pumpkin Proprioception Sensory Activities

1.  Move Pumpkins- Pumpkins are everywhere.  Use pumpkins to address proprioceptive needs by having kids pick up and move pumpkins from place to place.  Kids can pick their own pumpkin at a farm, carry their pumpkin to provide upper body proprioception input, strengthening, and addressing balance and coordination needs.  

Heavy work is organizing and moving pumpkins can address sensory needs simply by picking up and carrying pumpkins.

Try these heavy work activities:

  • Place pumpkins in a line
  • Move pumpkins around the room or yard
  • Place pumpkins in bucket, bag, or wagon

2. Pumpkin parade- Decorate pumpkins with stickers or paints and then carry them to deliver to friends or neighbors.

3. Pumpkin Rocks- Collect rocks of all sizes and weights.  Use them to create pumpkin rocks by painting them orange and then painting on jack-o-lantern faces.  Painting rocks is a very tactile sensory experience, using both hands together in a coordinated manner.  

What makes this activity perfect for heavy work and addressing proprioception needs is playing with the painted pumpkin rocks after they are dry. Stack them, sort them, build with them, create small world sets, and decorate the front stoop with them.

4.  Pumpkin Wagon Pull- Load a wagon full of leaves, sticks, corn husks, pumpkins, and even your pumpkin rocks to build a heavy work wagon pull activity.

Kids can pull the wagon over the lawn for heavy work through the whole body.  Pull the wagon on flat sidewalks or driveways for less heavy work.  Go on a family walk with your collections or set up an impromptu Halloween parade with kids in the neighborhood.

5. Pumpkin Deep Breathing Activities- One of our first deep breathing exercises we shared here on the site is our pumpkin deep breathing exercise. It’s a printable page that shows kids how to trace the lines of a pumpkin while breathing deeply. This is a great self-regulation strategy for coping needs.

Tactile Pumpkin Sensory Play

Pumpkins offer a great opportunity for the sense of touch. From messy pumpkin guts to the smooth pumpkin surface, there are many options for tactile sensory play.

1.  Pumpkin Seed Scoop- Carving a pumpkin is an excellent sensory experience.  When it comes to scooping out the pumpkin guts, kids can challenge their tactile sense by touching and moving the seeds.  

For kids who are not able to tolerate this task, try using latex free gloves.  Kids can also try pulling off the pumpkin’s seeds from the innards using tweezers.

Once the seeds are removed, allow kids to rinse the seeds in a colander and strain them into containers.  

Use scoops and spoons of different sizes to address visual motor integration skills as they move and manipulate the wet seeds. Pinching individual seeds is an excellent fine motor task.

2. Pumpkin Sensory Bin- One of our favorite fall sensory bins is a pumpkin egg carton sensory bin. Address sensory needs by creating a sensory bin with a pumpkin theme.  Use egg cartons to create pumpkins and place them in a sensory bin filled with field corn or rice.  

3.  Fall Texture Feel- Gather various textures from nature to create a multi- textural sensory experience.  Use leaves, sticks, acorns, small pumpkins and gourds, or dry corn husks for kids to explore various textures.

4. Paint pumpkins– Painting pumpkins can be done to meet the needs and abilities of any individual and it’s a great Fall activity. Set up young children at the water table like we did to paint rubber ducks using water colors. Or, paint pumpkins and add details like feathers, sequins, beads, and gems.

Pumpkin sensory bins

Pumpkin sensory bins offer so many sensory experiences. Make them a messy sensory play or dry tactile sensory input, and you can address fine motor, visual motor, tactile, tool use, and much more.

Add a dry or wet sensory bin base, a container, scoops, pumpkin materials, and items to explore.

  • This Halloween Sensory Bin is one option for scooping and pouring with a pumpkin theme. 
  • A Halloween Sensory Table can be set up on a play table like a train table. Use the items you have in the home to support tactile sensory exploration.
  • This Pumpkin Sensory Bin uses dry corn and pumpkins made from egg cartons for sensory play.

Pumpkin Visual Sensory Play

  1. Color Assessment- Use a magnifying glass to explore the colors of leaves, tree trunks, and nature finds while out on a nature hunt. Kids can look for each color of the rainbow in a scavenger hunt type of activity.  This fall activity builds visual scanning needed for reading and writing.

2.  Pumpkin Seed Colors- Use dry seeds from a pumpkin to create colorful seeds using liquid food coloring or liquid water colors.  While these seeds won’t be edible, they are great for creative play!  Use the seeds to sort, manipulate, and create in Fall themed learning and play or artwork.

3. Pumpkin Sensory Bag- A sensory bag is a great way to incorporate sensory experiences and fine motor play. Simply fill a plastic bag with gel or soapy water. Then add materials like pumpkin seeds, sequins, food coloring, etc.

Kids can move the material around with their fingers to find hidden objects in a seek and find sensory bag or even write letters like we did with this window sensory bag.

Scented Pumpkin Sensory Activities

1.  Pumpkin Puree Touch and Smell- Grab a can of pumpkin puree from your grocery store and use it to challenge the sense of smell.  Ask kids to dip a craft stick into the pumpkin and smell the craft stick. You can use several craft sticks that are scented and unscented.  

Kids can pull one craft stick at a time from a jar and determine if it is a pumpkin stick or not. Do this activity blindfolded so that kids don’t see the stained craft stick.

2.  Pumpkin Spice Painting- Use pumpkin spice seasoning to create a scented sensory paint.  Mix the seasoning with flour and water to create a finger paint mixture.  

Color can be added with liquid water colors or food coloring. Once your child has created a painting, pop it into the microwave for a few seconds to create a puffy paint creation.

Pumpkin Taste Sensory Activities

Pumpkin Cooking with Kids- Use pumpkin puree to create all kinds of taste experiences with cooking with kids activities.  Add pumpkin to brownies, granola, or oatmeal for a taste experience while discovering new flavors.

How many ways can you think of to incorporate pumpkins into sensory play?  Just cutting into a pumpkin to carve a jack-o-lantern is such a sensory experience in itself. 

Why Use Pumpkin Sensory Activities?

The cool thing about using a pumpkin theme in sensory play is that a single activity supports many areas of development. This is why occupational therapy practitioners set up a sensory bin in therapy sessions.

Let’s take a look at why we might use a pumpkin sensory bins and sensory play activities in occupational therapy sessions…

  1. Fine Motor Skills: Handling and manipulating small objects like pumpkin mini erasers or tongs to pick up craft pom poms to put into mini plastic pumpkins in a sensory bin helps develop hand strength, coordination, and dexterity.
  2. Tactile Sensory Exploration: Sensory play, especially messy sensory play, like playing with pumpkin seeds, allows children to explore different textures, which helps them process and respond to sensory information from their environment.
  3. Cognitive Development: A pumpkin sensory play activity like the ones we shared above help kids engage in problem-solving, experimentation, and exploration, which is a great way to support executive functioning skills in play.
  4. Language Development: Sensory activities, especially during the Fall months, provide opportunities for children to describe their experiences, ask questions, and learn new vocabulary related to textures, actions, and objects.
  5. Calm and Focus: We love to use a sensory bin or a sensory bottle as a self regulation tool. Sensory play can be soothing and help children regulate their emotions, making it an effective tool for calming down and improving focus.
  6. Social Skills Development: When shared with others, sensory play encourages cooperative play, turn-taking, and communication, which are essential social skills.
  7. Supports Emotional Regulation: Sensory activities help children manage stress and anxiety by providing a calming and engaging outlet for their emotions.

Pumpkin Sensory Motor Activities

In our Pumpkin fine motor kit, you’ll find pumpkin theme activities to improve not only fine motor strength and dexterity, but sensory motor play activities. These include pumpkin play dough mats, interactive pumpkin mazes, pumpkin visual processing activities, lacing cards, I Spy pages, and so much more.

Grab a copy of the Pumpkin Fine Motor Kit to jump start sensory play this Fall!

Pumpkin activity kit
Pumpkin Fine Motor Kit

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

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

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

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

Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

Pumpkin Deep Breathing Exercise for Halloween Mindfulness

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Pumpkin deep breathing exercise

This Pumpkin Deep Breathing Exercise is the very first visual breathing tool that we created here on the website. We now have many more deep breathing exercises designed to support self-regulation, mindfulness, and brain break needs. We’ve recently updated this Halloween mindfulness activity to include more information on WHY this pumpkin deep breathing strategy works. We’ve also updated the printable to include a pumpkin breathing poster and a pumpkin mindfulness coloring page! This printable deep breathing exercise is a great Halloween Mindfulness mindfulness activity.

This pumpkin deep breathing exercise would be a fun addition to the sensory benefits of our pumpkin sensory bin activity.

You can get both below or access them in our Member’s Club.

Pumpkin Deep breathing exercise

Pumpkin Deep Breathing Exercise

This Halloween activity is one that I came up with while thinking about our recent Halloween Occupational Therapy activities post. So often, we see kids who struggle with coping strategies and require tools to improve self regulation.

This can occur at school or at home. What if we could combine a child’s interest in all things Halloween with a deep breathing exercise that can be used as a coping strategy, or a calm down activity?

That’s where this pumpkin deep breathing exercise comes in.

This deep breathing exercise uses a pumpkin for a coping strategy for kids that is a calm down strategy this Halloween.

Halloween Mindfulness Activity

We’ve created many breathing exercises to calm down kids (and adults) here on the website, and this pumpkin themed mindfulness strategy is just one of the tools in the toolbox.

So often, parents and teachers ask for strategies to use as a coping mechanism. When kids have coping tools in their toolbox for addressing sensory needs, worries, and getting to that “just right” state of regulation, a self-reflective state can occur.

Addressing specific needs like sensory overload, worries or anxiety, fears, or nervousness can be as simple as having a set of sensory coping strategies on hand. One way to do this is using mindfulness and positive coping skills like this deep breathing exercises.

Using deep breathing exercises to support mindfulness and coping skills works for several reasons:

  • When kids are taught about how their body feels and reacts in certain situations, they can self-reflect on past responses.
  • They can better understand who they are and how their body reacts to stressful or sensory situations.
  • By better understanding their states of regulation, they can be mindful of things that may set them off, but better yet, know how to respond.
  • Having a coping strategy on hand can set them up for success in learning or social situations.

Practicing mindfulness activities and coping strategies can be powerful for kids!

Mindfulness is the ability and awareness of thoughts, feelings, and sensations as our body responds or reacts in thought, feeling, and sensations. Mindfulness is being present in the moment in any given situation with full awareness of inward and outward sensations. Practicing mindful awareness through deep breathing exercises is one way to notice how our body is reacting in a given moment and provides a tool to reset. Coping skills for kids may include deep breathing as just one strategy.

Here are some mindfulness videos on YouTube to help kids better understand what coping strategies and mindfulness in action looks and feels like.

Deep breathing acts as a coping tactic and a calming activity. It’s an easy coping strategy for kids because taking deep breaths with mindful breathing can be done anywhere and without any equipment.

Taking controlled breaths with deep breathing can give kids a sense of control that helps them rest and address self-regulation or emotional regulation when they are upset, worried, or feel a need to calm down.

Halloween Breathing Exercise

So now that we’ve covered deep breathing and why it’s a helpful coping strategy for kids, let’s talk about a fun Halloween themed coping strategy that kids will love to try.

The deep breathing printable activity uses a simple picture of a pumpkin, but you can use a real pumpkin, too.

Use a real pumpkin for more sensory benefits.

The small decorative gourds or pie pumpkins are perfect for this activity, because kids can hold the small pumpkin in their hands and feel the weight of the pumpkin as they complete the breathing strategy.

  1. Hold a small pumpkin in the palm of your hand.
  2. Use your pointer finger of your other hand to slowly trace up a ridge and breathe in.
  3. Then trace down another ridge and breathe out.
  4. Continue tracing the ridges of the pumpkin while deeply breathing in and out.

Take the breathing exercise a step further by trace the lines up toward the stem while taking a deep breath in. Hold the breath for a few seconds and then trace a line down another section of the pumpkin while slowly breathing out. Hold that breath for a few seconds. Repeat this process as you slowly trace up and down the sections of the pumpkin.

What’s happening with this pumpkin breathing exercise?

Several sensory systems are at work here when using a real pumpkin in this Halloween mindfulness strategy:

Heavy Work- The weight of the pumpkin on the arches of the palm of the hand= PROPRIOCEPTIVE sensory system.

Calming Tactile Cues- Engaging the tactile sensory system to trace the ridges of a smooth surface. Think about how some individuals like rubbing specific textures like a silky blanket or the calming strips of a fidget tool. Running a finger along the groove of a smooth pumpkin surface engages that calming tactile input.

Belly Breathing- Deep breaths combined with a visual focus offers proprioceptive input through the lungs and diaphragm. Engage belly breathing by taking in fully breaths to fully engage the lungs. Then hold the breath for a second or two before releasing the breath. When belly breathing is engaged, the lungs continue to expand for a moment and add further pressure throughout the ribcage and internal organs. This breath control evokes the interoceptive system.

Bilateral Coordination- When holding the pumpkin and tracing with a finger on the other hand, both sides of the body are at work in a coordinated manner, otherwise known as bilateral coordination. Holding the pumpkin with one hand and tracing with the other hand engages bilateral use of both sides of the body.

Whether you are using a pumpkin picture or real pumpkin, show kids how to use deep breathing as a coping tool by taking calming breaths while they trace the lines of the pumpkin.

Pumpkin deep breathing poster and coloring page
Pumpkin deep breathing poster and coloring page

Halloween Deep Breathing Poster

In this newest update to our calming breathing exercise, we created both a pumpkin deep breathing poster and a coloring page.

  1. The poster can be printed out and hung in a classroom, therapy clinic or home.

2. Use the deep breathing exercise as a brain break during the month of October.

3. It’s a great tool for using during Halloween parties as a therapist- approved activity that supports underlying needs, too.

4. Many times, children can become overstimulated during classroom Halloween parties, and the days leading up to Halloween. Use the pumpkin deep breathing visual as a tool for the whole classroom to organize their sensory systems and focus on the learning that still needs to happen.

5. This printable page is full color and makes a great addition to a calm down corner this time of year.

6. You can even add the pumpkin breathing poster to our Fall Sensory Stations, and include this in a hallway or therapy clinic this time of year.

7. One final way to use this pumpkin mindfulness exercise is during the actual trick or treating. Kids with sensory or self-regulation needs can become overstimulated during trick or treating on Halloween. There is a lot of sensory stimulation out there! From lights, to fog machines, children running in the streets, and lots of strangers in the neighborhood, trick-or-treating is an overloading environment for many kids and adults! Print off a copy of this pumpkin deep breathing tool and use it calm down, engage focused breathing strategies, and cope as needed!

Pumpkin Breathing Coloring Page

In the new download below, you’ll also find a page that is a pumpkin breathing coloring page. We know there are many benefits of coloring and one is the calming ability that coloring has.

Adding heavy work by coloring in pages can be a great way to calm the sensory system through heavy work in the hands.

Print off the coloring page and use it in several ways this time of year:

  • Color in at occupational therapy sessions
  • Use as a whole class activity
  • Kids can color in the breathing exercise page and use them as individual brain break tools
  • Hang the coloring page on a bulletin board for Halloween that explains sensory self-regulation strategies
  • Include in a Halloween party
Use a pumpkin as a deep breathing exercise for a coping strategy for kids.

This printable Halloween mindfulness activity supports coping needs.

Free Pumpkin Deep Breathing Exercise

Want to get this free Pumpkin breathing exercise in both a color Poster format AND a coloring page? You’ve got it! Just enter your email address into the form below to access both printable pages.

This resource is also inside our Member’s Club. Members can log into their accounts and download the file directly without the need to enter an email address. The printable pages are located on our Pumpkin Therapy Theme page and our Mindfulness Toolbox.

Not a member of the Member’s Club yet? JOIN US HERE.

Pumpkin Deep Breathing Exercise

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    Pumpkin activity kit
    Pumpkin Fine Motor Kit

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

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

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

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

    Halloween Mindfulness Activities

    Use this printable pumpkin deep breathing exercise as a Halloween mindfulness activity. Other printable Halloween mindfulness activities include:

    Halloween Hand Breathing Technique

    We also have a new deep breathing exercise for the Fall or Halloween season. If using a printable to achieve Halloween coping skills isn’t ideal (sometimes you don’t have the printable version with you…or for some kids it might be hard for them to picture a pumpkin as they are coping with some self-regulation needs…), then having another tool in your toolbox is a must.

    We’ve come up with a Halloween Hand Breathing Technique to fit the bill!

    All you need is your hands and fingers to using this hand tracing breathing strategy.

    We talk a bit about using the Hand Breathing Technique for a self-reset to address coping skills, mindset, offset worries or anxiety, and as a deep breathing strategy.

    Check out our video over on YouTube, or you can see it below. If you can’t view the video due to blockers on your computer or device, check out our Pumpkin Hand Breathing Technique over on YouTube.

    To complete the Halloween Hand breathing technique, you can use the same pumpkin deep breathing strategy, but trace a pumpkin on the palm of your hand. We also included a pumpkin tracing task to create a motor plan for the pumpkin shape that is incorporated with deep breaths in and out.

    FAQ about Using a Pumpkin Deep Breathing Exercise with Kids

    Why is deep breathing important for kids?
    Deep breathing helps children manage stress, calm their minds, and improve focus. It also teaches them a valuable tool for self-regulation and emotional control. The pumpkin deep breathing exercise provides a great visual prompt for breathing strategies.

    How do you use deep breathing exercises during the day with kids?
    The best way is to make it part of a routine! Add this to a sensory diet or just incorporate at different parts of the day, like before walking out the door in the morning.

    How often should kids do deep breathing exercises?
    Kids can practice deep breathing exercises daily or as needed when they feel anxious, stressed, or need help calming down. Short sessions of 3-5 minutes are usually sufficient.

    What’s a simple deep breathing exercise to start with?
    I like using the pumpkin breathing strategy because it’s fun! You can add something called “Belly Breathing”, too. Have your child place their hands on their belly, breathe in deeply through the nose to fill their belly like a balloon, and then exhale slowly through the mouth.

    How can I make deep breathing fun for kids?
    Use visual aids like the pumpkin in the picture to trace while breathing. Adding a coloring page like the one in our pumpkin deep breathing exercise printable is fun, too.

    What should I do if my child is resistant to deep breathing exercises?
    Keep the practice light and fun. Use props like a real pumpkin that they can trace as they breathe. It’s important to be patient and not force the practice, allowing the child to engage at their own pace.

    How can I incorporate deep breathing into our daily routine?
    A: You can incorporate deep breathing during transitions, such as before homework, after school, or as part of the bedtime routine. Making it a regular part of the day helps it become a natural and effective coping tool.

    Have fun!

    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.

    Back to School Activities

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    Occupational therapy practitioners working in school based occupational therapy know that collecting data, building rapport with students, and coming up with fun ways to support educational needs is a tricky, but fun challenge in OT sessions. We have pulled together some of our favorite activities to cover various aspects of the scope of school based OT. I’ve been busy behind the scenes here at The OT Toolbox building tools that you can use during the first weeks of school that will make your life easier. Here, you will find first day of school activities, first day of school printables, and back to school baseline screening activities, back to school crafts, and ideas to use in therapy or the classroom this week (and coming weeks).

    Back to school therapy activities for occupational therapy

    Let’s get started with the back to school OT activities…

    Back to School Activities

    These activities should keep your students (virtual or in-person) busy the first few weeks of school. Some of these activities are great for online icebreaker activities and others are wonderful ways to build rapport while assessing baseline status in areas like pencil grasp, handwriting, math, scissor skills, or other learning/school tasks.

    Back to School Slide Deck- This interactive back to school slide deck works with Google slides. Enter your email address and log into your Google account. You will receive an email with a prompt to access a file for your personal use. Click the button on that pdf and the interactive slide can be copied right into your Google drive. Then, make a copy for each student and they can work through the slides in edit mode. These slides are designed to address visual perceptual skills. Kids will enjoy the back to school supply activities and won’t even know they are building skills that will help them thrive in learning.

    Back to school activities for kindergarten- (and first grade, second grade, etc.) These back to school fine motor activities are fun ways to quickly screen for fine motor skills needed at school while building rapport with the students. First day of school activities for kindergarten can involved fine motor activities that are fun and get children excited about their time in therapy sessions.

    Visual Schedules- There is something about having a visual schedule that makes things easier when it comes to transitions. We made these back to school story stones a while back and used them to adjust to the new routine that back to school time brings. Visual schedules can be effective in virtual sessions or hybrid learning. Why not use a visual schedule as a tool to move students between group online activities?

    Back to school activities for kids of all ages, including first day of school activities, first day of school printables, back to school crafts, icebreaker activities, and more.

    Online Icebreaker Activity

    Back to School Writing and I Spy Slide Deck- Another interactive slide deck for back to school writing, this slide deck covers a variety of areas. Use the school supplies I Spy slide as a fun activity to get started with the school year. The icebreaker slide can be used to get to know students as they fill out an All About Me activity. The slides include handwriting tasks so students can write words and sentences while teachers or therapists assess baseline levels for each student.

    Separation Anxiety Activity- After being out of the classroom for a much longer period of time this year, kids might have some worries or separation anxiety that leaves them anxious. Try this separation anxiety activity that uses a popular children’s book. Reading a book and doing a book-related activity a great icebreaker activity for kids.

    Icebreaker Questions- Go through some icebreaker questions for kids. This is fun in person or in virtual settings. Use these questions as a writing prompt to work on handwriting, too.

    Icebreaker questions for kids for the first day of school or therapy.

    Effective online learning

    Heading back to the classroom means switching gears back to online learning. Having a productive and effective online learning experience can be hard for some kids, and the same is true for virual therapy sessions. Here are tips for parents to make the most of teletherapy and online learning sessions.

    Having a toolbox of coping strategies for kids can make a big difference, too. Be sure to offer brain breaks, movement activities, and have a set of rules in place to make the most of online learning and virtual therapy sessions.

    These back to school sensory activities can be effective movement strategies for kids to stay alert to online learning and pay attention during virtual classroom sessions.

    Staying organized- Using organization strategies is more important than ever this school year. Here are organization strategies for the school-based OT, and here are organization strategies for students.

    This free editable therapy planner will keep you organized with themes and planning activities this school year.

    This therapy planning interactive bulletin board might be just the thing you need to prepare virtual therapy sessions, home programs, and keeping track of therapy plans.

    Back to School Crafts

    School Bus Craft- This school bus craft is a simple one to set up and can be done as a group online activity or in person. Record the activity for a recorded session, too. With the simple shapes, the bus craft is great for working on scissor skills, visual motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and problem solving.

    The Kissing Hand Craft- You’ve read the book The Kissing Hand, right? The book is a helpful tool to help kids with the transition to school. We made a The Kissing Hand craft that involved salt dough key chains (fine motor fun!) and be sure to check out the four other Kissing Hand crafts in the blog post, too.

    Pencil Fidget Tool Craft- This pencil topper fidget is a fun craft for kids but it can double as a fidget tool, too. Making this DIY fidget tool builds fine motor skills with sensory-related benefits.

    Handwriting Spacing Tools Craft- These spacing tools can be a fun way to get kids invested in spacing between letters and words. Make this spacing tool craft that kids can add to their pencil box and pull out for handwriting tasks. The best news is that making the craft builds fine motor skills too! Try this button spacing tool, this easy craft stick spacing tool, this pipe cleaner spacing tool, this clothes pin spacing tool, and this space martian spacing tool craft.

    Make a Space Man spacing tool.
    Make a DIY spacing tool.
    Make a pipe cleaner spacing tool for handwriting.

    First Day of School Printables

    The first day of school is exciting! Having a set of printables ready for kids of different ages makes the teacher or therapist feel a little more organized and ready for back-to-school, too. Try these first day of school printables:

    Back to school printable toolkit- This set of back to school printable activities is fun for the first day of school or the first weeks of school! There are book themed hole punch cards, school supplies I Spy printable page, school materials handwriting paper, an exclusive school supplies “spot it” matching game, and a printable PDF version of the school materials match-up game. Grab the toolkit here OR, get the free back to school writing slide deck listed for a special discount price 🙂

    Emotions and Feelings Printable- Talking about feelings on the first day of school (or first weeks of school) is important, especially this year. Grab this social emotional learning worksheet to cover facial expressions and emotions with kids.

    Deep Breathing Pencil– Use this printable to work on calming self regulation as a deep breathing strategy.

    Deep Breathing School Bus– I love this calming self regulation tool because it’s a strategy that can be used on the school bus or just as a back to school themed activity.

    Add this sensory strategy in school environment to the bus environment which can be unpredictable, full of loud sounds, vibration and unpredictable movements, and an opportunity for sensory overload.

    More first day of school activities

    What are your favorite ways to get kids excited about the first weeks of school or therapy?

    Add this set of back to school activities to your therapy or classroom toolkit…on sale now!

    Back to school toolkit– school materials and activities for kids.

    Back to school activities for occupational therapy or the classroom

    Back to School Therapy Plan

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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.

      Check out our newest resource, the Back to School Therapy Bundle!

      back to school therapy bundle of occupational therapy resources

      Keyring Pencil Grasp Trick

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      Hand holding a pencil with a keyring around the ring finger and pinkie finger for pencil grasp.

      Today, I’m excited to share a fine motor skills book written by a fellow Occupational Therapist.  Fine Motor ABC is a book full of alphabet themed activities that are designed to strengthen fine motor skills that are needed for functional tasks such as handwriting.  We tried one of the activities and found a great way to encourage a tripod grasp on the pencil when writing with this super simple pencil grasp trick.  This would be a great addition to our post on creative ways to improve pencil grasp with fine motor skills.

      Hand holding a pencil with a keyring around the ring finger and pinkie finger for pencil grasp.

      Easy Pencil Grasp Trick

      One of my favorite ideas from (Amazon affiliate link) Fine Motor ABC is this super simple tripod grasp idea.  We tried a version using a keychain keyring loop to work on encouraging a tripod grasp.  What a simple pencil grasp trick!

      Using the keyring loop is a fantastic way to separate the two sides of the hand with a tactile cue.  

      To use the tool, simply shoe kids how to position the loop right over the ring finger and pinky finger.  

      • They can then tuck the keyring loop over the fingers or simply hold it in place in their palm.  
      • This tactile cue allows them to curve their fingers into the palm while stabilizing the ulnar side of the hand.  
      • The middle finger, index finger, and thumb are then free to manipulate the pencil with the precision side of the hand.  

      FAQ: Using a Keyring to Support Pencil Grasp

      Q1: Why would you use a keyring to help with pencil grasp?
      A: The Pencil Grasp Trick is a simple method using ABCs to improve how a child holds a pencil, making writing more comfortable and effective.

      Q2: How does using a keyring help with fine motor skills?
      A: By engaging specific hand muscles and coordinating movements, the keyring trick strengthens the fine motor skills needed for writing and other tasks. It engages the precision side of the hand and separates the support side of the hand. See separation of the sides of the hand for more information.

      Q3: At what age can kids start using the Pencil Grasp Trick?
      A: Children as young as 3-4 years old can begin practicing this trick, but it’s beneficial for any child struggling with proper pencil grasp.

      Q4: Can this method be used for children with special needs?
      A: Yes, the Pencil Grasp Trick is adaptable and can be a helpful tool for children with special needs to improve their writing skills.

      Q5: How often should my child practice the Pencil Grasp Trick?
      A: Regular practice, even just a few minutes a day, can lead to noticeable improvements in pencil grasp and writing abilities.

      Super simple pencil grasp trick using a keychain keyring loop that works to separate the two sides of the hand and encourage a tripod grasp while writing.

      This post contains affiliate links.

      Fine Motor Skills ABC Activities

      We love the book, Fine Motor ABC because it has alphabet themed fine motor activities that make it perfect for teaching young kids while focusing on much-needed fine motor skills.

      Fine Motor ABC book

      Fine Motor ABC is a great book for Occupational Therapists, teachers, and parents or anyone who works with kids.  This book is a resource of engaging activities that are designed to target the necessary skills needed for childhood functional tasks.  Each letter of the alphabet addresses a fine motor skill with a quick and easy description of the task.  There are big, bright images and corresponding hand signs for kids to copy.  The engaging description of the activities really had my kids interested in reading through the book.  

      Following each lettered fine motor activity are through descriptions of the therapeutic reasoning for completing the task.  Fine Motor ABC is a book that would be well-used in any home, classroom, or therapy clinic.  

      Stacie Erfle is an Occupational Therapist who has put creative ideas to work in her book and I’m excited to read the upcoming books on gross motor skills and sensory activities.  Read more about the books on the Skill Builder site.

      Fine motor ABC activities for kids and designed for therapists, parents, and teachers for developing fine motor skills in kids.

      Great ways to use Fine Motor ABC in therapeutic development of fine motor skills in the OT clinic, classroom, or home:

      • Use the alphabet-themed fine motor activities in order from A-Z.
      • Complete only a few of the letters, by spelling a word and completing those corresponding fine motor activities.
      • Spell out the child’s name by completing the fine motor activities that correspond with the letters in the child’s name.
      • Follow the sign language images at the top of each page.  Ask the child to copy the hand signs.  Don’t forget to ask the child to carefully turn the pages of the book to see the next sign!
      • Create a customized therapy home program using the themed fine motor tasks.
      • Act out the activities without using manipulatives for a different way to practice the fine motor skills.
      • Work through the book by doing the activities that have a purple border (or blue or orange border!) Next time do a different color.

      There are so many ways to use this resource activity book with kids!

      Super simple pencil grasp trick using a keychain keyring loop that works to separate the two sides of the hand and encourage a tripod grasp while writing.

      More easy pencil grasp tricks for developing fine motor activities that you will love:

       
       
      Super simple pencil grasp trick using a keychain keyring loop that works to separate the two sides of the hand and encourage a tripod grasp while writing.

       

       

       

       
      in-hand manipulation

      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.

      OT Tips for Infant Feeding Therapy

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      occupational therapy infant feeding therapy. Image of a baby bottle.

      One area of daily functional tasks that pediatric occupational therapy providers support family and caregivers, is by addressing infant feeding challenges. When we receive an occupational therapy referral for a newborn, we are definitely going to be addressing infant feeding therapy in both the evaluation and probably the OT interventions. This means we support new parents or caregivers with strategies to help a little one eat from a bottle or by breastfeeding. Or, we might support newborns that are not typically developing or have other physical needs to acquire the food intake that they need to grow and thrive. Ultimately, this is one step in self feeding. At this stage, the newborn is the client and so is the family unit, so we support, educate, and provide tips and tricks to help with newborn feeding needs. In this blog post, you’ll find information and resources to help with feeding a new baby.

      occupational therapy infant feeding therapy. Image of a baby bottle.

      Read through our article on feeding developmental milestones, because that is a good place to start to know what age a baby should be doing certain things when it comes to feeding skills. Also important to read and understand is infant oral motor skill development.

      You’ll want to incorporate the feeding cycle in therapy sessions with baby play strategies that will help with digestion, visual motor skills, visual tracking skills, positioning, spatial awareness skills, and other skills that in turn actually help with feeding. This is all part of infant feeding in occupational therapy and when we support the family or caregiver, we do want to mention that feeding cycle which includes other things like sleep and play as part of feeding needs.

      infant feeding therapy

      The main thing to consider when it comes to infant feeding therapy is addressing the needs of the child, which might be different depending on the age, the stage, the family needs, and other input like diagnoses, birth complications, hospital or NICU stays, and other things that will be different for each baby. This is all going to be part of the intake in the occupational therapy eval.

      The OT processionals on the therapy team may see a lot of caregiver burnout when there is a feeding need in babies. This happens because it’s such an exhausting period of time for new parents or parents of multiple kids. The caregiver has a lot on their plate and when the baby struggles with feeding and often times, infant sleep schedules as well, we have a big cause of that exhaustion.

      Once you have that information, you’ll address the needs that impact food and liquid intake so that the little one can grow and thrive. Let’s break down tips for each stage, because that is one way to know how to support different age levels. Remember that you can adjust these recommendations depending on the developmental age and stage of the little one. They might be a one year old who is developmentally at a 6 month old stage, for example, and then you can pick and choose the strategies that work for that age range.

      Feeding is one of the most crucial activities you will learn to do with your baby, and it can be an exciting milestone in your child’s development. Around 5-6 months old is typically when you can start introducing solid foods to your baby. However, it’s perfectly fine to start earlier, provided that your baby is ready. Here are some signs to look for to determine if your baby is prepared for solid foods:

      • Can they sit up on their own or with support?
      • Are they able to hold up their head and control its movements?
      • Do they open their mouth when milk is offered?
      • Can they swallow without spitting out milk?
      • Do they bring toys to their mouth?

      If your baby can do these things, it might be time to start trying thin purees. While breastmilk or formula will continue to be their primary source of nutrition, introducing new foods now can help your baby develop feeding skills, get accustomed to different textures, and build the muscles in their mouth. Your baby will still need to be fed 6 ounces of breastmilk or formula 4 to 6 times a day.

      Creating a feeding routine is essential for your baby’s development. Start by offering solid foods 1 to 2 times a day, ideally during family mealtimes. Sitting at the table with the family helps your baby learn that mealtimes are an important and regular part of the day. As you establish this routine, ensure that distractions like phones and televisions are minimized so that your baby can focus on exploring and enjoying the new foods in front of them. Eventually, work towards offering solid foods at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, giving your baby multiple opportunities to practice eating.

      However, if your baby is having difficulty with feeding—whether it’s challenges with transitioning to solids, a newborn refusing to eat, or struggles with oral motor skills—occupational therapy can provide vital support. Infant feeding therapy, provided by an occupational therapist or an infant feeding specialist, is designed to address these challenges. This specialized form of occupational therapy focuses on developing the necessary skills for successful feeding, from improving oral motor function to addressing sensory sensitivities.

      Here are some resources that help with this area:

      Occupational therapy for feeding is not just about helping your baby learn to eat; it’s about creating a positive and effective feeding experience for both the baby and the family. An occupational therapist will work closely with you to develop a personalized plan that meets your baby’s specific needs. This might include hands-on guidance during feeding, strategies to enhance your baby’s comfort with new textures, and support for building the muscles necessary for eating solid foods.

      If you notice that your newborn refuses to eat or struggles with feeding in any way, seeking out an occupational therapy service that specializes in infant feeding therapy can make a significant difference. By addressing these issues early on, you can help ensure that your baby receives the nutrition they need for healthy growth and development.

      How to Feed your Baby: 0 to 6 Months Old

      Note that we tried to create this blog post as a resource for parents, so the recommendations are things that you might tell a parent or a caregiver of the baby.

      It might be hard to know what to do when you have your first child. Here are some tips that will help you learn how to parent your baby in a way that will help them grow up in a happy and healthy way.

      Important tips for feeding your baby include:

      • Look at your baby while you feed them. This is a very special bonding time with them, and eye contact can help them develop healthy attachment to you as they grow up.
      • In a soft voice, talk to them and sing to them. This helps with their brain growth and early language skills. You can hum them a lullaby, tell them that they are cute and that you love them, or sing a song like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”.
      • Never force anything into their mouth. This may make them afraid to start feeding.
      • Instead, gentle introduce them to the nipple by gently brushing the cheek closest to the breast or the bottle, then lightly touch their lips to it.
      • DO NOT give your baby cow milk, corn syrup, or honey within the first year.
      • Everything in this article is based on typical child development. Consult your doctor if you have any questions or concerns about your baby’s progress. Use this child development checklist as a resource to find out more about your infant’s development!

      How much and How Often to Feed Your Baby

      Look for signs that your baby might be hungry such as: sucking on their fists, increased movements, opening their mouth, and turning towards breasts. Crying is a late hunger sign and they should be fed before they get to this point. You do not want to feed a baby while they are crying, so to prepare them for feeding you can put a clean finger against the roof of their mouth to stimulate the reflex.


      Hold your baby in a position that is comfortable and where their head, neck, and body are in a straight line with their arms in the middle of their body. It may help to have them swaddled while they are feeding. Knowing the signs of when your baby is hungry, you will notice that they are typically feeding about as often as the chart below states and will drink approximately as much as is listed.

      infant feeding schedule

      Two Weeks

      • For the first couple of weeks of your baby’s life, it might seem like they are wanting to eat all of the time. That is normal! Even though every child is different, they will usually want to be fed about every 2 to 3 hours, day and night.
      • They will only eat up to about two ounces at each feeding.

      Four Weeks

      • Your baby will still want to be fed about every 2 to 3 hours. They now may start eating 2 to 3 ounces per feeding to make up for the weight they lost during the first couple of weeks.

      Two Months

      • Your baby will now be eating every 3 to 4 hours throughout the day and night. They will take about 4 to 5 ounces of milk at each feeding.

      Four Months

      • Your baby will now start to eat 4 to 6 ounces every 3 to 4 hours. Remember to look at your baby and use feeding as a time to improve their vision skills. Find out more about that here!

      Six Months

      • Your baby will not want to eat as often, usually wanting to be fed every 4 to 5 hours. They will now eat up to 8 ounces at each feeding.

      How to Breastfeed

      Your doctor will help you learn how to encourage your baby to latch to your breast while in the hospital, and it is common to work with a lactation consultant. For basic instructions about breastfeeding, click here. For ideas about positioning while breastfeeding, click here.


      Its important that you keep track of how your baby reacts to your milk in relation to your diet. Sometimes the baby may react to what you are eating (like become more gassy if mom eats a lot of dairy), so keep this in mind to adjust as needed.

      How to Use Baby Formula

      If you choose not to breastfeed, don’t get discouraged! Many women feed their baby formula, which is a completely acceptable alternative that provides baby with many nutrients that they need for healthy development. Formula can be found at most grocery and department stores, and is provided for free by your local WIC agency. They can also help teach you how to properly feed your infant if you have any questions.


      It is important to know that different types of formula exist for different needs, so talk with your doctor if your baby has a specific need.

      Add water first. Use the measurer that comes with the formula and make sure that the scoop is not packed and flattened evenly. Use the guide on the formula to see how much of a scoop to add per ounce of water.

      How to Burp a Baby

      Burp halfway through their feeding. If you are breastfeeding your baby, burp them before switching to the other breast. There are different ways you can hold your baby while burping them.

      Some of the most popular are:
      Sit upright and hold your baby against your chest. Your baby’s chin should rest on your shoulder as you support the baby with one hand. With the other hand, gently pat your baby’s back.

      Sitting in a rocking chair and gently rocking with your baby while you do this
      may also help. You can put a burp rag over your shoulder to catch any spit up that
      may occur.

      Hold your baby sitting up, in your lap or across your knee. Support your baby’s chest and head with one hand by cradling your baby’s chin in the between your palm and index finger. Rest the other side of your hand on your baby’s chest, but be careful to grip your baby’s chin, not the throat. Use the other hand to pat your baby’s back.

      How to Introduce Solid Foods to Baby

      Introducing new foods to your baby follows a gradual pattern. As your baby’s mouth learns how to handle and swallow solid foods, you can slowly begin offering thicker and more textured foods.

      It’s important not to start with hard foods, as your baby won’t yet know how to manage them and may be at risk of choking. Instead, begin with a thin puree and gradually progress through different foods and textures. Move on to the next texture only once your baby has become comfortable and proficient with the current one, which may take a few weeks or more.

      Start each meal by first offering your baby a bottle of breast milk or formula to ensure they have some nourishment in their stomach. After that, place a small amount of puree on a plate or directly on their highchair tray so they can see and explore it. Don’t worry if they don’t eat much at first—they might simply touch the food, decide they don’t like the texture, and become upset. This is a normal and positive part of the feeding process!

      Initially, your baby might only smell the new food, and that’s perfectly okay. The next time you introduce the same food, they might touch it, play with it, and even cry to have their hands wiped off. Provide a baby spoon for them to use during this exploration, though they will likely spit out the food initially, which is completely expected.

      These steps, while they may seem small or even messy, are crucial as your child learns about new foods. Expect a bit of a mess—that’s a good sign! It may take time before your baby is ready to actually taste the food, so celebrate the slow but steady progress they are making in this new learning experience.

      Baby Crying after Feeding


      Starting around the age of about 6 weeks old, you may notice that your baby is crying a lot more, especially after feeding. Many people call this “colic”, when a baby cries many times throughout the day without seeming to be able to calm down.

      The most common reason for this is that the baby’s tummy muscles are not fully developed, so sometimes the strong acids in the stomach will come up into the throat, and even cause them to spit up often.

      To help prevent the milk from coming back up, keep your baby upright after feeding for 10 to 15 minutes or longer if your baby spits up or has GERD. But don’t worry if your baby spits sometimes, this is very normal.

      One thing to remember is that feeding cycle that we should be using. This means we might follow a general schedule:

      • Baby wakes, crying
      • Feed baby
      • Change baby’s diaper
      • Tummy time or baby play time
      • Sleep

      This schedule, with some adjustments…remember that at this stage of childhood, there is nothing regimented, can be used most of the time throughout the day.

      Before bedtime, you may want to change the schedule slightly. This means that at the same time each evening, you start an evening schedule. It might looks something like:

      • Play time, tummy time
      • Bath
      • Dress baby, snuggle, swaddle
      • Read a book, quiet play like singing
      • Feed baby
      • Sleep

      Resources on Infant Feeding Therapy

      Jain, S. (2020, October 29). How often and how much should your baby eat? Healthy Children. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/Pages/How-Often- and-How-Much-Should-Your-Baby-Eat.aspx


      Scott, J., & Land, S. (2016). The confident parent: A pediatrician’s guide to caring for you little one without losing your joy, your mind, or yourself. TarcherPerigee.

      US Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC). https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic

      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.

      Learning with Dyed Alphabet Pasta

      by
      alphabet letter pasta

      Grab a box of alphabet noodles for a fun multisensory learning activity that builds skills in many areas. We used letters pasta to create a sensory bin that incorporates fine motor skills and a letter learning activity.

      alphabet letter pasta activity

      Alphabet Noodles

      You might remember eating alphabet noodles as a child in soup. But if you have a box of letter noodles on hand, it’s easy to create a sensory play activity that builds skills.

      This easy dyed pasta activity combines learning with fine motor development.  From the scooping to the neat pincer grasp activity, this is a great way to build many skills!  Younger children can use scoops and spoons to develop coordination needed to scoop and pour while gaining exposure to letters.  What a fun way to build so many areas!

      Alphabet Pasta Activities

      So, in addition to the ideas we shared above, we love using dry alphabet pasta in other activities to support fine motor and visual motor skills. I love that you can incorporate the tactile sensory play in learning and skill development.

      Some of my favorite ideas for alphabet pasta:

      Alphabet Sensory Bin Search: Fill a sensory bin with dry alphabet pasta and small items like pom-poms, beads, or toy animals. Hide letter cards or small objects in the bin, and encourage kids to search for specific letters or objects. This activity helps improve pincer grasp and hand-eye coordination while engaging their sense of touch.

      Letter Pasta Sensory Bottle: Create a “Alphabet Seek-and-Find” Sensory Bottle by filling a clear plastic bottle with dry alphabet pasta. Add a few small, colorful beads or buttons to make it more visually stimulating. You can also include a few small trinkets or themed charms to match a specific letter (e.g., a tiny apple for “A”). Seal the bottle tightly with glue to prevent any spills. Here are other sensory bottle ideas to use, like adding scrabble letter tiles to the sensory bottle as an I spy activity.

      Pasta Art and Letter Matching: Have kids glue dry alphabet pasta onto construction paper to create letter art or spell out simple words. For an extra challenge, provide them with a printed word and have them match the letters using the pasta. This activity develops both fine motor skills and visual-motor integration as they match letters and manipulate the small pieces. It’s a great letter recognition activity!

      alphabet pasta
       
      This was such a fun activity!  I found a bag of alphabet pasta at a local grocery store on sale for a dollar and couldn’t pass it up!  We used a little from the bag and used the rest in wedding soup.  (Little Guy’s most often request and favorite meal!)  Because the only thing that makes wedding soup even more awesome is fun shaped noodles 🙂
       
       

      How to dye alphabet Pasta

       
       
      We dyed the pasta in a baggie…added a few drops of red food coloring and 2 Tbsp of vinegar.  We dyed this batch back in May and the color is still going strong.  The vinegar doesn’t leave an odor when playing with the pasta, but helps the coloring to “stick” to the pasta.
       
      Have the kids shake the bag (or use a lidded plastic container for a fun auditory component!) and get their wiggles out.
       
      alphabet pasta
       
      I put up a few strips of masking tape on our easel and put out the bowl of pasta.  Baby Girl had the job of scooping letters from the bowl onto a plate.  She loved using my measuring spoons to scoop.  Toddlers seem to love scooping any little bits…peas/beans/rice/sand…and it’s such a great fine motor task for them. 
       
      Pinching those little letters was a fun fine motor exercise for working on their tripod grasp and pincer grasp. 
       
      I  positioned the tape strips high up on the easel to encourage an extended wrist.  This wrist position allows for efficient use of the fingers in such a small motor activity.  
       
      Big Sister worked on locating letters as I told her how to spell words.
       
      …Baby Girl couldn’t let her big sister do something and NOT get involved…
       
      We also used the alphabet letter pasta to work on a little reading/spelling activity: I stuck on the -AT letters and asked Big Sister to find the letter we needed to spell different rhyming words.  Fun!
       

      Alphabet letter pasta can be used in many ways! How do you use this sensory activity to learn and play?

      Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.

      Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:

      Letters Fine Motor Kit
      Kit de motricidad fina de verano
      Summer Fine Motor Kit
      Outer Space Fine Motor Kit
      Space Fine Motor Kit
      Spring fine motor kit
      Valentines Day fine motor kit
      winter fine motor kit
      Winter Fine Motor Kit

      Or, grab one of our themed Fine Motor Kits to target skills with fun themes:

      Want access to all of these kits…and more being added each month? Join The OT Toolbox Member’s Club!

      Free Therapy Planner for Back-to-School

      by
      back to school therapy planner

      Below, you will find a free printable therapy planner calendar that is an awesome resource to add to your therapy planner. Use the planning calendar to dream up and create an action plan for occupational therapy themes during the upcoming school year. Just pop in themes from our weekly therapy themes list and make the planning each week fun and easy.

      back to school therapy planner

      This therapy planner is perfect for school-based OTs, but it can certainly be used in clinics or in homes, too!

      Use this therapy planner to plan out occupational therapy sessions. It's an editable calendar that can be used over and over again.

      Free Therapy Planner

      During the summer months, many therapists start thinking ahead to planning therapy activities for the next school year. I know, I know. Summer just started. Some of us still have a car trunk full of hanging files, worksheets, a therapy ball, and pencil cases full of pencil grips. Is it really time to start thinking about planning for back to school?

      We are right on the brink of a new school year and you’ll soon be gearing up for another year in the clinic or classroom!

      Therapy Planning Calendar

      For the new school year, I have included a fun bonus to this post that you will find below. It is an editable Therapy Calendar for the upcoming school year…so you can change out the themes and make it meet your needs and the needs of those on your therapy caseload.

      Sometimes weekly themes can help you stay motivated AND make your life easier as a therapist while helping to keep children engaged in therapy activities from week to week.

      Enter your email address below to get the free printable therapy planning calendar. Use it as a guide to schedule and plan themed occupational therapy activities throughout the school year. You’ll also get a blank therapy planning calendar so you can fill in special themes that may go along with your school’s calendar or planned activities.

      Have fun planning out activities for this year’s therapy sessions!

      Therapy planner that occupational therapists will love

      Get the Therapy Planning Calendar

      ​

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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.

        Crayon Play Dough Harold and the Purple Crayon Activity

        by
        Harold and the Purple Crayon play dough, child cutting purple play dough with a cookie cutter and purple play dough creations

        Many years ago (Aug 26, 2014 to be exact!) we made this Harold and the Purple Crayon Play Dough activity because it was one of our FAVORITE books. My kids loved that book and the fact that there is now a movie…we are going to see this movie even though my kids are now teenagers! I loved this play dough activity because first, we made the homemade play dough recipe ourselves (it’s a version of our original crayon play dough recipe) and then, my kids worked those fine motor skills and visual motor skills to build creations, just like in the book, Harold and the Purple Crayon! Check it out…

        Harold and the purple crayon activity. Child pressing a cookie cutter into purple play dough and play dough creations using homemade purple play dough.

        We used homemade purple play dough and then worked those fine motor skills to make creations! Play dough exercises improve hand strength and finger dexterity. The soft and squishy dough provides a tactile sensory challenge with proprioceptive sensory feedback. The bonus is the strengthening of the arches of the hands and precision of grasp. These are just some of the benefits of play dough!

        Harold and the Purple Crayon Play Dough

        Working with play dough builds fine motor skills. You can really target pinch strength and grip strength by rolling play dough snakes, and that’s what this play dough activity is all about. In the book, the crayon is used to create wild creations…we did the same thing with playdough!

        This installment of the Preschool Book Club was one of our favorite activities, by far.  We made a batch of our play dough recipe, but added a twist.  We wanted to incorporate not only the purple color of Harold and the Purple Crayon, but the crayon, too!  This Crayon Play Dough uses real crayons in the play dough recipe and makes a silky smooth dough…perfect for creating, playing, manipulating, and more!

         

         
        Recipe for DIY play dough using crayons
         
         

        Crayon Play Dough Recipe

        Harold and the Purple Crayon activity with purple play dough
         
        This post contains affiliate links.  

        Harold and the Purple Crayon Activity

         
        The book Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson is such a FUN book.  It’s great for preschoolers, but grabs the attention of toddlers and school-aged kids, too.  When we read this book, all of my kids were frozen as they took in the bold pictures and the imagination of Harold. 
         
        We had a blast re-creating parts of the book with play dough lines.  Of course, we needed purple, CRAYON play dough to go along with the book!

         

         
         
        We love making our own play dough.  To make crayon play dough, you’ll need just a few adjustments.
         
         
        1. First, chop up 2 and a half crayons.  I’m not sure that these exact amounts matter.  There are so many different brands of crayons with different wax make-ups.  We used a few different types mixed together and the results were a silky smooth play dough.
         
        2. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (3 cups flour, 1 1/2 cup salt, 2 Tbsp. cream of tartar)
         
        3. Next, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan. 
         
        4. Add the chopped crayons. 
         
        5. Stir until the crayons are completely melted.  Slowly stir in 2 cups of water while stirring.  Certain types of crayons will either make a clumpy purply goopy looking liquid.  Other types will make a smooth liquid once the water is added.  Either way is fine.  Just keep stirring. 
         
        6. Slowly, stir in the dry ingredients.  The dough will pull together in a ball over the heat. 
         
        7. Once the dough pulls together, dump it out onto a cutting board or counter.  Let the dough cool until you can tolerate kneading. 
         
        8. Knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth.  (Note~ The waxy texture of this dough will create a spa-like experience while kneading.  This mama mixed up a few more batches of crayon dough and loved the mini-spa of kneading!)
         
        Purple crayon play dough
         
        Once cooled, you are ready to play.
         
        Child playing with DIY play dough made from purple crayons
         
        Crayon play dough is so smooth and silky to play with!  The color was very bold and bright.  Just like the purple crayon in the book!
         
         
        We read Harold and the Purple Crayon a bunch of times before returning to the library.  Before it went back, we used our purple crayon play dough to make purple lines and “draw” them into shapes and pictures, just like Harold did in the book.
         
        Create an activity for the book, Harold and the Purple Crayon



        Harold’s house “drawn” with our purple play dough.

         
         
        Little Guy made a boat, a Harold, and a snowman.
         
         
        Use crayons to make your own play dough!
         
         
        This was such a fun way to explore a great book.
         
         

        More Harold and the Purple Crayon Activities

         
        Looking for more activities for the book, Harold and the Purple Crayon?  Stop by and see what the other Preschool Book Club bloggers have done:
         
         
        Homegrown Friends: Giant Purple Crayon Mural
        Buggy and Buddy: Yarn Art
        Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails: Lavender Crayon Soaps
        Mama. Papa. Bubba. blog: Dry Erase Activity
         
         
        Be sure to make your own play dough with crayons and use all of the broken crayon pieces to make a rainbow of crayon play dough colors!
         
         
        hands-on activities to explore social emotional development through children's books.

        Love exploring books with hands-on play?  

        Grab our NEW book, Exploring Books Through Play: 50 Activities based on Books About Friendship, Acceptance, and Empathy, that explores friendship, acceptance, and empathy through popular (and amazing) children’s books!  It’s 50 hands-on activities that use math, fine motor skills, movement, art, crafts, and creativity to support social emotional development.