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:

Color Snack Kids Can Make

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Color snack

Preschool color activities like this Bear Sees Colors Activity makes learning colors in preschool fun…and paring a fun color snack with a book makes the concepts really stick for kids. After reading the book, make this color snack with the kiddos to develop motor skills. Then, go on a color search as a fun way to teach colors but also promote visual discrimination skills, helping them to identify visual differences that necessary skills for reading and writing. Add this colorful snack idea to our activities to teach colors to kids.

This Bear Sees Colors activity is part of a series of blog posts where we explored preschool books and came up with hands-on, multisensory activities to extend the book.

Kids can make this color snack and develop skills, and learn colors with a Bear Sees Colors activity.

Bear Sees Colors Activity

We made a creative and healthy snack based on the book and all of it’s colors.  Preschool kids (and older kids!) will love to seek and hunt for colors with these ice cream cone color scopes, then use the cones as an edible snack container. This is such a great activity for a preschool playdate.  Simply set out a plate of healthy snacks and the color scopes while the book is being read.    

Make a color snack with kids and go on a color hunt to teach colors to kids.

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Color Snack Idea

This color snack is easy to make with kids, or to set up a healthy, colorful snack for the whole family.

When we read Bear Sees Colors by Karma Wilson and loved it’s rhyming story and fun illustrations. We are HUGE fans of the other Bear books, (Bear Snores On is one of our absolute favorites!) so reading Bear Sees Colors was fun for us.  We thought it would be fun to go on a color hunt with our snack using an ice cream cone telescope and seek out colors like Bear does in the book.  

This color snack requires one main ingredient, and then a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables.

Simply fill up a cake ice cream cone with healthy treats: fruits, nuts, and veggies for a different snack that will get the kids to smile.  

Kids can get involved with the fruits and veggies prep. Allowing kids to help in the kitchen is a powerful way to help children develop fine motor skills.

We used the same idea for our Color Scopes based on the book, Bear Sees Colors and made the cake cones into color telescopes.  

For more ways to add color hunts to teaching colors, add the “Write the Room” cards from the Colors Handwriting Kit. Kids can scan the room for the color cards and then write the color names onto their paper, working on visual discrimination, visual scanning, and color identification.

Colors Write the Room Pages
Colors Handwriting Kit


Make a Color Scope Using a Cake Ice Cream Cone:

Use ice cream cones in a color hunt with kids and in a colorful snack.

 

It is so easy to make an ice cream cone snack for kids. To make the color snack telescope, grab a few cake ice cream cones.  

Using a sharp knife (this is a job for an adult.) Slice off the end of the cone.  I wanted the grid-like bottom of the cone to stay intact for our color scopes, for a couple of reasons:  First, it was difficult to try to cut out the grid.  Second, I wanted the kids to be able to put fruit and veggies from our snack into the cones and the grid held the treats in.  Third, if the grid was removed from the cone, the cone would probably squash when handled by little curious hands, resulting in crushed cone snack.  That would be an equally tasty and fun treat, I’m sure, but ineffective when it comes to hunting for colors in your snack 😉  


Colors Snack Idea

Make a color snack with kids for healthy snack ideas for preschool

 

In the book, Bear goes hunting with a few friends and sees all sorts of wonderful colors in the world around him.  Bear Sees Colors doesn’t hit all of the colors of the rainbow, but we decided to make our snack include a bunch of tasty berries, nuts, vegetables, and of course, Teddy Graham Crackers.  

The nice thing about this snack idea, is that you can use whatever you’ve got in your pantry and fridge.  Pull out a plate and load it up with anything colorful.  

Ice Cream Cone snack container and color scope (or telescope!) based on the preschool book, Bear Sees Colors.

 

We read through the book again as we ate our snack, and when Bear saw a color, I had the kids look through their color scopes to seek and find the color on the plate. 

Ice Cream Cone snack container and color scope (or telescope!) based on the preschool book, Bear Sees Colors.

 

I had them hunt for more colors, too. I called out a color and they had to search for it using their color scope.  They got a big kick out of this activity!

Color snack with colorful fruits and vegetables in an ice cream cone

 

We then filled up our cones with healthy treats and had a colorful snack!

Color snack for kids

 

This snack idea was fun for all of my kids, but would be great for preschool kids, especially as they identify colors.  How can you think of using our ice cream scopes?  

Ice Cream Cone snack container and color scope (or telescope!) based on the preschool book, Bear Sees Colors.

 See what the other bloggers on the Book Club Play Dates team have made for the book,  Bear Sees Colors:   Rainbow Sensory Activities from Fun-a-Day Colors Busy Bag from Craftulate Colorful Pre-Writing Activity from Still Playing School  

More color snack ideas for you may love: 

Rainbow Snacks

Valentine’s Day Snack Mix

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.    

GET THE E-BOOK

Get the PRINT BOOK

 
 
 
 

Exercise and Mood: Why Does my Child Need to Exercise?

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Exercise and mood in kids

Years of research and personal experience can tell us that adults tend to function better with regular exercise. Exercise helps us sleep better, reduce our stress, and manage our weight2. But what about our kids – how do they benefit from exercise? Today we are going to dive deep into the research and see why and how our kids should exercise to better their mood. Let’s look at the link between exercise and mood, and establishing healthy habits that lead to function and independence in kids.

Related: Emotional Regulation and Executive Functioning Skills.

Exercise and mood in children. Kids benefit from exercise to help with tantrums, behaviors, and confidence.

Exercise and Mood: Managing TEMPER TANTRUMS

If your child is having issues with emotional regulation, it may come out as a temper tantrum. You know the feeling of having no control over your emotions; being taken on a ride of sadness, aggression, and pounds of heavy frustration. Most adults have had enough practice honing their emotional regulation skills to keep them from screaming in the middle of the grocery store after a long day. Children, however, are still working on developing emotional regulation skills, and because of that, their overall mood can suffer.

Also related is the mood of those around us, or co-regulation. This is another aspect of mood that we don’t always first think of as it relates to our behavior and actions.

According to research new and old, exercise can help a child better regulate their mood9. Next time your child is screaming in the middle of Target, think to yourself – have they gotten enough physical activity recently? I have found that 30 mins of exercise in the morning can help even out moods for the whole day. Plus, you are bound to get a good nap time out of them if they have gotten enough physical activity – double whammy for everyone’s mood!

Tips for Exercise and Mood

Try these tips for encouraging exercise to reduce tantrums in toddlers:

  • Instead of pushing your toddler in a scroller on neighborhood walks, encourage them to walk next to you for a while.
  • Use classic movement songs to incorporate movement into their day – our favorites are “Animal Action” By Greg and Steve, “Jim Along Josie” By Pete Seeger, and “Pet Parade” by Hoyt Axton.
  • If screen time is a part of your routine, use videos like Cosmic Kids Yoga  to make the screen time more valuable.

Exercise to REDUCe ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION

Research shows that regular exercise in youth can treat anxiety and depression in the short term and long-term 3,4. Some studies suggest that high-intensity exercises, that will increase cardiorespiratory activity, improve mood more than low-impact exercises, like yoga5.

While there is lots of evidence to support that exercise can improve mood in both adults and children, some of the research points to other affects that exercise programs can have on children. For example, when children are enrolled in sports or other physical activity programs, they are also socially active and get attention from adults, which may also positively impact their mood7.

Whatever way you look at it, exercise is likely to improve their mood and guard against anxiety and depression.

Exercise for self-CONFIDENCE

One way that exercise improves mood is through raising self-esteem – physical activity gives you a confidence boost! Research shows that all kinds of physical activity contribute to a rise in self-esteem5.

Self-esteem is so important in all the occupations that children have, particularly in school. Academic and social success are partially dependent on self-esteem and self-worth, and both contribute to a positive mood.

“Psychological and behavioural problems in children and adolescents are common, and improving self‐esteem may help to prevent the development of such problems” (Ekeland et al., 2004).

Exercise and positive BEHAVIORS

In one study, researchers found that teachers reported an increase in wanted behaviors for children enrolled in both high and low-intensity exercise programs5. The theory here is that when a child’s physical activity needs are met, they are better able to regulate their emotions, attention, and behaviors9.

This comes with the awesome effects that exercise has for executive functioning, which controls many cognitive abilities6. With this increase in desirable behaviors, they will be more likely to develop positive relationships with their peers, teachers, and family members8.

“Exercise…is highly relevant in preadolescent children… given the importance of well-developed executive functions for daily life functioning” (Verburgh et al., 2014). 

Exercise has been shown to increase self-esteem, cognition and academic success, and decrease depression and anxiety in children3. Not to mention the obvious health factors associated with physical activity like heart and respiratory function. All said, exercise is integral to the overall health and wellness of our children.

EXERCISES FOR KIDS

After all that exercise talk, we have to offer some great ideas to add to your list! Most important to any exercise routine – you have to do what you love! Find what your kids like and encourage them to try new activities.

Another key strategy to encourage exercise in kids is to model healthy habits as the child’s parent. When parents model healthy choices, fitness, and regular exercise, kids see that and are more likely to follow suit with their own healthy choices.

One way that adults can model healthy choices is through exercising in the home. When kids see adults exercising, they have that positive interaction with physical activity.

Having a treadmill in the home is one sure-fire way to encourage movement, exercise, and healthy habits that are integrated into the day-to-day. With  Horizon Fitness treadmills and fitness equipment, you get the availablity of cardio equiptment right in the home. It’s there as a visable option for adding movement and regular cardio exercise on a daily or weekly basis.

Plus, parents of children can benefit from the fitness programs for quick and effective workouts that fit into the busy family’s schedule. Horizon offers a number of entertainment apps and streaming options, including Bluetooth speakers,  live or on-demand fitness apps, and other streaming fitness opportunities. All of these extras are designed to promote improved physical exercise and meaningful motivation.

Click here to join me in using Horizon Fitness equipment as a tool to ensure healthy families.

References

1. Ekeland, E., Heian, F., Hagen, K. B., Abbott, J. M. & Nordheim, L. (2004). Exercise to improve self‐esteem in children and young people. Cochrane Libary of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD003683.pub

2. Oaten, M. & Cheng, K. (2010). Longitudinal gains in self‐regulation from regular physical exercise. The British Journal of Health Psychology,11(4). https://doi.org/10.1348/135910706X96481

3. Ortega, F. B., Ruiz, J. R., Castillo, M. J. & Sjöström, M. (2008). Physical fitness in childhood and adolescence: a powerful marker of health. International Journal of Obesity, 32, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803774

4. Pascoe, M. C. & Parker, A. G. (2018). Physical activity and exercise as a universal depression prevention in young people: A narrative review. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 13(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.12737

5. Telles, S., Singh, N., Bhardwaj, A. D., Kumar, A. & Balkrishna, A. (2013). Effect of yoga or physical exercise on physical, cognitive and emotional measures in children: a randomized controlled trial. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health,7(37). https://doi.org/10.1186/1753-2000-7-37

6. Verburgh, L., Königs, M., Scherder, E. J. A., & Oosterlaan, J. (2014). Physical exercise and executive functions in preadolescent children, adolescents and young adults: a meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine,48, 973-979. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/48/12/973

7. Williams, C. F., Bustamante, E. E., Waller, J. L. & Davis, C. L. (2019). Exercise effects on quality of life, mood, and self-worth in overweight children: the SMART randomized controlled trial. Translational Behavioral Medicine,9(3), 451–459. https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibz015

8. Xue, Y., Yang, Y. & Huang, T. (2019). Effects of chronic exercise interventions on executive function among children and adolescents: A systematic review with meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine,53, 1397-1404. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2017-097600

9. Zhang, Y., Fu, R., Sun, L., Gong, Y., & Tang, D. (2019). How does exercise improve implicit emotion regulation ability: Preliminary evidence of mind-body exercise intervention combined with aerobic jogging and mindfulness-based yoga. Frontiers in Psychology,10. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01888

Sydney Thorson, OTR/L, is a new occupational therapist working in school-based therapy. Her
background is in Human Development and Family Studies, and she is passionate about
providing individualized and meaningful treatment for each child and their family. Sydney is also
a children’s author and illustrator and is always working on new and exciting projects.

Exercise and Mood Resources for Kids

You’ll love these resources designed to help kids get moving, exercising, and building skills, and kids won’t even realize they are “exercising”!

Designed to use fun themes, these heavy work activity cards add proprioceptive input to help kids become more aware of their body’s position in space.

Heavy work input allows kids to gain more awareness of motor planning skills, coordination, AND strengthening in fun and creative ways.

Incorporate the themed exercise cards into learning themes or play.

Grab your set of heavy work exercise cards, now.

Includes themes:

  1. Trucks Heavy Work Activities
  2. Insects Heavy Work Activities
  3. Sea Animals Heavy Work Activities
  4. Farm Animals Heavy Work Activities
  5. Jungle Animals Heavy Work Activities
  6. Woodland Animals Heavy Work Activities
  7. Superheroes Heavy Work Activities
  8. Sports Heavy Work Activities
  9. Monsters Heavy Work Activities
  10. Summer Heavy Work Activities
  11. Butterfly Life Cycle Heavy Work Activities
heavy work activity card example

Rainbow Breathing

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Adding to our deep breathing exercises here on the site, is this rainbow breathing activity for kids. It’s a breathing exercise that kids can use in a rainbow theme in therapy sessions, or as a coping tool to help kids with self-regulation, mindfulness, and focus. Print off this rainbow breathing printable and add it to your deep breathing activities!

This rainbow breathing activity is a great mindfulness tool to use with other rainbow activities. You can even add some Rainbow Fruit Loop craft ideas for fine motor fun.

Free rainbow breathing deep breathing exercise for kids

Rainbow Breathing Activity

Kids will love this printable rainbow breathing activity. It makes a great poster for a therapy room, classroom, of homeschool room, too, especially this time of year.

There are many benefits to breath control in breathing exercise as coping tools, and there is a reason why we are seeing more need for these types of resources.

To use this free deep breathing printable, ask kids to start at the white dot on one side of the rainbow. They can slowly trace along the colors of the rainbow as they take a deep breath.

Then, when they reach the other side of the rainbow, they can begin at another white dot where they can trace along another color in the rainbow. Ask kids to trace in rainbow order.

Rainbow meditation

You can extend this rainbow breathing activity by incorporating rainbow meditation into this mindfulness activity.

Ask children breathe deeply, they can focus on the breaths that they are taking in and noting how their body slows down to an alert and ready state. Rainbow meditation exercises involve using the colors of the rainbow ask children focus on each color along with mindful thoughts.

For each color, ask the child to focus on the color of the rainbow as they breathe in or breathe out. They can think about an object that is that color in nature or in their environment.

To help the child focus on the benefits of guided meditation with this rainbow activity, ask the child to visualize the rainbow colors flowing through them with each deep breath.

Red-They can take a deep breath in as they trace along the red band of the rainbow. Ask them to think about red things as they visualize red flowing through their body. Some things that are red might be hot and warm. Can they “feel” warmth flowing through their body? They can picture the color coming in through their nose and flowing through their body.

Orange- As the child traces along the orange band of the rainbow, the child can picture orange objects. They can breathe deeply out through their mouth as they picture orange colors of the rainbow flowing through their arms and legs and then out through their mouth. Things that are orange might be warm and energy. Can they “feel” warmth and safety flowing through their body?

Yellow- Ask the child to trace along the yellow band of the rainbow. They should be taking a deep breath in through their nose again. Ask the child to picture yellow items. Can they visualize the flow of yellow as it courses through their body? Yellow things might be bright and sunny. Do they feel alert and awake?

Green- Next, kids can trace along the green band of the rainbow. As they do, ask the child to breathe out through their mouth. They can then picture green things and imagine the green of the rainbow is flowing through their body. Green can be bright, soothing, and energetic. Do they feel that flowing through their body?

Blue- The next color in the rainbow is blue. Ask the child to trace along the rainbow band and breathe in through their nose. Blue might be calming, or peaceful thoughts. Can they feel calm colors flowing through their body? What are some blue things they can picture?

Purple- Finally, ask the child to trace along the purple band as they breath out through their mouth. Ask them to picture purple flowing through their body. Purple can mean creative and awareness. Can they picture any purple objects?

Free Rainbow Breathing Printable

Want to add this printable exercise sheet to your therapy toolbox? Enter your email address into the form below and you’ll be on your way.

Rainbow Breathing

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    More breathing exercises you’ll love:

    Heart deep breathing exercise

    Pencil deep breathing exercise

    Clover deep breathing exercise

    Color Exercises

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    Color exercises for teletherapy

    Looking to get kids moving and building skills in therapy sessions or at home? These color exercises use all the colors of the rainbow to help kids move and strengthen gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and even visual motor skills! Add these whole body exercises use colors as a therapy theme, but I love that the colorful exercise activities get kids strengthening muscle groups in big and small ways.

    This therapy activity slide deck is one of the many free slides available here on the site, as a resource for teletherapy, home programs, and therapy planning!

    Be sure to grab the free I Spy Colors therapy slide deck, too. For a hands-on activity, be sure to use our color by letter worksheet.

    Color exercises for teletherapy

    Related resource- Working with kids in teletherapy? Need streamlined info on how to structure your sessions? Need activities for week-to-week therapy planning? need answers for all of your teletherapy questions? Join the free teletherapy course, a 5 day email series on telehealth for occupational therapists.

    Color exercises

    This is a color learning activity, that can be used in teletherapy sessions to develop many skill areas:

    Color exercises for kids

    Gross Motor Color Exercises

    All of these gross motor skill areas can be addressed using the color activities in this slide deck:

    • Gross motor skills
    • Core strength
    • Bilateral coordination
    • Crossing midline
    • Core strength
    • Stability
    • Balance and equilibrium skills
    • Coordination
    • Range of motion
    • Flexibility
    • Motor planning
    • Crossing midline
    • Movement patterns
    • Posture and postural control
    • Muscle tone
    • Proprioceptive input
    • Vestibular input

    As kids go through the slides, they need to complete various stretches, challenging the skills listed above. There are movement patterns, crossing midline activities, yoga positions, and more. Kids can go through these slides several times if you like, to work on motor planning, sequencing, and memory skills.

    Color and letter exercises

    Then, the slides ask the child to air write letters. This is an eye-hand coordination activity that incorporates shoulder positioning and strengthening, finger isolation, and crossing midline, motor planning, range of motion.

    These slides also work on visual perceptual skills including visual closure as kids identify the hidden letter.

    Grade and extend this activity:

    • Challenge kids by calling out a color and they can complete that gross motor activity.
    • Having the child air write the letter associated with the color and writing the letter larger or smaller, using whole arm motions, or just the finger.
    • Challenge kids by calling out a color and asking them to air write the letter.
    • Or ask kids to complete the air writing task while in the gross motor stretch activity.
    Color hand strength exercises

    Fine Motor Color Exercises

    This slide deck challenges fine motor skills as well. Kids can use their finger and work on finger isolation as they write the letters on each of the color slides.

    There is another movement section of the slide deck that incorporates colored letters with a fine motor activity. All students will need is a piece of paper (scratch paper works, so tell them to grab an old homework page or even a piece of junk mail) and their hands.

    Following the directions on the fine motor activity slides, they will tear the paper into small pieces using their hands to tear and crumble. Tearing paper with the hands and using the finger tips to crumble small bits of paper strengthens the intrinsic muscles of the hands. Here is more information on tearing paper as a fine motor activity.

    This activity works on fine motor skills:

    • Arch development
    • Intrinsic hand strength
    • Open thumb web space
    • Hand strength
    • Dexterity
    • Precision
    • Graded tearing- eye hand coordination
    • Separation of the sides of the hand

    Then, you can extend this activity to use it in different ways or to challenge kids of all levels and ages:

    • Use different colored paper to match with different letter activities and gross motor exercises in the first part of the slide deck.
    • Use different grades of paper to make the exercise more difficult. Heavy weight paper like construction paper, cardstock, or paper plates is more of a challenge and lighter weight paper like thing paper, wrapping paper, wax paper, or tissue paper is easier.
    • Encourage children to use only the very tips of one hand.
    • Ask kids to write a letter on the small piece of paper and then crumble it up so the letter is hidden.
    Letter exercises using colors

    Visual Motor Exercise with Colors

    Finally, the last part of this slide deck is a visual motor exercise. Children can use those small pieces of paper to copy the lines and letters on the slides.

    This activity includes strait lines for younger children to incorporate pre-writing lines. There are also letters included for kids working on forming letters.

    Extend this activity

    • Matching letters to the exercises at the beginning of the deck.
    • Kids could also form letters using the paper balls by memory rather than copying the letter forms.
    Color exercise for self regulation

    The slide deck ends with a color self regulation exercise. Kids can choose the color that matches their feelings, alert state, and regulation needs, all with a rainbow color theme!

    Virtual Color Exercise Activities

    Want this free therapy slide deck? Enter your email into the form below. Grab the free Google slide deck by entering your email into the form below. You will receive a PDF containing a link to open the slide deck. Be sure you are logged into your Google account before clicking the button on that PDF. Save the PDF in your therapy files so you can access this resource any time and share with those on your caseload.

    Color Exercises!

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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.

      I Spy Colors Activity

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      I spy colors virtual I spy game

      If you’ve ever played “I Spy with my Little Eye”, then you are going to love this I Spy colors therapy slide deck. It’s a movement activity that gets kids up and moving and challenges several developmental skill areas: visual processing, tactile sensory exploration, handwriting, and strength, endurance, and movement challenges. Kids can go through the free therapy slide deck in an occupational therapy teletherapy session and work on learning colors as well. Add I Spy colors as a color scavenger hunt that kids will love!

      Use this along with our color exercises slide deck for more color theme activities in therapy.

      This I Spy virtual game is just one of the free slide decks we have available here on the site. You’ll also love our printable color by letter worksheet. Check them all out!

      I Spy colors therapy activity for teletherapy. This is a color scavenger hunt for kids.

      Need more teletherapy resources? Working with kids in teletherapy? Need streamlined info on how to structure your sessions? Need activities for week-to-week therapy planning? need answers for all of your teletherapy questions? Join the free teletherapy course, a 5 day email series on telehealth for occupational therapists.

      I Spy Colors

      The kids you are working with may have played I Spy before. In a traditional look-and-find game, they need to search a book, puzzle page, or other activity page for hidden items. You may have even played I Spy with my little eye while waiting at a doctor’s office, or in a restaurant. It’s a good activity for kids that keeps them busy. But did you know there are even more therapeutic benefits to this game?

      I wanted to create a teletherapy activity that required no materials other than paper and pencil. This I Spy Colors therapy slide deck does the trick.

      Therapists can use this free interactive slide deck in therapy treatment sessions virtually as a color scavenger hunt activity.

      The activity asks users to search their house for an object of a particular color. By looking around the home for the color detail of objects, children are strengthening several visual perceptual skill areas:

      • Visual scanning– moving the eyes for a specific aspect of details: colors of objects. Visual scanning is a skill needed for reading as kids scan their eyes over the lines of a page.
      • Visual discrimination– visually determining differences in colors of objects. The slides ask kids to locate items that are in a range of colors. This color activity is slightly more advanced than just finding a blue item. Can they find teal? Visual discrimination is a skill needed for distinguishing differences in letters and words when reading.
      • Figure-ground– Pulling out details of objects from a busy background. When users scan their home for a specific color, they are visually identifying objects that may be hidden in a busy background. This visual skill is used in functional tasks every day.
      • Visual memory– Holding a “picture” of details such as the shade of color in the mind. As kids look throughout their room or home, visual memory is needed to recall the color and shade they are looking for. This visual skill is needed in reading and math.
      • Visual closure– identifying an object when only parts of it are seen. This visual perceptual skill is used when children locate an object in the room that may be partially hidden. Visual closure is used in reading when readers are able to identify a word by only some of the letters.
      • Visual convergence– A visual processing skill, this motor task allows vision to shift in scanning. By scanning to near and far points, kids are strengthening this skill. Visual convergence is used in the classroom when scanning from a teacher or the board to the desk, or from near to far and far to near.

      Users can then identify features of the object by responding to questions about texture. The slide deck asks about aspects of the found item by asking the child to explore the tactile aspect. Is the item fuzzy? Soft? Rough? How does it feel?

      This part of the color activity brings in features of the tactile sensory system.

      Color I spy for a virtual I Spy game, using materials in kids houses, making it great for distance learning or online therapy games.

      Virtual I Spy

      This virtual I Spy activity takes the fun of the classic look and find game online, making it great for teletherapy activities with kids of all ages. This particular color game goes beyond just “I Spy” however…

      Use the virtual activity for working on other areas in therapy, too:

      • Movement challenges- Kids get up and move to find the objects
      • Visual perceptual skills- covered above
      • Tactile sensory exploration and challenges- Can they find a green object that is fuzzy? This activity can be expanded in many ways!
      • Handwriting- work on skills such as line awareness, letter formation, sizing, legibility. Kids can then self-assess their work, making carryover of writing skills stick.

      Users can move the interactive piece of the slide deck to mark off tactile sensory aspects of the colorful item they found.

      Finally, there is a color writing activity where users can write a sentence about the object, using the describing words that they selected. This part of the slide deck may be a higher level for some users, but the writing piece invites users to incorporate aspects of language and creative writing into the I Spy Colors activity.

      Use this I Spy color activity to teach colors and work on various child development skills, including handwriting.

      I Spy Colors for all ages

      The slide deck is designed so it meets various levels and can be graded to different ages:

      • Younger kids can just look for the objects in a color scavenger hunt.
      • Teach colors, making it a preschool color activity that is perfect for virtual learning.
      • Some children can skip the tactile sensory aspect and just seek out items in the I Spy portion of the activity.
      • Grade the activity up by discussing tactile features.
      • Further grade the activity up by incorporating handwriting. Younger students can just write the word.
      • Older students can write the word in a sentence, working on adding describing words.
      • Kids that complete the handwriting portion of the slide deck activity can self-assess their handwriting, using the interactive check marks as they look over their written work.

      There’s somethign for everyone with this I Spy Colors therapy activity!

      Want to play I Spy Colors?

      Grab the free Google slide deck by entering your email into the form below. You will receive a PDF containing a link to open the slide deck. Be sure you are logged into your Google account before clicking the button on that PDF. Save the PDF in your therapy files so you can access this resource any time and share with those on your caseload.

      FREE Color I Spy Activity!

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        More color activities

        Add this slide deck to these hands-on color activities:

        Benefits of coloring– Use a couple of crayons to work on many areas of child development.

        Visual Motor Color Match Activity– This activity translates wonderfully to virtual therapy sessions. It can be used in face-to-face interventions as well, or as a home activity.

        Colored Pencils Handwriting Activities– All you need is a set of colored pencils for working on many skill areas.

        Color Mixing Rainbow Write– Work on letter formation and size with this rainbow write activity that challenges kids to mix colors and see what the result is.

        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.

        You’re in!

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        Great! You’re in the free teletherapy with kids email course. Check your email for a welcome email containing a checklist of everything we’ll be covering in the course.

        Hint: You need to click that button so you get the emails in this series 🙂

        You’ll also see the first email in this series, and it contains your first freebie, as well as information on loads of resources.

        This is going to be fun!

        Resources you’ll enjoy using in teletherapy:

        heavy work cards for regulation, attention, and themed brain breaks
        Heavy work activity cards with 11 themes.

        Heavy Work Cards– This $6 resource includes

        1.  Trucks Heavy Work Activities

        2. Insects Heavy Work Activities

        3. Sea Animals Heavy Work Activities

        4. Farm Animals Heavy Work Activities

        5. Jungle Animals Heavy Work Activities

        6. Woodland Animals Heavy Work Activities

        7. Superheroes Heavy Work Activities

        8. Sports Heavy Work Activities

        9. Monsters Heavy Work Activities

        10. Summer Heavy Work Activities

        11. Butterfly Life Cycle Heavy Work Activities

        Each activity page includes 8 movement and heavy work cards in that theme.

        These heavy work activities can be used in virtual therapy sessions. Add these heavy work activities to home programs, teletherapy activity plans, or used as brain breaks during learning and play.

        Proprioception activities like these themed heavy work activities are essentially brain breaks that provide whole-body, heavy work input through the large muscle groups and the core. These movement activities are a good way to calm and organize your child given the calming and organizing heavy work. Kids who need more heavy work, or proprioceptive input, to address sensory needs might present in some of these ways: 

        • Poor pencil pressure when writing
        • Attention and focus issues in learning situations
        • Appear clumsy
        • Difficulty transitioning between activities
        • Fidget when asked to sit quietly
        • Show an increased activity level or arousal level
        • Seek intense proprioceptive input by “crashing and bashing” into anything
        • Slap their feet when walking
        • Flap hands
        • Use too much or too little force on pencils, scissors, objects, and people
        • “No fear” when jumping or walking down stairs
        • Or, are overly fearful of walking down steps/jumping
        • Look at their body parts (hands/feet) when completing simple tasks
        • Sit down too hard or miss chairs when sitting
        • Fall out of their seat
        • Fluctuates between over-reacting and under-reacting in response to stimulation
        • Constantly on the move
        • Slow to get moving and then fatigue easily

        Click here to access these heavy work activity cards.

        FREE Teletherapy with Kids Course

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        teletherapy for kids free email series

        I have something exciting to share with you. So many therapists were thrown into the world of teletherapy. When it comes to teletherapy with kids, however, there is a lot going on. Kids show up without materials to their virtual OT sessions. Or they might not show up for their scheduled session at all. There are schedule issues with hybrid/virtual sessions. Other therapists run into the difficulty of coming up with teletherapy ideas for kids that address skills like handwriting, visual processing skills, and functional tasks. I’m here to help.

        Teletherapy with kids free email course that offers resources and tools for occupational therapists offering online therapy services.

        Want to get streamlined information on teletherapy with kids?

        I have put everything on the website covering all things virtual therapy and put it into one free email course.

        In the 5 day email series, I cover areas that you’ve told me you have questions about. Some of those questions include:

        • How to work on goal areas without therapy equipment and materials?
        • What does teletherapy look like for early intervention or younger children?
        • What does virtual therapy look like for high-needs children?
        • What activities can be accomplished in virtual therapy?
        • How to use household materials in teletherapy sessions?
        • How to come up with new and fresh activity ideas week after week?
        • How to help kids MOVE in the way they need for development and strength, coordination, attention, and sensory needs?
        • Any and all teletherapy resources!

        It’s all covered in the free teletherapy with kids mini-course!

        Teletherapy for Kids Free Resources

        Each day of the 5 day email series, you’ll receive information on each of the topics described above. You’ll find tons of tips and tools for each area.

        AND…

        Each day in the free email series contains a free resource that you can add to your teletherapy toolbox. The free printables include:

        • A free printable teletherapy planner to make planning your sessions a breeze
        • A handy list of links to teletherapy activities using materials found in homes
        • A list of online games and websites you can use as reward activities to build skills
        • A parent handout describing household materials that can be used in teletherapy sessions
        • Tons of themed therapy slide decks!

        Want in? Let’s get you the resources you need for serving kids in teletherapy!

        FREE BONUS
        TOOLS FOR TELETHERAPY MINI-COURSE

        ​

        A free email course to make teletherapy second nature.

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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.

          Rainbow Friendship Sensory Bottle

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          friendship sensory bottle

          This rainbow sensory bottle is a simple friendship sensory activity to throw together, and uses whatever materials you have in your home. We used rainbow string to make our sensory bottle for use as a calming tool for visual and proprioceptive input.  We made these friendship sensory bottles as a friendship activity that helped to work on cooperation and specific aspects of social emotional development.

          The reason for making sensory bottles is simple: Shake a sensory bottle and watch the contents slowly fall for visual sensory input.  There is just something relaxing about watching a sensory bottle.  This rainbow sensory bottle is colorful and packs a fine motor punch when the kids are involved in the making process.  

          Kids can make this friendship sensory bottle as a sensory activity with friends to explore social emotional learning and qualities of a friend.

          How to make a friendship sensory bottle

          First, gather a friend. Then, you’ll need a couple of empty bottles and some materials. You could gather craft supplies like glitter, sequence, string, craft pom poms, or any materials really.

          This sensory bottle was super simple to make.  We used just a few materials:

          Affiliate links are below.

          Friendship Thread (Ours was from www.craftprojectideas.com)
          Clear body wash
          Water
          Recycled Bottle
          Super Glue
          Clear glass marbles

          Rainbow sensory bottle is a sensory friendship activity for kids.

          To make the rainbow sensory bottle, first cut the friendship thread into 1-2 inch lengths.  

          Have the friends take turns filling each other’s friendship sensory bottles with the materials. You could make each bottle the same, or they can be as different as two friends are!

          While filling the sensory bottles, this is a nice time to talk about qualities of a friend.

          Talk about how different each friendship bottle will be even through they may contain many of the same materials.

          Talk about how different people are too, and no matter what is inside of one, the bottle will always look different with it’s swirls and whirls of sensory materials.

          You can discuss qualities of a friend: companionship, trustworthiness, listening skills, being helpful, and working together. When friends shake their sensory bottles, they can recall these qualities.

          Each child can fill their bottle (and their friends’ bottle) with the thread.

          This is a great exercise in fine motor skills to work on tripod grasp and neat pincer grasp.  My toddler and preschooler really got into pushing the thread into the bottle.

          Friendship activity with a rainbow sensory bottle.

          Once all of the thread has been added to the bottle, pour in about 1/2 inch of body wash.  

          Amounts are approximate and will vary depending on the recycled bottle you use for your sensory bottle.  

          Add water to the top.  

          As you add water, suds will form.  Continue adding water to allow the suds to spill over the top of the bottle.  

          When MOST of the bubbles have poured out of the bottle, twist on the lid.  

          Now, give the sensory bottle a big shake.  This is the job for the kids.  Have then shake the bottle to mix in the gel.  

          Now, as you shake, more bubbles will form but let them settle.  After the gel and water has mixed, add a couple of the glass gems to the bottle. These help to mix and stir the rainbow thread within the water-gel combo.  An added bonus of the marbles is an added bit of weight in the bottle.  This gives the sensory bottle some heavy work to the sensory play.  Shaking a bottle that is heavy provides proprioceptive input. 


          More Friendship Sensory Activities

          Add these friendship sensory bottles to these movement and sensory activities to develop friendship skills:

          1. Use the social-emotional skills resource, Exploring Books Through Play: 50 Activities based on Books About Friendship, Acceptance, and Empathy, which offers multi-sensory activities while exploring friendship, acceptance, and empathy through popular (and amazing) children’s books.
          2. Address turn-taking with blocks as kids communicate and practice taking turns.
          3. Use play and everyday toys to explore and develop turn-taking, communication, sharing, and problem solving.
          4. Inspire exploration of friendship skill development. Here are children’s books and activities that develop friendship skills.
          5. Make a sensory monster craft and talk about qualities of a friend with this Leonardo The Terrible Monster craft.
          6. Pair these activities with the free friendship slide decks that are now on the site: 
          • Writing about Friendship Slide Deck – writing prompts, writing letters to friends, and handwriting activities to develop friendship skills, all on a free interactive Google slide deck. 
          • Personal Space Friendship Skills Slide Deck– Friendship involves allowing personal space, and body awareness and all of this is part of the social skill development that some kids struggle with. Use this free Google slide deck to work on body awareness and personal space.


          Want to see more rainbow sensory bottles? Rainbow Counting Bears Sensory Bottle | Preschool Inspirations Rainbow Pipe Cleaner Sensory Bottle | Mom Inspired Life Rainbow Button Sensory Bottle | Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tail Pot of Gold Discovery Bottle | Sunny Day Family Rainbow Glitter Sensory Bottle | Rhythms of Play Glitter Jars in a Rainbow of Colors | Fun-A-Day Rainbow Alphabet Sensory Bottle | Modern Preschool Rainbow Polka Dot Discovery Bottle | Still Playing School

          Rainbow friendship thread sensory bottle

           

          Looking for more sensory bottles?  These are our favorites:

           
          How to make sensory bottles
           
          I Spy Sight word sensory bottle
           
          Alphabet Discovery Bottle
           
          Math Dominoes Discovery Sensory Bottle

           

           

          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.

          Leonardo the Terrible Monster Game About Being a Friend

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          Leonardo the Terrible Monster activity

          This Leonardo the Terrible Monster activity is a fun way to create and teach kids about qualities of a friend, using a popular children’s book.

          Leonardo the Terrible Monster Activity

          You might know that we love to partner great children’s books with crafts and activities.  Today’s hands-on activity is a Leonardo the Terrible Monster activity and it’s one that uses an amazing monster book to help kids talk about the qualities of a friend. Add this to your list of friendship activities, or when working on social emotional skills.

          By the way, be sure to check out all of our book activities.  It’s been fun creating book related activities! Today’s book is Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Williams.  We created a monster craft and game where we talked about friendship.  

          Leonardo the Terrible Monster craft and game to explore friendship with kids. Talk about the qualities that makes a good friend with kids. This book and activity is perfect for preschool and play dates!


          (This post contains affiliate links.) 

          Have you read the book, Leonardo, the Terrible Monster?  This is such a cool book, all about a Monster who is not so scary.  

          In fact, Leonardo is terrible at being terrible.  Leonardo tries to find the most scare-able kid there is so that he can scare the tuna salad out of him.  Meet Sam.  Well, it turns out the Sam has had a bad day and is not in fact scared by Leonardo; he’s sad.  Leonardo and Sam become wonderful friends.  

          This book is such a fun read with it’s big, fun font and simple illustrations.  It was easy to make a game based on Leonardo the Terrible Monster.  This game is all about what makes a friend.  We talked about qualities of a friend (and decided scaring our friends is not a good quality!)

          Leonardo The Terrible Monster Book Craft and Game

          We started by making a monster craft using coffee filters and fork painted fur.  For the Monster friend game, you can make a monster craft using any Monster craft, but this one was fun and easy!  You’ll need a few materials to make the coffee filter monsters:  

          • coffee filters
          • Plastic Forks
          • paint (this is my favorite brand!)
          • Paint Brush
          • Monster-ish decorations like pipe cleaners, googly eyes, yarn, or any crafting material
          Leonardo the Terrible Monster craft and game to explore friendship with kids. Talk about the qualities that makes a good friend with kids. This book and activity is perfect for preschool and play dates!
          Leonardo the Terrible Monster craft and game to explore friendship with kids. Talk about the qualities that makes a good friend with kids. This book and activity is perfect for preschool and play dates!

           

          To make the coffee filter monsters, first flatten and paint the coffee filters.  

          Add color and fur texture by pressing the back of the fork into paint and then pressing onto the coffee filter.  

          Let the paint dry and then glue on details of the monsters.  It was fun to see how different each of our monsters looked.  

          We then used these monster crafts in a friendship game.

          Monster “What is a Friend” Game for Kids

          Once your monster friends are dry, hang them on the wall for a game about friends!  

          This color matching game was perfect for my preschooler (and her little sister who loves to do whatever her big sister does!)    

          Talk about the colors and details of each monster on the wall.  

          Discuss how each monster is different, but they all have feelings and might end up becoming a great friend. We talked about how friendship doesn’t have anything to do with appearances or visual qualities, but of the specific qualities of a friend, or how a person (or monster) acts like a friend to others.  

          We talked about what exactly it means to be a friend.  

          These are some of the concepts covered in our social emotional skills resource, Exploring Books Through Play: 50 Activities based on Books About Friendship, Acceptance, and Empathy, which offers multi-sensory activities while exploring friendship, acceptance, and empathy through popular (and amazing) children’s books.

          Then, to play the monster game, we played a version of “I Spy”.  I said that I could see a monster who has blue fur.

          My daughter would then go over and point to the monster that had blue fur and would name a quality of a friend that the monster might have. This extended the learning of friendship concepts further, and added movement, visual perceptual skills, color recognition, and more.

          This is such a great movement and sensory-based preschool activity to learn about friendship skills! 

          Leonardo the Terrible Monster craft and game to explore friendship with kids. Talk about the qualities that makes a good friend with kids. This book and activity is perfect for preschool and play dates!

          Qualities of a Friend

          (according to my kids):

          It was fun to talk with my kids (later my 8 year old came over to see what the fun was about and joined us) as we discussed qualities of a friend.  Some of the things we came up with were:

          • A friend is someone who helps.
          • A friend cares about their friends.
          • A friend helps people at school.
          • A friend asks others to play with them.
          • A friend tells the truth.
          • A friend takes turns.
          Leonardo the Terrible Monster craft and game to explore friendship with kids. Talk about the qualities that makes a good friend with kids. This book and activity is perfect for preschool and play dates!

            What qualities of a friend can you and your kids come up with?

          Leonardo the Terrible Monster craft and game to explore friendship with kids. Talk about the qualities that makes a good friend with kids. This book and activity is perfect for preschool and play dates!

          Stop by to see what the other bloggers in the Book Cub Play Dates series have created based on Leonardo, the Terrible Monster.  You’ll have all the details you need to create a book themed play date!   Monster Matching Busy Bag from Fun a Day Paint Chip Monsters from Craftulate Play Dough Monsters from Still Playing School

           
           

           

           
          Stop by and see some of our favorite book related activities for kids:
           

          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.

          GET THE E-BOOK

          Get the PRINT BOOK

          You’ll also love these free friendship slide decks that are now on the site:

          Writing about Friendship Slide Deck – writing prompts, writing letters to friends, and handwriting activities to develop friendship skills, all on a free interactive Google slide deck.

          Personal Space Friendship Skills Slide Deck– Friendship involves allowing personal space, and body awareness and all of this is part of the social skill development that some kids struggle with. Use this free Google slide deck to work on body awareness and personal space.

          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.