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:

DIY Fidget Tool Zipper Pull

October 29, 2021March 16, 2018 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

This DIY Fidget Tool is a good one to add to your therapy toolbox! A fidget tool attached to a zipper pull can be helpful for kids who struggle with wiggles, over or under responsiveness to sensory input, those who have worries or sensory challenges on the school bus or while out in the community. Using a zipper fidget tool can be helpful when waiting in line and it’s hard to keep little hands to oneself.

This DIY fidget tool is also a fine motor powerhouse for kids to make. I love adding crafts like this one to the therapy line up because not only does it work on essential fine motor skills, it also creates a functional tool that kids can wear and be proud of. When they have made a colorful and fun zipper pull fidget tool, they will be proud to wear it, show it off, and use it to address needed sensory processing struggles!

DIY Fidget Tool Zipper Pull

This DIY Fidget Tool Zipper Pull is very easy to make. You’ll need just a couple of materials:

Pony beads

Fuzzy craft sticks (pipe cleaners)

We received both of these items from www.craftprojectideas.com

To make the fidget tool, thread the beads onto a whole pipe cleaner. Bend the pipe cleaner in half and create a small loop. There should be enough space between each bead and at the top of the loop to allow for movement when the bead is wiggled.

Twist the top shut and loop the end through a zipper pull. Use the ends of the pipe cleaner around the zipper pull.

And that’s it! The diy fidget tool zipper pull is done!

So, why would a child need a fidget tool on their jacket?

When kids have difficulty with self-regulation, emotions, anxiety, sensory processing, or other concerns, they may act out or end up in meltdown mode. This can be especially true in settings where environmental stimulation is on overload.

A situation such as on the noisy school bus where students are jostled around among other loud students and a lot of other children sitting nearby can be overwhelming to the child with sensory needs.

Standing in line at school as students wait to go outside to recess or to come indoors after recess can be a time when students have trouble keeping their place or keeping their hands to themselves.

A child who becomes overwhelmed by worry and anxiety heading into new situations can find comfort in movement that a fidget tool offers.

All of these are situations when a zipper pull fidget tool would be a great sensory diet accommodation to keep on hand.

A Fidget Tool is a Sensory Diet Tool

Children who have a sensory diet in place or utilize sensory strategies to address specific needs may have other accommodations or tools in place such as a fidget tool. A keychain fidget tool can be just the item that provides children with a grounding point and gives them the ability to focus, attend, or participate in activities.

This DIY Fidget Tool would be great alongside our DIY Fidget Tool for School, allowing kids to wiggle and move those fingers!

This jacket fidget tool is inconspicuous, making it a great fidget tool for school, much like this DIY weighted fidget tool.

Want to know more about what a sensory diet is or how to implement one? Check out some of our recent posts on sensory diets and be on the watch for our upcoming book, The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook.

Outdoor Sensory Diet Activities for Playing in the Woods

July 11, 2019March 8, 2018 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Kids just don’t get much time to play outdoors anymore. We talked about the impact that reduced outdoor play has to do with sensory processing needs in kids in our recent Outdoor Sensory Diet Activities post. We chatted about the benefits of outdoor play in a typically developing child as well as those with sensory processing needs. This post covers the benefits of playing in the woods or a wooded area of a backyard or park. This might be a great recommendation for families who are going camping this summer and need some sensory strategies. Playing in the woods offers so many opportunities for sensory input, movement, gross and fine motor work. Not only that, but playing in the woods is a calming and organizing way to play!

These activities can be used as part of a sensory diet of specific activities and sensory tools designed to meet specific needs of an individual.

This will help when explaining about what a sensory diet is and what a sensory diet looks like for kids with sensory needs.

These ideas would be a great addition to all of our summer occupational therapy activities here on The OT Toolbox!

Occupational therapists can use these sensory diet activities for wooded areas to recommend sensory diet activities for outdoors or as part of a home program for children with sensory processing needs or SPD.

Disclaimer: When therapists develop a specific and highly individualized sensory diet, it’s not just throwing together a day filled with sensory input. A sensory diet is a specific set of sensory tools used to meet and address certain needs of the individual based on sensory need and strategizing. Each of the sensory diet activities above should meet specific needs of the child. Every child is different so applying sensory input to one child may look very different than that of another. Parents should use the tactics below along with your child’s occupational therapist.

Wooded Area Sensory Diet

Fallen tree balance beam
Jump in leaves
Climb small trees
Look Up scavenger hunt
Bird watch
Touch tree trunks
Natrue collection
Picnic in the woods
Magnifying glass to find bugs
Lift rocks and inspect what’s underneith
Hike
Climb rocky areas
Play in streams
Climb steap hills
Ride bikes on a trail
Bug hunt
Collect sticks
Build a fort
Climb trees
Scent scavenger hunt
Carry a backpack full of supplies

Accommodations for addressing sensory needs in a wooded area

For kids with sensory needs, the sensations of the outdoors and a wooded area can be too much for the child to tolerate. Try these accommodations for addressing sensory needs in backyard play:

Calming snacks for a picnic

Drink water from a sports bottle with a straw

Wear sunglasses

Wear a brimmed hat

Wear high top shoes or shoes that provide proprioceptive input

Wear shoes that the child is able to tolerate

Compression clothing

Wear a lightweight wind jacket

Be cognizant of the scent of bug spray

Recognize early signs of sensory overload and head back to the house or car before a meltdown occurs (Leave on a happy note)

How to incorporate sensory play into playing outside

Sensory diet activities can be specific to sensory system like these vestibular sensory diet activities. Sensory activities can be prescribed according to need along with environment in order to maximize sensory input within a child’s day such as within the school day. Using authentic sensory input within the child’s environment plays into the whole child that we must understand when focusing on any goal toward improved functional independence.

Many sensory diet activities can naturally be found outdoors. In fact, outdoor sensory diet activities are a fun way to encourage sensory input in a child’s environment and without fancy therapy equipment or tools.

It’s a fact that kids are spending less time playing outdoors. From after-school schedules to two working parents, to unsafe conditions, to increased digital screen time, to less outdoor recess time…kids just get less natural play in the outdoors. Some therapists have connected the dots between less outdoor play and increased sensory struggles and attention difficulties in learning.

Knowing this, it can be powerful to have a list of outdoor sensory diet activities that can be recommended as therapy home programing and family activities that meet underlying needs.

That’s where the Outdoor Sensory Diet Cards and Sensory Challenge Cards come into play.

They are a FREE printable resource that encourages sensory diet strategies in the outdoors. In the printable packet, there are 90 outdoor sensory diet activities, 60 outdoor recess sensory diet activities, 30 blank sensory diet cards, and 6 sensory challenge cards. They can be used based on preference and interest of the child, encouraging motivation and carryover, all while providing much-needed sensory input.

Here’s a little more information about the Outdoor Sensory Diet Cards

90 outdoor sensory diet activities

60 outdoor recess sensory diet activities

30 blank sensory diet cards, and 6 sensory challenge cards

They can be used based on preference and interest of the child, encouraging motivation and carryover, all while providing much-needed sensory input.

Research tells us that outdoor play improves attention and provides an ideal environment for a calm and alert state, perfect for integration of sensory input.

Outdoor play provides input from all the senses, allows for movement in all planes, and provides a variety of strengthening components including eccentric, concentric, and isometric muscle contractions.

Great tool for parents, teachers, AND therapists!

Be sure to grab the Outdoor Sensory Diet Cards and use them with a child (or adult) with sensory processing needs!

Outdoor sensory diet activity cards for parents, teachers, and therapists of children with sensory processing needs.

More about outdoor sensory diet activities

That’s why I’ve worked to create a book on creating an authentic and meaningful sensory lifestyle that addresses sensory needs. The book is now released as a digital e-book or softcover print book, available on Amazon.

The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook walks you through sensory diet creation, set-up, and carry through. Not only that, but the book helps you take a sensory diet and weave it into a sensory lifestyle that supports the needs of a child with sensory processing challenges and the whole family.

Get The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook here.

The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook is a resource for creating sensory diets and turning them into a lifestyle of sensory success through meaningful and motivating sensory enrichment.

Sensory Diet Activities at the Beach

October 6, 2022March 8, 2018 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Whether you live at the beach or just travel to the beach for an annual family trip, it can be overwhelming for a child with sensory needs to cope with the sensory input that a trip to the beach can cause. The beach has so many sights, sounds, scents, and textures that can be used to meet sensory needs. For the family that is travelling with a child with sensory processing challenges, the beach can be both a blessing and a source of sensory overload. Use the strategies listed below to address sensory needs on a trip to the shore and the tactics to address hypersensitivity during a beach trip. These sensory diet activities at the beach can be a powerful tool or recommendation by occupational therapists and part of an outdoor sensory diet.

Knowing what a sensory diet is and how it can be used within a sensory lifestyle is a big part of integrating sensory activities and sensory play, even while travelling or for the family who lives at the beach or water area.

Sensory Diet Activities at the Beach

Make a sandcastle
Rake the sand (for pulling and pushing proprioceptive input)
Bury feet or hands
Sprinkle sand on hands or toys
Fill a bucket with water
Carry water from the shore to dry sand
Dig wet sand
Dig dry sand
Make a “wet castle” using wet sand
Firm pressure massage with sunscreen
Carry a bucket of sand
Scoop and pour sand
Scoop and pour water
Inspect tide pools
Pick up, scoop, and carry pebbles
Jump low waves
Sit at water’s edge for sand play
Bury a toy and then find it
Play visual discrimination games with sand toys: Child can look at a collection of toys then one is removed and the child needs to determine which is missing
Play beach “I Spy”
Roll up in a beach towel burrito with heavy input
Fill a gallon sized bag with sand for a DIY weighted lap pad or shoulder pad
Pull or push a bin or wagon of beach toys
Carry a beach bag
Fly a kite (great for visual motor skills, visual scanning, and proprioception)
Catch and toss a beach ball
Play beach ring toss
Chase waves
Look for seashells
Rinse and clean seashells

Accommodations for addressing sensory needs at the beach

Children with sensory processing challenges can be overwhelmed given all of the sights, sounds, scents, and textures that the beach provides. Try these accommodations for addressing sensory needs in backyard play:

Play in a baby pool to enjoy water without the waves
Use a large beach blanket and weight down edges
Be cognizant of hot sand
Provide calming snacks
Wear long sleeved sun clothing

Wear water shoes instead of sandals or bear feet

Proprioceptive input such as firm touch to the shoulders

Bucket of water to rinse hands if child is sensitive to sand

Sheltered area such as a wind tent or low umbrella if child is sensitive to wind blowing on skin

Wear a lightweight wind jacket

Use baby powder to remove sand

Hat with brim to reduce bright light or intense light in eyes or on face

Wear sunglasses

Wear headphones to reduce background noise

Be aware of certain sunscreens which as a strong scent

Bring extra dry towels

How to incorporate sensory play into playing at the beach

Knowing this, it can be powerful to have a list of outdoor sensory diet activities that can be recommended as therapy home programing and family activities that meet underlying needs.

That’s where the Outdoor Sensory Diet Cards and Sensory Challenge Cards come into play.

Here’s a little more information about the Outdoor Sensory Diet Cards

90 outdoor sensory diet activities

60 outdoor recess sensory diet activities

30 blank sensory diet cards, and 6 sensory challenge cards

They can be used based on preference and interest of the child, encouraging motivation and carryover, all while providing much-needed sensory input.

Research tells us that outdoor play improves attention and provides an ideal environment for a calm and alert state, perfect for integration of sensory input.

Outdoor play provides input from all the senses, allows for movement in all planes, and provides a variety of strengthening components including eccentric, concentric, and isometric muscle contractions.

Great tool for parents, teachers, AND therapists!

Be sure to grab the Outdoor Sensory Diet Cards and use them with a child (or a sensory diet for adults) with sensory processing needs!

Get The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook here.

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.

Ice Cream Play Dough Mat Thank You

June 14, 2021March 5, 2018 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Thank you for grabbing the Ice Cream Play Dough Mat! You should have an email in your inbox right now with a link to access the file.

The email also includes some instructions and the “why” behind play dough mats like this one. There is a lot of development going on when a little one uses a play dough mat like the one you just accessed! Scroll below to to find some additional usage instructions.

Use this free printable ice cream play dough mat to work on fine motor skills in kids.

Housekeeping Information:

If you do not see the email right away, check back within 30 minutes. Be sure to check your SPAM folder. Other subscribers using an email hosted on a school system’s email provider may have security restrictions in place that block the email. If you still don’t see the email, shoot me a message at contact@www.theottoolbox.com and I will send the file to you directly.

If you arrived here by accident and would like to receive a free ice cream themed play dough mat to improve hand strength, check out this post that shares information on the Ice Cream Play Dough Mat.

How to use Improve Intrinsic Hand Strength with a Play Dough Mat

You are going to build so many small muscles of the hand with this activity!

1. To use this play dough mat, you will first want to cover it with a plastic surface so you can use it over and over again. Some ideas to do this include (Amazon affiliate links are included below):

Cover it with clear contact paper. Click the link to purchase a large roll of clear contact paper.
Slide the play dough mat into a clear plastic page protector sleeve. Add it to a folder workbook or binder booklet of play dough mats for quiet time or a busy bag-type of activity.
Use a laminator to cover the play dough mat with a laminated surface that can be used over and over again. This is a great price on a quick laminator and laminating pouches.
Use pocket sleeves to create a quiet time or fine motor center activity.

2. Once the play dough mat is covered, provide the child with play dough, clay, foam dough, or other moldable material.

3. Ask the child to roll small balls of play dough using just the fingers and thumb of one hand. They should use their dominant hand to roll small balls of play dough with the tips of the fingers and thumb. This is an AWESOME hand strengthening exercise for kids.

4. Ask the child or children to roll various sizes of play dough so the balls of dough fit into the various circle sizes on the play dough mat.

Rolling play dough within one hand promotes development of a variety of areas:

Strengthens the arches of the hands, helps awareness and coordination in separation of the two sides of the hand.

Promotes finger isolation for improved control and dexterity

Encourages dexterity and coordination of the thumb and index finger which are important in pencil grasp

Strengthens the intrinsic muscles for improved endurance in fine motor tasks such as maintaining hold on a pencil, manipulating clothing fasteners, managing and using scissors, coloring, and many other tasks.

Be sure to try some of the other fine motor activities that we have here on the website:

Scooping and pouring fine motor and hand dominance with beads

Hand Dominance and Fine Motor with Scooping and Pouring

The Benefits of Coloring

Clothes Pin Exercises and Pinch Grasp Types

Homemade Pegboard Activities

Skills Kids Need for Handwriting

November 2, 2021March 1, 2018 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

If you are following The OT Toolbox, then you know I love handwriting. While it’s true that OTs are not “handwriting teachers”, it’s the underlying skills that go into handwriting that have a special place in my heart.

As therapists, we are specialists in development, motor skills, visual processing, self-awareness, spatial concepts, kinesiology, sensory processing, regulation, and all of the other areas that really make a big difference in a child’s functional ability to write. There are many skills that kids need for handwriting!

Kids need different skills for handwriting.

Skills Kids Need for Handwriting

Handwriting is SO much more than crossing t’s and dotting i’s.

Here are some important facts about the skills kids need for handwriting:

1. Handwriting development starts at birth. Yep, it’s true! When babies are swaddled, reach for mama’s face, and crawl, they are developing the postural stability and visual motor skills needed waaaaay down the road when they write their ABCs.

2. Visual processing skills are key. The perceptual skills of knowing the difference between a b, d, p, and q are essential for written work. Addressing the basics in form copying at a young age (and in a variety of sensory-motor manners) can be a huge asset for kids as they head into the school-age years.

3. Letter formation starts before learning to make a letter! This is important: when kids learn improper formation of letters like starting letters at the bottom or “building” the parts of a letter, it can be hard to break those habits. When kids teach themselves because they just pick up a crayon and copy their name, they might not form letters properly, using developmental strokes of top to bottom. Letter formation habits are HARD to break. And proper formation is important for legibility, speed, spatial use, letter recall, organization, and functional written work.

4. Bilateral coordination is essential. When we write, we need to easily coordinate both sides of your body for effective posture, holding the paper, moving the pencil, erasing, using margins, and filling in given spaces on worksheets. Forming letters requires pencil strokes that involve moving to the midline. Think about it this way: A new writer forms letters very large in size. As they develop coordination and motor skills, letter size decreases. But those letter strokes continue to remain the same. A pencil still needs to move to the midline when crossing an uppercase T or adding the middle line to an uppercase A, right?

>5. Visual memory is a must! Especially as kids age, they are required to write faster and faster. But functional writing at all ages requires a visual picture in the mind to ensure formation. Starting with beginning strokes using developmental concepts ensures success down the road with kids as they develop handwriting skills.

6. Fine Motor Skills are a powerhouse when it comes to handwriting! From pencil control to an efficient grasp, to endurance in writing…fine motor skills are required. Working on fine motor skills can be a huge help for many kids who struggle with handwriting.

These are just a few of the skills needed for handwriting. There are so many:

Eye-hand coordination

Sensory processing and filtering out unnecessary information

Visual perceptual skills

Attention

Executive functioning skills

Organization

Posture

What would you add to this list?

Christmas Tree Gift Tags

November 8, 2019February 26, 2018 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

We’ve made our own Christmas tree gift tags last year. This version was just as much fun to make and we can’t wait to wrap a few presents with our DIY Gift tags! This Christmas tree art was great for preschoolers and toddler. All it took was a little stamping and cotton swab painting. If you’re not into making gift tags, this Christmas tree craft needs just a little stamping as a nice piece of holiday art to decorate with this Christmas!

Christmas Tree Gift Tag Craft

Christmas Tree gift tags are a fun Christmas craft for kids!

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

Christmas Tree Gift Tags

We started with a recycled paper tube that was bent into a triangle shape. This was dipped into green paint and ready for stamping all over the paper. Little Guy liked this part best, and made a ton of little trees on his paper.

Christmas gift tags that kids can make as a holiday art project

A brown marker to draw little tree stumps on each triangle and it started to look more like Christmas trees. We used our Spill Proof Paint Cups and some cotton swabs to decorate our Christmas Trees.

Now this was Baby Girl’s favorite part of the painting! She reeeally got into dotting little decorations on her Christmas trees. Painting with the cotton swabs is such a good way to work o n tripod grasp for new pencil users and pre-handwriters. They were able to dab a little red paint in the spill proof cup and dot it onto the paper with a tripod grasp on the cotton swab.

A Christmas tree craft kids will enjoy this holiday season.

Once the trees and the decorations were dry (and this took a while after Baby Girl painted…!) We snipped our papers into little gift tags and hole punched a place to tie a pretty ribbon.

Christmas Handwriting Activities

Writing out that Christmas wish list is a difficult task that brings out tears instead of holiday excitement. I’ve got a solution for your kiddo with handwriting difficulties: a packet of modified paper for all of the Christmas handwriting tasks that come up each year. Use this handwriting pack to help kids who struggle with handwriting to participate in holiday traditions while even working on and developing their handwriting skills!

Working on handwriting with kids this Christmas season? Grab your copy of the Christmas Modified Handwriting Packet. It’s got three types of adapted paper that kids can use to write letters to Santa, Thank You notes, holiday bucket lists and much more…all while working on handwriting skills in a motivating and fun way! Read more about the adapted Christmas Paper here.

6 Fine Motor Activities using Gold Coins

March 11, 2022February 26, 2018 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

This time of year, you may have a few plastic gold coins laying around. If not, these are those gold coins you see around March in dollar stores or in the party aisle of the store. They might be used in party decorating or as a fun addition to St. Patrick’s Day activities. We had a handful of gold coins in our house and decided to use them in some fine motor activities. Below are 6 quick and easy ways to improve fine motor skills using gold coins.

We’ve used coins to work on fine motor skills like in-hand manipulation before. Coins are a great way to encourage a skill needed for so many tasks!

Here are more ways to use coins to improve fine motor skills.

Use coins to help kids work on fine motor skills

Fine Motor Activities using Gold Coins

This post contains affiliate links.

Want these printable sheets in handout form? Grab the printable sheet by clicking the button below. You can use these exercises and activities in a home program or part of themed activities in the time leading up to St. Patrick’s Day. OR, use regular coins and use this printable sheet of exercises all year long!

Scroll to the bottom of this post for a handout on how to use St. Patrick’s Day gold coins to build fine motor skills.

It’s a great handout to send home with kids for a home program!

You may also like this St. Patrick’s Day balance beam for a themed way to encourage gross motor skills and vestibular sensory input.

First, you will need a handful of gold coins. You can grab them here. You could also use play money like we did here or just use regular real money coins!

1. In-Hand Manipulation- Transfer the coins one at a time from the palm of the hand into the fingertips to drop them into a bank. don’t have a coin bank that’s big enough for the gold coins? No problem! Use a knife to slice an opening in the top of a cardboard box or container with a plastic lid such as a recycled raisin container. Younger children can drop the coins into an empty tissue box. In-hand manipulation activities can help with tasks like clothing fasteners, shoe tying, and pencil grasp.

2. Fine Motor Precision- Use the coins to practice fine motor precision and graded movements by stacking the coins. The more, the better, especially with older students. Stack the coins, one at a time, onto one another in a stack. Don’t let the coins fall! Precision is an important fine motor skill needed for many fine motor tasks.

Plastic gold coins (or regular coins) are a great tool for improving hand strength and fine motor skills in kids.

3. Open Thumb Webspace- Make a “sandwich” with the coins and improve that thumb webspace to use in pencil grasp, scissor use, and activities such as managing clothing fasteners. Kids can hold three coins in a tip-to-tip grasp as they oppose the thumb to the pointer finger while ensuring the thumb is open in an “O” shape. Activities to improve an open thumb web space are important for pencil grasp and manipulation of small items.

4. Finger Translation- Another in-hand manipulation activity, this one helps kids work on the ability to rotate items like a pencil or a coin (a real one!) between the pad of the thumb and the pad of the pointer, middle, and ring fingers. This in-hand manipulation activity can be practiced by holding the edge of the coin and rolling it in a circular motion along the finger pads. Try these ideas to improve translation using small water beads and a plastic bottle.

5. Finger Isolation- Place several gold coins on the table in a line. Use the fingers of one hand to tap them one at a time as the child “plays” a tapping tune on the coins. Just like tapping out keys on a piano, this activity allows the child to improve finger isolation and dexterity needed for skills like shoe tying or typing. Finger isolation activities can be a helpful way to improve fine motor skills needed for tasks like typing, shoe tying, pencil grasp, and more.

6. Hand Grip Strength– Ask the child to place one or more coins in the palm of their hand. They should curl their fingers over the coin and SQUEEZE! You may want to ask them to try to squeeze the plastic gold coin into real gold! Squeezing the fingers into a gross grasp in a sustained grip is a fun way to work on hand strength needed for so many skills. Hand strengthening is one of the biggest needs for a functional pencil grasp, endurance when writing or coloring, and tool use of all kinds!

Use coins to work on fine motor skills for kids like hand strength, in-hand manipulation, translation, dexterity, precision, and more.

How would you use these fun gold coins to improve hand strength and fine motor skills?

Kids will love these six fine motor activities that use coins!

You can grab the gold coins here and use them over and over again over the next month and the days leading up to St. Patrick’s Day!

Want to send these activities home as a home program? Print off this sheet and add a couple of gold coins for a creative home exercise program!

Use coins to work on fine motor skills like hand strength, precision, in-hand manipulation, dexterity, and more, the perfect fine motor activity that occupational therapists can use to promote fine motor skills and hand strength.

Here are more fine motor activities you will love:

Magnetic Spoons and Handwriting Game

Pencil Grasp Trick Thumb IP Flexion

Thumb Opposition

Fine Motor Play Dough Intrinsic Muscle Strength

Pencil Control Exercises

Pre-Writing Handwriting Lines

Sensory Diet Vestibular Activities

October 29, 2021February 20, 2018 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

The vestibular system is a powerful one! It can be a confusing one when we consider how it impacts our body’s ability to regulate. The vestibular system is one of the three systems that impact all of the others and therefore all learning, cognition, and occupational performance. the vestibular system develops early in life and plays a very important role in early development. for these reasons, today we’re talking about Sensory Diet Vestibular Activities. These are vestibular activities that can be used in a sensory diet and a sensory lifestyle full of meaningful sensory activities. The vestibular activities listed below are those that impact an individual in many ways.

Use these sensory diet vestibular activities to address sensory needs such as hyperresponsiveness or hyperresponsiveness to vestibular sensory input, creating a functional and meaningful sensory lifestyle for kids.

The Vestibular System

Understanding the vestibular system can help explain how and why we need to incorporate vestibular activities into our daily life.

Here is an explanation of the vestibular system from a neurological focus.

Here are vestibular red flags indicating a problem with the vestibular system and how that looks in a child’s day.

Check out those two links above to get a good background on the vestibular system and how it impacts every activity and function that we perform. In fact, the vestibular system plays a huge part in coordination of our head movements with the stimulation in the environment.

+ We are then able to copy words and phrases from the board in the classroom by shifting our vision from the table surface to the overhead board without losing our place.

+ We are able to watch a moving object like a soccer ball as it travels across a field.

+ We are able to read a speech while looking up at our audience, without losing our place on the cue cards.

+ We are able to hold our body in a specific position such as a downward dog yoga position while concentrating on deep breathing.

+ We are able to maintain our head positioning while cutting with scissors or while riding a bicycle.

The vestibular system plays such a huge part in our daily tasks in a manner that happens naturally and without effort!

It is easy to see how a problem with the vestibular system could result in major issues with functioning!

Sensory Diet Vestibular Activities

The sensory vestibular activities listed below are playful ways to promote performance and tolerance to movement activities. They are also challenges against gravity to help kids with difficulties in equilibrium, balance, self-regulation, and adjusting to typical sensory input. The vestibular system operates through receptors in the inner ear and in conjunction with position in space, input from the eyes, and feedback from muscle and joint receptors, is able to contribute to posture and appropriate response of the visual system to maintain a field of vision. This allows an individual to detect movement and changes in the position of the head and body. Dysfunction in the vestibular system may result in hypersensitivity to movements or hyposensitivity to movements.

When
providing vestibular input as an intervention strategy for sensory needs,
various movement patterns should be considered. Depending on the individualized
needs of the child, activities can be designed to include movements such as:

Prone swinging

Seated swinging

Standing swinging

Linear movements

Vertical
movements

Rotary movements
Angular movements

Upside down
movements

Horizontal
movements

Challenges to
balance

Inverted head

Unstable base of
support

Starts and stops
in motion

Changes in
direction

Changes in speed

Vestibular Hyperresponsiveness

Some children may present with vestibular hyperresponsiveness.

This looks like a variety of things in children. As we know, every child is uniquely different. The indicators of sensory hyperresponsiveness listed here are only just a few ways that vestibular hyperresponsiveness may present in kids:

Overly dizzy with motions
Resistant to moving activities such as
swings, slides, elevators, or escalators
Fear of unstable surfaces
Unable to tolerate backward motions
Unable to tolerate side to side motions
Illness in moving vehicles
Avoids swings or slides
Gets motion sick easily
Gravitational insecurity
Challenges with unstable surfaces
Dislike of moving surfaces

Try adding some of these vestibular activities into a sensory diet or sensory lifestyle. (These are just a FEW activities that can be used by children. Activities can be modified to include all of the movement planes listed above.)

Sensory Diet Vestibular Activities for Hyperresponsiveness:

Skipping
Prone activates with arms supporting the upper body at the shoulders and elbows
Slowly adding activities in the quadruped positioning
Adding a support for jumping, hopping, balance activities
Crawling
Walking
Sliding
Rolling
Being pulled on a blanket or sled (indoor works, too!)
Throwing bean bags at a target
Throwing/catching a ball
Movement obstacle courses
Wheelbarrow races

Vestibular Hyporesponsiveness

On the flip side, a child can present with hyporesponsiveness of the vestibular system. Hypo-responsiveness of the vestibular sense may present in a child as an under-responsiveness or underreaction to vestibular sensation. This may look like the actions listed below. Remember that every child is different. This list is only a sample of the various ways a child can present when they are impacted by hyporesponsive vestibular system.

Hyporesponsiveness of the vestibular system examples:

Constant movement including jumping,
spinning, rocking, climbing
Craves movement at fast intervals
Craves spinning, rocking, or rotary
motions
Poor balance on uneven surfaces
Constantly fidgeting
Increased visual attention to spinning
objects or overhead fans
Bolts or runs away in community or group
settings, or when outdoors or in large open areas such as shopping malls
Difficulty maintaining sustained
attention
Impulsive movement
Constantly getting up and down from desk
in the classroom
Walks around when not supposed to (in the
classroom, during meals, etc.)
Loves to be upside down

Sensory Diet Vestibular Activities for Hyporesponsiveness:

Children with hyporesponsiveness of vestibular input may benefit from a variety of activities. Below are just a jew of these ideas. Try using these sensory diet vestibular activities when addressing hyporesponsiveness of vestibular sensation:

Therapy ball
Fidget tools
Cushion or partially deflated beach ball on the floor under feet at a desk or chair.
Tie therapy band (TheraBand) or a resistive cord around the legs of a student’s chair for use as a foot fidget
Provide appropriate play-based opportunities for movement needs (sit and spin toy, see saw toy, rocking chair, trampoline)
Weave vestibular input throughout the day and prior to fine motor/visual motor activities
Ensure the feet touch the ground or have support when seated in a chair or on the toilet

Sensory diets and specific sensory input or sensory challenges are a big part of addressing sensory needs of children who struggle with sensory processing issues. Incorporating a schedule of sensory input (sensory diet) into a lifestyle of naturally occuring and meaningful activities is so very valuable for the child with sensory needs. That’s why I’ve worked to create a book on creating an authentic and meaningful sensory lifestyle that addresses sensory needs. You can watch for more information on this book coming very soon. If you would like to be the first to know more about this book (and want to grab some upcoming freebies related to sensory lifestyles and sensory diet activities, sign up here. You’ll be the first to get some awesome tools for addressing sensory needs in motivating and meaningful ways.

The vestibular system is one of the bodys senses and responsible for awareness of our body in space and gravitational insecurity during tasks. Kids can use balance beams to work on integration of the vestibular sense, perfect for children who seek movement, run into objects, fear certain positions, have trouble visually tracking items in reading and written, and more. Occupational Therapy with a balance beam activities.

Try these vestibular sensory activities with the family this Fall

Try these sensory integration therapy ideas at the playground for vestibular and proprioceptive sensory input.

Indoor Ice Skates proprioception and vestibular sensory play activity

Snowflake Balance Beam Winter Gross Motor Vestibular Activity

Fall Harvest Themed Vestibular Activities

Sensory Integration at the Playground

Indoor Ice Skates Vestibular Activity

Vestibular sensory play activity for indoor play. This shot put game is a great way to incorporate the vestibular system into play.

Super easy and fun Frisbee Vestibular activity for indoor play this winter. Get the kids moving!

Try these backyard vestibular sensory activities for summer

Make a wobble balance disc from ice for sensory input and balance training. This helps kids with attention, strengthening, and fidgeting while incorporating sensory needs like proprioception and vestibular integration.

Snowball Shot Put Vestibular Activity

Vestibular Activity Indoor Winter Frisbee

Backyard Vestibular Activities for Sensory Play

Ice Wobble Disc Vestibular Activity

These vestibular activities for a sensory diet are great sensory ideas for addressing hyperresponsiveness or hyporesponsiveness to vestibular input as well as adding vestibular sensory input into a sensory diet or sensory lifestyle.

Sensory Diet Activities for the Classroom

November 9, 2022February 8, 2018 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

In the schools, many teachers struggle with students with sensory processing challenges. There are students who have attention and focus issues that impact learning. Classrooms are a busy place, and when sensory issues impact the ability to pay attention, focus, self-regulate, and interact with others, learning can suffer. Sensory issues are often times, the underlying reasons for impaired functioning in the classroom. For some children, a sensory diet activities for the classroom can help. Sensory activities for the classroom can make a big impact in the life of a student.

The information listed below includes effective strategies for helping kids who are distracted, inattentive, disorganized, irritable, sensitive to sensory input, or seeming to have other sensory-related behaviors.

Add these resources to the ones you can find here under sensory diet vestibular activities to meet the sensory needs of all kids.

Use these sensory diet activities for the classroom to help kids with sensory processing needs and to address areas like attention, focus, self-regulation and other areas that impact learning.

First, I am very excited to tell you about a NEW resource book that I’ve been working on behind the scenes. It’s a HUGE resource related to sensory diets.

There is so much information packed into this book, including underlying information related to the sensory systems, detailed information and references related to sensory diets like what they are and who needs one.

There are data collection sheets and strategy monitoring systems for ensuring sensory diet techniques are authentic and motivating.

This book is coming very soon! If you would like to be among the first to know about this new book, join the list here. Annnnd, there just may be a few freebies in store for anyone who is among the first to be informed!

For some students, a selection of sensory activities can be a helpful strategy for getting through the day. The students who receive therapy may be completing a sensory diet with specific activities based on the individual child’s needs.

Therapists can use the sensory diet activities listed below to add to their toolbox of strategies within the school environment.

NOTE: Activities described here should be used educational information and not as treatment suggestions. Every child’s specific needs and strengths are individual and before activities are utilized as interventions, individualized assessment should be performed by an occupational therapist.

Sensory Diet Activities for the Classroom

You can find many sensory strategies for the school based OT to use and provide in the classroom.

Additionally, therapists and teachers will find many resources, including a printable sensory activity sheet here on this article about calm down strategies for school.

Finally, here is information about using sensory diets in the school. You can see this informative video on our Facebook page, or in the video below:

Sensory diet activities in the classroom are extremely varied! Each child will crave or avoid different sensory input that naturally occurs in the classroom. Sensory diet activities can be integrated into the school environment using materials right in the classroom. Try some of these sensory diet activities:

Move classroom furniture at the beginning or end of the day.
Erase the Smart Board using a cloth.
Add moveable or alternative seating options into the classroom (chair cushions, standing at easels, bungee cord added to the chair legs, bean bags, lying prone on the floor, etc.)
Carry library books from the classroom to the library.
Move equipment from classroom to classroom.
Give the student a “job” to carry a box of materials to the office each day.
Allow the student to sharpen pencils using a manual pencil sharpener.
Add extra playground time into the schedule as a reward.
Provide movement breaks for the whole classroom.

Add calming sensory strategies to a sensory diet for the classroom:

Provide a warm blanket for cozy reading in a bean bag chair.

Create a calm-down space in a cardboard box.

Create a whole-classroom stretch break with yoga or rhythmical knee/shoulder patting and rocking.

Ask the whole classroom to play “Simon Says”. Use these therapy Simon Says commands.

Allow wall push-ups and chair push-up breaks.

Encourage the child to blow bubbles at recess.

Add calming modifications to the classroom:

Turn down the lights for a calm-down break.

Seat the child away from high-traffic areas.

Use soft voices during classroom instruction.

Remove fluorescent light bulbs from the area above the student’s desk.

Allow the child to wear headphones to block out environmental sounds.

Minimize overwhelming visual environmental stimuli by using natural light.

Add alerting sensory strategies to a sensory diet for the classroom:

Play “Simon Says” with light touch to the face and palms.

Movement breaks with jumping jacks or burpees (if the space allows).

Show students how to briskly rub up and down the arms to “wake up” the arms and hands.

Provide classroom-friendly fidget tools such as a DIY pencil topper.

Add alerting modifications to the classroom:

Have crunchy snacks available: dry cereal, pretzels, celery, raw carrots, etc.

Use modified writing utensils such as modified surfaces or writing utensils.

Provide visually stimulating writing paper with high-contrast lines or writing spaces.

Use these sensory strategies in the classroom for students who struggle with sensory processing or those who may experience sensory-related behaviors.

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

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

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

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

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

By Audience

By Category

DIY Fidget Tool Zipper Pull

So, why would a child need a fidget tool on their jacket?

A Fidget Tool is a Sensory Diet Tool

Wooded Area Sensory Diet

Accommodations for addressing sensory needs in a wooded area

How to incorporate sensory play into playing outside

More about outdoor sensory diet activities

Sensory Diet Activities at the Beach

Accommodations for addressing sensory needs at the beach

How to incorporate sensory play into playing at the beach

How to use Improve Intrinsic Hand Strength with a Play Dough Mat

Be sure to try some of the other fine motor activities that we have here on the website:

Skills Kids Need for Handwriting

Here are some important facts about the skills kids need for handwriting:

Christmas Tree Gift Tag Craft

Christmas Tree Gift Tags

Christmas Handwriting Activities

Fine Motor Activities using Gold Coins

Free Fine Motor Activities Handout

The Vestibular System

Sensory Diet Vestibular Activities

Vestibular Hyperresponsiveness

Sensory Diet Vestibular Activities for Hyperresponsiveness:

Vestibular Hyporesponsiveness

Sensory Diet Vestibular Activities for Hyporesponsiveness:

Sensory Diet Activities for the Classroom

Add calming sensory strategies to a sensory diet for the classroom:

Add calming modifications to the classroom:

Add alerting sensory strategies to a sensory diet for the classroom:

Add alerting modifications to the classroom:

Free Classroom Sensory Strategies Toolkit