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:

Writing Posture

October 17, 2023February 9, 2023 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

We know the complexities of handwriting, and one of the contributing factors is good writing posture while sitting at a desk to write. Handwriting posture is a postural skill that impacts handwriting more than it might seem. When good posture is used at a desk, students have a sturdy foundation to complete school work. Look at it this way: even when there are other underlying issues contributing to handwriting challenges, an efficient writing posture at the desk gives the student one more tool in their toolbox.

This blog post on writing posture was originally written October, 11, 2016.

Writing Posture

Writing posture makes a significant impact in handwriting skills. When handwriting challenges exist, taking a quick look at the seating position of the student is the first place to look.

Occupational therapy providers often remind parents and others the value of proximal stability allowing for distal mobility. This concept is true in mobility tasks. Thinking about the proximal stability of the core of the body has on distal mobility and dexterity in the fingers, hands enables for refined dexterity and smooth motor skills in fine motor tasks.

The same is true for handwriting posture.

When seated at a table or desk, the writing posture is everything. If a child is positioned with sloppy posture, they will not be able to utilize refined motions in the hands to write.

Sitting posture during handwriting is a common problem for kids with sloppy written work.

Try the techniques listed below to start from the beginning with proximal stability to help kids sit up and stop the slouched chair posture while writing.

What does writing posture look like?

So often you see it. A child sits at his desk with his feet stretched out into the aisles, his back rounded and slid down in his seat, with his arms stretched out over the desk and his upper body leaning to the side.

Sitting Posture during handwriting matters.

Or you might observe this sight in any random classroom: The child hunched over his desk with his upper body held up by one bent elbow, legs stretched out under the desk in front of him, and his face almost touching the paper as his writing arm’s elbow is spread way out across the desk.

Sitting posture during handwriting matters.

You can see all of the posts related to handwriting in the series over on the Easy Ideas for Better Handwriting Page which is a completed series of 30 handwriting quick tips.

Be sure to join us in the Sweet Ideas for Better Handwriting facebook group. There are so many lovely Occupational Therapists, educators, and parents who all strive to help kids with their handwriting. What a resource!

So, after you’ve tried all of the other methods, one way that can quickly improve legibility of written work is to address sitting posture during handwriting. Asking kids to sit up straight can become a burden which is greeted with sighs but that upright sitting positioning can be a real game changer when it comes to legible written work.

Sitting Posture When Writing

Sitting is a dynamic task. It is not a static position even during a fixed task like completing written work. When a child is seated at a desk, there are many (MANY) variances in positioning and (sometimes more often than others) changes in those sitting positions.

When a child is seated at a desk and are attempting to work on written work, functional positioning is a must. Typically, this means a general 90/90?90 degree position at the hips, knees, and feet. When we talk about the 90-90-90 angle rule positioning, we are referring to the joints at the ankle, knee, and hip.

Starting at the floor, the feet should be flat on the floor positioned directly below the knees. The quad muscles should be parallel to the floor, which shows a 90 degree hip flexion.

Slight Variences to Handwriting Posture

Students in the classroom move all day long. Sustaining a fixed posture throughout a class is simply not possible. Movements in the desk is typical. Given that, a sustained 90-90-90 angle rule will not be in place all day long. This is especially true for children using excess energy through movement in their seat.

Knowing this, there are adjustments to the handwriting posture that are acceptable.

Slight forward lean (of hip flexion) so that the student leans toward the desk just slightly is typically effective.
Classroom supplies won’t always have desk chairs that allow for proper positioning when writing. Especially for the middle school and high school stuedents that switch classrooms throughout the day, there may be many different chairs used during a typical school day. Slight adjustments as a result of discrepancies of 1-2 inches in different in seat heights may be acceptable.

Factors impacting Writing Posture

There are several underlying contributions that have a large impact a child’s posture.

The factors that play into proper posture during writing include:

Poor core strength
Flexion at the hips with an upright back
Strait on positioning so that the student is square to the desk
Legs parallel and in neutral position
Feet flat on the floor
Dominant arm slightly abducted at the shoulder with the elbow flexed
Elbows even with the desk surface
Wrist slightly extended enabling a functional pencil grasp (Read about wrist extension)
Non-dominant arm is slightly abducted with a flexed elbow enabling stabilization and re-positioning of the paper.
Ability to make quick fixes related to posturing
Proper desk size
The child’s chair size
Habit: A child might be used to slouching at their desk and this as well as other bad handwriting habits can have an impact

When these positions are unable to be used during written work, handwriting may suffer.

Slouching at desk

You have probably seen many students that are slouching at their desk. Did you ever wonder why are they so slouched??

There are many reasons why students might present with poor posture while writing:

Chair or Desk Size (An appropriately sized desk and chair is essential. Read more about an Occupational Therapist’s opinion on this pet peeve in the classroom.)
Fatigue and discomfort
Inattention
Cognitive reasons
Sensory needs (fidgeting or wiggling)
Physical disabilities
Core weakness: poor core strength can be a result of lack of physical activity, loose ligaments, etc.
Boredom
Visual difficulties (students may adjust their posture to accommodate for lacking visual skills)
Retained primitive reflexes (Retained Spinal Gallant reflex)
Lower back pain (this can be related to poor posture as a result of tablet use)

When addressing posture when writing, it is important to consider the underlying reason. To address correct posture, start at the pelvis.

The pelvis provides a stable base for support while sitting. Following appropriate positioning and tilt of the pelvis, the legs should be parallell and neutral so that the length of the thighs are supported by the chair. When the feet are resting flat on the floor, the thighs are provided with appropriate weight distribution through the pelvis.

Once the lower body is positioned appropriately, the upper body can be positioned into a functional placement.

Good upper body posture while sitting follows pelvic symmetry. The child that leans over to the side while writing is most likely shifting their weight through the pelvis in a lateral tilt, rotating the thighs, and elevating the feet.

Proper and appropriate posture utilizes a similar curve of the spine that happens while standing. A slouched position of the shoulders and upper back can pull the whole body down to the desk surface.

Manipulation skills of the hands depend on the stability and symmetry of the trunk in order to allow the child to control the pencil and paper. For the child who positions the elbow tucked in at their side, there may be underlying core weaknesses or pelvic/thigh positional problems.

Handwriting Posture Cue Cards

These handwriting cue cards are great for the student who needs a quick visual reminder of proper positioning. These cards can be placed on the desk or reproduced on a large scale and hung on a bulletin board.

These are a great way to talk over the parts of sitting posture that make up the “write” way to sit. Simply work through this activity with kids in a whole classroom activity. This is a great way for school-based Occupational Therapists to “push in” to the classroom while working on a valuable writing goal area.

Hand out a colorful index card to each student. A brightly colored card may be just the pop of color that adds a high contrast visual prompt when taped to the desk. Work through the parts of appropriate posture as you draw a person and chair in step by step parts on the blackboard or at the student’s desk.

Students can copy and create their own cue card. Once the student has drawn their “write” way posture card, they can be checked over for accuracy as a way to recap and double check the student’s understanding of good sitting posture.

Valentines Day I Spy

December 12, 2023February 8, 2023 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

This Valentines Day I Spy is a fun activity for developing skills in visual perception, eye-hand coordination, and more. Add it to your collection of Valentine’s Day occupational therapy activities for a fun way to build skills!

Can you believe it is Valentine’s day already? Although this is considered a “greeting card” holiday made up for the benefit of selling products, children LOVE sending and receiving Valentines.

Just in time for the big day, the OT Toolbox is coming to your inbox with this free Valentine I Spy worksheet!

Valentine I Spy Free Download

What is better than Valentine’s day? Something free! Input your email address below and your Valentine I Spy PDF will be zoomed to your inbox. Better yet, become a member of the OT Toolbox and save the hassle of entering your email address each time. Membership has its perks. Extra resources not in the “free” section, member only downloadables, and themed sections with similar resources all in one place.

Fun Facts about Valentine’s day

Americans spent over 27 billion dollars on Valentines gifts in 2020
Americans send 145 million Valentines cards each year
One idea states in the middle ages Valentine’s day was created because it was the start of mating season
Legend says Valentine was killed for attempting to free prisoners, sending letters to the recipient signed, “from your Valentine”
Over 27 million Americans sent Valentines to their dogs in 2020
Nearly six million couples get engaged on Valentine’s day

How to use the Valentine I Spy worksheet

As always, the Valentines Day I Spy activity is designed to e used in a variety of ways to meet the needs of different levels of learners.

Laminate the page for reusability, or use a simple page protector. This saves on resources, and many learners love to write with markers! Note: while some learners love to use wipe off sheets, others become upset they can not take their work with them. For those who want to save their work, consider taking a screenshot of it.
Create a notebook of resources stored in page protectors for use each year
Slide the printable into a page protector sleeve and use dry erase markers to color in or circle the hidden objects
Make this part of a larger lesson plan including gross motor, sensory, social, executive function, or other fine motor skills
Talk about Valentine’s day, talk about the pictures in the worksheet, discuss traditions and expectations for the holiday
Enlarge the font for beginning learners who need bigger space to write, or have below average visual perceptual skills
Project this page onto a smart board for students to come to the board
More or less prompting may be needed to grade the activity to make it easier or harder
Block of certain areas of the Valentine’s I Spy page to help learners focus on one part at a time
Use different tools to mark the page. Bingo markers, Bingo chips, markers, crayons, pompoms, play dough, or a finger if you want to remove the fine motor element of the task
Learners can explore other games they could make using this activity
Write a report about Valentine’s day, types of Valentines, the history of the holiday, different celebrations, or activities
Executive function – hand the papers out with very limited instruction. Record how well your learners can follow instructions without repeat guidance
Have students write on a slant board, lying prone on the floor with the page in front to build shoulder stability, or supine with the page taped under the table

Visual Perception and the Valentine’s Day I Spy Printable

I Spy printables are great for building visual perceptual skills.

Visual perception refers to the brain’s ability to make sense of what the eyes see. This is different from visual acuity which is how clearly a person sees. A person can have 20/20 visual acuity and poor visual perceptual skills.

Visual perception is important for everyday activities like puzzles, math, finding the right cereal on the shelf, dressing, reading, cutting, and about a million other necessary skills. Visual perception is made up of seven different areas. The ones targeted in the Valentine’s Day I spy activity are:

Visual Attention: The ability to focus on important visual information and filter out unimportant background information.
Visual Discrimination Skills: The ability to determine differences or similarities in objects based on size, color, shape, etc.
Visual Memory: The ability to recall visual traits of a form or object.
Visual Figure Ground: The ability to locate something in a busy background.
Visual Form Constancy: The ability to know that a form or shape is the same, even if it has been made smaller/larger or has been turned around.

How to Use the Valentine’s day I Spy Worksheet

This, like any activity can be a stand alone task. It can also be grouped into a specific theme.

Visual perception – group several different visual perceptual exercises and games together to focus on this skill.
Valentine’s day theme – The OT Toolbox has a huge range of activities centered around Valentine’s day
Sensory tools – make Valentines sensory bins, sensory bottle, finger paint crafts, or obstacle courses
Valentine’s Fine Motor Kit – address several different fine motor skills in one fun print and go deal
Use this Valentine’s Day activity in a classroom party, as a fun activity for the classroom , or in therapy sessions leading up to Valentine’s Day.
Use this activity for different ages: Preschoolers can color the items they find. Middle school kids and high school kids can write about the objects hidden in the puzzle.
Work on early math skills with younger children. Add up the items hidden in the free printable game. Can they add up certain items to create Valentine math problems using picture symbols? Create Find the of correct number of items for each object.
Build coloring skills. Assign a color for each hidden object. Then use the activity as a color worksheet with hidden pictures. Children can place a colored bead or other marker on the graphics that match.
Use the activity as printable games to build skills. Working with a small group, users can race to find the hidden objects.
Challenge fine motor skills by asking the child to place heart candy on certain objects hidden in the I spy activity.
Add the activity to our other Valentine’s Day printables here on the site.
Encourage creativity: Ask users to color in all of the similar items with a certain color, or focus on finger isolation to place a fingerprint on all of the matching objects.
Build scissor skills, precision dexterity, and eye-hand coordination. Print off one copy and cut out the images at the bottom of the page. Then, present the user with a copy of their own. They can place the matching objects on the items they find in the valentine’s day printable.

This is a great activity for so many skill areas!

My personal favorite is the fun and interesting facts and legends surrounding this holiday. Who knew it started hundreds of years ago? Whether you are in it for the flowers and chocolate, hoping to get engaged, or spending some time with loved ones, use this holiday as a reason to create fun and engaging games and activities to help your learners.

Free Valentine’s Day I Spy

Want to add this printable worksheet to your themed items for Valentine’s Day fun? Enter your email address into the form below. Or, if you are a Member’s Club member, you can find this PDF file inside the membership under Valentine’s Day Therapy Theme (Level 2 members) or on the freebie dashboard under Vision Tools (Level 1 and Level 2 members).

Victoria Wood, OTR/L is a contributor to The OT Toolbox and has been providing Occupational Therapy treatment in pediatrics for more than 25 years. She has practiced in hospital settings (inpatient, outpatient, NICU, PICU), school systems, and outpatient clinics in several states. She has treated hundreds of children with various sensory processing dysfunction in the areas of behavior, gross/fine motor skills, social skills and self-care. Ms. Wood has also been a featured speaker at seminars, webinars, and school staff development training. She is the author of Seeing your Home and Community with Sensory Eyes.

How to Paint Snow

February 23, 2023February 7, 2023 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Wondering how to paint snow? We’ve got you covered with this fine motor hand strengthening activity. Painting snow is a great winter fine motor activity but also one that builds memories. Use it as a toddler snow activity, a preschool art idea or even painting activities for adults! Painted snow is fun this time of year!

How to Paint Snow

Painting snow using spray bottles is right up the occupational therapy provider’s alley, because using snow as a canvas for creative painting builds essential muscles in the hands. Fine motor skills are a developed by squeezing a spray bottle’s handle to paint the snow.

Let’s cover how to paint snow using a simple squeeze bottle…

You’ll need just a few materials to paint snow:

Spray bottles
Water
Food coloring

You could also use diluted paint or watercolor paints.

To make the paint for painting snow:

Fill the spray bottles half way.
Squeeze in a few drops of food coloring.
Put the lid back on the spray bottle.
Shake the bottle to mix the color and the water.
Head outside to some fresh snow.
Start spraying!

The spray bottles came from the dollar store. When I saw the cute colored tops on the bottles, I grabbed up four of them…I can see lots of fun spray play in our future!

Big Sister and Little Guy filled the bottles part way with water and squeezed in some liquid food coloring (also from the dollar store…we seriously use this stuff for SO MANY projects. It lasts forever!!)

The big kids were SO excited to get started! They went right to work on creating a masterpiece on the front lawn. If you do this activity, be sure to keep the nozzle on a stream of water. When it was turned to a spray, the colors did not show up as well in the snow.

Benefits of painting snow

We know the benefits of outdoor play, and even in colder temperatures, playing outside has enormous benefits for sensory needs, self-regulation, gross motor skills, and much more.

There is even a winter mindfulness to this activity. Creative expression is very regulating and calming, and that mindful awareness of squeezing the spray bottle, watching the paint as it changes the snow’s colors, and seeing snow patches in different colors is a very present and mindful activity.

Plus, before you can head outside in cold temperatures, you’ll need to dress for the weather. It’s a great time to practice zippers, snaps, and other self-dressing skills. These tips for supporting sensory kids to dress in winter clothing can be a great resource.

That’s where a painted snow activity like this one comes in. Getting kids outside in the winter can be a challenge, but when you pull in a fun activity like painted snow…you have kids that want to stay out until the paint is gone!

Best of all, you can be sure that painting snow with a bottle like this builds other developmental skills, too.

When painting snow with a spray bottle, several things are happening:

Fine motor strength to squeeze the spray bottle
Visual motor skills to aim at a target
Hand-Eye coordination to squeeze and spray
Separation of the sides of the hand to squeeze the spray bottle while holding the bottle
Heavy work (proprioception) through the hands and whole body as the child walks through the snow
Tactile challenges with different textures in the snow
Visual processing input seeing a familiar setting in a new light with fresh snow.

Painted Snow Activities

Want to extend the play and develop more skills? Incorporate these painted snow ideas:

Make a snow maze. Paint directions in the snow or add fun details with the snow paint.

Work on letter identification and visual discrimination skills using magnets. We show you how to use magnets in snow play in a previous blog post. With colorful paint, this is a great outdoor activity for kids!

Use the painted snow in a snowball experiment. This is a great winter science activity for kids.

For more early math, use the painted snow to make snow patterns.

If it’s too cold outside, bring the winter painting idea inside! Here’s how to paint snow inside using snow painting with watercolors.

Make a snow kitchen! This is a great activity for young children. Scooping and pouring is a great fine motor workout and you can use that painted snow to make all kinds of fun recipes in a pretend snow restaurant.

Incorporate our winter sensory stations printables. You can laminate the pages and take them outside in the snow for self-regulation fun. Place snow on the printables and spray it off. Then, wipe clean with more snow.

Little Guy wanted to shovel blue snow. ‘Cause that would be awesome!

We mixed a little colors…making orange, purple, bluish-green…and mastered Big Sister’s goal of making brown. (This girl loooooves to mix paints to get brown. Every.Time.) haha!

Yes, you may paint the bushes…

This was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. If you have snow, go out and do this.

So Much Fun!

What if you had themed, NO-PREP activities designed to collect data and can help kids build essential fine motor skills?

Take back your time and start the year off with a bang with these done-for-you fine motor plans to help kids form stronger hands with our Winter Fine Motor Kit. This print-and-go winter fine motor kit includes no-prep fine motor activities to help kids develop functional grasp, dexterity, strength, and endurance. Use fun, winter-themed, fine motor activities so you can help children develop strong fine motor skills in a digital world.

The Winter Fine Motor Kit includes reproducible activity pages include: pencil control strips, scissor skills strips, simple and complex cutting shapes, lacing cards, toothpick precision art, crumble hand strengthening crafts, memory cards, coloring activities, and so much more.

Printable Valentine Cards

February 7, 2024February 6, 2023 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Today we have a download that supports skills in kids (and adults) with these printable Valentine Cards. Use these printable activities along with some treats for a kid-made gift that helps them develop skills while making the cards. What parent or teacher wouldn’t love that type of holiday card! This PDF file is a winner when used to develop handwriting skills, coloring, visual motor skills, direction following, and more! Add this fun idea to your list of Valentine’s Day occupational therapy activities.

Also be sure to get our Valentines Day I Spy activity for more skill-building. You’ll also love our Conversation Heart Sort. It’s a sorting worksheet for a fine motor activity with conversation hearts.

Printable Valentines Cards

Sometimes a fun activity can make skill-building better! That’s where these adorable cards come into play. Grab a copy of the printable valentines and add your own message for working on handwriting skills, empathy, and more. It’s a fun way to develop goal areas using the holiday fun!

Can you believe how big this holiday is? Billions of dollars are spent buying Valentine’s gifts for others, millions of cards are sent, and hours of time is spent preparing for the festivities. However shallow and costly this may seem, we could all use a reason to celebrate. Some months it seems we slog from one week to the next waiting for the weekends to arrive, only to do it all over again on Monday. An added day or week of excitement breaks up the monotony and gives us a reason to celebrate. These free Printable Valentines Cards are perfect for celebrating without breaking the bank!

Kids of all ages can use these printables in occupational therapy sessions, the classroom or the home.

FOLDABLE PRINTABLE VALENTINES DAY CARDS TO COLOR

If you are looking for the perfect classroom valentines, look no further.

Not everyone has the money or belief to spend lots of money every time a holiday comes around. Many recipients find a homemade card or gift to be much more meaningful than a store bought one.

Let your learners of all ages show their creativity with these free printable Valentine’s cards to color. Enter your email address below and your printable Valentine’s day cards will shoot directly into your inbox.

The free printables are a great tool to work on coloring skills with an end result, while still allowing the kiddo (or user of any age) to show creative expression.

Get out lots of different art supplies to help your learners use their creativity. Pens, markers, glue, glitter, sequins, dot markers, paint, crayons, ribbon, tissue paper, and anything that can be used to decorate the free printable Valentine’s card will be a win with your learners.

As an added benefit, using the foldable printable Valentines Day cards to color and develop fine motor skills, users can work on eye-hand coordination, pinch and grip strength, visual motor skills, and more.

As you walk down the hallways of different schools, you might see different types of art projects. What do you notice? Many of them are cookie cutter, with all of the pieces exactly where they belong, looking identical to one another.

While this is super cute to send home to parents, there are a lot of reasons to stop doing this.

Young learners thrive on experimentation, getting messy, and free expression
Parents have a better picture of their child’s abilities if they see what their child makes independently
Learners get comfortable making mistakes while noticing their picture looks different than others
What better way to learn cause and effect by dumping a bottle of glitter and heaps of glue onto their printable Valentine’s card?
Teachers can witness their learner’s ability to independently follow a model without intervention, track their progress, and see their skills without influence.
Caregivers can learn a lot about the sensory system by watching young learners create. The sensory seeker might put their hands in the paint and spread it up to their elbows. The avoider might pick crayons instead of messy markers. A seeker tends to mark heavily on the paper with vigorous strokes, while the avoider draws with lighter strokes.
The ABC Learning Center has a great article on what artwork reveals about a person

An open-ended tool such as these thoughtful valentine’s day gift cards can support skill development while still allowing the user creative expression oppourtunites.

Free Printable Valentine Cards to Color

Start practicing today with the free printable Valentine cards to color. Make the decision to put out the supplies and let the students create their masterpiece independently. You can show an example so the students get an idea, however encourage learners not to just copy yours.

Stop prioritizing product over process
Sit on your hands if you need to. Sometimes the urge to “fix” things is overwhelming. Learners don’t always need reminders that they forgot to draw a nose, or that clouds are not pink.
Limit the amount of directions you give
Talk about their art. “I notice your whole picture is blue, what made you decide to choose that color?”
Encourage experimentation. As ugly as we might think it might be, young learners think mixing all of the paints into the infamous gray blob is exciting
Try not to criticize. Notice the process instead

There are times when the end product is supposed to look like the model in order to address following directions, however it does not have to look exactly like the model if the learner is unable to do this independently. You can discuss with the class your objectives for the task such as color inside the lines, cutting on the lines, and having legible handwriting.

This is not easy. There are some educators and therapists cringing as they read this. One teacher I work with only offers colored pencils because everything else is messy. Another freaks out if something goes awry. On the opposite end, I have teachers who embrace me coming in and letting their learners get messy and create how they are able. This week not one penguin looked like the other in the hallway outside one class!!

SKILLS LEARNED MAKING FOLDABLE FREE VALENTINE’S CARDS

As you set out the free printable Valentine’s day cards, get excited about how different each learner’s art will be. Watch as they make messes and get creative.

Younger children can simply decorate the printable cards. Older users, teens, or participants of any age can use the printable cards as last-minute valentine’s day cards that support handwriting and direction-following skills.

Take time to notice the great skills they are working on as they complete their printable Valentine’s cards:

Folding paper
Coloring inside the lines
Sensory exploration – drippy glue, sequins, glitter, finger paints, paper shreds
finger/hand strength
Cutting along lines
Using glue to paste images onto the cards
Writing on differentiated lines
Handwriting for writing name, letters, etc.
Bilateral coordination
Executive function, following directions, attention, attention to detail, focus, sequencing, planning, task completion, neatness, impulse control, compliance, behavior, and work tolerance to name a few
Social function – working together in a group, problem solving, sharing materials and space, turn taking, talking about their work, making mistakes

These printable Valentine Cards would look great on an occupational therapy bulletin board or sent to special teachers or paraprofessional support individuals in the school, too. This is a thoughtful Valentine’s Day gift that “gives” in more ways than one!

A general search on the OT Toolbox brought up dozens of posts and resources for Valentine’s day including hole punch cards, fine motor worksheets, fine motor printables, Valentine’s busy bag, Valentine sensory bottle, Valentines sensory bin, and more.

Enjoy the Valentine’s day celebration, however you choose to share it with others. Make time for creativity, and of course eating chocolate!

Free Printable Valentine Cards

Want to add this activity to your printable therapy resources? Enter your email address into the form below to access this therapy tool. This printable PDF is also available inside the Member’s Club. Members can log in and access the printable cards on our Valentine’s Day Therapy Theme (Level 2) or under Fine Motor Activities (Level 1 and 2).

Sorting Colors Activities

April 21, 2026February 6, 2023 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Sorting colors is a big deal. Young learners in the toddler and preschool stage start out by sorting items such as blocks, plastic animals, coins, or colored items. Later in child development, sorting colors morphs into sorting silverware, matching socks, organizing drawers, or filing papers to name a few life skills. This is all part of child development in color recognition.

Sorting by color is an important skill for organizing items into categories to make sense of them, or for ease of locating them later. It is far easier to find a pair of socks in a drawer when they are matched together rather than in a large multi-colored pile. But what developmental skills are required for sorting colors? How can you support this essential skill?

Sorting Colors

First, let’s break down what we mean by sorting colors…

Sorting by color can refer to anything from colored blocks to silverware does not involve being able to name the item.

Developmentally, a young learner does not need to know their colors in order to sort. They are arranging the items according to their properties. You could sort foreign coins into their respective piles without any idea what they are. By participating in sorting color activities, the young child obtains hands-on practice in several areas of development:

Visual discrimination
Form constancy
Working memory
Color recognition
Visual scanning
Visual figure-ground
Visual closure
Visual attention

Hopefully as your learner continues to sort items, they may start recognizing the qualities of each item. This can include shade, or color, shape, form, number, etc.

Sorting Colors Development

As with many skills, there is a hierarchy of learning to sorting tasks. Young children develop these skills through hands-on play and by playing with toys.

Development of color sorting progresses through these stages:

Grouping items that are exactly the same. Examples; colored plastic bears, blocks that are all the same size, coins, pompoms
Sorting items that are similar: different brands of socks in similar colors, silverware in varying sizes, towels, a bag of buttons
Sorting items that are similar AND different: sorting items by the color red, that are all different items. Sorting socks that are all different sizes, shapes, weights, and colors. Sorting items by colors that vary (five different shades of red).
Sorting items that have more than one category This stage of development progresses to categorizing objects that can be sorted such as a pile of paper to file. In this case there needs to be one similar quality selected first in order to sort, such as putting all the medical bills together, sorting by date, alphabetizing the papers. The last stage is where we may see challenges impacted by working memory. Those struggling with development of executive functioning skills can be limited in sorting objects in various categories, particularly when a background is busy such as a messy desk, cluttered locker, or home.

Sorting by color is not the easiest way to sort. When there are multiple items that are similar such as 100 colored plastic balls, your learner may not recognize these as different items. They see balls first, not colors. Try sorting very different items first. Example: 5 identical buttons, 3 towels, 4 pencils, and 6 spoons.

Color Sorting and Visual Perception

Sorting involves recognizing an item’s properties, but also visual perception. Through development of these skills, children move from thinking through the sorting of colors to visual efficiency which allows for automaticity in tasks.

Below are some thought processes that integrate color sorting with visual perceptual skills:

Figure ground lets the “perceiver” see the items as part to a whole,
Form constancy recognizes that two balls of different colors are still balls. or two shades of red are still red.
Visual discrimination allows the learner to tell difference between items.
Visual memory is the ability to remember what is seen as the eyes are scanning the items

Color Sorting Teaches Mental Flexibility

When teaching sorting, teach mental flexibility. Sort many different items in many different ways. Sort by, color, size, similarity, quality (4 legged animals), texture, weight, or two qualities.

Sort the same items two different ways. First sort the plastic fruit and veggies (affiliate link) into color, then sort by type. Later your learner can sort by larger categories such as fruits versus vegetables.

Color Sorting and Functional Tasks

Why do some people have difficulty organizing and cleaning up?

Sometimes a large task seems very overwhelming, therefore shut down and refusal tends to occur. The most effective way to combat this is to teach sorting and categorizing. Go into your child’s messy room and look for the categories.

Books all over the floor
Dirty clothes everywhere
Papers and trash scattered around
9 dishes and plates
29 stuffed animals
84 hair clips
64 crayons

Now this task seems much more manageable. I often had to solve this dilemma with my younger daughter.

What other, more complicated ways could she organize this messy room?

Sorting the books into genre, size, type, or alphabetizing
Organizing the dirty clothes into whites and colors
Determining trash versus recyclables
Crayons may be part of the “school supplies” category
Hair accessories or toys might be a larger category

How would you tackle this chore?

Sort into the larger category first such as books, then sort into their subcategories?
Sort into subcategories such as stuffed animals, games, action figures, puzzles, then group into toys?

There is no wrong answer depending on how your brain works. Actually the only wrong answer is not getting started or having a meltdown.

When working on basic sorting colors, and feeling it is futile or pointless, think about the bigger picture. A person who can put their laundry, silverware, and toys away will be more independent than one who can not.

Color Sorting Activities

So, are you wondering about a fun way to build development in this area? We’ve got plenty of ideas.

The OT Toolbox has a great resource for teaching sorting using everyday items.

Amazon has tons of toys and games for sorting! (affiliate link) Don’t limit yourself to store bought items though. Your kitchen, bathroom, junk drawers, and desk are filled with items that can be grouped and sorted.

Color sorting activities can include ideas such as:

Sorting colored circles (cut out circles from construction paper)
Sort different objects by color and drop them into baskets or bowls
Use color sorting activities along with a scavenger hunt. This color scavenger hunt is one fun idea.
Cut out cardboard shapes and sort by color or shape. This cardboard tangram activity is an easy way to make shapes in different colors.
Sort colored markers or crayons
Laminate a piece of construction paper and use it as a play mat. Sort different colored craft pom poms or other objects onto the correct mat.
Print out color words and sort them along with small objects. The Colors Handwriting Kit has these color words and other printable activities for playing with color.
Make dyed pumpkin seeds and sort by color.

A handful of straws and a few recycled grated cheese container are all that are needed for tripod grasp, scissor skills, color naming, and sorting.

SO much learning is happening with color sorting!

Fine Motor Color Sorting Activity with Straws

This color sorting activity is a powerful fine motor activity and a super easy way to learn and play for toddlers and preschoolers. We’ve done plenty of activities to work on fine motor skills in kids. This straw activity is the type that is a huge hit in our house…it’s cheap, easy, and fun! (a bonus for kids and mom!) A handful of straws and a few recycled grated cheese container are all that are needed for tripod grasp, scissor skills, color naming, and sorting.

This color sorting activity is great for toddlers and preschools because it helps to develop many of the fine motor skills that they need for function.

I had Baby Girl (age 2 and a half) do this activity and she LOVED it. Now, many toddlers are exploring textures of small objects with their mouths. If you have a little one who puts things in their mouth during play, this may not be the activity for you. That’s ok. If it doesn’t work right now, put it away and pull it out in a few months.

Always keep a close eye on your little ones during fine motor play and use your judgment with activities that work best for your child. Many school teachers read our blog and definitely, if there are rules about choking hazards in your classroom, don’t do this one with the 2 or 3 year olds.

You can adjust this color sorting activity to use other materials besides straws, too. Try using whole straws, pipe cleaners, colored craft sticks, or other objects that are safe for larger groups of Toddlers.

There are so many fun ways to play and learn with our Occupational Therapy Activities for Toddlers post.

Kids can work on scissor skills by cutting straws into small pieces.

color sorting activity using straws

We started out with a handful of colored straws. These are a dollar store purchase and we only used a few of the hundred or so in the pack…starting out cheap…this activity is going well so far!

Cutting the straws is a neat way to explore the “open-shut” motion of the scissors to cut the straw pieces. Baby Girl liked the effect of cutting straws. Flying straw bits= hilarious!

If you’re not up for chasing bits and pieces of straws around the room or would rather not dodge flying straw pieces as they are cut, do this in a bin or bag. Much easier on the eyes 😉

Kids love to work on fine motor skills through play!

Once our straws were cut into little pieces and ready for playing, I pulled out a few recycled grated cheese containers. (Recycled container= free…activity going well still!) We started with just one container out on the table and Baby Girl dropped the straw pieces into the holes.

Here are more ways to use recycled materials in occupational therapy activities.

Toddlers and preschoolers can work on their tripod grasp by using small pieces of straws and a recycled grated cheese container.

Importance of Color sorting for toddlers and preschoolers

Color sorting activities are a great way to help toddlers and preschoolers develop skills for reading, learning, and math.

Sorting activities develop visual perceptual skills as children use visual discrimination to notice differences between objects.

By repeating the task with multiple repetitions, kids develop skills in visual attention and visual memory. These visual processing skills are necessary for reading and math tasks.

The ability to recall differences in objects builds working memory too, ask kids remember where specific colors go or the place where they should sort them.

These sorting skills come into play in more advanced learning tasks as they classify objects, numbers, letters, etc.

And, when children sort items by color, they are building What a great fine motor task this was for little hands! Sorting straws into a container with small holes, like our activity, requires a tripod grasp to insert the straws into the small holes of the grated cheese container.

These grated cheese containers are awesome for fine motor play with small objects!

Sorting items like cut up straws helps preschoolers and toddlers develop skills such as:

Fine motor skills (needed for pencil grasp, scissor use, turning pages, etc.)
Hand strength (needed for endurance in coloring, cutting, etc.)
Visual discrimination (needed to determine differences in letters, shapes, and numbers)
Visual attention
Visual discrimination
Visual perceptual skills
Left Right discrimination (needed for handwriting, fine motor tasks)
Counting
Patterning
Classification skills

Preschoolers can get a lot of learning (colors, patterns, sorting, counting) from this activity too. Have them count as they put the pieces in, do a pattern with the colored straws, sort from smallest to biggest pieces and put them in the container in order…the possibilities are endless!

Cut straw into small pieces and provide three recycled containers to sort and work on fine motor skills with kids.

Color Sorting Activity with Straws

Once she got a little tired of the activity, I let it sit out on the table for a while with two more containers added. I started dropping in colored straw pieces into the containers and sorted them by color.

Use colored straws to sort and work on fine motor skills with recycled containers.

Baby Girl picked right up on that and got into the activity again. This lasted for a long time. We kept this out all day and she even wanted to invite her cousin over to play with us. So we did! This was a hit with the toddlers and Little Guy when he came home from preschool. Easy, cheap, and fun. I’ll take it!

Looking for more fun ways to work on color sorting?

You’ll find more activities to build hand strength, coordination, and dexterity in this resource on Fine Motor Skills.

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

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

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

Graph Paper Letter Spacing Handwriting Trick

July 12, 2023February 3, 2023 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Writing on graph paper to help kids work on visual motor integration skills and legibility through improved line awareness, letter formation, size awareness, spatial awareness, and handwriting neatness.

Today, I have a great occupational therapy trick and it uses writing on graph paper as a tool to support the spatial awareness needs. This graph paper handwriting tool is an easy way to teach kids how to place letters with appropriate letter spacing, letter size, and line awareness when writing. We’ve shared how to use graph paper for therapy including many OT goal areas in the past, but this letter spacing activity is a hit for working on letter formation and spacing. Try using this trick when visual motor integration is a concern or when students have difficulty with legibility in handwriting.

Writing on Graph Paper for Legibility

This activity is just one of the many spatial awareness and letter size resources we have here on the website. There’s a reason why we cover so many specific tools when it comes to handwriting legibility: spacing between letters is a visual perception task that impacts overall neatness and readability of written work.

When students who struggle with the underlying components of handwriting use regular writing paper or notebook paper, you can end up with written material with a variety of issues:

Inconsistent letter size
Mixed letter case
Inconsistent and sloppy line use
Words and letters that run together

Taking that a bit further, common handwriting concerns involve overshooting lines, poor placement of letters, and varying size of letter creation. Using graph paper is just part of a simple trick to help with each of these areas.

All of this impacts written work.

That’s where writing on graph paper comes into play. As occupational therapy professionals, we use graph paper as an adaptive paper format for promoting spatial use, line use, consistent letter size, and even slowing down the written work.

Writing on graph paper is a great alternative to typical lined paper designs. In the classroom, you see many different styles of lined paper: double rule, single rule, college rule, and then letter formation worksheets with varying line size and visual prompts. When we use grid paper in handwriting, we have a consistent box for each letter and even spacing between the letters.

This post contains affiliate links.

If you missed yesterday’s blog post, you’ll want to read over another idea that encourages development and strengthening of several skills: using transfer paper to help with letter formation, letter size, line awareness, and pencil pressure.

Writing on graph paper to work on letter formation and copying skills

Writing on graph paper to help with handwriting:

Use graph paper that is appropriately sized to your child’s handwriting size needs.

There are various sizes available: (affiliate links included)

1/4 inch squares
1/2 inch squares
1 inch squares
And even Dot grid squares (for visual prompts without the lines)

Each category of paper can be used with different ages or stages of writing development. And, those different types of paper variations can be used for different students. Use the larger grid paper for kindergarten or 1st grade.

Use the middle grid paper with 2nd grade or 3rd grade.

Use the smaller gid paper with older grades and even through middle school and high school.

There are even graph paper PDFs out there. Check out our post on free adapted paper for some ways to print different options. These various templates are nice because you can try different options to find out what type of paper works best for the needs you are targeting.

The nice thing about handwriting on graph paper is that a pack of graph paper is often used in math and can readily be found in classroom, plus it’s not a type of paper that will stand out among peers, so this makes it more likely to be used and carryover of handwriting skills to be achieved.

Tips for Improving writing with graph paper

Let’s take this handwriting tool a bit further and cover interventions that use graph paper as a writing strategy. The ideas listed below are some ways to improve writing skills, and you can pick and choose the activity ideas that work for the specific individual, based on needs.

1. Using the appropriately sized grids, use a highlighter to create pyramid style boxes for practicing word copying. For each word, create a pyramid of highlighted boxes that stack the letters so the child practices the word with increasing motor plan effort.

For example, when practicing the word “play”, the child would practice “p”, then “pl”, then “pla”, and finally “play”.

Practicing a word in this manner allows the child to shift their vision down to the next line with a visual cue to correct any mistakes that they made in letter formation. It is important to monitor kids’ work as they begin this activity to make sure they are forming letters correctly and not building on inaccuracies in letter formation or organizational components (size and space of letters).

2. Work on letter size. Use the grid lines as layouts to define a specific writing space for letters. You can target formation of tall letters by using two grids, or target tail letters by drawing a pen line around two grids (one above the baseline and one below the baseline.

Some students might need a more concrete version of the grid spaces. Cut out two boxes or one box and use that along a baseline on a blank piece of printer paper to practice writing different sizes of letters.

You can also target letter size by using a highlighter marker to identify the writing space on graph paper.

of the paper to The grid of the graph paper is a huge tool in allowing the child to form letters with constrictions on letter size, spacing, and line awareness.

3. Finally, when the child writes a whole word, place a piece of paper under the last highlighted grid. The paper should have normal lines without graph paper type of grids. By placing the paper under the grids, the child can copy the style of writing that they used when writing the whole word. Transferring the spacing, size, and line use to regular paper uses the visual cue of the graph paper with improved accuracy.

It is important to monitor kids’ use of the graph paper and writing each letter of the word in repetition. Sometimes, kids will attempt to complete an activity like this one quite quickly in order to “get it over with”. In those cases, letter size, letter spacing, and line awareness can suffer. Try to limit the number of words that are practiced with this method.

More ways to explore writing on graph paper

Other ways to use graph paper to practice handwriting accuracy:

Use the pyramid style of writing to practice spelling words and sight words.
Try using graph paper to write written responses to writing prompts.
Use graph paper for writing responses on worksheets.
Use graph paper to help kids who need extra work on margin awareness.
Pencil Pressure Simple Handwriting Trick
Sandpaper Letter Formation Trick
Boxes and Dots Handwriting Method
Easy Trick for Tripod Pencil Grasp

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

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

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

Pencil Craft

January 23, 2023January 23, 2023 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Today, we have a fun pencil craft that is perfect for building skills. Why do I love these cut, color, and paste activities? They are easy to use, motivating, and track progress in multiple areas at once. Pencils are an essential tool in the life-long functional skill of handwriting. Today’s free download pencil craft is not just fun, it is a fun addition to a handwriting theme that fits in with the tools of the occupational therapy trade!

This particular pencil craft template is a free resource, and one that includes a data collection section to make building on skill areas simple for occupational therapy interventions.

Pencil Craft

The pencil is a standard icon. According to The History of Pencils, a single pencil has the potential to draw a line 35 miles long (!), write an average of 45,000 words, be sharpened 17 times, (have you ever thought about how many times you sharpen a pencil?!)…A pencil can delete its own errors and can beat out an infinite number of drum solos.

One of the main tools in an occupational therapy provider’s toolkit is a pencil, be it the standard size, golf-sized pencils, colored pencils, grease pencils, or other types designed to target specific skills. Then, there are the pencil add-ons like different types of pencil grips, a variety of pencil topper fidgets, erasers, for example.

It is recognized and used world wide. This pencil craft worksheet can be used as a stand alone activity, or part of a larger treatment plan.

Use this pencil craft to target skills:

This color and cut pencil craft is adaptable to the needs of a variety of students, but using the color, cut, and build portion of pencil crafts like this one is more than just crafting fun.

Six reasons I use color, cut, and glue activities like this pencil craft:

Children have the attention span of about two minutes, thus the activity has to be fast
I need to gather as much data in the shortest amount of time that I can, due to point #1
There are several teachable moments using activities like the pencil craft, but it has to be quick, again due to point #1
Learners of all ages do not respond well to tasks that seem like work. Even the mention of work, sends a wail of protests. Crafts seem less like work than writing worksheets
Learners respond better to activities that mean something. Rote math problems, writing sentences, or coloring endless shapes are often meaningless. A task that involves putting together parts to build something holds more meaning than your standard worksheets.
Documentation standards. There is such a push to gather data, record percentages, levels, progress, and skill acquisition, selecting the right task can be challenging. This pencil craft includes documentation prompts, as well as a way to track data over time.

Not to mention- Occupational therapy’s history is founded in crafting! When we use functional, fun, and modern craft ideas in building skills, we are reflecting on the history of our profession!

What skills are addressed when completing the pencil craft?

Hand strength and dexterity – staying inside the lines while coloring builds hand muscles and develops muscle control. Cutting develops hand strength also.
Visual motor skills – (combining what is seen visually and what is written motorically). It takes coordination to be able to translate information from visual input to motor output. Coloring, drawing, counting, cutting, and tracing are some visual motor skills.
Scissor skills – cutting on the line, within half inch of lines, or in the direction of lines can be ways to measure accuracy. Also measure if you help the learner don scissors and if you add adaptations.
Pasting – using glue stick or white glue. White glue adds a hand strength and sensory component.
Visual Perception – Developing figure ground to see where one item starts and finishes, scanning to find all pieces, and visual closure to understand that the parts will create something. Figure ground, parts to whole, and visual closure are important to academic development
Sequencing – will your learner assemble the parts in order, or go in a haphazard pattern all over the page?
Motor Planning– a cut and paste craft like this pencil activity supports development of motor skills in a functional crafting task.
Proprioception – adjusting the pressure on paper, grip on pencil
Bilateral coordination – remembering to use their “helper hand” to hold the paper while writing is important for development. Using one hand as a dominant hand instead of switching back and forth is encouraged once a child is in grade school, or demonstrates a significant strength in one or the other
Strength – core strength, shoulder and wrist stability, head control, balance, and hand strength are all needed for upright sitting posture and writing tasks
Executive function, following directions, attention, attention to detail, focus, sequencing, planning, problem solving, task completion, neatness, impulse control, compliance, behavior, and work tolerance are all important skills to learn

Use a pencil craft in an OT lesson plan

How to incorporate this into a lesson plan

Any activity, including this pencil craft, can be used in isolation or as part of a larger lesson. These can be used in occupational therapy weekly lesson plans. The lessons may vary depending on the goals or subject matter.

A few ideas that can be added to a pencil theme in therapy sessions:

Back to school – use tools from the OT Toolbox to build a back to school lesson plan
Pencil Control Exercises– Use these challenges to support motor planning and fine motor skills with different types of writing utensils.
Pencil grasp play ideas– Pick up a pencil and use these play ideas to support motor skills with a pencil!
Use this pencil I Spy slide deck to work on visual perception with a pencil theme.
Make a DIY pencil topper. This is a great activity that supports fine motor, visual motor, executive functioning skills, and more. Plus, users are motivated to use a pencil tool that supports their needs, especially when they’ve made the writing support themselves, supporting carryover of handwriting OT goals!
Have a fun pencil grip challenge- Explore different types of pencil grips. Try them each out, rank them on which one feels the best and “writes the best”! Kids love to rank toys or items and this one has so many hidden benefits! You can even create a school-wide or therapy-wide challenge. Make a bulletin board with the favorite pencil grip and see which one wins!
Or, have a pencil grasp challenge! Join in a 5 day series of motor challenge to develop the underlying components that are needed for a functional pencil grasp. This is a great series for therapy sessions, a classroom, or at home. Each challenge day includes information on what’s going on with pencil grasps, an exercise, and a handout with challenge activities.
Scissor Skills – The OT Toolbox has a 12 month Scissor Skills Home Program available for purchase or Members. Or check out the Scissor Skills Book, if you need to brush up on your scissor teaching skills.
History of Pencils – Check out this blog on the history of pencils.
Have a 3 pencil challenge- You’ve heard of the 3 marker challenge, right? While we took it a step further and made it into a 3 crayon challenge, another expansion could be a 3 pencil challenge! Select 3 colored pencils from a bin or box of colored pencils. Then, use just those three pencils to color in a coloring page.
Use colored pencils (or regular pencils) to work on letter formation. Pencils are a great tool to work on pencil pressure when writing with a trick called “ghost writing“. Check it out in our YouTube video:

Lessons from a Pencil

I love adding this growth mindset aspect to a pencil theme. Specifically, targeting growth mindset mistakes is powerful with the concept of erasing mistakes and re-writing errors! Use these concepts while moving through the pencil craft activity!

A pencil can teach us…

A pencil needs a hand to move- You will be able to do great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand. You can leave a mark on the world if you’re willing to be held in someone’s hand and let them lead you down the right path.
Pencils can be re-shaped- You might experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you need it to become a better pencil. You can do great things by allowing yourself to be held in someone’s hand, but only if you’re willing to be sharpened. You might experience painful moments of being over-sharpened and placed aside, but they will make you stronger.
Any mistakes you make can be corrected- Even though you may experience pain, it’s all worth it because it will make you better. Any mistakes you make can be corrected, just like sharpening a pencil. Every mistake is an opportunity to improve your next performance.
The most important part of you is what’s on the inside- Just like the graphite on the inside of the pencil is the part that does the “work” that we see, what’s inside of us is what matters most! The most important part of you is what’s on the inside rather than what everyone else sees when they look at you. On every surface, leave your mark because that is who you are as an individual and no matter what condition you are in or what situations arise, continue to write!
On every surface, you must leave your mark. So let that shine through onto every surface that crosses your path and leave an impression. No matter what the condition, continue to write!

Final Pencil Craft Points…

Just like the end of a pencil is a point, here are a few final notes on our pencil craft…

Through writing this post on the pencil craft, I learned that anything and everything can be found on the internet! This is marvelous and scary at the same time. 30 years ago I am quite certain I would not have easily found lesson plans on using a pencil as a theme, by walking into the library. I am forever bemoaning the use of too much technology. It is a double edged sword, but if you use a search as your guide, then print the resources to use real pencils, scissors, and glue, it can be a valuable resource. Remind yourself, and those around you, of the benefit of real tools instead of iPads and computer generated programs.

Pencil Craft Template

So, want to grab this printable pencil craft template to start building skills or use in a pencil theme? Enter your email address into the form below to access this resource. This printable is available inside our Membership Club under our Crafts section.

Not a member? Join today…or access the freebie by entering your email below.

Fine Motor Mitten Race

January 8, 2026January 20, 2023 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Today, we have another fun Winter Fine Motor activity: a Mitten Fine Motor Race! This mitten race is a great way to play and build skills in several areas: motor planning, eye-hand coordination, crossing midline, and pencil control. Use this along with other winter activities for a whole lesson plan that develops functional performance. You can add this activity to our mitten activities for lesson planning in occupational therapy, learning, and other therapies.

Mitten Race

Last year I learned an interesting lesson about winter themed lesson plans. While summer seems to be universal, winter is regional, not everyone’s experiences are the same. I grew up in the northern United States but have been living in the south for many years. Imagine my surprise when my learners struggled to come up with ten things to do in the snow! Snow, mittens, snowmen, icicles, skating, and skiing are rare (or artificial) down here.

Today’s free printable, a Fine Motor Mitten Race will have different meanings depending on the region where you are teaching.

Looking for a consistent way to support fine motor skills all year?
This yearlong fine motor system includes seasonal activity kits and monthly data collection tools to support planning and progress monitoring.

If fine motor planning and data collection feel overwhelming, you’re not alone.
This done-for-you yearlong bundle organizes seasonal activities and monthly screening tools in one system.

Get the Yearlong Fine Motor and Data Collection Bundle today!

A LESSON ABOUT WINTER THEMED ACTIVITIES

Learners who do not grow up in cold climates have little idea about “real” winter
If you have never experienced freezing winters, with snow up to your neck, it is hard to imagine what this feels like
Activities that have meaning and relevance will be more motivating and make sense to young learners. Activities in your winter toolbox, like this downloadable fine motor mitten race, can lead to some great discussion and interesting treatment sessions
Use new experiences as a learning opportunity. Spend time teaching about winter through multi-sensory experiences. Read books, watch real life videos, share personal experiences, do research together, and find ways to create as much realism as possible
Make shaved ice and play in the cold wet texture. Here are some great snow and ice activities
Play dress up, bundling up in layers of warm clothes
Read The Mitten, by Jan Brett. Check out this Mitten Themed Lesson Plan from the folks over at The Clutter Free Classroom
Once you have created meaning to winter, add activities like this free Fine Motor Mitten Race to your treatment plan

HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE FINE MOTOR MITTEN RACE

Once your theme has been created, use time wisely by implementing activities that meet the needs of each level of learners. Activities like this free Fine Motor Mitten Race, that can be downloaded with just the addition of your email address below, are adaptable.

Mid to high level learners: use a broken crayon (which is best for developing a great tripod grasp) to color the mitten on the left. Place the crayon in the palm of your hand while tracing across the path to the mitten on the right. Color the mitten on the right. Time how long each path takes to do correctly. See if learners can beat their time while still producing quality work
High level learners: use the broken crayon piece to color inside the paths while staying inside the lines. Instruct higher level learners to cut along the paths
Lower level or beginning learners can use dot markers to follow the path, zoom a small car or pompom along the road, or follow with their finger without coloring at all
Laminate the pages for a reusable activity. Use wipe off markers, cars, playdough, a pointer, or their finger to trace along the paths
Project the images onto a smart board for whole arm and body movement
Make paths bigger or smaller to challenge the needs of your learners
Use glitter glue to squeeze along the paths, encouraging fine motor strengthening at the same time
Watch for signs of visual perceptual difficulties – scanning right to left, difficulty following the pattern, not working in top-down order, or frustration. Work through visual perceptual skill deficits before adding coloring through the paths, as this adds a fine motor component to the already challenging activity
Lessons might not go as planned. When I trialed this task today, my younger learners scribbled all over the page and cut it into tiny pieces, rather than following along the paths. I did not get frustrated, because this group of learners spent quality time sitting, attending to the activity, and working on pre-writing skills
Level two members have access to all of the winter resources, including the great Winter Fine Motor Kit, all in one place

WHEN YOU THINK OF MITTENS, WHAT COMES TO MIND?

While cold winters with freezing temperatures might conjure up unpleasant sensory memories, they have created meaning to your life. My memories of mittens include a favorite handmade pair of wool winter mittens my mother brought back from a trip to Europe. For some reason, this special pair of mittens has survived several moves, and many winters (although they do not get much action here in South Carolina).

I also remember that feeling of cold wet slushy mittens after sledding or building a snow fort. We were unbothered by the feeling of soggy mittens that froze into stiff fabric if we stayed out long enough. Our mudroom was full of pairs of wet mittens drying by the radiator.

Thinking back to my New England childhood winters, I recall the many ways we tried to keep track of those mittens. Clips that hooked onto our coats, a string connecting both mittens, long mittens that tucked way into the layers of clothing, or resorting to mismatched mittens.

Negative or frustrating experiences shape our memories. Memories tend to be stronger by experiences that are difficult, upsetting, or unpleasant. While these winter memories seem awful now, the fun of playing outside in the snow was worth it!

What memories are your young learners building?

NOTE*The term, “learner” is used throughout this post for readability and inclusion. This information is relevant for students, patients, children and/or adults of all ages and stages or whomever could benefit from these resources. The term “they” is used instead of he/she to be inclusive.

Here’s your free fine motor mitten race printable:

Enter your email address into the form. We’ll send it directly to your inbox. This way you can print it from any device.

This item is also found inside the Membership Club.

Penguin I Spy PDF

January 18, 2023 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Today, you’ll find a free printable Penguin I Spy PDF worksheet that you can print off and use for targeting several areas of development. We love using I Spy activities with real toys or with printable worksheets because of the many ways to address visual discrimination, eye-hand coordination, visual figure ground, visual attention, coloring, number formation, and so many other areas. Let’s break this down with a penguin themed I Spy worksheet.

You’ll also love these penguin activities that can be combined with this I spy PDF.

Penguin I Spy PDF

What I love about this kind of pdf printable is its versatility. The session could be a social emotional exercise on identifying emotions, a visual perceptual task matching the faces, a visual motor task coloring/cutting/pasting the penguins, a game of BINGO or a combination of all of these.

A side note about using printable resources like this Penguin I Spy in therapy sessions…

Today during therapy sessions, we were talking about winter and snow. I came to a couple of conclusions. Children who are from South Carolina can NOT name ten things to do in the snow. They also do not understand ice skating, snow shoes, sledding, ice fishing, or the difference between skiing and snowboarding. One of my students exclaimed that he would like to move to Antarctica, but only where the penguins are. He said, “unlike penguins; polar bears, seals, and other arctic animals like to eat people.”

Almost all of the posts I write talk about how to grade and modify activities. On the fly, I had to grade and modify this task for every student today. An independent writing activity became long discussions, google searches to discuss snow shoes and ice fishing, copying from a model (they can’t spell skiing if they do not know what it is), along with a little bit of letter formation/sizing/line placement. As an OT, this is what we do. Adapt and modify.

Because my student showed an interest in penguins, I decided to use this as a platform for an upcoming treatment session. Check out some of the other posts by typing “penguins” into the search bar on the OT Toolbox. An entire week-long lesson plan can be made out of one simple idea.

To kick off my penguin theme I will be using this Penguin I Spy Emotions free printable. I will throw in some talk of emotions and maybe a little humor. What would it feel like to be chased by a polar bear? How would you feel if you had a penguin for a pet? This is one way to incorporate self-regulation and emotional coping tools in the discussion.

Because students are fluid learners and unpredictable, the task may need to be modified for each student or adapted on the spot.

How to use a Penguin I Spy PDF

You can use this penguin I spy PDF in several different ways. Print off the I spy PDF and modify the worksheet for each student depending on the needs of the individual learner.

How can this task be modified?

Add elements to make it more difficult such as cutting on the lines or writing the name of the emotions under each penguin
Make it easier by having all the pieces pre cut
Laminate the page and add velcro dots to make this reusable (using velcro dots is a great way to build finger strength). This also takes out the visual motor task of cutting and coloring, making the focus more concentrated on visual perception
Talk about each of the emotions and have learners name something that would elicit that emotion
Change the weight of the paper for easier/harder cutting
Make it a social activity by creating a game such as BINGO, Memory Match, or Hide and Seek.
Add a gross motor element by scattering the pieces all over the room
Add a sensory element by putting the pieces in a snow themed bin
Project this onto a smart board to make it interactive

The penguin I spy PDF at the bottom of this page can be combined with our Penguin Therapy Kit, as well as the other penguin resources here on the site.

Gross Motor – Use these yoga positions to incorporate gross motor skills. Click here for the penguin yoga activities.

Executive Functioning Activity – Try making these penguin snacks for a family treat.

Self-Regulation Activity– This penguin deep breathing activity can be a coping tool or a sensory strategy to help with self-regulation skills.

Emotions Game- This free penguin emotions therapy slide deck challenges kids to identify emotions based on facial expressions.

If you prefer all of your treatment ideas in one bundle, the OT Toolbox has a Penguin Therapy Kit deal going on right now for the Penguin Therapy Kit!

Every day I look for humor in my job. Let’s face it, kids are funny! While not so funny that these kids had so little knowledge about winter snow, it WAS funny that one student stated “in the snow you stay inside and drink hot cocoa.” Another student somehow knew nothing about snow, but told me how you have to lay on the ice if it is cracking. Lastly there was the little girl who worked so diligently on this task, then out of nowhere stated she wants a hamster for her birthday, and could we look that up on Google too (for the record, we did).

Flexibility is synonymous with Occupational Therapist. The more flexible you are able to be, the more fun you are able to have doing this amazing job. Flexibility is looking up hamsters, suddenly describing what snowshoes are for, or somehow making your failing activity a success!

I’m thinking that the boy who said snow is for indoors and hot cocoa is onto something.

Free Penguin I Spy PDF

Interested in adding the Penguin I Spy to your therapy toolbox? Enter your email address into the form below. Or, if you are a Member’s Club member, log into your account and access this resource in our Penguin Therapy Theme.

By Audience

By Category

Writing Posture

What does writing posture look like?

Sitting Posture When Writing

Slight Variences to Handwriting Posture

Factors impacting Writing Posture

Slouching at desk

Handwriting Posture Cue Cards

More tips good seating posture when writing:

Valentine I Spy Free Download

How to use the Valentine I Spy worksheet

Visual Perception and the Valentine’s Day I Spy Printable

How to Use the Valentine’s day I Spy Worksheet

Free Valentine’s Day I Spy

FREE Valentine Day I Spy

How to Paint Snow

Benefits of painting snow

Painted Snow Activities

Printable Valentines Cards

FOLDABLE PRINTABLE VALENTINES DAY CARDS TO COLOR

Free Printable Valentine Cards to Color

SKILLS LEARNED MAKING FOLDABLE FREE VALENTINE’S CARDS

Free Printable Valentine Cards

FREE Printable Valentine Cards

Sorting Colors

Sorting Colors Development

Color Sorting and Visual Perception

Color Sorting Teaches Mental Flexibility

Color Sorting and Functional Tasks

Color Sorting Activities

Fine Motor Color Sorting Activity with Straws

color sorting activity using straws

Importance of Color sorting for toddlers and preschoolers

Color Sorting Activity with Straws

Looking for more fun ways to work on color sorting?

Writing on Graph Paper for Legibility

Writing on graph paper to help with handwriting:

Tips for Improving writing with graph paper

More ways to explore writing on graph paper

Pencil Craft

Use this pencil craft to target skills:

Use a pencil craft in an OT lesson plan

Lessons from a Pencil

Final Pencil Craft Points…

Pencil Craft Template

FREE Pencil Craft

Mitten Race

A LESSON ABOUT WINTER THEMED ACTIVITIES

HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE FINE MOTOR MITTEN RACE

WHEN YOU THINK OF MITTENS, WHAT COMES TO MIND?

Penguin I Spy PDF

How to use a Penguin I Spy PDF

Free Penguin I Spy PDF

FREE Penguin I SPY Printable