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:

The Ultimate Guide to Occupational Therapy Toys

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occupational therapy toys

Wondering about occupational therapy toys to give as gifts? There are so many therapist-recommended toys that support development of skills!

Pediatric OT professionals use toys in occupational therapy interventions and are often asked about their recommendations for the best occupational therapy toys. Many times, parents are looking for holiday or birthday ideas or they want to pass on some gift ideas to grandparents that will help the child rather than collect dust.

Today, I’ve got the ultimate list of therapeutic toy ideas, broken down into OT gift guides by skill area. So, if you’ve got a child who needs to develop specific skill areas, this enormous list of occupational therapy toys will serve you well!

occupational therapy toys

You’ll also want to check out our blog post on occupational therapy Amazon deals for OT items that won’t break the bank.

Occupational Therapy Toys

So, you may be wondering…how are toys used in occupational therapy? Well, that is a good question! Occupational therapy professionals work to help people become more independent in functional tasks. 

We use the real life objects like toys, clothing, utensils…as occupational therapy tools to support and promote development. 

The thing is that OT toys support development in kids of all ages! From the baby stage through preschool, to kindergarten and school age, to teenagers, to adults, therapy toys support development at all stages!

OTs work with all ages to help address the very skills that occupy a person’s time. In kids, that occupation is likely play. It’s through play that therapists build skills. Occupational therapists and Certified occupational therapy assistants use toys and games for many reasons. 

Why do Occupational Therapists use toys in occupational therapy?

In occupational therapy sessions, you’ll see therapists using toys and games to develop areas of child development such as: 

  • Motor planning
  • Coordination
  • Balance
  • Positioning
  • Fine motor skills
  • Gross motor skills
  • Sensory needs and tolerance
  • Handwriting
  • Hand-Eye Coordination
  • Hand strength and dexterity
  • Cognitive skills
  • Problem solving
  • Strength and endurance
  • Executive functioning skills
  • Imaginative play and play development skills
  • Social emotional skills
  • Social skills
  • Bilateral coordination
  • Visual motor integration
  • Functional task development
  • Tummy time tolerance
  • Emotional needs
  • Self-regulation
  • Movement tolerance
  • SO much more!

In OT, toys are used to develop new skills and to help children move through skill levels as they develop and refine the areas listed above. Toys are a fun way to get little hands and little bodies building, growing, and developing!

Through play and with toys, children become more confident in their abilities. They are able to practice skill development in a low-pressure scenario that is fun, engaging, and motivating. When children play in therapy sessions, they are using novel games, puzzles, toys, and activities that help them to practice through play.

Toys can boost a child’s creativity and cognitive skills as they problem solve in games and toy use. They can strategize, and practice interactions with others with therapeutic toys.

Toys that are selected for therapy sessions can include a strong sensory components. Or, they can involve movement, motor skill development, bright colors, small items. Whether a therapist is using classic toys or novel therapeutic games and fun activities, the games therapists play are selected to meet the specific needs of the child or therapy participant.

Toys are some of the best equipment that occupational therapists use! 

Occupational therapy toys and therapeutic toys that help kids develop functional skills.

Therapeutic Toy Ideas

I’ve designed this list of occupational therapy toys to be a resource for the pediatric occupational therapist looking for occupational therapy supplies, or fresh ideas for therapy equipment for the OT clinic. I’ve also created this OT gift guide as suggestions for therapy professionals to pass onto parents and caregivers looking for developmental toys to gift to children with needs.

The way this therapy toys gift guide works is by skill area. You’ll find links for toys specific to each skill area linked below. 

Over the years here on The OT Toolbox, we’ve created A LOT of therapy gift guides. 

All of these therapeutic toy ideas are broken down to describe each area of development and then to list out toy ideas that support that skill area. You’ll find links to each toy and a brief description on how that specific toy or game helps children to develop skills.

Almost all of these toy ideas are available on Amazon, so you can easily fill your therapy room or toy room with therapeutic toys that build skills.

So, if you are looking for occupational therapy Amazon recommendations for best toys…look no further!

Occupational therapy toys gift guide 

Ready for the BEST occupational therapy toys? Select the area of child development which you are hoping to promote and then head to the link to read all about that area as well as to find links to purchase each toy.

Below, we are covering the best developmental toys, broken down by skill area. Scroll to the area of development that best suits the needs of the children you work with in OT, PT, ST, or any realm of child development. These are therapy toy suggestions that can be handed out to parents looking for gift ideas that support development.

Some of the toy lists below include a printable handout that can be given to parents of children receiving therapy services. Many times, parents are looking for toy ideas for holiday gifts or birthday gifts. Therapy toys help to promote development and skill-building. 

We’ve put together a printable handout for several toy lists, so you can print out the lists and hand them out to the parent of each child, based on that individual child’s specific needs. We wanted to make these lists as easy for you as possible so you don’t need to re-create the wheel when it comes to recommending toys as a therapy provider. 

Plus, each printable toy list has space for you to write in additional toy recommendations, so if a child really enjoys playing with a specific brand or toy in therapy sessions, you can write that toy idea right on the page.

We’ve included a link to each blog post which has a printable therapy toy handout. The toy lists that don’t have a handout associated with them are linked further down in this blog post.

The OT toy lists include: 

  1. Fine Motor Toys
  2. Gross Motor Toys
  3. Toys for Pencil Grasp
  4. Toys for Reluctant Writers
  5. Toys for Spatial Awareness
  6. Toys for Visual Tracking
  7. Toys for Visual Scanning
  8. Toys for Sensory Play
  9. Toys for Tactile Challenges
  10. Bilateral Coordination Toys
  11. Games for Executive Functioning
  12. Visual Perception Toys
  13. Wrist Stability and Wrist Extension Toys
  14. Visual Perception Toys
  15. Toys for Math Skills
  16. Scissor Skills Toys
  17. Toys for Attention and Focusing Skills
  18. Dressing Skills Toys
  19. Toys for Coloring Skills
  20. Magnet Toys
  21. Keychain Fidget Toys
  22. Fidget Toys

Fine motor therapy toys

These fine motor toys and tools are designed to develop fine motor skill development, refined motor use of the hands, hand strength, eye hand coordination, and all of the motor skills using fine motor activities through play.

Fine motor therapy toys support hand strength, precision, hand-eye coordination, and motor planning in the hands. These skills allow us to hold and use a pencil, use scissors, use utensils, complete clothing fasteners like buttons and zippers, type on a computer, and so much more!

Some of the toy ideas you’ll find described in this resource include:

  • Play dough
  • Beads
  • Peg boards
  • Pop beads
  • Chalk
  • Slime
  • Geoboards
  • Tweezer games
  • Board games
  • Construction toys
  • Paper tearing crafts
  • Puzzles
  • MUCH MORE

CLICK HERE to find all of the Fine Motor Toy Recommendations.

Gross Motor therapy Toys

Therapists use Gross motor toys to work on coordination, motor planning, balance, position changes, sensory input though heavy work, and more. All of these areas are needed to kick, hop, jump, stoop, crawl, and play!

These therapy toy ideas support motor planning and body awareness (or the awareness of their bodies), promote self-regulation, offer heavy proprioceptive input, and movement-based vestibular input.

Whole body toys like the ones suggested below help kids to establish awareness of their body but also strengthen their core for better posture, develop upper extremity strength and lower body strength for better stability in every day tasks. These gross motor toys build stronger bodies with body tone for greater strength and stability.

Some general suggestions for occupational therapy and physical therapy toys include:

  • Tunnels
  • Obstacle course materials
  • Jump ropes
  • Balance beams
  • Scooter board
  • Balance rocks
  • Midline play toys
  • Balls
  • Bouncing toys
  • Infant and baby blankets and playmats
  • Stilt walkers on rope
  • MUCH MORE

CLICK HERE to find all of the Gross Motor Toys and why each supports gross motor development in children through teens.

Occupational Therapy Toys to Develop Hand strength

The hand strengthening toys and dexterity toys described in this list of pencil grasp toys support developmental needs to hold and write with a pencil.

The toys we’ve curated below are creative and motivating ways to work on pencil grasp, endurance in fine motor activities, and other fine motor tasks with creative and fun products.

Occupational therapists love to make therapy sessions fun and engaging, while working on the very tasks that are hard to do! That’s why working on an area like pencil grasp can be accomplished through play and not just when using a pencil.

Try these OT toys to support pencil grasp development:

  • Beads
  • Scrape art 
  • Play dough
  • Clay
  • Torn paper art
  • Tweezer toys & games
  • Fusion beads
  • Kerplunk
  • Lacing card activities
  • Crumble art kits
  • MORE

CLICK HERE to read all about the Hand strengthening activities and how each toy recommendations supports specific skills needed for pencil grasp development.

Occupational Therapy Games for Pencil Grasp

Some kids are gamers but still need to develop the fine motor skills needed for a functional grasp. These games for pencil grasp ideas are great for younger kids through teens who are working on hand strength, dexterity, endurance, motor control to write with a pencil.

Be sure to check out the gross motor ideas, fine motor toys, and hand strengthening toys listed above because those toy ideas will support pencil grasp, too!

Some game ideas recommended by OTs include:

  • Battleship
  • Checkers (pegboard version)
  • Tweezer games
  • Lightbright (use in tic/tac/toe!)
  • Wind-up toy races
  • MORE

Occupational therapy Toys for kids that hate to write

Speaking of writing, sometimes kids HATE to write. That’s where these toys for reluctant writers come in.

These ideas are great for the home, the classroom, or the clinic…anywhere you are working on writing skills but want to make the task meaningful and engaging…not a chore! These toys make writing FUN…and some don’t even seem like work at all.

Here are toys for kids that hate to write:

  • Motivating writing toys
  • Journals with a lock
  • Diary with fun markers or silly pens
  • Fun pens
  • Scented markers
  • Messy writing toys
  • Easel toys
  • Toys on a vertical surface
  • Letter/note writing kits

CLICK HERE to find our recommended toys for reluctant writers…Let’s make handwriting fun and not a hated activity. 

Occupational therapy Toys for spatial awareness

These toys for developing spatial awareness are designed to promote visual spatial skills needed for handwriting, eye-hand coordination, and moving the body in a given space.

Sometimes children need to work on spatial awareness on a large or small scale. Kids will love these interactive activities for developing spatial awareness skills. That’s where these fun toys come into play:

  • Building toys
  • Puzzle toys
  • Geoboard activities
  • Directional arrows
  • MORE

CLICK HERE to find the full list of spatial awareness toys.   

Therpy Toys for visual tracking

Visual tracking is a visual processing skill and these toys help with visual tracking skills needed for copying written work, reading, and body coordination games like tag, catching a ball, riding a bike, and more.

Try adding these visual tracking toys to your therapy toolbox to support reading fluency and comprehension, too. Support kids visual processing needs through fun and engaging activities. 

  • Marble mazes
  • Labyrinth Games and toys
  • I Spy books
  • Tangram toys
  • Puzzles
  • Slow-motion balls
  • Catching and tossing games
  • MORE

CLICK HERE for all of the Visual Tracking Toys and Games.

OT Toys for visual scanning

Visual scanning is another visual processing ability that is needed for functional tasks and learning.

These toys to support visual scanning skills help kids to scan for needed information in a learning task, finding information in written text, scanning for items in a backpack or drawer, and searching the visual field for information.

All of these needs relate to visual motor integration that is needed for function, learning, and participation in daily occupations.

Try adding these toys to your therapy toolbox to work on these abilities:

  • Hidden pictures activities
  • BINGO games
  • Spot it games
  • I Spy books
  • Bead maze toys
  • Where’s Waldo books
  • MORE

CLICK HERE for the full list of visual scanning toys and why these activities support functional tasks.

Occupational therapy sensory Toys

Sensory products and sensory toys are a valuable tool to address sensory needs, add to a play-based sensory diet, use for sensory seekers or sensory avoiders in the classroom or home.

These sensory toys support sensory processing disorder, or can be used for self-regulation or coping strategies, too. 

Sensory activities in therapy involves play, and you can use these sensory-based toys to support needs in the home, too.

  • Messy play toys
  • Texture painting supplies (finger paints, etc.)
  • Sensory bin and sensory bin supplies
  • Water play toys
  • Slime and play dough
  • Crafting materials
  • Heavy work movement toys
  • Sensory equipment
  • Balance beams
  • Bouncing toys
  • MORE

CLICK HERE for sensory toys recommended by occupational therapists and the WHY behind sensory equipment for the home. 

Occupational therapy Toys for tactile challenges

Occupational therapists love to use tactile sensory toys to challenge the sensory system of touch. In this way we can help to calm the sensory system that is hyper-responsive with toys that offer calming, heavy work through the tactile sense.

Or, we can alert the sensory system using tactile input that is alerting and “wakes up” the body through the sense of touch.

These relate to functional tasks so that children can interact with others and participate in daily occupations. Check out these tactile toys: 

  • Kinetic sand
  • Bean bags
  • Sand art
  • Messy art materials
  • Glue
  • MORE

CLICK HERE to read about our tactile sensory toy recommendations.

Therapy toys for Bilateral coordination

Sometimes forgotten, but oh, so important is the bilateral coordination skills needed for integrating both sides of the hands in functional tasks.

Whether it be toys for midline play, trunk mobility activities, or toys and game that use both sides of the body in gross motor fine motor activities, these favorite toys support bilateral coordination skills.

Check out these bilateral coordination activities and toys:

  • Foozeball games
  • Zoom ball games
  • Target activities
  • Instrument toys
  • Bow and arrow toys
  • Sewing or lacing activities
  • Rock em Sock em Robots
  • MORE

CLICK HERE to read all of our bilateral coordination toy recommendations.

Occupational therapy Games for Executive Functioning Skills

We’ve got TWO resources here on the website on games to support attention, memory, organization, impulse control, planning, prioritization, etc.

Check out this resource on games for executive functioning and this second resource with MORE games to improve executive function.

Some of our favorite executive functioning therapy games include:

  • Checkers
  • Self-control games
  • Distraction
  • Consequences
  • Memory
  • Ticket to Ride
  • Labyrinth
  • Code Names
  • and MORE

CLICK HERE for one list of EF games and HERE for more executive functioning games.

OT Toys for wrist extension & stability

Wrist extension and stability is an important fine motor skill needed for functional tasks like clothing fasteners, tying shoes, typing, writing, coloring, manipulating small objects, fastening a seat belt, and so much more.

These toys to improve wrist extension and stability will help with these motor skills.

Check out these toy ideas:

  • Kerplunk
  • Floor games (also great for tummy time activities for babies and toddlers)
  • Use these crayons for toddlers to support strength and coordination
  • Big artwork activities
  • Twister
  • Stamps
  • Darts
  • MORE

CLICK HERE for more wrist stability and extension games that kids will love.

OCcupational Therapy Toys for visual perception

Working on visual perception and visual motor integration through play allows children to develop the skills they need for learning, reading, and function with every day toys.

The ability to integrate spatial awareness into functional tasks is part of the visual processing system, and the visual motor skills are needed for doing everyday activities. 

These toys for visual perceptual skills are fun ways to do just that! Grab some of these toys:

  • Mazes
  • Building toys
  • Stickers
  • Puzzle toys
  • MORE

CLICK HERE for more visual perceptual skills toys to support child developments.

Toys for math skills

Kids that struggle with math can benefit from math toys while building skills and concepts through play.

These math toys also have motor skills benefits, allowing kids to incorporate eye hand coordination and input with multisensory learning.

Math skills are a functional part of everyday life. You need math to set a clock so you can wake up at a certain time. You need math for cooking. You need math for shopping and money management. In these ways (and so many more!) math is a functional part of everyday life.

Meaning that while occupational therapy doesn’t specifically teach math skills, OTs DO work on strategies to support areas of need when it comes to money, time management, writing checks, finances, shopping, and other IADLS.

Doing these tasks is what allows humans to function in the works around them. These math toys can be a great help for teens and older individuals that struggle in these areas.

These are great additions to the classroom or home to support math learning:

  • Card games
  • Adding games
  • Building anc construction toys
  • Monopoly
  • Tangram toys
  • MORE

CLICK HERE for the full list of multisensory math toys and games.

Occupational therapy Toys for scissor skills

Children that struggle with scissor skills can get tired of working on cutting with scissors day after day.

That’s where these toys for developing scissor skills comes into play. Use the games and activities to work on scissor control and use in fun and engaging activities that are low-stress because they are meaningful!

  • Craft materials
  • Tong activities
  • Fine motor games
  • Hand strengthening toys
  • Jacks
  • Toys that encourage separation of the sides of the hand

CLICK HERE for our list of toys for scissor skills.

OT Toys for Attention and focus

We love to use toys to support the development of attention skills and focusing. Distraction can happen in the moment while completing any task throughout the day, so toys to promote working memory, focus, and attention are pivotal.

Occupational therapy toys for attention include:

  • Timer games
  • Distraction games
  • Memory games
  • Timed crafts

CLICK HERE for our list of toys for attention and focus.

Occupational Therapy Toys for dressing and self-care

OTs work on daily functional tasks and self-care, including getting oneself dressed each day is part of that independence level. Occupational therapists use toys to support functional tasks like self-dressing as a fun way to build skills kids need. Try these toys for dressing skills:

  • Buttoning toys
  • Zippering toys
  • Clothing fastener dolls
  • Manipulation boards and puzzles
  • Hand strengtheinng activities

CLICK HERE for more fun toys to support dressing skills.

Occupational Therapy Toys for coloring

Children that have weak fine motor skills complain of fatigue and pain during coloring tasks. That’s why these toys to support coloring skills work on these very areas.

Kids that HATE to color will love to play with these engaging toys and games, all while building hand strength, eye-hand coordination, and motor planning skills through play. Try some of these coloring toys:

  • Scented markers
  • Messy art activities
  • Large coloring pages
  • Easel
  • Watercolors activities
  • Meaningful and motivating coloring books
  • MORE

CLICK HERE for our list of toys to promote coloring skills and the WHY behind these toy selections.

Magnet Toys

Kids love these awesome magnet toys but don’t realize the fine motor work and hand strengthening they are developing through play. Kids are challenged with weaker fine motor skills more than ever before.

These magnet toys promote fine motor strength and coordination through fun and engaging magnet play:

  • Magnet blocks
  • Magnet science activities
  • Magnet building toys
  • Magnet puzzles
  • Magnetic letters and numbers
  • Fridge activities
  • MORE

CLICK HERE for more magnet toys that build skills.

Keychain Fidget Toys

 These keychain fidget toys are the perfect stocking stuffers. Use these mini fidget toys for all the benefits of fidget tools for attention, focus, and play, on a small scale.

You can attach these keychain fidgets to backpacks, beltloops, shoes, or jackets. Use them as coping tools on the school bus, in the classroom, during circle time, or when learning in the classroom.

  • Keychain pea pod
  • keychain pop it
  • Keychain bead toy
  • keychain buckle loops
  • MORE

CLICK HERE for more keychain fidget toys that kids can use in any environment.

Fidget Toys

Fidget toys seem to be the new “it toy”, especially the Pop Its that are everywhere. But did you know that occupational therapists have been using fidget toys for years to address stress, anxiety, focus, attention, sensory processing needs, fine motor skills, and more?

These fidget toys are tools to support the many needs of kids so they can function in the classroom or home.

  • Pop Its
  • Stress balls
  • Stretch band toys
  • Click toys
  • FIdget spinners
  • Pencil topper fidgets
  • Finger traps
  • Wikki Sstix
  • MORE

CLICK HERE for all of our fidget toy recommendations.

Printable Lists: Occupational therapy TOys

So? Did you find some new toys to add to your therapy collection? These toys are sure to be a hit this holiday season or birthday…and kids won’t even know they are building skills!

Do you want free Occupational therapy toy recommendations in hand out form? Head to these links to get your copies. Each blog post has a form at the bottom where you can enter your email address.

You’ll need to go to each blog post for the toy ideas and to get that toy area’s handout.

The OT Toolbox Member’s Club members can access these printable pages all in one place. Simply log into your membership account and head to Educational Handouts to grab each handout without entering your email address for each page.

Click this link to make a copy of your own. Use it to share with parents, grandparents, aunts, and anyone asking about developmentally appropriate birthday gift ideas or holiday gift ideas for the kids you serve!

  1. Fine Motor Toys
  2. Gross Motor Toys
  3. Toys for Pencil Grasp
  4. Toys for Reluctant Writers
  5. Toys for Spatial Awareness
  6. Toys for Visual Tracking
  7. Toys for Sensory Play
  8. Bilateral Coordination Toys
  9. Games for Executive Functioning
  10. Visual Perception Toys
  11. Scissor Skills Toys
  12. Toys for Attention and Focusing Skills

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.

Drawing Mind Maps

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drawing mind maps

You’ve probably heard of mind maps as a tool for planning, prioritization, task completion, and other executive functioning skills, but have you heard of drawing mind maps? Drawing a mind map is such a fun way to put goals down onto paper and actually accomplishing them. All of this can be done through drawing, doodling, and sketching a drawing mind map!

Drawing milestones is another great resource if you are wondering what ages can use a drawing mind as an executive function strategy.

Drawing mind map

Drawing Mind Maps

A drawing mind map is a visual diagram used to visually organize information into a picture outline format. By drawing representation of ideas, projects, tasks, drawing mind map users can see the whole picture and individual steps to achieve a main goal.

Much like mind maps in general, a drawing mind map is typically created for a single goal, project, assignment, or even business.

A drawing mind map is a picture of ideas, doodles to clarify, and visual representation of steps to offer support and structure around a single concept. When drawing, doodling, and writing out steps to a large project, we can see the overarching idea or concept in the center of the page, with connecting steps drawn out from that center idea.

You may have used a mindmap in the past by writing out lists, mapping out details, and putting thoughts down on paper.

A mind map is an awesome visual tool that can help kids (and therapists) in many ways:

  • identify and clarify ideas
  • pinpoint a starting point- Using task initiation skills
  • define short term and long term goals
  • identify steps of a project or task
  • visualize completion (SO important for mindset)
  • Get started on a big project or task
  • Drawing out goal to completion
  • Identifying steps of a task
  • Using foresight to predict problems or potential issues
  • Brainstorming activities
  • Prioritization tool– identify steps and put them into order
  • Goal setting
  • Using “self talk” through drawing
  • Planning a story
  • Graphic organizer
  • Organize thoughts and ideas
  • Writing a paragraph

The real reason beyond these is when people start out with a project, they are not SMART about it.  People are very smart, just not about the way they start projects or set goals. A drawing a mind map can help with incorporating smart goals into actually creating a plan to accomplish goals.

Drawing Mind Maps for Students

Our students create projects similar to the way we set goals. When our learners start a project, it can often feel overwhelming, unclear, and discouraging. 

Without proper strategies, learners tend to stare at a blank page, write in circles, give up, or forget half of what is supposed to go into the plan. 

Graphic organizers, or project planners, are an excellent way to draw a mind map, start a project, prioritize work, and brainstorm activities.

For flexible learning styles, there are three types of project plans highlighted here. 

Some learners will benefit from a large open space to write words, draw pictures, and sketch notes, while others will need more defined space such as the web of circles or note card designs.

Whichever design works for the learners current level, is the starting point. Moving to a more sophisticated design will happen as learners become more advanced.

How to use a Drawing Mind Map

First, you can definitely use this drawing mind map as a visual project planner. But what other ways can you use this tool to support development and target skills like executive functioning skills?

I used a drawing mind map to write my book when I was working on it. It seemed overwhelming, and without a clear goal I might not have met my personal timeline. 

I was able to write my project planner into a list with bullet points, however if I were to use this project planner, I would have put the title in the center or larger area, and add the chapters in all of the web spaces or smaller areas.

To use a drawing mind map with kids, you can simply:

  1. Print out the mind map printable below (or head to The OT Toolbox Member’s Club to grab your copy)
  2. Ask the student to think of one goal, one project, or one thing they would like to accomplish.
  3. Ask the student to use a pencil, crayon, markers, or pens to complete the drawing prompts and writing prompts on the mindmap.
  4. Write or draw a goal or concept in the center of the page.
  5. Then add doodles, drawings, representations, words, phrases, etc. to indicate various steps or parts of the larger project or goal in branches from the center image.

The nice thing about drawing as a planning tool is that you can add steps in a braindump fashion. There’s no need to think out the project in sequential order. Simply get the main idea down on the center of the page and then add the steps from there.

Break out the project into different tasks that need to be done.

One tip for those that need to really focus on the brain dump strategy is to just get it all down on paper and then go back and add numbers to order the tasks in a sequence that makes sense.

You can use this tool to support executive functioning skills, AND address other areas in therapy sessions, including the ones listed below.

After a drawing mind map is done, you can use other tools to help with the task competition, or actually achieving each step of the process:

These items are available for free on our site or also available inside The OT Toolbox Member’s Club under executive functioning tools.

Develop Skills with Drawing Mind Maps  

This activity moves beyond creating a vision, a goal, or a project.  It meets many objectives such as:

  • Handwriting – letter formation, sizing, spacing, line placement, directionality, spelling
  • Fine motor – grasping pattern, wrist stability, intrinsic hand muscle development
  • Bilateral coordination – hand dominance, using “helper hand”, crossing midline
  • Proprioception – pressure on paper, grip on pencil
  • Strength – shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, core, head control
  • Visual perception – scanning, figure ground, line placement, crossing midline, visual closure, seeing parts to whole
  • Executive function – following directions, attention, focus, sequencing, organization, planning, and task completion
  • Social function – working together in a group, problem solving, sharing materials and space, turn taking, frustration tolerance, task avoidance, talking about the activity,

Use Drawing Mind Maps for different skill levels

How do I grade this activity?

When I use the word “grade,” I mean make it easier or harder, not give it a letter grade or score it.

  • Laminate the page for using markers and wipes. This can be useful for reusability and saving resources
  • Different colored paper may make it more or less challenging for your learner
  • Enlarging the font may be necessary to beginning handwriting students who need bigger space to write.
  • Make lines in the boxes to create better boundaries for handwriting. Learners tend to fill whatever size space they are given, often lacking the necessary space to fit all of the words in one box.
  • Project this page onto a smart board for students to come to the board and write in big letters or collaborate.
  • Lower level learners can dictate their words to their helper to get the ideas onto the paper
  • Beginning learners can draw figures instead of writing thoughts
  • More or less prompting may be needed to grade the activity to make it easier or harder.

The OT Toolbox has a great graphic organizer tool called The Project Plan, to assist learners map out those daunting projects so they can have success instead of failing or becoming discouraged!

Teach your learners to become more organized and less frustrated by using planners to set goals or start projects.

Free mind map exercises worksheets

Want to get started with using a drawing braindump with kids? We have new mind map exercises worksheets to get you started! Simply enter your email address into the form below.

OT Toolbox Member’s Club members can access this printable mindmap exercises worksheets inside the club on our Executive Function toolbox. Be sure to log in and then head to the main dashboard. Then click on the EF toolbox to get your copy.

Free Drawing Mindmap Exercises Worksheets

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

    Tips for Legible Handwriting

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    legible handwriting

    When it comes to legible handwriting, there are a few tips that occupational therapy practitioners suggest. Handwriting is a complex task that incorporates motor skills, sensory processing, executive functioning skills as well as the creative writing aspect when it comes to thinking about what is being written.

    We’ve explored handwriting analysis in the past, including specific areas too look at when observing handwriting. In this blog post, we’ll cover skills needed for legible handwriting. 

    Legible handwriting tips and resources

    What is Legible Handwriting?

    Legible handwriting means written work that is overall able to be read and understood by the writer as well as others. Legible written work can be achieved in both print and cursive writing formats, as well as at each stage of writing:

    • Learning letter formation of upper case letters
    • Learning formation of lower case letters
    • Writing on lines (primary paper)
    • Writing on smaller lined paper (small ruled paper)
    • Learning formation of cursive lower case letters
    • Learning formation of cursive upper case letters

    Bad habits can start at each one of these stages.

    Legible handwriting is something most teachers hope for when it comes to a classroom of students!

    Putting it all down on paper can be where you see one or more of these contributing factors fail. 

    Handwriting legibility occurs when one is able to read their own handwriting. Think about the student that writes down a list of homework assignments in the classroom. They may be writing quickly as the bell is about to ring. When they get home at the end of the day, are they able to read the page numbers and words describing the assignment? This is where legible writing is important. 

    • Things to consider in this situation may include: increased writing speed, an unknown amount of time remaining to complete the written work, and a small writing space in the homework tracker, given for the written material

    Legible handwriting also refers to others being able to read the written material. Think about the student that writes letters, sentences, and paragraphs on a homework assignment. When the student offers the assignment to their teacher, they may not be able to read the written work. Then the student misses points or gets answers marked wrong because of the illegible materials. This can especially be the case on math assignments or spelling tests where letter formation and number formation is essential for legibility.

    • Considerations in this situation may include: The student rushing to complete materials, Poor letter formation, words or letters written in a small given area on worksheets or homework papers.

    Handwriting readability can also be related to habits. We all get into a habit when it comes to forming letters, and we all have quirks when it comes to how we hold the pencil, letter formation, and writing styles. The important thing to consider here is: is the written work functional.

    As a side note, you’ve probably seen a physician referral that has very bad handwriting and even illegible handwriting. In these cases, the script is almost a scribble. Why is this a stereotype? One reason may be the continued practice of writing very quickly during medical school and residency studies. You can see how practice results in an established writing form! Similarly, the medical professionals that need to read that chicken scratch handwriting have a lot of practice in reading those sloppy scripts in order to process the medical advice!

    Functional and Legible Handwriting

    Functional handwriting refers to handwriting that is efficient. Can the student write in the given amount of time? And in that given amount of time, is the written material able to be read by the writer and by others?

    We’ve covered a great deal on the aspect of a functional pencil grasp. A functional handwriting style is similar!

    Kids often write so quickly that the handwriting impairs legibility. They may get into a bad habit of forming letters incorrectly, using poor use of the lines, letter size, or spatial awareness. 

    Fluency also has a huge impact on functional written work. When we say fluency, we refer to the typical speed of written work. For younger kids, fluent handwriting is longer because the child needs to think about the motor plan for each letter. They are still working on the fine motor skills needed for pencil grasp as well as other areas of development that impact written work.

    In older children, handwriting fluency increases as students gain motor skills, motor planning, and letter formation becomes more natural.

    Then you’ll see similar examples of handwriting fluency as the student learns cursive. At first, the child needs to think about the motor plan for a letter and letter connectors, especially after they’ve learned the printed version of the letter’s formation. Then, with practice, cursive fluency increases.

    By second grade, printed formation is established in most handwriting curriculum, but there is still room for increased legibility, especially with practice and effort.

    By third grade, most students are learning cursive letters and you’ll see fluency for handwriting decline if cursive is being used. 

    Fine Motor Skills and Legible Writing

    Fine motor skills play a HUGE role in a child’s ability to participate in writing activities. From grasp patterns, to which hand they use, to endurance and in-hand manipulation skills—there’s a lot to make sure you are checking off during your observations and evaluations. 

    To make sure you don’t miss anything, check out the tips below! They can make a huge difference when it comes to handwriting help.

    Skill #1: Hand dominance—When looking at hand dominance, you want to look and see if they are consistent with the use of one hand, or if they are trying to switch hands.

    If you observe challenges with consistency, this may indicate poor muscle strength and endurance. 

    In a previous blog post, we discussed how switching hands impacts neatness in written work.

    Skill #2: Grasp pattern—what does this look like while the child is writing? Is it a dynamic tripod? Static tripod? Or some form of primitive grasp pattern like a fingertip pattern or a gross grasp? 

    Take a look a the placement of the fingers on the pencil:

    • Where is the middle finger on the pencil?
    • Where is the index finger on the pencil?
    • Where is the thumb on the pencil?

    Each of these considerations can make an impact, but are not essential when it comes to a functional grasp on the pencil or neat handwriting. And, importantly, pencil grasp development plays a huge role.

    Make sure that you watch throughout the evaluation to see if they have any regression to a primitive pattern or switch how they hold the writing utensil frequently. 

    If you notice grasp pattern regressions, fidgeting or switching of grasp positions frequently, it’s a sign of fatigue related to poor muscle endurance and strength.

    It may also be an indicator that there is poor separation of the two sides of the hand, under development of the arches of the hand, and finger to thumb opposition, and even potentially poor web space development. 

    If pencil grasp impacts handwriting, work on pencil grasp through play.

    Bonus Tip! Watch for consistency of skills. If you notice that a skill is consistent, even if it’s an immature pattern, you can determine what is due to poor muscle strength and fatigue (inconsistent patterns) versus an established pattern or compensatory pattern (consistent patterns) that’s going to be difficult to change. This is called carryover of skills in handwriting.

    Consistency in motor skills can impact legible and neat written work because when the hand becomes fatigued, you may see legibility decline. 

    • Also take a look at how diagonal lines, vertical lines, horizontal lines, and shapes are formed
    • Assess written work in a variety of environments and when required to write at different paces or speeds.

    Skill #3: Joint Integrity—This is super important because a child that has a grasp pattern that is too tight or too loose can have compromised joints. 

    A grasp pattern that is too tight puts undue stress on the joints, ligaments and muscles which will lead to poor endurance, and hand cramps. And even potentially repetitive stress injuries. 

    On the opposite end, a grasp pattern that is too loose or where the child has hyper extended joints, they will experience similar pain and concerns. They are more likely to have joint pain due to the bone on bone of hyper extension patterns. 

    Both patterns are inefficient and will need to be addressed to help the child be successful with handwriting 

    Skill #4: Wrist and Hand Mobility—in this category, we want to look at how the wrist and hand move both as a unit, but also separately.

    Ideally, the hand and wrist should move independently of one another when writing with the wrist being stable and the hand moving. Read here about wrist extension and stability.

    If you see that the child is moving their hand and wrist as a unit with stabilization coming through the forearm, that is an inefficient movement pattern that you will want to work on addressing.

    This pattern is inefficient because it requires more energy from large muscle groups instead of utilizing them for stability. 

    Skill #5: Finger Mobility—similar to wrist and hand mobility, you will also want to assess finger movements and joint isolation. 

    Mature patterns will allow for the thumb, index and ring fingers to move in synchronized flexion/extension patterns to great dynamic movements. If you don’t see this, or notice that the child uses their whole hand to form letters, this is another inefficient pattern that you’ll want to address in your treatment. One way to support this skill is through finger isolation activities.

    If you’re not sure that this is an issue, have the child walk their fingers up and down a pencil to evaluate their in-hand manipulation skill focusing on shift. 

    Whether you are assessing an 8th grader or a preschooler these skills apply across the continuum to promoting independent and successful handwriting experiences. Working from this list of skills you can develop these skills further and take the stress out of handwriting!

    Letter Size and Spacing for Legible Written Work

    What Inconsistent Letter Size and Poor Spacing Means for Writing…

    A key component to legible writing are three important components:

    Letter formation can vary, much like the functional aspect of a pencil grasp, letter formation can take a functional form as well.

    However, without proper letter size and space, valuable thoughts and ideas are lost, along with the student experiencing frustration and potential feelings of failure. 

    When a student demonstrates consistent challenges with scattered letter sizing, and overlapping letters or words it may cause a teacher to refer the student to OT for a writing evaluation to take a closer look at where the child is struggling. 

    As OTs, we are the experts in writing and decoding what these challenges mean for a child’s overall foundational writing skills. 

    Observing the letter size and spacing during a writing evaluation provides valuable information regarding how the child’s fine motor, visual motor and coordination are functioning. 

    Inconsistent Letter Size 

    Inconsistent letter size can come in a variety of patterns. Letters may be all over the place on the line with short letters being the same size as tall letters, letters varying in size within a given word or with collections of letters with similar strokes being the same size. An example of this would be all letters that start with a “C” are all the same size. 

    Taking the size awareness piece into consideration is an overall understanding of size both on paper and outside the body in the world around us. This tall and short worksheet has a fine motor and visual motor component that can be incorporated into whole-body movement activities to teach these concepts that carryover into handwriting.

    You may also see letters getting progressively smaller throughout the writing sample, which is known as micrographia. Or you may see the size get larger as the sentence goes on. 

    Regardless of the pattern you see, inconsistent letter size is an indication of:

    • Poor fine motor control 
    • An immature tripod grasp 
    • Fatigue or pain 
    • Limited joint movement for dynamic patterns 
    • Potential visual spatial deficits 
    • Poor fine motor coordination 

    Along with inconsistent letter sizing, poor spacing or overlapping letters/words is also common. 

    Overlapping Letters 

    If a student is struggling with letter size, it is likely that they will have challenges with overlapping letters or words. This is because many of the same skills are needed for spacing letters and words that are used when producing consistent letter sizes. 

    Overlapping letters and words may also be an indication of: 

    • Poor fine motor control 
    • Poor visual motor control 
    • Visual spatial deficits
    • Tracking deficits 

    If you observe consistent letter size, and only challenges with spacing, this is an indication of poor visual spatial skills being the primary deficit affecting the students writing performance. It is also likely that they have more difficulty when completing copying tasks. 

    Use Writing Samples to assess handwriting legibility

    When collecting your writing sample, make sure that you ask the student to complete words and sentences. This will help you to further determine what skills will need to be addressed during therapy. 

    A writing sample can be used along with a handwriting rubric to collect the data needed to monitor progress on handwriting goals.

    Make sure that you are actively watching how the child writes. This will also provide more clues to the pre-writing and foundational skill challenges that they may be experiencing. 

    Letter sizing and spacing is just one of the many components needed for legibility.

    Development of these skills will significantly increase a child’s overall confidence and ability to participate in written activities, and you may even see development in other areas such as reading and hand eye coordination with your treatment! 

    Looking for more writing skill break down and a handy way to collect your observations? Check out the Handwriting Observation Kit!

    Tips for legible handwriting

    Tips for legible handwriting

    Working on the instruction for establishing a functional and efficient motor plan for letters, letter connections, and line use is important.

    So how do we support legible writing skills?

    Beyond addressing the physical motor skills as covered above, there are a few strategies that can support the development of legible handwriting. Use these resources to help.

    Practice formation in sensory activities:

    • Use sensory writing trays
    • Practice good writing habits by forming letters in sand
    • Write letters in shaving cream
    • Take a look at pencil grip
    • Try a slant board
    • Use modified or adapted paper styles
    • Focus on letter size (size awareness)
    • Highlight writing lines (line awareness)
    • Focus on spacing between letters and words (spatial awareness)
    • Use the digital download tools in our Member’s Club to practice proper letter formation
    • Look at upright posture when writing: how the hips are seated in the chair, chair height, desk height, posture, positioning of the knees, and placement of the feet and ankles
    • Use play dough for fine motor skill work, to improve hand strength, and dexterity
    • Practice letter groups- Group similar letters together and practice the letters that are in the same group based on the lines used to form that letter. Use cursive letter groups and printed letter groups based on writing lines.
    • Teach letters in specific orders: There is a printed letter order and a cursive letter order.
    • Use our Fine Motor Kits as tools to develop all of the underlying skills needed for written work; Each kit includes modified writing lines, handwriting opportunities, fine motor activities, visual motor opportunities, and fun and meaningful ways to support practice in each of these areas. 

    When a student’s learning and educational participation is impacted as a result of handwriting legibility issues, be sure to consult a pediatric occupational therapist to assess the potential for other underlying considerations. These may include:

    • Visual motor issues
    • Visual perception considerations
    • Sensory processing considerations
    • Fine motor delay
    • ​Developmental delay
    • Other considerations

    Legible handwriting can impact learning, lead to better grades, and result in overall improved confidence at school. Use the suggestions to establish good habits that carryover. Hopefully this resource had a few suggestions that impact your writer’s legibility!

    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.

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

    Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:

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

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

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

    Easy Ideas for Motoric Hand Separation

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    Motoric hand separation

    There are many times throughout the day that hand separation in fine motor dexterity is used to stabilize and manipulate objects. But what do we mean by this phrase, “hand separation” and exactly What is Motoric Separation of the Two Sides of the Hand? We’ll get into that here, as well as cover specific separation of the sides of the hand to develop precision and refined fine motor skills.

    Motoric hand separation
    Hand separation, or motoric separation of the two sides of the hand, plays an important role in fine motor skills.

    Motoric Hand Separation

    Motoric hand separation is another term for separation of the two sides of the hand and is an important aspect of fine motor skills.

    The term “motoric” refers to the motor actions, or the motor skills of the hand. This includes movements, grasp, precision of the fingers, intrinsic muscle strength needed to grasp and manipulate items.

    When we refer to motor skills, we are talking about the physical movement of the hand to manipulate, grasp, and use objects by moving the hands.

    Motoric skills requires coordination and refined motions of the muscles, joints, skin, and ligaments in the hand. Motoric use occurs in the fingers, palm, and wrist using the following joints:

    • Wrist
    • MCP joints
    • PIP joints
    • DIP joints
    in hand manipulation with beads

    Definition of Hand Separation

    Hand separation refers to the fine motor skill in which the two sides of the hand are separated into a “power side” and and “precision side”.

    Refinement of fine motor skills like pencil grasp, manipulation of very small items, and managing zippers, shoe laces, and buttons with the precision half of the hand (the radial side) happens when the power half (the ulnar side) is stabilized.  

    You can imagine a line drawn from your wrist directly down the middle of your hand and between your ring finger and middle finger, separating the precision side of the hand (thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger) with the power side of your hand (pinkie finger and ring finger).  

    These two sides work together in skilled activities with precision and power grasp in functional activities. This motoric separation of the hands allows for in-hand manipulation skills.

    You’ve seen hand separation day in and day out:

    • A child is fumbling to manage the buttons on their sweater.
    • A little one is zipping up their coat and they have the zipper and coat clenched between their pinkie fingers and thumbs.
    • A Kindergarten student is learning to write letters on lines, but they’ve got the pencil in a clenched grasp, using their whole hand.

    All of these examples indicate a fine motor need to work on motoric separation of the two sides of the hand.

    The fingertips are used in so many small motor activities throughout the day, in functional tasks like self-care, dressing, eating, and everyday tasks. Part of these activities involves holding objects in the palm of the hand, manipulating the small objects, and using those materials in daily tasks. Most of this is done without even thinking about the process. 

    An alternative to a flexed position of the ring and pinkie fingers are when theses two digits are fully extended out and stretched out away from the hand (abducted).  This positioning stabilizes the MCP arch and allows for control of the pointer and middle fingers.


    Separation of the two sides of the hand allow for more precise use of the thumb.


    Try this fun activity to work on separating the sides of the hand, using sponges you might have in your kitchen right now.

    Full disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

    Motoric Separation of the hands

    Assessing for Hand Separation in an OT Evaluation

    As always, when completing an occupational therapy evaluation, the primary focus is on function, or the occupation that the individual needs to or wants to accomplish.

    What is functionally happening? This is the main place to look when completing an OT eval.

    When it comes to the fine motor aspect of functional performance, hand separation can impact precision, dexterity, refined motor skills, coordination. This can lead to safety issues in daily tasks. It can impact learning or performance of self-care. It can mean the individual can not accomplish a great number of functional tasks.

    Hand separation is needed for dexterity. A functional fine motor grasp and manipulation of objects is more accurate when the ring and pinkie fingers are flexed (bent) into the palm.

    Another intricate part of this fine motor puzzle is the stability offered through the upper body, including the core, shoulder girdle, elbow, and wrist. These areas can impact function, and as always, you should consider proximal stability before distal mobility.

    Important things to consider in an occupational therapy evaluation include:


    Motoric separation of the two sides of the hand is needed for precision in fine motor tasks, including activities that require in-hand manipulation. Simple ideas to help work on this important fine motor skill.

    How does motoric separation of the hands develop?

    Development of hand separation begins at a young age. We cover this progression in our resource on fine motor milestones.

    Hand separation starts when a baby bears weight through their arm and ulnar side of the hand while carrying a toy in the radial side.  

    This simple activity developmentally lengthens the muscles of the ulnar side.

    It’s through play that the separation of the hand develops. As toddlers become more refined at fine motor activities, they gain more dexterity in using just the precision side of the hand.

    You’ll see this progression also with the development of pencil grasp.

    Whole Hand Grasp- (Typically seen between 12 months-1.5 years) the child holds objects with their whole hand. I​t looks like they are holding a paint stirrer or potato masher.

    Digital Pronate Grasp/ Pronated Wrist Grasp- (2-3 years) The child holds objects with a gross grasp and the wrist facing the ground, or in a pronated position.

    Four Fingered Grasp- (3.5-4 years)- Items are held in the fingertips but using the thumb and all four fingers. There is not yet a clear separation of the sides of the hand.

    Static Separation of the Sides of the Hand- (3.5-4 years)- The child will hold objects with the precision side of the hand, but there is not joint mobility in the precision side: The joints of the thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger do not move in isolation or as a group to manipulate objects. If there is mobility in the joints, it is crude with objects falling at times and manipulation skills needing more refinement. For example, a child at this age can place a coin into the slot of a vending machine, but they will drop the coin.

    Dynamic separation of the Sides of the Hand- (4-6/7 years) With age, the child develops more refined motions in the precision side of the hand, and they are able to move the joints in isolation as they manipulate objects within the hand.

    Lateral Separation of the Sides of the Hand- As the child gains more experience with precision skills, they are able to use more motor combinations in fine motor tasks. This looks like holding a key with the side of the pointer finger against the pad of the thumb as they insert a key into a door. Still more refined is holding a keychain of keys in the hand and moving the keys around to find the correct key and then position it between the thumb and lateral finger to unlock a door.

    separation of the hand activity

    Activities to Improve Motoric Separation of the Two Sides of the Hand

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

    Other activities to work on motoric separation of the hand include:

    (Amazon affiliate links included below.)


    One way to develop hand strength and the refined motor skills needed for motoric separation of the sides of the hand is this beads sorting activity.

    You’ll need just a couple of materials to set up this fine motor therapy exercise:

    • Beads
    • Two bowls or containers

    This is one of the most simple therapy exercises and it has a powerful impact on developing motoric separation of the sides of the hand.

    1. To set up this therapy exercise, place all of the beads into one of the containers. We used star beads but any beads or small items can work for this activity.
    2. Next, I placed the beads into a shallow basket and asked my kids to grab only one color that they liked best.  
    3. They then tried to hold as many of that one color in their hand while picking up more beads.  
    4. When they couldn’t possibly hold anymore beads in their cute little hands, I showed them how to drop them into a small cup one at a time, while counting how many beads they had.

    This type of activity is a version of in-hand manipulation called translation.

     
     
     
     

    Motoric separation of the two sides of the hand is needed for precision in fine motor tasks, including activities that require in-hand manipulation. Simple ideas to help work on this important fine motor skill.

     


    Motoric separation of the two sides of the hand is needed for precision in fine motor tasks, including activities that require in-hand manipulation. Simple ideas to help work on this important fine motor skill.
     
     
     
    More fine motor activities that you will LOVE:
     
     

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

    Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:

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

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

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

    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.

    Fine Motor Activities and Games with Paper Clips

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    games with paper clips

    Occupational therapists love to use everyday items in therapy, so these fine motor paper clip activities and fine motor games with paper clips are the best! Be sure to check out all of our fine motor activities with everyday items. You know what I’m talking about…those craft items, things, and tools that we all have in our therapy bags or supply closets. Today we’re covering fine motor activities with paper clips. Scroll down, friends. Below, you will find easy fine motor activities and quick tips to improve fine motor skills all using the simple paper clip!

    Games with paper clips

    Catch up on the latest tools on The OT Toolbox. Use other everyday items in your therapy bag to with these fine motor activities with craft pom poms and fine motor activities with playing cards.

    Paper clip Ideas

    The paperclip. You probably have 6 of them sitting in your junk drawer right now. But have you ever stopped to think about how a simple item can be used as a fine motor powertool to ramp up the motor skills needed for tasks like a functional pencil grasp? Have you considered how a simple item like a paperclip can be used to strengthen and refine fine motor skills? It’s true!

    In fact, paperclips are a really great item for improving fine motor skills in preschoolers. The preschool age range is a great time to develop and strengthen particular skills that preschoolers will need for tasks like cutting with scissors, coloring without fatigue, and holding a pencil.

    These fine motor ideas are easy and quick ways to boost fine motor abilities using an item that is probably already in your craft supply bin or therapy bag.

    Paper clips are a great tool for fine motor development while improving dexterity and the motor skills that preschool (and older) kids need. Read on for fun and easy ways to use paper clips in fine motor play!

    Paper clips are some of the best tools for building fine motor, bilateral coordination, and eye-hand coordination skills. Why? You can use them in the typical fashion, or for educational purposes like counting, or you can think outside of the box and add other elements that can address a variety of hand skills that make activities therapeutic and engaging. This even includes creating some games for paper clips, that’s right, games!

    Simply adding a die, a spinner, or even a magnetic fishing rod can turn the use of paper clips into a game that kids will enjoy for therapy fun and hand skill development.

    One fun idea we use in our Fine Motor Kits is using a paper clip to make a paper clip game spinner that you can easily create for use with many games if you follow the directions in the post and print the spinner templates.

    Below are some easy-to-create paper clip activities and games that can build the skills children need to further important development in therapy and beyond. You can make fine motor kits or baggies for the classroom or the home which can generate family engagement and build the skills outside of the therapeutic environment without breaking the bank. We all know that therapists (and teachers) pay for things out-of-pocket, so cheap and easy to implement makes for the perfect set-up.

    Games with paper clips

    Using everyday materials like paper clips can support development of skills. From using paperclips as a game spinner, or as a game piece counter, you can develop fine motor skills, coordination, and hand eye coordination using a functional item.

    The school based OTs will love that playing games with paper clips is a frugal way to extend occupational therapy games and toys with a new spin on typical game play. Plus playing games with paper clips are fun activities kids will get a kick out of!

    Kids need fine motor skills for school and play. The problem is when we see functional concerns that limit independence. We might see kids who really struggle with hand strength, dexterity, joint mobility, or precision. We may notice these issues in how a student grasps their pencil.

    We may see kids having trouble with buttons, zippers, or snaps because of the fine motor skills they really need to develop. Simple fine motor activities can make a real impact!

    Games with paper clips include:

    • Use paper clips as a game spinner- Place the paperclip on a paper. Point the tip of a pencil down into one of of the paper clip loops. Hold the pencil straight up and down. Use your other hand to spin the paperclip around the pencil. This is a great exercise in bilateral coordination, eye-hand coordination skills, and crossing midline.
    • Play games with paper clip counters- Many games can be played using paper clips as game counters. Ask the students to pick up and hold several paper clips in their hand. They can place the paper clips on the game board or use them in various games.
    • Play checkers with paper clips- Use a Checkers board and use two different colors of paper clips. Move the clips to play Checkers.
    • Play Tic Tac Toe with paper clips- Select two different colors of paper clips. Use the clips as game pieces to play tick tack toe.
    • Use magnets and paper clips in game play- Move paper clips using a magnet wand to incorporate bilateral coordination and eye-hand coordination.
    • Flip the paper clip game- Just like paper football, you can flip a paper clip to work on fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and proprioception. Don’t flip too hard or too fast by using the “just right” amount of force..
    • Make fun game markers with paper clips- Cut out and glue shapes, images, or icons onto the end of a paper clip. Then use the paper clip game marker in play dough, on games on the edge of a piece of paper, or to keep score along the edge of a piece of paper. We’ve made several paperclip game markers in our Fine Motor Therapy Kits.
    • Hanging Paper Clip Game- Attach string to a table, wall, or between two chairs. Set a timer for one minute. Ask students to clip up as many post its, or pieces of paper as they can in one minute. This is a great activity for upper body strengthening in the upper extremities and working on a vertical plane to develop strength and stability in the core.
    • Find paper clips game- Hide paper clips in a lump of play dough, slime, or thera-putty. Ask students to find the paper clips as quickly as they can.
    • Play a paper fish game with paper clips- Cut out a fish shape from paper. Fold it in half and glue it over a paper clip. Then use a magnet tied to the end of a string in a paper fish fishing game.
    • Creativity Games- Use paper clips to make bracelets, necklaces, and bookmarks. Then, use them as creative prizes in games!
    • Guess the size- Connect several paper clips together and use a ruler to measure how long the string of paper clips is. Then, guesstimate how many paper clips tall things are such as a shoe, a door, or a building! 
    • Timed Clipping- Set a stop watch and clip as many paper clips to the edge of a piece of paper as possible. This is a great activity to support fine motor skills, bilateral coordination, and using a functional task.
    • Paper Clip Threading- Pour a bunch of paper clips on a table. Set a timer for one minute and ask students to pick up and thread as many paper clips as they can onto a pipe cleaner, straw, or piece of thread. This is a great activity to develop refined precision skills needed for dexterity.
    • Build a Tower- Use paper clips and a deck of cards to build a tower as high as you can. This is a powerful fine motor STEM activity.
    • Alphabet Paper Clip Necklace: This is an activity that links paper clips into a chain similar to a necklace by either simply identifying the letters and linking or by linking in alphabetical order. 
    • Magnetic Letters and Numbers Fishing – Place all magnetic letters and numbers into a bowl and then play a fishing game using a paper clip and fishing rod where children ‘go fish’ for letters or numbers and then when caught, they can work on letter identification and formation. 
    • Play number Games with paper clips- Number Game with Paper Clips is a YouTube video explaining how to play. This is a fun activity for kids to create and then do with adult support. It involves a craft-like activity that later allows for the child to use paper clips and number counting as the game.
    • Paper Clip Fishing Game– Use paper fish and draw onto the bodies different shapes or even letters, then attach a paper clip to each fish.  Use a magnet pole to have children fish for different shapes or letters. This one can be tailored to meet the needs of the child making it very versatile. 
    • Paper Clip Fishing Putty – Therapists grab your therapy putty and insert some paper clips vertically for children to use a paper clip and ‘go fish’ for colored paper clips. How do you create?  Place any size paper clips into putty, tie a piece of yarn onto a pencil along with a paperclip, and well, go fish! This makes for an awesome upper extremity activity – grasp, finger strength, upper arm stability, strength, control, and eye-hand coordination! Here is an example of this paper clip game.
    • Play Paper Clip Math Games- Paper Clip Math is an idea makes for a great busy bag or calm-down time activity.  It’s perfect for indoor playtime and hands-on learning.  Not only that, but it is a great way to work on fine motor skills like thumb opposition. 
    • Paper Clip Pattern Hair – This one is cheap and easy and well, fun to create! Cut a piece from a paper towel tube, draw a simple face onto the paper towel tube piece, and then use paper clips along the top to create fun hair. This is part of the back-to-school fine motor kit that can be found here at The OT Toolbox.
    • Also, check out my Crazy Hair Buddies which are created similarly with a variety of tools that can be used such as paper clips, binder clips, and large and small clothespins. 
    • Paper Clip Patterns – All you need for this one is simply just the paper clips! This is an easy visual perceptual activity for older kiddos where you simply use colored paperclips in various orientations and sizes that will help address visual discrimination skills in children. It’s an easy activity to set-up, but highly effective for therapy.
    • Paper Clip Pick-Up – This one is all about paper clips and picking them up one by one.  This is the perfect game to work on fingertip to palm and palm to fingertip translation skills.  First, roll a die and count the dots. Then pick up that number of paper clips using one hand using fingertips to palm translation skills. End with walking them out of the palm one by one using palm to fingertip translation skills and inserting them into a coin bank or other container.
    Kids can develop and strengthen fine motor skills using these fine motor activities with paper clips!

    paper clip fine motor activities

    Adding more fine motor activities into a child’s day can be a struggle. So having an easy list ready to go makes recommending fine motor activities a no-brainer. Use these activity ideas in fine motor home programs or in the classroom for fine motor centers.

    Adding them to math centers would be easy…craft pom poms are fun to sort, count, and manipulate!

    Why Use Paper clips in FIne Motor Activities?

    Paper clips are a tool you need in your therapy bag! They can be a small item that can be used in big ways. Here are just some of the ways that paper clips can address fine motor needs:

    Separation of the sides of the hand– Paperclips are the perfect small item to hold in the palm of the hand, engaging the ulnar side of the hand, while encouraging movement and precision with the pointer finger, middle finger, and thumb. This skill is so important for fine motor precision in tasks like pencil grasp and managing clothing fasteners or tying shoe laces.

    Pincer grasp– Paper clips are a powerful means of promoting the precision grasp between the thumb and pointer finger. This motor skill is essential for tasks that require strength and dexterity to manage small items like coins or turning pages in isolation.

    In-hand manipulation– Paperclips can be used as a manipulative item for transferring from the palm to the fingertips or vice versa. This is an essential skill needed in pencil grasp and other functional tasks.

    Finger isolation– Paperclips can be used in various ways to promote finger isolation needed for fine motor dexterity and functional tasks.

    Eye-hand coordination– This skill is an essential fine motor precision skill needed for so many functional tasks such as managing small items, copying letters, and other visual motor skills. Paperclips can be a powerful way to work on this skill area.

    Use these fine motor activities using paperclips to improve fine motor skills in tasks like pencil grasp.

    Paper clip Activities

    Here is a big list of activity ideas for using craft pom poms to work on fine motor skills. What would you add to this list? To start, here are more fine motor activities that use craft pom poms. Using this craft item in fine motor development requires easy set-up with activities like the ones listed below. You’ll see using a water bottle to work on fine motor skills in the list. Here’s a better description of how to make that craft pom pom fine motor activity work.

    fine motor paper clip activities

    Paperclip FIne mOTOr Activities

    So, what can you do with a paperclip to support fine motor skills?

    Here they are…loads of fun and easy ways to work on fine motor skills using paper clips! Use these ideas in centers, therapy activities, home programs, and play! Use these ideas in part of an occupational therapy fine motor toolkit!

    • Link the clips together to form a chain. Use those paper clip chains for math!
    • Create shapes with linked paper clips
    • Create letters with linked paper clips
    • Write a number on a piece of papers add that same number of paper clips onto the paper
    • Use the paper clips as a stand for small paper puppets
    • Use four paper clips as legs in animal crafts 
    • Sort paper clips by color
    • Press paper clips onto play dough. Use them to make paper clip flowers!
    • Slide onto color coded paper strips
    • Freeze into ice cubes to paint with water on chalkboard
    • Tie to string and use to thread around chairs
    • Poke holes in a plastic lid. Push paper clips through the holes
    • Slide onto edge of a paper plate
    • Use paper clips to make a DIY fidget tool
    • Pick up with a magnet tied to a string
    • Use to draw in sand
    • Chain together to make number strips
    • Connect pieces of paper to create sculptures
    • Place pencil tip in one end and spin
    • Tape label with number to one end. Slide onto edge of toilet paper tubes
    • Paper Clip Playing Cards – Simply use playing cards and paper clips to draw a card and place that number of paper clips onto the cards. Works on number identification and counting along with fine motor skills. 
    • Paper Clip People – This is a fun activity where you draw a picture of a person and cut it out. Then, you simply place paper clips onto the edge of the paper to create “legs” and “arms” the people. This is a fun way to work on fine motor skills, bilateral skills, and the separation of the two sides of the hand. 
    • Paper Clip Pick-Up – This one is all about paper clips and picking them up one by one.  This is the perfect game to work on fingertip to palm and palm to fingertip translation skills.  First, roll a die and count the dots. Then pick up that number of paper clips using one hand using fingertips to palm translation skills. End with walking them out of the palm one by one using palm to fingertip translation skills and inserting them into a coin bank or other container.
    • Paper Clip Porcupine: This is a fun activity that makes the playdough porcupine a paper clip porcupine! This activity is all about paperclips by creating a playdough porcupine, inserting small paperclips, and using a larger paperclip to pluck out the paperclips. A fun activity for fine motor and eye-hand coordination!
    • Paper Clip Rolls – This is also a cheap and easy activity that allows for color matching and number counting. Great for fine motor, bilateral hand skills, and eye-hand coordination, plus a little visual perception as you have to figure out exactly how to put that clip on.
    1. You can keep it simple by just writing a number on the roll and adding that number of paper clips. 
    2. Use a colored dot sticker, write a number on it, and then match colored paper clips by adding that number.
    3. Use a colored dot sticker, write a number on it, and then use colored paper clips to match the dot while also counting that number of paper clips. 
    4. Simply forget numbers and colors altogether and just clip away.
    • Paper Clip Sculptures and Linked Shapes – Use several paper clips together to create a variety of sculptures or even link them together to create shapes and images. Be creative and try some linked-together paper clips for letter formation too!
    • Match play dough and paper clips- We shared this idea in our Play Dough Paper Clip Color Match. This is a simple activity that includes colored play dough and paper clips and facilitates a tripod grasp and allows for strengthening of the hand, especially the arches by pressing the paper clips into the dough in a vertical fashion. This activity is a great warm-up activity for kids before coloring, drawing, or writing. 
    • Simple Paper Clip Chain:  With the use of just paper clips, a child can create a paper clip chain and build important developmental fine motor skills. Use colored clips, large and small clips, and plain clips to create a variety of chains.  This activity works on fine motor skills, but also visual perception as the child works on correctly orienting the paper clips for insertion and rotation of each clip as the chain is being built.
    • Add visual perceptual work to fine motor activities with fine motor color sorting activities for improved eye-hand coordination.

    Now, that you have the inspiration and ideas, go gather some paper clips and a few other cheap materials and make some fun games and activities that will motivate children to build important hand skills and other areas of development. Why not have them help you create the kits too? They’d love it and it would be a huge help to you! Grab some baggies, pencil bags, or boxes, or even toss all of the goodies into a plastic storage container and you’ve got a paper clip toolkit! 

    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.

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

    Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:

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

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

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

    Simon Says Commands

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    Simon Says Commands

    If you’ve ever run a therapy session with a fun game of Simon Says, than you know the challenge of coming up with effective Simon Says commands on the spot. The beauty of a good game of Simon Says is that you can target any gross motor, fine motor, sensory motor, and visual motor skill area that you need to, making it the perfect gross motor coordination game that supports a variety of skills.

    Simon Says commands

    Simon Says Commands

    Woohoo, it’s Simon Says for OT! Who doesn’t love a good game of Simon Says? It’s a classic game that builds a variety of skills without kiddos knowing it.

    Below, you’ll find a great list of therapist-approved Simon Says game commands and, you can grab a Simon Says commands pdf so you can print off these game ideas and use them in any therapy session, or as a brain break in the classroom or home, too.

    Let’s cover all of the Simon Says ideas!

    How to play Simon Says in occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy to develop skills.

    How to Play Simon Says

    If you’ve never heard of Simon Says or don’t have a clue what it is, it’s a fun game that is easy to implement in any location. 

    First, you identify one player for the role of Simon and that player will give the other players commands for actions to perform. (There are many targeted goal areas identified with commands listed later in the post.) 

    Second, the game has a trick with it, Simon MUST preface the command by saying, “Simon Says”, or the command is NOT to be followed.

    If a player follows that direction and completes the movement when “Simon” doesn’t say “Simon Says”, they are out of the game or can lose one of their tally strokes or chips that is given to each player before play.

    If they DO NOT follow one of the stated Simon Says commands, they are out or lose a stroke or chip too. 

    Third, the last player standing or the player with the last chip or tally stroke is the winner. 

    Simon Says Examples:

    • Simon: “Simon Says hop on one foot.”
    • Other players: Correctly follow the direction and hop on one foot.
    • The players that completed the correct action stay in the game or can stay in the game and do not lose a token or tally chip/tally mark.
    • Simon: “Simon Says hop on one foot.”
    • Other players: Incorrectly do not follow the direction.
    • The players that did not complete the correct action are out of the game or can stay in the game and lose a token or tally chip/tally mark.
    • Simon: “Hop on one foot.”
    • Other players: Incorrectly follow the direction and hop on one foot.
    • The players that completed the incorrect action (Simon didn’t say “Simon Says”!) are out of the game or lose a token or tally chip/tally mark.
    • Simon: “Hop on one foot.”
    • Other players: Correctly do not follow the direction and do not hop on one foot.
    • The players that did not complete the incorrect action (Simon didn’t say “Simon Says”!) stay in the game or do not lose a token or tally chip/tally mark.

    Easy, right? Not too fast friends! A child’s (and adults’) attention, impulsivity, and patience can play a role in their ability to listen, act, and wait while playing this game. 

    Simon Says is actually a really great game for executive functioning skills, and specifically a game to

    Think about each child and what kind of commands you may need to give them to help them play successfully.

    Younger students or those working to improve the cognitive skill of following sequences can improve these areas with certain adaptations. Give them simple commands that have few words and one step. Think about saying something like, “Simon Says clap your hands” vs. saying, “Simon Says spin around and then clap your hands”, see the difference? This will help a child focus on one skill at a time and then build from there as they age or become better at following multiple directions. 

    If a child struggles with verbal or processing skills, consider the use of a visual choice board, like this one by Panda Speech Therapy, that displays someone speaking coupled with a visual that demonstrates the action that Simon Says to do. This is a great modification to help children that need this type of support to be successful during play or even those who are new to learning how to play the game. 

    Think about the OT skills that can be facilitated with this game: 

    Target whatever area you need to with children based on their goals and you’ve got a fun time with focus!

    Think about the social skills that can be targeted while following and giving multiple skill-driven directions – don’t forget to either simply say the direction or add, “Simon Says” to give kiddos the true direction to DO vs. the fake direction to REMAIN STILL. 

    Simon Says ideas for therapy

    Simon Says Ideas

    The list of Simon Says ideas below are separated by area of development. You’ll find specific movement ideas for:

    1. Visual motor skills
    2. Fine motor skills
    3. Gross motor skills
    4. Sensory motor skills
    5. Social skills
    6. Emotional skills
    7. Oral motor skills

    Simon Says Commands to Target Visual Motor Skills

    1. Draw a row of circles
    2. Draw a face
    3. Draw a person
    4. Trade drawing tools with your neighbor
    5. Use different colors and write the letters of your first name
    6. Write the ABCs 
    7. Build a block tower
    8. Build block stairs
    9. Build a block pyramid
    10. Write the numbers 1-10
    11. Toss a ball up to self and catch
    12. Walk a ball on the wall

    If you need more visual motor command ideas to help, look at these fun resources:

    Rainbow Visual Motor Slide Deck at The OT Toolbox

    Flower Visual Motor Slide Deck at The OT Toolbox

    Simon Says Commands to Target Fine Motor Skills

    1. Do finger taps to the thumb on both hands
    2. Make the okay sign
    3. Make the telephone sign with each hand
    4. Snap your fingers
    5. Push your fingertips together
    6. Clap your hands
    7. Rotate a pencil from writing to erasing
    8. Do pencil push-ups
    9. Do pencil walk up and down the shaft
    10. Wiggle the fingers on both hands
    11. Do finger pull-ups on both hands
    12. Do victory sign
    13. Make the ‘I love you’ sign

    If you need more fine motor command ideas to help, look at these fun resources:

    Fine Motor Skills Needed for School at The OT Toolbox

    Heavy Work for Little Fingers at Your Kids OT

    Simon Says Commands to Target Gross Motor Skills

    1. Do 10 wall push-ups
    2. Do 5 sit-ups
    3. Do 5 planks
    4. Do 8 body bridges
    5. Do 5 lunges
    6. Do 8 squats
    7. Do 6 hand presses
    8. Do 8 cross crawls
    9. Walk like a crab
    10. Walk like a bear
    11. Hop like a kangaroo
    12. Walk like a cat

    If you need more gross motor command ideas to help, look at these fun resources:

    Sports Gross Motor Slide Deck at The OT Toolbox

    Superhero Gross Motor Slide Deck at The OT Toolbox

    Simon says Commands to Target Sensory Motor Skills

    1. Stretch to the sky and then to the floor
    2. Wiggle your body all around
    3. Give yourself a hug
    4. March in place
    5. Sway your body left to right
    6. Spin around in a circle
    7. Do 5 deep breaths
    8. Do 5 long blows
    9. Do floor push-ups
    10. Sit and rock back and forth
    11. Army crawl in a line
    12. Walk forward and backward 

    If you need more sensory motor command ideas to help, look at these fun resources:

    Alerting and Calming Sensory Strategy Cards at The OT Toolbox

    Heavy Work Movement Cards at The OT Toolbox

    Outdoor Sensory Diet Cards at The OT Toolbox

    Deep Breathing Exercise Cards at The OT Toolbox

    Simon Says Commands to Target Social Skills

    1. Look to your neighbor and say, “Hello.”
    2. Shake your neighbor’s hand
    3. Say a positive affirmation statement to the group
    4. High-five a friend
    5. High ten your therapist
    6. Look at a neighbor and smile
    7. Look at a neighbor and give a thumbs-up 
    8. Look at a neighbor and introduce yourself
    9. Look at a neighbor and say, “Thank you.” 
    10. Give a compliment
    11. Give an apology
    12. Invite someone to play

    If you need more social command ideas to help, look at these fun resources:

    Self-Awareness Activities Slide Deck at The OT Toolbox

    Simon Says Commands to Target Emotions

    1. Make a smiley face
    2. Make a frowning face
    3. Make a scared face
    4. Make an angry face
    5. Make a surprised face
    6. Make a tired face
    7. Show being shy
    8. Show being worried
    9. Show being embarrassed
    10. Show being sick
    11. Show being proud
    12. Show being scared

    If you need more emotional command ideas to help, look at these fun resources:

    Emotions Cards at Growing Hands-On Kids 

    Simon Says Commands to Target Oral Motor Skills

    1. Stick out your tongue
    2. Open and close your mouth
    3. Wiggle your tongue from side to side
    4. Blow a kiss 
    5. Blow bubbles
    6. Smack your lips together
    7. Touch your nose with your tongue
    8. Massage your jaws with your fingertips
    9. Pull the corners of your mouth into a smile
    10. Scrunch up your lips and nose
    11. Push your tongue into your right cheek
    12. Push your tongue into your left cheek

    If you need more oral motor command ideas to help, look at these fun resources:

    Oral Motor Exercises at The OT Toolbox 

    Themed Oral Motor Activities and Exercises at the OT Toolbox:

    Simon Says Ideas for the Alphabet

    If you are looking for a combination of Simon Says Commands that address multiple areas, you can find a list of these below from A-Z.  Enjoy!

    A – Air write your name

    B – Blow pretend bubbles

    C – Cross crawls or crunches

    D – Deep breaths

    E – Excited body movements

    F – Fingertip taps to thumb

    G – Give a compliment 

    H – High 5 someone

    I – ‘I love you’ hand sign

    J – Join hands or arms with someone

    K – kangaroo hops

    L – Lick your lips all around

    M – Make a sad face

    N- Number 8’s in the air 

    O – One leg stands each leg

    P – Print the alphabet 

    Q – quick run in place

    R – Roll out a playdough square

    S – Stick out your tongue

    T – Twirl around

    U – Up on toes stretch

    V – Valentine’s heart hands

    W – Wave to someone

    X – XO to give self-hug

    Y – Yawn for feeling tired

    Z – Zig-zag line in air

    Lastly, you can also be creative and think about how you can use Simon Says Commands with commercial board games, like Operation, Perfection, Twister, Whac-A-Mole, Spot It, Avalanche, or Kerplunk. Think about just changing it up by using Simon Says commands or NOT, to direct the child in what they should or should not do.  It’s a new approach to some common board games used in pediatric OT and the kids will love it!

    Popsicle stick labels Simon Says Commands
    Free printable Simon Says Commands for craft stick labels.

    Free Alphabet Simon Says Popsicle Stick Labels

    I am so excited to share this newest resource. All you need is a printable page with the popsicle stick Simon Says commands and craft sticks. We used the larger-size popsicle sticks to make the popsicle stick commands.

    Kids can pull a craft stick out of a cup and use the command to create actions based on movements for each letter of the Alphabet. This set goes with our Alphabet Exercises blog post where each letter of the alphabet has a corresponding exercise or motor action.

    Want a copy of these popsicle stick exercise labels? Enter your email address into the form below. OT Toolbox members can also find this printable inside the Member’s Club (along with the full list of Simon Says cards listed above in printable card form AND in popsicle stick label format).

    Free Simon Says Popsicle Stick Labels

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      Regina Allen

      Regina Parsons-Allen is a school-based certified occupational therapy assistant. She has a pediatrics practice area of emphasis from the NBCOT. She graduated from the OTA program at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute in Hudson, North Carolina with an A.A.S degree in occupational therapy assistant. She has been practicing occupational therapy in the same school district for 20 years. She loves her children, husband, OT, working with children and teaching Sunday school. She is passionate about engaging, empowering, and enabling children to reach their maximum potential in ALL of their occupations as well assuring them that God loves them!

      What is Motor Planning

      by
      motor planning

      You may have heard the term motor planning but wondered what this means and what does it look like to utilize motor planning skills in everyday activities. Here, we are breaking down this important motor skills topic. Occupational therapists are skilled at analyzing movements and underlying skills needed to perform the things we do each day, or the tasks that occupy our time, and establishing an efficient and coordinated motor plan is one of the main aspects of this assessment. 

      Motor planning

      Motor Planning

      When we perform an action, there are movements of our bones, joints, and muscles that enable our bodies to move. It’s through this movement that the body and brain receives feedback, or a motor concept that tells the brain and body that we have moved in a certain way in order to accomplish a specific action. This is the motor plan for that particular task at work!

      Let’s look at a child’s motor skills in a specific action to really explore this concept. 

      Ok, so you’re walking along a hallway with an armful of bags and see a ball in your path. You walk around it and continue walking. But, hold on. That was a pretty cool ball. It was all red and shiny. It looked like a really fun ball to bounce. You stop, turn around, walk back to the ball, stoop down, put down your bags, and pick it up. Woah. It’s not only red and shiny, but it’s a little heavy too. 

      It takes a bit more muscle oomph than you were expecting. You hold your arm up high, with the ball up over your head. Totally not a baseball player’s pose, but all awkward and kid-like. You know. Pure fun throwing. 

      You toss that red, shiny, heavy ball as hard as you can towards a big old blank wall on one of the hallway walls. Now watch out! That red, shiny, heavy ball is bouncing around like crazy! 

      It’s bouncing off of the wall and right back at you! You jump to the side and then to the left and right as it bounces back and forth between the walls of that hallway. You have to skip to the side to avoid your bags. 

      The ball stops bouncing and rolls to the side of the hall. 

      Well, that was fun. You pick up the ball and hold it while you gather your bags. Now, you see a boy coming down the hall who sees that red, shiny, heavy ball in your hand and says, “Hey! There’s my ball!” You smile and toss the ball as he reaches out his hand and catches. “Thanks!!” he says as you wave and start walking down the hall again.

      What is Motor Planning? Tips and Tools in this post with a fun fine motor motor planning (dyspraxia) activity for kids and adults from an Occupational Therapist

      What is Motor Planning?

      Motor Planning happens with everything we do! From walking around objects in our path, to picking up items, to aiming and throwing, drawing, writing, getting dressed, and even dodging red bouncy balls…

      Motor Planning is defined as the problem solving and moving over, under, and around requires fine motor and gross motor skills and planning to plan out, organize, and carry out an action. We must organize incoming information, including sensory input, and integrate that information into our plan. We need to determine if a ball is heavy or light to pick up and hold it without dropping it.

      You might hear of motor planning referred to as praxis. 

      Praxis (generally also known as Motor Planning, but also it’s more than simply motor planning…) requires observing and understanding the task (ideation), planning out an action in response to the task (organization), and the act of carrying out the task (execution). A difficulty with any of these areas will lead to dyspraxia in many skill areas. 

      Praxis includes motor planning, but also involved is ideation, execution, and feedback, with adjustment to that feedback. You can see the similarities in motor planning, which refers to the conscious and subconscious (ingrained) motor actions or plans.

      Motor Planning is needed for everyday tasks. Think about the everyday activities that you complete day in and day out. Each of these actions requires a movement, or a series of movements to complete. There are both gross motor movements, fine motor movements, and posture all working together in a coordinated manner.

      There is a motor plan for actions such as:

      • using a toothbrush to brush one’s teeth
      • brushing hair
      • getting dressed
      • putting on a backpack
      • walking down a hallway
      • walking up steps
      • walking down steps
      • holding a pencil
      • writing with a pencil (motor planning and handwriting is discussed here.)
      • riding a bike
      • maintaining posture
      • putting on a coat or jacket (on top of other clothing such as a shirt so that in this case, there isn’t the tactile feedback available of the fabric directly on the skin’s surface)
      • performing sports actions such as swinging a baseball bat or tennis racket, running, or gymnastics like doing a cartwheel

      The interesting thing is that a movement plan, or the physical action that is completed whether the action has been performed in the past or if it is a new movement. A motor plan for a new task can be completed without thinking through how to move the body because it is just inherently completed.

      When we complete unfamiliar tasks and need to stop and think through how the body needs to move, is when we see inefficient movement, or motor planning issues.

      Motor Planning Difficulties

      Above, we talked about praxis as another term or way to name the motor plan concept. When there are difficulties with motor planning, we are referring to the opposite of praxis, or dyspraxia. 

       Dyspraxia can be a result of poor sensory integration, visual difficulties, fine motor and gross motor coordination and ability, neural processing, and many other areas.

      Motor planning difficulties can look like several things:

      • Difficult ability to complete physical tasks
      • Small steps
      • Slow speed
      • Pausing to think through actions
      • Clumsiness
      • Poor coordination
      • Weakness

      These challenges with motor function can exist with either new motor tasks or familiar actions. Deficits are apparent when speed is reduced so that the functional task isn’t efficient, when the motor task is unsafe, or poor completion of the task at hand.

      There are diagnoses that have poor motor planning as a component of the diagnosis. Some of these disorders can include:

      When motor planning difficulties exist, this can be a cause for other considerations related to movements, and demonstration of difficulties when participating in movement-based activities:

      • challenges in social interactions
      • anxiety
      • behaviors
      • social skills issues

      Today, I’ve got a quick and easy fine motor activity to work on motor planning with kids. This activity is part of our 31 Days of Occupational Therapy series where we’re sharing fun and frugal ideas for treatment of many OT skill areas with items you might already have in your house.

      motor planning activity

      Motor Planning Activity

      Affiliate links are included in this post. 

      Motor planning activity

      To make this motor planning activity, you’ll need just a few items: 

      • a clear plastic baggie
      • white crafting pom poms
      • one red pom pom. These are items we had in our crafting supplies, but you could modify this activity to use items you have. Other ideas might be beads, pin pong balls, ice cubes, or any small item.
      1. Fill the baggie with the pom poms and squeeze out the air. 
      2. Seal the baggie.
      3. Use a permanent marker to draw on a maze from one side of the baggie to the other. You can make this as complex as you like. 
      4. Add additional mazes, or two different pom pom colors for the maze. Work the red pom pom from one end of the maze to the other.
      Apraxia activity

      Squeezing the pom pom is a fine motor work out for the hands. You’ll need to open up the thumb web space (the part of your hand between the thumb and fingers, and use those intrinsic small muscles of the hand. Both of these areas are important for fine motor tasks like coloring and writing.

      Use this motor planning exercise as a warm-up activity before writing, coloring, and scissor activities. This is a great activity to have on hand in your therapy treatment bag or to pull out while waiting at the doctor’s office.

      Motor planning toys and games

      Motor Planning Activities

      Looking for more ways to work on dyspraxia with your kids? These are some fun fine and gross motor activities that are fun and creative. 

      The best thing about all of them is that they are open-ended. Use them in obstacle courses or in movement tasks to incorporate many skill areas. These are some fun ideas to save for gift ideas. Now which to get first…

      Work on fine motor dexterity and bilateral coordination while encouraging motor planning as the child matches colors of the nuts and bolts in this Jumbo Nuts and Bolts Set with Backpack set. The large size is perfect for preschoolers or children with a weak hand grasp.

      Practice motor planning and eye-hand coordination. This Button Mosaic Transperent Pegboard is a powerhouse of motor planning play. Kids can copy and match big and bright cards to the pegs in this large pegboard. I love that the toy is propped up on an incline plane, allowing for an extended wrist and a tripod grasp. Matching the colors and placing the pegs into the appropriate holes of the pegboard allow for motor planning practice.

      Develop refined precision of fine motor skills with eye-hand coordination. A big and bright puzzle like this Puzzle-shaped Block Set  allows kids to work on hand-eye coordination and motor planning as they scan for pieces, match the appropriate parts of the puzzle pieces, and attempt to work the pieces into place. Building a puzzle such as this one can be a workout for kids with hand and upper extremity weakness.

      Strengthen small motor skills. Kids of all ages can work on motor planning and fine motor skills with this Grimm’s Rainbow Bowls Shape & Color Sorting Activity. Use the colored fish to place into the matching cups, as children work on eye-hand coordination. Using the tongs requires a greater level of motor planning.

      You can modify this activity by placing the cups around a room for a gross motor visual scanning and motor planning activity. Children can then follow multi-level instructions as they climb over, around, under, and through obstacles to return the fish to their matching bowls.

      Encourage more gross motor planning with hopping, jumping, and skipping, or other gross motor tasks. This Crocodile Hop A Floor Mat Game does just that. It is a great way to encourage whole body motor planning and multiple-step direction following.

      Address balance and coordination. These Gonge Riverstones Gross Motor Course challenge balance skills as children step from stone to stone. These would make a great part of many imagination play activities as children plan out motor sequences to step, cross, hop, and jump…without even realizing they are working on motor planning tasks.

      Introduce multiple-step direction following and motor planning. These colored footprints like these Gonge Feet Markers support direction following skills. Plan out a combination of fine and gross motor obstacle courses for kids to work on motor planning skills.

      Make hand-eye coordination fun with challenges. For more fine motor coordination and motor planning, kids will love this Chickyboom Balance Game as they practice fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and about balance and mathematics.

      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.

      Christmas Crafts for Kids

      by
      Christmas crafts for kids

      If you are looking for therapy ideas that build skills this time of year, then you will love these Christmas crafts for kids. These are craft ideas driven by fine motor skill development but also promote skills like hand strength, bilateral coordination, eye-hand coordination, precision of grasp, motor planning, direction following, and creativity. These holiday crafts are perfect for adding to your Christmas occupational therapy ideas.

      From garlands to DIY Christmas ornaments, you AND the kids will love these holiday craft ideas. We’ve pulled our favorite Christmas tree crafts, reindeer crafts, snowman crafts, and Santa crafts all into one place. The best part is that these crafty ideas are perfect for the whole family (or therapy caseload…check out the fun Christmas crafts below for ideas that suit kindergarten up through the older kids! 

      Christmas craft for kids


      Christmas Crafts for Kids

      If there is one most of us are short on this time of year, it’s time. There is just NO time to search Google for fine motor craft ideas or Christmas crafts to add to the occupational therapy activities in December. That’s why I wanted to put together a list of tons of ways to be creative with a Christmas craft for kids.

      One of our favorites, and the most easy holiday craft has to be your own set of Christmas memory game cards. Start there, or check out the ideas below!

      Christmas Crafts for kids for the holiday season crafting. These Christmas crafts for kids will keep the kids happy while strengthening fine motor skills, visual motor skills, coordination, and more while working on the skills kids need, all with Christmas crafts!


      Most of these Christmas crafts are process-based but some are not, making them the perfect mix for the therapist looking for crafts that meet the needs of a varied occupational therapy caseload. Use the Christmas craft ideas below to add a holiday theme to your therapy plans this month!

      This post is part of our Christmas Activities for Kids series we’ve got going on this week. It’s all designed to share holiday activities so you don’t need to search all over the internet! If you missed yesterday’s post, you’ll want to check out Christmas Activities for Toddlers to find occupational therapy activities designed for the 2-3 year old age range.

      These are activities, games, and ideas for kids with a Christmas theme that can be used in occupational therapy treatment in the home, school, or clinic!

      If you missed the announcement post on our Christmas Activities for Kids series, you’ll want to check it out. We’ll have a different Christmas activity theme each day this week!

      Christmas Craft for Kids Supplies

      This time of year, it’s a great idea to have a craft supply center out for kids to get crafting. Use the kid-made crafts as holiday gifts for family, package toppers, or to attach to a family holiday card. You can even attach a small craft to a candy cane for easy gift-giving.

      Most of the Christmas crafting supplies can be found in a dollar store or for fairly cheap, making this December bucket list item easy and a fun way to spend days leading up to the holidays. 

      Some Christmas craft supplies you can have on hand include:

      • Pipe cleaners
      • Glitter
      • Craft pom poms
      • Glue
      • Cotton balls
      • Paper plates
      • Clear plastic Christmas ornaments
      • Clothes pins
      • Googly eyes
      • Popsicle sticks
      • Beads
      • Buttons
      • Construction paper or card stock
      • Yarn
      • Ribbon
      • Hot glue
      • Thread
      • Plastic lid
      • Wreath form
      • Mason jar

      Once you have a collection of materials, you can start making an easy Christmas craft!

      As a therapist, I love to see the fine motor skills, scissor skills, and sensory input accomplished through crafting as an occupation. But there is the opportunity for creative thinking, executive functioning skill work, and motor planning at work too. 

      Set out a bin or basket of the crafting materials above and let the child explore and create. You can give them an idea of what to create…Ask them “Do they think they can make a Santa Claus using the materials they have in front of them?” By offering a crafting target and the materials with an open-ended craft idea, you are adding in skills such as planning, prioritization, working memory, problem solving. These skills are very much related to the emotional regulation when a project is needing completed but there are challenges in the way. A simple holiday craft can be a fun way to address and develop this skill. 

      Some Christmas crafting ideas include:

      • Santa Claus
      • Elf
      • Angels
      • Christmas gifts
      • Rudolf 
      • Reindeer
      • Christmas tree ornaments
      • Snowman craft
      • Christmas wreath
      • Gnome
      • Santa’s beard
      • Cookies
      • Christmas tree
      • Christmas art

      You can also challenge kids to use specific forms of crafting: fingerprints art, handprints, salt dough crafts, or one of our Christmas templates. Whatever the type of craft, you’ll find tons of ways to develop skills.

      Christmas Craft Ideas

      Some of our favorite ways to craft this time of year include:

      Our new hot chocolate craft uses a printable template that you can modify to meet the needs of each child on a therapy caseload (or at home or in the classroom!) Just print off the template and go. There are even visual step-by-step directions and a data collection form for this holiday craft.

      Bear Christmas ornament craft
      Bear Christmas ornament craft



      Scissor Skills Reindeer Craft- Another Christmas craft that is based on a children’s book is this Olive the Other Reindeer Ornament that doubles as a scissor skills craft. Wouldn’t it be fun to make a whole Christmas tree full of ornaments made in therapy sessions?

      Bilateral Coordination Bear Craft- This bear craft Christmas ornament helps kids use bilateral coordination and motor planning to wrap twine around a bear, making it a fun craft and a powerful therapy tool too! This Christmas craft goes along with a popular children’s book, making it a great craft to share as “occupational therapy homework” over the holiday break!

      Christmas tree craft



      Hand Strength Christmas Tree Craft- Use this Christmas Tree Fine Motor Craft activity to develop strength in the hands and more. This activity uses a hole punch to create lights for each Christmas tree. The bonus with this craft is the learning and math component. Add a colorful twist by adding colored tissue paper to the backs of the trees with glue.

      Fine motor Christmas tree craft
      Build a Christmas tree with clothespins

      Clothespin Christmas Tree Craft- Paint clothes pins and a painters stick and ask students to build a Christmas tree while developing fine motor skills. You can use this activity over and over again in therapy sessions. Read the instructions and the why behind this Christmas tree craft.

      Pinecone Christmas tree
      Pine cone Christmas tree

      Pine Cone Christmas tree- This is another Christmas tree craft that kids will love. It builds fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and bilateral coordination skills, too. Read the instructions to make a pine cone Christmas tree of your own.

      Fine motor Christmas card craft
      Christmas card with tree




      Hand Strengthening Christmas Card Craft- This Homemade Christmas Card for kids is a fun Christmas card kids can make for family or friends. It provides an opportunity for hand strengthening with the hole punch Christmas tree. Sneak some handwriting practice in, too!

      Bottlecap Christmas tree craft
      Bottlecap Christmas tree craft




      In-Hand Manipulation Bottle Cap Christmas Tree- Use recycled bottle caps to make this Bottle Cap Fine Motor Christmas Tree Craft. This fine motor activity can be a holiday decoration that boosts fine motor skills such as precision, in-hand manipulation, tip-to-tip pincer grasp, rotation and dexterity of the fingers needed for in-hand manipulation, and bilateral coordination.

      Christmas tree fingerprint
      Christmas tree fingerprint craft



      Finger Isolation Ornament- This ornament craft is based on the well-known children’s book, Little Tree. Read the book and then make the ee cummings Little Tree Christmas Ornament AND sneak in fine motor skills like finger isolation, scissor skills, and so many other skills.

      Christmas holly craft made with bottle caps
      Christmas holly craft made with bottle caps




      Process Art Ornament- This Bottle Caps Holly Ornament  is a creative process craft and if you make them with friends or in a classroom setting, there will be no two that look exactly alike. This Christmas craft for kids is a powerhouse for the fine motor development that occurs:  Scissor skills, bilateral coordination, eye hand coordination, and more.

      Plastic lid ornament craft.
      Plastic lid ornament craft.

      Plastic Lid Ornament Craft– Use recycled plastic lids to make an ornament craft using washi tape. We then used a bunch of the lids to make an ornament garland. Read the instructions for this ornament garland craft.

      Snowman craft for Christmas
      Snowman craft to build fine motor skills.



      Paper cup snowman craft- This snowman craft uses crafting materials that build fine motor skills and pencil control skills. Add details with a fine tipped marker to work on pre-handwriting or pencil control skills.

      Egg carton snowman craft
      Snowman egg carton craft

      Snowman Fine Motor Craft- Creating this Snowman Fine Motor Craft is a fun way to develop skills like bilateral coordination, pincer grasp and more. This craft is one that builds fine motor strength and precision while creating a fun holiday decoration.

      Make an egg carton Christmas tree
      Make an egg carton Christmas tree to build fine motor skills.




      Fine Motor Christmas Tree Craft- This Fine Motor Christmas Tree Craft addresses many skills needed for development and function. This craft has been very popular here on The OT Toolbox, and for a good reason!  It’s a way to recycle egg cartons while working on various skills: bilateral coordination, fine motor strength, precision, eye-hand coordination, visual attention, spatial awareness, arch development, wrist extension and stability, and more.

      Pipe cleaner Christmas tree craft
      Pipe cleaner Christmas tree craft builds fine motor skills.


      Tripod Grasp Christmas Tree- Kids will love this Pattern Christmas Tree Craft because they can make it as sparkly as they like! Encourage a little math and visual motor work with patterns on the Christmas tree while promoting a tripod grasp. 

      spaghetti wreath christmas craft
      Spaghetti wreath craft is a great sensory craft for Christmas.



      Tactile Sensory Play Wreath Ornament- This Spaghetti Wreath Ornament is another process art Christmas craft that kids will love. In fact, it’s a sensory goldmine and can be used for sensory play along with fine motor work and crafting! 

      Christmas tree suncatcher
      Christmas tree suncatcher craft



      Precision Christmas Tree Suncatcher Craft- Need a Christmas craft that helps with precision and dexterity? This Christmas Tree Sun Catcher Craft will make the windows look festive!




      Holiday Crafts without a Christmas Theme- To switch things up, here are several Winter Bird Crafts that boost fine motor skills and can be done this month or all winter long.


      Kid-Made Christmas Ornament Crafts– Looking for ornaments the kids can make? This collection of ideas has something for everyone. It’s a great way for kids to make a holiday gift for their family while working on fine motor skills and other occupational therapy goals.

      Easy Christmas Crafts

      Therapy professionals are always looking for craft ideas that can be graded to meet the different needs of a variety of skill levels. Especially during this busy time of year, it can be so difficult to manage all of the holiday events in a school day (holiday parties, parades, school-wide assemblies, special events, sick kids that miss days of school, etc.) that meeting required IEP minutes during the month of December is tricky sometimes.

      That’s why a school based OT needs a quick craft idea that builds skills no matter what level the student is at: from preschool or pre-K up through high school and with a variety of skill-building areas. These craft ideas are simple, and can be graded up or down depending on the abilities of the student:

      Pipe cleaner stars are an easy Christmas craft for kids
      Thread beads onto pipe cleaners to work on fine motor skills.
      1. Thread beads onto pipe cleaners like we did in at our winter party.
      Popsicle stick snowflake
      Use craft sticks to make a snowflake.

      2. Use popsicle sticks to make a snowflake to challenge tactile sensory touch and fine motor skills.

      paper icicle craft
      Cut paper icicles to work on scissor skills.

      3. Cut out paper icicles (we have a template in that post) to work on scissor skills and eye-hand coordination.

      Need more Christmas ideas? These Christmas Activities for Preschoolers are a big hit, too!

      Need Christmas craft ideas for this holiday season? These Christmas crafts for kids will keep the kids happy while strengthening fine motor skills, visual motor skills, coordination, and more while working on the skills kids need, all with Christmas crafts!

      More Christmas Activities for Kids


      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.

      Need Christmas craft ideas for this holiday season? These Christmas crafts for kids will keep the kids happy while strengthening fine motor skills, visual motor skills, coordination, and more while working on the skills kids need, all with Christmas crafts!

      Christmas Crafts and Handwriting

      Pair the Christmas crafts with Christmas handwriting. Use one of the Christmas crafts for preschool parties or school holiday parties this time of year.

      Then, students can use the modified paper below to write a list of holiday words or even directions to complete the Christmas tree craft or reindeer antlers! 

      Breathing Star

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      mindfulness-for-kids-christmas-coloring-page

      This breathing star coloring page is perfect for Christmas Mindfulness and winter mindfulness activities…but today, we’ve got star breathing tool for you.

      Discussing mindfulness for kids is a powerful strategy in addressing so many needs. Kids with sensory processing needs or self-regulation needs, or even emotional regulation needs may benefit from this holiday awareness activity.

      Breathing Star

      First, let’s talk about what a breathing star is.

      A breathing star is a visual prompt that allows kids to follow a star design with their eyes or fingers to guide mindful and deep breathing. The breathing star can be a variety of shapes or forms, but the benefits are the same.

      A breathing star might include:

      • A breathing star drawn on paper while doodling
      • A printable star coloring page like the one below
      • A star with arrows that a user can follow with deep breaths
      • This Star of David deep breathing tool

      It’s a free printable Christmas coloring page with benefits! Scroll below to grab your printable page.

      mindfulness-for-kids-christmas-coloring-page

      This mindfulness tool goes along well with our wreath breathing exercise,  Pumpkin deep breathing exercise, and Thanksgiving mindfulness activity.

      what does mindfulness for kids mean?

      Why Use a Breathing Star?

      First, let’s talk about what mindfulness means. Mindfulness in children is the ability to be aware of one’s actions and self in the moment. 

      Mindfulness for kids is an important part of self regulation and the ability to regulate our senses, feelings, and body.

      Consideration of well-being is important in addressing occupations across environments. OT practitioners can address mindfulness as a means for improving regulation, self-efficiency, stress, anxiety, trauma exposure, or other issues the child may face. Some mindfulness strategies for kids include breath awareness, body sweep, and labeling of feelings.

      One such mindfulness tool for children includes deep breathing. Combining this with stress-reducing coloring or focused activity can be a means for helping kids to become aware of how their body is responding to outside input or stressors.

      You’ve probably seen the variety of coloring books out there designed as coping tools for stress or anxiety. These can be a way to teach kids about focused awareness and mindfulness in the moment.

      It allows us to focus on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting what’s happening on the inside: in our feelings, thoughts, or sensations. This can be a tough skill for kids to master and why a breathing star can support that need.

      For kids, mindfulness is a skill that allows them to be aware of their body and how it’s responding in the moment. Mindfulness for kids is important for them to have the ability to pay attention and responding to input from the world around us.

      Mindfulness in kids means noticing their body and the things happening around them. It has a lot to do with impulse control. Just like any other skill, mindfulness is an ability that develops over time.

      It’s easy to see how this skill relates to so many other areas that occupational therapists address: self-regulation, self-confidence, attention, social-emotional skills, coping skills, sensory processing, impulsivity and inhibition, and overall well being.

      Also be sure to check out these Mindfulness for Kids YouTube Videos.

      How to Use a Breathing Star Visual Support

      A tool like this self regulation star is easy to use:

      1. Start with a pointer finger pointing at any of the points on the star.
      2. Take a deep breath in as the finger traces along the arrow.
      3. When you reach one of the points of the star, pause and hold your breath.
      4. Then, trace along the arrow to the next point as you breathe out.
      5. When you reach the next point of the star, your lungs will be empty. Pause and hold your breath with empty lungs.
      6. Continue as you trace along the outer edge of the star, pausing to hold your breath at each point.

      How Does a Breathing Star Work?

      The best thing about the printable breathing star is that it is a visual cue that can be used in any situation or no matter the environment.

      We cover how a printable tool like this sensory breath star can support a variety of needs in our resource on breathing exercises.

      The benefit of the breathing star is the pause points at the end of each star’s point. This pause point allows for breath control. As the breath is held after filling the lungs or emptying the lungs, the lungs continue to expand as does the rib cage. This offers interoceptive awareness as heavy work fills the chest area.

      We cover this sensory strategy in our resource on relaxation breathing.

      Occupational therapy practitioners working with children are interested in the well-being and the whole child. Functioning and independence in daily occupations are impacted by the “whole child”. The breathing sensory star offers the tool to support these needs.

      Christmas star mindfulness for kids activity and coping strategy for deep breathing and awareness.

      Below is a free printable coloring page for holiday mindfulness. Pair this with our Christmas Mindfulness coloring page for a mindfulness exercise for kids.

      Get a Christmas Star Mindfulness Coloring Page

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