In this blog post, we’re covering all things emotion crafts…or crafts designed to foster emotional development and emotional intelligence, through play and crafting! These emotions crafts are great tools for supporting emotional intelligence in all ages. When you think about it, crafting is a coping mechanism for many, both young and old! Let’s explore specific feelings craft activities that support kids!
emotional regulation Crafts
An emotion craft is one that teaches emotions, or feelings through the craft activity. An emotion craft might include facial expressions, or the ability to express one’s own feelings through the art and craft process. There are many ways kids crafts facilitate underlying skills and development, and emotions and feelings crafting does just that!
How many times have you thought, “I need a time out”, during the past week? As adults, once we recognize the need for a break, we are often able to find a successful strategy to take one.
Children are not as fortunate. They are not able to articulate needing a break, or navigate appropriate activities to help them feel better. Young learners use play as their method to self regulate. In this post we will explore play through Emotional Regulation Crafts to help with this process.
Emotional regulation is a key to success. Getting into the “just right zone” helps with executive function and productivity. The “just right zone” is similar to the Goldilocks effect; not too big, not too small. In the Zones of Regulation® method, the “GREEN ZONE” is often considered the “just right zone”. Emotional regulation in the “just right zone” feels like neither too much or too little input. However, it is tricky to find that sweet spot and stay there.
Practice through communication and play can help your learner find that “just right” feeling. Here is a great overview post on Self Regulation Activities. Building or making things with the hands, can help spark understanding of self regulation, as well as provide much needed input.
Emotional Regulation Crafts are just one strategy to building this understanding, and get your learners into their optimal learning zone.
emotion crafts for teaching
There are different levels of crafts and ideas out there for different types and abilities of students. Some involve journaling, drawing, and writing ideas and feelings. Younger students are not ready to complete this type of self reflection task. They need something more simple and concrete like these emotion craft ideas:
Pumpkin Emotions– This activity uses a pumpkin to explore emotions, but you can use any shape or theme. Just add fun face to create facial expressions.
Empathy Beads– Make a set of bracelets and discuss empathy and feelings.
Coffee Filter Faces– Use paint and googly eyes to create monster faces with all sorts of emotions and facial expressions.
Fill in the Faces Worksheet– This printable allows kids to fill in the faces and then write about the emotion they drew.
Slime Emotion Faces- This is an activity we shared many years ago our Instagram page. Make a small ball of slime and pat it down to a flat “face”. Then add googly eyes and use a pipe cleaner to make smiles, frowns, or surprised facial expressions.
Rock Emotion Faces– Also from our Instagram page, making pet rocks with facial expressions is a fun emotions craft. Just paint the rocks, add googly eyes, and then use a marker or paint to add facial expressions.
Play with Clay – use clay or play dough as a medium for expressing emotions. Not only is this a great idea for learning, the deep pressure and tactile input involved in sculpting and molding the clay is great for self regulation. Learners can make faces into the dough by poking into it, or adding other colors for facial features. You can add googly eyes, sequins, or other items if needed. Adding different colors for the faces (red for angry, blue for sad) may be another method for teaching feelings, although this may be too abstract for some learners. Other benefits to using clay include the fine motor exercise with clay play.
Face Masks – print emojis or pictures of different facial expressions onto cardstock. Students can decorate, color, and cut out the faces. They can be glued onto a large craft stick or pain stirrer. Play a pretend role play game with these, or have students learn to hold them up when they want to express a feeling. Use a paper plate to create an emotions face mask. Cut the plate in half and attach string. Then, decorate the mask according to an emotion name.
Paper Windmill Emotion Craft – learners can create a paper windmill using cardstock or construction paper, a brad to fasten, and a stick. Students can write emotions or draw faces on it to decorate if they like. As students blow onto the windmill, they can learn about soft and hard breathing. Getting direct feedback about their breathing is a helpful learning tool as well as a great way to calm down.
Tissue Worry Box – Use an upcycled container like a tissue box, or food container to create a worry box. Decorate the box like a monster with a wide open mouth. Students can create their own personalized worry monster by decorating the monster. Then, they can write or draw their worries on paper (or dictate), then put them in the box to give them less power. If this idea takes off, you can purchase (or make) a (Amazon affiliate link. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.) Worry Monster to keep on the bed or under the pillow.
Plastic egg faces – use plastic Easter eggs and markers to design faces. Have the eyes on one side of the egg and different mouths on the other. Students can have fun mixing and matching different faces
make your own sensory tools
Make your own fidgets – how cool are these?! Crafting a keepsake, or one to share with others is a great idea
Identify feelings – Have students cut out faces from magazines and identify what zone they are in, their arousal level, or how they are feeling. They can make a big chart to sort all of the people
Do it yourself calm down bottle – Fill a water bottle with oil and water, then add glitter, or other fun stuff. Making this is an enjoyable activity, then using is as a calm down tool is a great idea.
emotional regulation crafts for adding input
Sometimes arts and crafts do not have to have an “end product”. Often just the process of creating or playing is a great strategy for self regulation.
Sand table or tray – free play in sand is great. Add tools, water, and other toys to build it to the next level. I love these (affiliate link) Zen sand trays for simple relaxing play.
Painting – finger paints, painting on large paper, painting with Q-tips, painting on ice, the options are endless. Here are 105 Creative Painting Ideas!
Art play – here is a resource from the OT Toolbox for Art Play ideas
Scribbling – have you ever wanted to grab all of the markers at once and just scribble all over the paper? Do it! There is something liberating in just scribbling for no good reason.
Creative collage – all you need is some craft supplies and glue. Pull out the sequins, pompoms, stickers, colored rice, beads, googly eyes, or whatever else you have handy and some liquid glue. Let your students get creative, or just sticky!
Partner Art Trade – Making things to share with others is a great “feel good” activity. Friendship bracelets – the art of knotting string is a great stress reliever (unless you are frustrated by the process). Other ideas might be macrame, knitting, crochet, drawing, sewing, or other projects that make us feel proud of accomplishment, while regulating emotions.
emotion crafts for older learners
Older kids can benefit from emotion crafts too. Some ideas include more complex crafting or art processes like bead work, ceramics, or weaving.
circle of control – write the things you can control in your circle, and all of the things you can not, on the outside
create a poster of a personal mantra that lifts you up or makes you feel good
a hand made emotions boardgame might be a fun activity for a group
Paper craft chain – write/draw/dictate positive traits and happy thoughts to make into a paper chain
wearable fidgets are a great self regulation tool, and fun to make and share
other activities for emotional regulation
If your students are not into arts and crafts, or find them more frustrating than helpful, there are other ways to use play to learn about or improve emotional regulation. Emotional Regulation Games are great activities.
what is your go to activity for emotional regulation?
While I hate to admit it, I have an unhealthy relationship with Etsy and Amazon. Browsing, shopping, and receiving cool stuff is a thrill. I try and mix this up with some light reading, coloring, crafting, laying by the pool, and an occasional nap. While my kids were young I neglected my needs and did not use my emotional regulation tools often enough. This led to some serious Caregiver Burnout. Make sure that while you are focusing your attention on helping those around you, that you take a minute for yourself as well.
Victoria Wood, OTR/L is a contributor to The OT Toolbox and has been providing Occupational Therapy treatment in pediatrics for more than 25 years. She has practiced in hospital settings (inpatient, outpatient, NICU, PICU), school systems, and outpatient clinics in several states. She has treated hundreds of children with various sensory processing dysfunction in the areas of behavior, gross/fine motor skills, social skills and self-care. Ms. Wood has also been a featured speaker at seminars, webinars, and school staff development training. She is the author of Seeing your Home and Community with Sensory Eyes.
Moving through the alphabet, we are ready to learn how to teach the letter C with our free Letter C Worksheet! Keep an eye out for posts for all accurately forming all 26 letters! Each post will offer information on how to teach the highlighted letter, including a free download. Today’s post will address letter “C” and include a free printable Letter C Worksheet. All the alphabet posts will have tips to the teach the selected letter, review the prewriting skills needed, and highlight different letter rhymes and prompts that are helpful to teaching the letter.
You’ll also want to check out our letter formation worksheets resource, where we have other writing printables as well as a full list of these printable pages.
letter c worksheet
The Letter C Worksheet is designed for students to cut the page into sections, then staple all the pieces together to create little alphabet tracing books by grouping the dotted, tracing, playdough, and color sections together.
Today we are talking about the Letter C, both in its upper and lowercase form. There are many terrific ways to teach letter recognition and formation.
It is beneficial to find multiple different ways to teach each skill, as not all students learn the same way. Multisensory learning meets the needs of different types of learners
The Letter C Worksheet is divided into six sections:
Build Letter C
Tracing Letter C
Do-a-Dot Letter C
Write Letter C in Size Boxes
Write Letter C on Lines
Each section covers uppercase C and lowercase c for size awareness as well as the motor plan needed to form the letter. Motor planning in handwriting is a concept that ensures accurate formation of letters.
Play Dough letter C
This section of the worksheet is great for building a motor plan for making letter C. hands-on learners will love the building section of the letter C worksheet. You’ll fund a playdough uppercase C and lowercase c in the image.
Students can mold the letter C out of play dough, clay, sticks, or other manipulatives. Keep reading for more great ideas to build letters out of common items.
This section of the worksheet can be cut out and used as copy cards or as a mini play dough mat, if letters are formed right over the images.
The letter C has arrows for proper stroke sequence.
Tracing letter C
Kinesthetic learners learn by doing, and will benefit from all the sections in these handouts, especially this section on tracing letters. Kinesthetic learners like to touch and engage in order to learn and retain information. That’s where this Letter C tracing activity on the printable comes in.
Students can use their fingers, a wand, popsicle stick, or add a writing tool to trace the letters. You can also laminate the letter pages, place them on a tray covered with sand, salt, or shaving cream, and have students trace the letters this way.
Do a Dot Letter C
The Do a Dot Letter C printable section of the page is a mini version of a full Do a Dot worksheet. We created the page with this in mind so that a smaller version can be practiced, using broken cotton swabs or the end of an eraser dabbed in paint or a stamp pad.
Users can dab the dots to make the letter C by following the lines of the letters.
Then, copy the letter onto a larger piece of paper by using bingo type markers or dabber stampers to fill in the letters. Kids love the banging movement and sound of these dot markers. Students can also dip Q-tips or fingers into paint to make dots on the paper. There are all kinds of stampers available on the web. What else can kids use to make dots on paper?
Color letter C
The Color the Letter C and c section of the worksheet page encourages several areas of motor skills:
developmentally appropriate grasp patterns (broken crayons work wonders for developing a tripod grasp)
Explore different mediums for coloring including markers, gel pens, pencils, crayons (of all types), paint, glitter, or glue and small items to fill the space.
Write letter C
Next on the worksheet page are two sections for using a pencil to write uppercase C and lowercase c.
These two sections are for students to put their practice into letter formation. They will practice writing the letters on the lines with correct sizing, formation, line placement, and details. Students also practice fitting the letters inside the small boxes to improve letter sizing and accuracy.
As with the other sections, this section can also be laminated for reusability. Be mindful that some students do not write well with dry erase markers.
To print your copy of this Letter C/c PDF, you will need to enter your email address into the form at the bottom of this blog post. Then, click the button and check your email to get the FREE downloadable PDF letter C worksheet.
how to teach letter c
This letter C worksheet is a great start to teaching letter formation. Whether you are using the Handwriting (Learning) without Tears curriculum which teaches the letters by group, or teaching the letters in alphabetical order, these great worksheets provide a consistent method for teaching and tracking letter formation and understanding.
There are several sites online with different phrases available for teaching letters.
The HWT curriculum lowercase “c” narrative says: magic c. For the uppercase letter C, HWT says: big curve. While the HWT curriculum does not use cute poems and rhymes, the consistent language that is taught using straight and curved lines is beneficial to learning.
Songs for Teaching’s rhyme for lowercase c says, letter c’s like a circle, but it does not close up. C is for cotton candy and carrots and cups
Songs of Sounds UK, teaches lowercase c: Curl around the curled-up caterpillar. Uppercase C: From the top, curl around to the left to sit on the line.
Twinkl, teaches lowercase c: start drawing a circle and curve around slowly, stop before it has finished and you have made a c!
Uppercase C says: capitol C is easy, don’t you know? Just start like a little c and make it grow! A curved line from the start to the end, move your pencil slowly around the bend.
specific skills needed to learn letter c
In addition to the skills above, students will need to know how to form curves to make upper and lowercase C.
For forming a Letter C, a curved line is used. This is a beginner pre-writing skill, so the curve should be an earlier one that is achieved.
However, letter C requires pencil control in order to start and stop the lines of the curve.
Teach them about starting at the top, and pencil control to stop the curve before making a circle.
This is a good time to start demonstrating talking about the similarities between upper and lowercase C.
Because uppercase C and lowercase C are the same form, this is a good beginner letter to practice. However, targeting size awareness is a good idea for controlled use of the pencil as well as visual motor skills needed to differentiate between the upper case and lowercase forms.
There are dozens more additional skills children need to learn before they are truly ready for handwriting. Children who are missing these important skills may struggle with handwriting, along with other fine motor tasks. A lack of these foundational skills can lead to poor letter formation, fatigue, compensation strategies, and inefficient writing.
prewriting skills needed to learn to write letters
If forming a letter C is difficult, it might be wise to step back and take a look at the pre-writing skills.
As you are working on the Letter C Worksheet, be sure your students have the prewriting skills needed for writing letters. Here is a comprehensive post about the Prewriting Skills needed before letter formation.
Some of the prewriting skills for letter formation include:
grasping skills for holding the writing tool – it is preferable to work on forming a correct tripod grasp, but not essential for starting letter formation. Children begin to form a tripod grasp around age four. You can improve pencil grasp by working on hand strengthening activities
finger isolation is what is needed to be able to tuck fingers into the palm when writing
in hand manipulation – start working on training the intrinsic muscles of the hands
following directions – this is a key to learning any new skill and quite often the biggest barrier
hand strength needed hold pencil and manipulate objects. Students with weak hand strength often have shaky, lightly written letters, and hold the writing tool lightly
crossing midline is an essential skill for letter formation, otherwise letters like “t” are written in four pieces rather than two intersecting lines
beginning hand dominance – do not worry if it is not solidified by age four, just encourage fine motor tasks, and watch for signs that one hand is stronger than the other
imitating movements is important as many children do not respond to verbal directions only
visual perception is making sense of what is written or seen. These might include same/different, scanning, or discrimination
prewriting strokes – being able to write lines and circles is important, as these are the foundation for forming upper and lowercase letters
social function skills such as attending, work tolerance, controlling impulses and body, taking turns, waiting, sharing, and more are needed skills for effective learning.
Activities to teach letter c
In addition to the rhymes above, there are other great activities to teach letter formation and letter recognition for letter b/B:
Letter immersion: surround your students with letters. Use games, activities, books, gross motor games, and whole lesson plans to immerse students in learning the letters. Hang up letters, sing songs and rhymes, point out letters, and talk about them. The Dollar Store is a great place to buy all kinds of supplies
Letter I Spy: ask your child to identify and find letters as you go about your day together. Use the letter of the week as well as previously learned letters.
Making letters using nature: Take a nature walk and gather materials found on the ground. Use these supplies to form letters. Note: Rocks and leaves are easiest for forming rounded letters like letter C, and sticks are best for letters with straight lines (A, J, T). These rock letters are a fun way to practice letter C.
Guess the magnetic letter: Have your child close their eyes before handing them a single magnetic letter of your choice. See if your student can identify the letter in their hands by touch. For children who are still learning, provide choices for them to guess between (“Do you have a ‘T’ or a ‘B’ in your hands?”).
Letter matching cards: Start by cutting out rectangles of paper or cardboard for your cards (or use index cards), one for each uppercase and lowercase letter. Write a letter on each of the cards, or have your student practice writing it themselves.
Your child can decorate the cards, or glue an object that corresponds to each letter as a visual aide (like an apple on each of the “A” cards, a balloon for the “B” cards, and so forth).
When you are finished making the cards, mix them all up on the table and have your student select one. Their task is to find the matching upper or lowercase version of that letter from the pile. Here is a set of cursive letter flash cards.
Make a Letter C craft: Have your student form the letter using your chosen material. You can supply every student with the same material to work on copying from a model, or let them try their creativity. These will be great to try on the “build or trace” template included in the letter C worksheet.
Post it notes letter C: Write an uppercase letter C on several Post it notes. Then, use the remaining ones for lowercase letter c. Next, alternate placing uppercase and lowercase letters onto your wall or whiteboard. Point to the uppercase “C” and ask, “Can you find the lowercase letter that matches?” If your child correctly identifies the letter “c,” have them pick it up and stick it below the capital “C.”
Screen time: If your curriculum includes a bit of educational screen time, the HOMER Learn & Grow app is a great way to let them practice their letter identification skills.
If you set up a free trial, send us an email at contact@theottoolbox to let us know! We’ll email you a few accompanying resources to support letter formation activities!
Letter similarities and differences: Make or buy flash cards. Work with your student to help you sort them into two groups: those that look the same in upper and lowercase and those that look different.
You may need to model this for your child a few times. For example, hold up the capital “S” card and ask, “Do you see a lowercase letter that looks like this?”
Let your child examine both letters and highlight similarities and differences between the uppercase and lowercase versions.
Continue sorting, letter by letter. Once your child sorts all the letters, have them count the cards in each bowl and see if there are more that look alike or more that are different. This is a great visual perception activity for attending to details.
more tips to teaching letter c
surround your students with letters. Use games, activities, books, gross motor games, and whole lesson plans to immerse students in learning the letters
make letters in sand, shaving cream, chalk, sandpaper
teach the letter names and sounds before forming the letters so students understand what they are writing
use the whole body to teach letter formation
sing songs and rhymes about letters
practice prewriting skills through activities and play
encourage family to practice with their children at home
follow the same curriculum throughout the teaching for consistency. Whether you use Learning without Tears, Teaching Mama, Songs for Sounds, or another curriculum, being consistent helps students learn the language and follow the prompts
As described above, this free Letter C Worksheet, can be cut into sections and made into mini workbooks. There are many other great options for using these work pages:
Laminate the pages to make them reusable. Punch holes in them, and create a binder. This is especially helpful with the play dough cards
Take a photo of the letter made of playdough, rather than having students trying to keep their dough formations stuck in their books
Enlarge each section to make them full page sized. This might be helpful for younger learners who may need more room to write and color
Separate each kind of activity, and group them together to make an alphabet book. For example, make a book of all the “do a dot” letters. Keep going until your students have six mini alphabet books
Cut the pages into six sections, then staple together. Each book with have six pages, all relating to the same letter. For example, the Letter C Worksheet would be turned into a small booklet with a traced C, written C, colored C, dotted C, playdough C, etc.
Make your own modifications to some of the sections. Instead of tracing, students can fill the section with glue and glitter! In the coloring section, students can fill them with small manipulatives. Wikki sticks can be used instead of Playdough. Water color, paint, or any other creative medium you can find to fill in the spaces
Have bins of manipulatives ready for creative play with this Letter C Worksheet
Glue and bits of paper, or other findings are always handy to have around
Making an activity fun will hopefully encourage the reluctant learners
Add this letter C worksheet to part of your bigger lesson plan including gross motor, sensory, social, reading, math, or other daily fun activities
a final word on letter c
When you get excited about teaching, it will become contagious. Your students will feed off your positive energy. Teaching is not one size fits all, so it will take some trial and error to find something that works. Find something that you feel you can teach over and over again. Sometimes the lessons become repetitive, so you need to like what you are teaching.
Free Letter C Worksheet
Want a free printable letter C worksheet that you can use to work on learning the motor plan for letter C? We have a free worksheet that offers several multisensory letter formation strategies. Print off the page and use all of the sections to create uppercase letter C and lowercase letter c. Or, cut the worksheet into sections to create mini booklets to form the letter in a single sensory style.
Enter your email address into the form below to access your copy.
This printable is also available inside our membership club!
Victoria Wood, OTR/L is a contributor to The OT Toolbox and has been providing Occupational Therapy treatment in pediatrics for more than 25 years. She has practiced in hospital settings (inpatient, outpatient, NICU, PICU), school systems, and outpatient clinics in several states. She has treated hundreds of children with various sensory processing dysfunction in the areas of behavior, gross/fine motor skills, social skills and self-care. Ms. Wood has also been a featured speaker at seminars, webinars, and school staff development training. She is the author of Seeing your Home and Community with Sensory Eyes.
Want printable handwriting and sensory motor activities to target the visual motor skills needed for letter writing? Grab a copy of our Letters! Fine Motor Kit. The printable PDF contains 100 pages of hands-on letter writing practice for multisensory handwriting!
A-Z Multisensory Writing Pages: Roll a ball of dough letters, ASL sign language letters, gross motor movement, small-scale letter box writing task, finger isolation letter trace, and writing practice area
Alphabet Fine Motor Clip Cards– Clip clothespins or paper clips to match letters with various fonts to strengthen the hands and focusing on eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, visual processing skills, and more.
Cut and place Fine Motor Mazes– Cut out the letter pieces and trace the maze with a finger to work on eye-hand coordination and finger isolation. Place a small letter on the letter spots to address in-hand manipulation and dexterity skills.
A-Z Cotton Swab Cards– Includes upper case and lower case letters. Dot the cards using a cotton swab or laminate the cards and use them over and over again.
A-Z Pattern Block Cards– These cards include a section for tracing with a finger tip for separation of the sides of the hand, eye-hand coordination, and finger isolation during letter formation. There is also a space to “finger write” the letter using the fingertip. This multisensory letter formation activity can be a great brain break during handwriting or literacy tasks. Learners can then form the letter using parquetry blocks.
Fine Motor Letter Geo-Cards– These geo board cards include A-Z in upper case forms. Users can copy the letter forms in a variety of multi-sensory strategies.
A-Z Color and Cut Letter Memory Cards– These upper case and lower case letter cards can be used to color for letter formation. Then use them in fine motor matching tasks or in sensory bins.
Color By Size Sheets– Help learners discriminate between tall letters, small letters, and tail letters. This visual perception activity invites learners to color small areas, using hand muscles for strengthening and handwriting endurance.
A-Z Building Block Cards– These LEGO block cards invite users to copy the cards to form letters using small building blocks. Users can place the blocks on the cards or copy the letter to address visual shift and visual memory. This activity set comes in upper case and lowercase letter forms.
A-Z Play Dough Letter Formation Cards– Print off these cards and laminate them to create play dough mats. Learners can form the letters using the arrows to correctly form letters with play dough while strengthening their hands and visual motor skills. Each card includes a space for practicing the letter formation, using a dry erase marker if the cards are laminated.
Graded Lines Box Writing Sheets– Users can trace and form letters in boxes to work on formation of letters, line awareness, starting points, and letter size.
Alphabet Roll and Write Sheets– Roll a dice and form the letter associated with the number of dots on the dice. This is a great way to work on letter formation skills using motivation. Which letter will reach the top first? This activity is easily integrated with a rainbow writing task to increase number or repetitions for letter practice.
Pencil Control Letter Scan– Use the letter bubble tracks to scan for letters. Users can fill in the letters of the alphabet to work on pencil control skills.
Color and Cut Puzzles– Color the pictures to work on hand strength and letter formation skills. Then cut out the puzzles and build visual perceptual skills.
Today, we are covering one type of grasp called a hook grasp. If you saw my earlier post on grasp patterns, you may have noticed a grip you are unfamiliar with. The grip pattern called the Hook Grasp, is a functional grasping pattern that is used daily in various fine motor skills. Today we will take a moment to further explore the hook grasp, talk about its’ functional uses, and get resources for exercises and activities to strengthen this grip.
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what is a hook grasp?
A Hook Grasp is a type of motor pattern in which the fingers are bent at all the joints in a slightly flexed pattern with the thumb either assisting to grasp an object with the hook pattern, or in opposition with an open thumb webspace.
In the hook grasp pattern, digits 2-5 (pointer finger, middle finger, ring finger, and pinkie fingers) are used in a hook position. The fingers bend as if carrying the handle of a briefcase. The thumb may or many not be used in the grip’s positioning.
The hook grasp is characterized by a flat hand, curled fingers, and thumb used passively to stabilize the load. The biomechanics of the hand for a hook grip use a stable wrist, finger flexion at the IP joints, and extension at the MCP joints.
When you think of “hook grasp” you are might be picturing Captain Hook. The hooking motion used in this grip is similar to the way Captain Hook holds onto items. The objects hang in the curve of the Captain’s hook. Similar to this idea, in the hook grasp, the tips of the fingers are bent into a curve to grab onto things.
A hook grip is used to hold objects with a small diameter. For objects with a diameter of 2″ the hook grip strength can achieve the strength of a power grip. Very narrow handles decreases hook grip strength by pressing deeply into the hand and fingers.
Check out the video which explains what a hook grasp is and what this type of grasp pattern looks line in daily functional activities. If you can not see this video due to blockers on your device, check out the video explanation over on our YouTube channel.
examples of the hook grasp
Some examples of a hook grasp in functional task include:
holding onto the overhead safety handle in the car
grasping the skinny edge of a container to lift it
carrying a jug
Holding the handle of a suitcase
Holding onto a ladder rung
In each of these tasks, the load, or the work of the grasp, is supported by fingers. This grip is most effective when the arms are down at the side of the body. For visual learners, here are some illustrations of the this grip in action.
Rigid handles can cause discomfort when carrying a heavy load for long periods of time. If you have ever tried to carry a grocery bag with skinny plastic handles for more than a couple of minutes, you know how quickly the pain sets in. Of course, someone invented a solution for carrying plastic bags. (affiliate link) This gadget uses the hook grip, but distributes the weight of the bags better.
hook grip in weightlifting
The hook grip is a method of gripping a barbell used in many strength-related sports such as Olympic weightlifting, CrossFit, and powerlifting. Here is an informative article on the benefits of using a hook grasp in weightlifting.
In weightlifting, the hook grip is further strengthened by placing the thumb on the bar and wrapping the fingers on top of it.
This takes practice and pushing through the pain, but according to the resources, the hook grasp becomes quite the power grip during heavy lifting.
Squeeze things whenever you can. Use tools, putty, games, playdough, a rolled up towel, tennis or stress balls
Use a (Amazon affiliate link) grip strength kit specifically designed to improve grasping. While this may be repetitive and boring to some, it is a measurable way to build grasping.
Prohands grip master (affiliate link) is a popular hand strengthening tool. It can be used to increase different grip patterns including the hook grip
Play with a squirt bottle or squeeze container
Classic ring toss game
Milk a cow (or pretend using the hand motions)
Carry a laundry basket that has side holes. Play a game of carrying the basket while gathering items
Hang from a trapeze swing or ladder swing
Climb a ladder practicing the hook grasp by not using the thumb
Tape the thumb out of the way for an exercise of picking items up without using the thumb to support it
Provide a small purse with a handle or a suitcase for your learner to carry around. This can be filled with treasures and collectibles. Kids love to carry things, and this will build their hand strength
Play a game of carrying buckets while filling it with items along the way
Easter egg hunt picking up eggs while carrying the basket
Fill buckets with water to dump them. This is a great beach activity as children carry water back and forth across the sand
Encourage heavy lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling to strengthen grip and improve function and independence.
final thoughts on the hook grasp
Next time you are using your hook grasp to carry grocery bags, or laundry basket, pay attention to the amount of work your fingertips are doing. There is a lot of force right on the ends of your digits. Imagine if you were missing a digit, or had an injury to one. Now the amount of force is only spread among three fingers instead of four. Finger injuries may seem small, but they effect the power of grasping, as well as fine motor precision.
Other types of grasps to consider when it comes to fine motor skills include:
Want to improve overall hand strength and finger dexterity with done-for-you, printable activities? Grab one or more of our Fine Motor Kits. Each one is full of fine motor tasks and activity pages designed to develop precision, dexterity, coordination, and fine motor skills!
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:
Victoria Wood, OTR/L is a contributor to The OT Toolbox and has been providing Occupational Therapy treatment in pediatrics for more than 25 years. She has practiced in hospital settings (inpatient, outpatient, NICU, PICU), school systems, and outpatient clinics in several states. She has treated hundreds of children with various sensory processing dysfunction in the areas of behavior, gross/fine motor skills, social skills and self-care. Ms. Wood has also been a featured speaker at seminars, webinars, and school staff development training. She is the author of Seeing your Home and Community with Sensory Eyes.
If you are a tall person, you might not give much thought to an under the desk foot rest. Your feet might naturally sit on the floor. You might be thinking “what is the big deal?” The big deal is about posture, core strength, and improving function. Here, we’re covering how a desk foot support can improve sitting posture when writing. While it feels cool to swing your legs under your desk, it is not beneficial in the long term. Let’s explain…
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Under the desk foot rest
An under the floor desk foot rest may be an essential tool to support upper body positioning that offers the stability needed for distal mobility when writing, reading, and completing fine motor or visual motor tasks.
An under the desk foot rest is just as you might imagine it to be…a supportive place to rest the feet to promote optimal alignment of the body in a chair. We cover specific reasons to use an under the desk positioner below.
Let’s break this down…
Enter the (Amazon affiliate link) Squatty Potty as Exhibit A. The people who invented the squatty potty did research to show that having your feet on the floor (or elevated on their stool), helps you go #2 by improving body position. Positioning is one of the first areas an occupational therapy practitioners addresses when it comes to potty training interventions.
There is a long list of other benefits to having your feet on the floor while using the toilet. I think the best one is comfort. If a stool is beneficial for one of the body’s basic functions, imagine what it can do when supporting the feet under a desk!
The positioning needs of sitting at a desk are not much different. An optimal position is needed for working at a desk with refined motor skills.
The layout of workstations has not changed much over the years. Even though the workforce is more inclusive today, workstations are still set up for people 5”10” or taller.
School desks and chairs are set up much the same way. Adults of shorter stature (5’6” for males and 5’2” for females) can benefit from an under the desk foot rest. Children of smaller size can also benefit.
The benefits of having an under the desk foot rest
Let’s break down the benefits of using an under the desk foot positioner.
Comfort – I already mentioned comfort in regards to toileting. If you are of shorter stature, think about sitting on a stool at a bar. Your feet are dangling, and it feels like you are about to slip off the chair. You keep scooting backward trying to get some traction.
While you keep scooting and squirming in your chair, you are conscious of your body and not on the conversation you are supposed to be having.
This is the same for people in any kind of chair.
Health benefits – Footrests align posture, reduce fatigue, and ease pain or discomfort in the feet, ankles, knees, and thighs.
A rocking footrest improves the circulation in your legs by maintaining consistent movement throughout the day. This lowers the chances of leg pain, stiffness, and developing varicose veins or blood clots.
A chair that is too high may lead users to sit cross legged instead of feet on the floor.
Positioning – there are several components to positioning. Some of it was mentioned under comfort. If a person is small and trying to sit in a large chair, they need to scoot forward to reach the edge of the chair, which results in slumping, or tired muscles from sitting without support.
If they scoot all the way to the back of the chair, these students can not effectively reach the desk in front of them. The front of the chair often hits their legs at inconvenient places other than the back of the knees.
Proper positioning which sitting includes the hips, knees, and ankles at ninety degrees. Studies show that sitting cross legged for more than three hours per day may cause shoulder inclination, lateral pelvic tilt, and forward head posture.
Fine motor precision – people are often given taller chairs to make them the correct height to reach the table. This is wise, as the elbows should be at ninety degrees for optimal fine motor output.
A person who is falling out of their chair is less likely to produce efficient or effective output. While this taller chair gives the student a better tabletop position, it leaves the legs dangling.
While the ultimate solution is a small chair and a small desk, this is not always feasible.
Posture – posture goes hand in hand with positioning, or can be an effect of positioning.
People of short stature who can not reach the ground often slump in their chair to touch the ground, lean forward on their desks to try and gain stability, or tip laterally due to weakened core muscles. Check out this post on Writing Posture. Also, read about: Why do Kids Slouch in their seats?
Sensory – while having your legs dangling due to an incorrect sized chair can be great sensory input, in can also cause disorganization and dysregulation. Sensory input, at its’ best is self-regulated.
This means that you have control over your body and what is happening to it. If you can not reach the floor to stop the movement and get grounded, this often leads to dysregulation.
Dysregulation can add to inattention, lack of focus, emotional instability, and seeking or avoiding behaviors as your body and brain expends so much effort trying to stay in your chair.
TYPES OF UNDER THE DESK FOOT RESTS
An under the desk foot rest can range from home made boxes to deluxe apparatus. This will depend on environment, budget, and needs.
Homemade foot positioner options – if you are on a tight budget, or feel this accommodation might be temporary, making a simple home-made under the desk foot rest may be right for you.
This can be made from a stack of books, carboard box, pieces of wood, a plastic tub, shoebox, etc. You can also make an under the desk foot rest out of scrap wood or pallets if you are handy. In the “old days” the Yellow Pages were great for making foot rests and booster seats!
Basic foot rests – A basic foot rest (affiliate link) is a simple design that are basically no more than a box. Use these for someone who needs nothing more than a place to put their feet.
Slanted foot rests – A slanted foot rest (affiliate link) helps you sit back further in your chair and lean into the support of your chair. A good one to look for has grippy surface to keep the feet from sliding on the slanted rest. It keeps you sitting upright in a more neutral posture.
Rocking foot rest – A rocking foot rest (affiliate link) encourages leg and foot movement at a time of day where most people are inactive. It can increase metabolic rate and keep you healthy. This is a great option for individuals who need a quiet fidget tool at school in order to self-regulate through movement.
Foam foot rest – A foam foot rest (affiliate link) has a soft cushion that feels good to use. The soft surface is comfortable on the feet. You can flip this over for a rocking surface, and get one with a base to raise the height. Most come with a washable cover to keep it clean.
It is lightweight and portable, although big and bulky. This might not be the greatest if you are in a dirty space, or come in from the outside with shoes on and step on it.
Sensory foot rest – some sensory cushions can double as an under the desk sensory footrest. (affiliate link) The wiggle cushion and square blue foot cushion not only provide great sensory input, they can bridge the height gap.
One inexpensive sensory foot rest is to use a partially deflated beach ball. We love the sensory tool as a seating tool and under the desk positioning offers sensory input as well.
ALTERNATIVE TYPES OF UNDER DESK FOOT REST
Above are the more traditional types of foot rests. There are times when a traditional method is not feasible or the best for the user. Some of these offer heavy work through the feet and legs. Others on the list below offer a form of proprioceptive input. Others provide a base of support for better alignment.
These are affiliate links to Amazon.
Bouncy band(affiliate link) – check out my post on Foot Fidgets to get an idea of under the desk fidgets. The bouncy band can provide a moveable surface to give input to the feet and legs. It can provide some support, but is not going to be as stable as a traditional foot rest. These however are more subtle, cost effective, and easier to move.
Exercise equipment(affiliate link) – an under the desk bike or elliptical can provide movement, but not as much stability. If you need a foot rest because of sensory or health issues requiring movement, an under the desk exercise bike might be a good alternative.
Exercising foot rest (affiliate link) – this footrest has an exercising motion that improves circulation. It has a unique surface that helps stimulate and promote blood flow to your feet. This design is going to be more cumbersome if you switch desks a lot. It is super expensive, but very cool!
Foot massager(affiliate link) – if you need some extra comfort while you work, a massager might we what you need.
Foot bar(affiliate link) – this simple bar gives you a place to rest the feet and move with a swinging motion. This is great for people who are required to stand in one place for long periods of time. Resting one foot at a time on the bar reduces pressure on the lower back and allows more dynamic posture throughout the day. There is also a foot hammock as another alternative…
Foot rest hammock (affiliate link)– this is a cool new idea to elevate the feet. Not sure how effective it is for positioning in the long run, but innovative.
One of the the best solutions for an under the desk footrest is to change the workplace set up. Creating a workplace that is ergonomically designed for your specific body is ultimately best for you.
While you still might benefit from a moving foot rest, you will not be dependent on one for height requirements. Check out this post on Alternative Seating Options.
TIPS FOR SELECTING an UNDER The DESK FOOT REST
As with everything in life, nothing is one size fits all. Trial and error may be required to find the right solution, but there are general guidelines to consider:
Measure the distance between the feet and the floor to get the best fit. Knees can be slightly elevated, and feet should be able to firmly sit on the foot rest.
Check the type of seat provided. Is it too large, too small, too soft/firm, not supportive, or uncomfortable? Some people need arm rests and lateral supports. Other people need high back rests for optimum comfort.
Make sure the foot rest is acceptable for the user and other people in their workspace. Something distracting or noisy might not be the best in a busy classroom. A student who moves to several different classrooms might need a stool in each room, or something small and portable.
Safety first. Check for slipping of the feet on the foot rest, movement of the footrest on the floor, and ease of getting in/out of the desk with the foot rest there.
Watch for other seating needs. Users might need a cushion, head rest, lateral supports, foot cups, and other adaptations to insure the best posture and comfort
Check for compliance. Be sure that your user is using the footrest provided. If not, find out why. Maybe it is too distracting, embarrassing, ugly, improper fit, uncomfortable, or not allowed by the staff.
Power of an Under the Desk FootRest
What seems so simple, like sitting in a chair (or on the toilet!) can be full of complications that have a larger effect than first imagined. Go back to the foundation when diagnosing and treating problems.
Maybe visual motor difficulties stem from poor seating. Perhaps that neck and back pain have to do with sitting posture. Sometimes a simple fix such as an under the desk foot rest can ripple into a big change.
Victoria Wood, OTR/L is a contributor to The OT Toolbox and has been providing Occupational Therapy treatment in pediatrics for more than 25 years. She has practiced in hospital settings (inpatient, outpatient, NICU, PICU), school systems, and outpatient clinics in several states. She has treated hundreds of children with various sensory processing dysfunction in the areas of behavior, gross/fine motor skills, social skills and self-care. Ms. Wood has also been a featured speaker at seminars, webinars, and school staff development training. She is the author of Seeing your Home and Community with Sensory Eyes.
Today’s post will highlight letter B, and includes a free Letter B Worksheet. The posts will have tips to the teach the selected letter, prewriting skills needed, and verbal prompts helpful to teaching the letter. As we continue our travel together through learning the alphabet with letter formation sheets, I want to remind you that this post is part of a letter skills lesson that will include all 26 letters of the alphabet in upcoming posts. Each post will offer information on how to teach the highlighted letter, and include a free download for that letter.
The Letter B Worksheet is another one of our multisensory worksheets designed for students to cut the page into sections, then staple all the pieces together to create little alphabet tracing books by grouping the dotted, tracing, playdough, and color sections together.
Each post will offer information on how to teach the highlighted letter, and include a free download for that letter of the alphabet. Collect all 26 and you have a letter writing workbook!
Today we are talking about the Letter B, both in its upper and lowercase form. There are many terrific ways to teach letter recognition and formation. A multisensory approach to learning is a great way to improve skills while meeting the learning styles of all your students.
Click the link below and add your email address to get the FREE downloadable PDF letter B worksheet.
The Letter B Worksheet is divided into six sections:
Playdough Letter B Cards
Letter B Tracing
Do-A-Dot Letter B
Color the Letter B
Write Letter B on lines
Write Letter B in boxes
Build Playdough letter B
Hands-on learners will love the building section of the letter B worksheet. Students can mold the letter B out of play dough, clay, sticks, or other manipulatives. Keep reading for more great ideas to build letters out of common items.
Tracing letter B
The tracing letter b section of the worksheet is great for targeting visual motor skills. We know that tracing can support these skills, so use this section with multisensory supports for more motor planning. Kinesthetic learners learn by doing, and will benefit from all the sections in these handouts, especially this section on tracing letter B and b.
Kinesthetic learners like to touch and engage in order to learn and retain information. Students can use their fingers, a wand, popsicle stick, or add a writing tool to trace the letters. You can also laminate the letter pages, place them on a tray covered with sand, salt, or shaving cream, and have students trace the letters this way.
Do a Dot letter B
Kids (and OT providers) love do a dot activities for their many skill-building abilities. Cut out this section of of Do a Dot Letter B to make an uppercase and lowercase letter. Use cotton swabs broken into pieces, the end of an eraser like a bingo type markers, or stampers to fill in the letters.
Kids love the banging movement and sound of these dot markers. Students can also dip Q-tips or fingers into paint to make dots on the paper. There are all kinds of stampers available on the web. What else can kids use to make dots on paper?
Color the letter B
Coloring is such a great strategy to build hand strength, so the color a letter B section of the page is great for all ages. Encourage developmentally appropriate grasp patterns (broken crayons work wonders for developing a tripod grasp), work on coloring inside the lines, color selection, and attention to detail.
Explore different mediums for coloring including markers, gel pens, pencils, crayons (of all types), paint, glitter, or glue and small items to fill the space.
Write the letter B
These two sections are for students to put their practice into letter formation. They will practice writing the letters on the lines with correct sizing, formation, line placement, and details.
Students also practice fitting the letters inside the small boxes to improve letter sizing and accuracy. As with the other sections, this section can also be laminated for reusability.
Be mindful that some students do not write well with dry erase markers.
how to teach letter b
This letter B worksheet is a great start to teaching letter formation. Whether you are using the Handwriting without Tears curriculum, or teaching the letters in alphabetical order, these great worksheets provide a consistent method for teaching and tracking letter formation and understanding.
There are several sites online with different letter rhymes available for teaching letters.
This YouTube video uses the HWT narrative for letter b:
The HWT curriculum lowercase b narrative says: dive down, swim up and over, around and bump.
The uppercase letter B HWT says: big line, little curve, little curve
Letter b rhymes include:
Songs for Teaching’s rhyme for lowercase b says: now make a long line with a circle on the ground, and you’ve made a b with the /b/ /b/ /b/ sound.
Songs of Sounds UK, teaches lowercase b by: starting at the top, go down, back up half way and around the big belly. Uppercase B: From the top, down, back to the top. Round to the middle, round to the bottom
Twinkl has a great set of rhymes. Lowercase b says, go straight down and up again neatly, Then all the way round and join at the bottom to make a b. Uppercase B rhyme is: From top to bottom make a line that is straight. Go back to the top and wait. Make a round bump that bends back to the middle, and a second bump underneath, that is a bit of a fiddle.
prewriting skills needed for Letter B
As you are working on the Letter B Worksheet, be sure your students have the prewriting skills needed for writing letters.
Here is a comprehensive post about the Prewriting Skills needed before letter formation.
Some of the prewriting skills for letter formation include:
grasping skills for holding the writing tool – it is preferable to work on forming a correct tripod grasp, but not essential for starting letter formation. Children begin to form a tripod grasp around age four. You can improve pencil grasp by working on hand strengthening activities
finger isolation is what is needed to be able to tuck fingers into the palm when writing
in hand manipulation – start working on training the intrinsic muscles of the hands
following directions – this is a key to learning any new skill and quite often the biggest barrier
hand strength needed hold pencil and manipulate objects. Students with weak hand strength often have shaky, lightly written letters, and hold the writing tool lightly
crossing midline is an essential skill for letter formation, otherwise letters like “t” are written in four pieces rather than two intersecting lines
beginning hand dominance – do not worry if it is not solidified by age four, just encourage fine motor tasks, and watch for signs that one hand is stronger than the other
imitating movements is important as many children do not respond to verbal directions only
visual perception is making sense of what is written or seen. These might include same/different, scanning, or visual discrimination
prewriting strokes – being able to write lines and circles is important, as these are the foundation for forming upper and lowercase letters. Here is a great post on letter formation
copying from a model
social function skills such as attending, work tolerance, controlling impulses and body, taking turns, waiting, sharing, and more are needed skills for effective learning.
copying from a model or directive
specific skills for letter b
In addition to the skills above, students will need to know how to form straight lines and curves to make upper and lowercase B. These segments of the letter combine to create a motor plan for writing letter B with automaticity.
Teach them about retracing so that the letters are formed correctly rather than b looking like the number six. This is a good time to start demonstrating the difference between b and d, as they are often confused.
Steps to Write Uppercase Letter B–
Upper case letter B has a big line down which starts at the top line. This single line is a great starting point because it is one of the most basic pre-writing lines.
Next, jump back up to the top line. This requires pencil control to place the pencil on the top of the line at the starting point.
Next make two bumps consisting of little curves. These connect at the straight line, which again requires pencil control skills.
Steps to Write Lowercase Letter b-
Lowercase letter b starts at the top line much like uppercase letter B. This point reinforces why teaching uppercase letters first is important, because of the consistency between pencil strokes.
Next, move to the middle line. This is a more refined pencil control skill than the top line.
Make a small curve, ending at the bottom of the straight line.
There are dozens of additional skills children need to learn before they are truly ready for handwriting. Children who are missing these important skills will struggle with handwriting. This lack of foundational skills can lead to poor letter formation, fatigue, compensation strategies, and inefficient writing.
tips to teach letter b formation
In addition to the rhymes above, there are other great strategies to teaching letter formation:
write letters in the air with big arm movements
make letters in sand, shaving cream, chalk, sandpaper
teach the letter names and sounds before forming the letters so students understand what they are writing
it is wise to follow the same curriculum throughout the teaching for consistency. Whether you use Learning without Tears, Teaching Mama, Songs for Sounds, or another curriculum, being consistent helps students learn the language and follow the prompts
surround your students with letters. Use games, activities, books, gross motor games, and whole lesson plans to immerse students in learning the letters
Use some of our multisensory Letter Formation activities to specifically target big lines down and the bump, bump of upper case be as well as the big line down and small bump of lowercase b.
We have created a video with specific tips and tricks to teach uppercase letter B. You can watch that video here:
This uppercase letter B video will have a corresponding lowercase letter b exercise coming soon.
how to use the letter b worksheet
As described above, this free Letter B Worksheet, can be cut into sections and made into mini workbooks. There are many other great options for using these work pages:
Laminate the pages to make them reusable. Punch holes in them, and create a binder. This is especially helpful with the play dough cards
Separate each kind of activity, and group them together to make an alphabet book. For example, make a book of all the “do a dot” letters. Keep going until your students have six mini alphabet books
Cut the pages into six sections, then staple together. Each book with have six pages, all relating to the same letter. For example, the Letter B Worksheet would be turned into a small booklet with a traced b, written b, colored b, dotted b, playdough b, etc.
Take a photo of the letter made of playdough, rather than having students trying to keep their dough formations stuck in their books
Enlarge each section to make them full page sized. This might be helpful for younger learners who may need more room to write and color
Make your own modifications to some of the sections. Instead of tracing, students can fill the section with glue and glitter! In the coloring section, students can fill them with small manipulatives. Wikki sticks can be used instead of Playdough. Water color, paint, or any other creative medium you can find to fill in the spaces
Add this letter b worksheet to part of your bigger lesson plan including gross motor, sensory, social, reading, math, or other daily fun activities
letter B recognition and Identification
In addition to the letter b strategies described above, there are other great tactics designed specifically to support letter b recognition. This is particularly important dur to the tendency for “b” to be confused with “d”. We discuss the letter b confusion in our blog post on to teaching letter formation:
Letter immersion: surround your students with letters. Use games, activities, books, gross motor games, and whole lesson plans to immerse students in learning the letters. Hang up letters, sing songs and rhymes, point out letters, and talk about them. The Dollar Store is a great place to buy all kinds of supplies.
Matching uppercase B to lowercase b:Matching upper case and lowercase letters is an important skill in letter recognition. Practice matching the upper case letter B to lowercase letter b, and vice versa, with letter flash cards. You can use these in a sensory bin or writing tray.
Letter I Spy: ask your child to identify and find letters as you go about your day together. Use the letter of the week as well as previously learned letters.
Making letters using nature: Take a nature walk and gather materials found on the ground. Use these supplies to form letters. Note: Rocks and leaves are easiest for forming rounded letters (B, C, D), and sticks are best for letters with straight lines (A, J, T). Here is how to use sticks to create twig letters.
Guess the magnetic letter: Have your child close their eyes before handing them a single magnetic letter of your choice. See if your student can identify the letter in their hands by touch. For children who are still learning, provide choices for them to guess between (“Do you have a ‘T’ or a ‘B’ in your hands?”).
Letter matching cards: Start by cutting out rectangles of paper or cardboard for your cards (or use index cards), one for each uppercase and lowercase letter. Write a letter on each of the cards, or have your student practice writing it themselves. Your child can decorate the cards, or glue an object that corresponds to each letter as a visual aide (like an apple on each of the “A” cards, a balloon for the “B” cards, and so forth).
You can even use the sections of the letter B worksheet to create mini cards that are great for matching.
When you are finished making the cards, mix them all up on the table and have your student select one. Their task is to find the matching upper or lowercase version of that letter from the pile. Here is a set of cursive letter flash cards.
Make a letter B craft: Have your student form the letter using your chosen material. You can supply every student with the same material to work on copying from a model, or let them try their creativity. These will be great to try on the “build or trace” template included in the letter b worksheet.
Post it notes letters: Write an uppercase letter on 26 Post it notes. Then, use the remaining ones for lowercase letters. Next, alternate placing uppercase and lowercase letters onto your wall or whiteboard. You might have a capital “A” followed by a lowercase “b.” Once you get to “Z,” set the remaining letters in a row so your child can see them. Point to the uppercase “A” and ask, “Can you find the lowercase letter that matches?” If your child correctly identifies the letter “a,” have them pick it up and stick it below the capital “A.”
If you set up a free trial, send us an email at contact@theottoolbox to let us know! We’ll email you a few accompanying resources to support letter formation activities!
Letter similarities and differences: Make or buy flash cards. Work with your student to help you sort them into two groups: those that look the same in upper and lowercase and those that look different.
You may need to model this for your child a few times. For example, hold up the capital “S” card and ask, “Do you see a lowercase letter that looks like this?”
Let your child examine both letters and highlight similarities and differences between the uppercase and lowercase versions. Continue sorting, letter by letter.
Once your child sorts all the letters, have them count the cards in each bowl and see if there are more that look alike or more that are different. This is a great visual perception activity for attending to details.
a final thought on letter B
Find a lesson plan that not only works for your students, but is one that you enjoy. If it is not pleasing to you, it will get annoying and repetitive very quickly. If the rhymes you are using make no sense to you, they will be harder to teach your students. When you get excited about teaching, it will become contagious. Your students will feed off your positive energy. Teaching is not one size fits all, so it will take some trial and error to find something that works.
Want printable handwriting and sensory motor activities to target the visual motor skills needed for letter writing? Grab a copy of our Letters! Fine Motor Kit. The printable PDF contains 100 pages of hands-on letter writing practice for multisensory handwriting!
A-Z Multisensory Writing Pages: Roll a ball of dough letters, ASL sign language letters, gross motor movement, small-scale letter box writing task, finger isolation letter trace, and writing practice area
Alphabet Fine Motor Clip Cards– Clip clothespins or paper clips to match letters with various fonts to strengthen the hands and focusing on eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, visual processing skills, and more.
Cut and place Fine Motor Mazes– Cut out the letter pieces and trace the maze with a finger to work on eye-hand coordination and finger isolation. Place a small letter on the letter spots to address in-hand manipulation and dexterity skills.
A-Z Cotton Swab Cards– Includes upper case and lower case letters. Dot the cards using a cotton swab or laminate the cards and use them over and over again.
A-Z Pattern Block Cards– These cards include a section for tracing with a finger tip for separation of the sides of the hand, eye-hand coordination, and finger isolation during letter formation. There is also a space to “finger write” the letter using the fingertip. This multisensory letter formation activity can be a great brain break during handwriting or literacy tasks. Learners can then form the letter using parquetry blocks.
Fine Motor Letter Geo-Cards– These geo board cards include A-Z in upper case forms. Users can copy the letter forms in a variety of multi-sensory strategies.
A-Z Color and Cut Letter Memory Cards– These upper case and lower case letter cards can be used to color for letter formation. Then use them in fine motor matching tasks or in sensory bins.
Color By Size Sheets– Help learners discriminate between tall letters, small letters, and tail letters. This visual perception activity invites learners to color small areas, using hand muscles for strengthening and handwriting endurance.
A-Z Building Block Cards– These LEGO block cards invite users to copy the cards to form letters using small building blocks. Users can place the blocks on the cards or copy the letter to address visual shift and visual memory. This activity set comes in upper case and lowercase letter forms.
A-Z Play Dough Letter Formation Cards– Print off these cards and laminate them to create play dough mats. Learners can form the letters using the arrows to correctly form letters with play dough while strengthening their hands and visual motor skills. Each card includes a space for practicing the letter formation, using a dry erase marker if the cards are laminated.
Graded Lines Box Writing Sheets– Users can trace and form letters in boxes to work on formation of letters, line awareness, starting points, and letter size.
Alphabet Roll and Write Sheets– Roll a dice and form the letter associated with the number of dots on the dice. This is a great way to work on letter formation skills using motivation. Which letter will reach the top first? This activity is easily integrated with a rainbow writing task to increase number or repetitions for letter practice.
Pencil Control Letter Scan– Use the letter bubble tracks to scan for letters. Users can fill in the letters of the alphabet to work on pencil control skills.
Color and Cut Puzzles– Color the pictures to work on hand strength and letter formation skills. Then cut out the puzzles and build visual perceptual skills.
Want a free printable letter B worksheet that you can use to work on learning the motor plan for letter B? We have a free worksheet that offers several multisensory letter formation strategies. Print off the page and use all of the sections to create uppercase letter B and lowercase letter b. Or, cut the worksheet into sections to create mini booklets to form the letter in a single sensory style.
Enter your email address into the form below to access your copy.
This printable is also available inside our membership club!
Victoria Wood, OTR/L is a contributor to The OT Toolbox and has been providing Occupational Therapy treatment in pediatrics for more than 25 years. She has practiced in hospital settings (inpatient, outpatient, NICU, PICU), school systems, and outpatient clinics in several states. She has treated hundreds of children with various sensory processing dysfunction in the areas of behavior, gross/fine motor skills, social skills and self-care. Ms. Wood has also been a featured speaker at seminars, webinars, and school staff development training. She is the author of Seeing your Home and Community with Sensory Eyes.
Want the rest of the sheets in this series? Also grab:
In this blog post, we’re covering all things self awareness games. We have previously covered aspects of self-reflection, and these self-awareness games are the perfect fit if you are looking for activities to support this social and emotional development skill. Self-awareness plays a major role in self-regulation skills and knowing when and how to implement self regulation strategies that support the individual’s needs.
“Do you want to be happier, have more influence, be a better decision-maker, and be a more effective leader? Self-awareness, then, is the most important muscle you need to develop. It’s what will keep you on target to be the best version of yourself and the best leader you can be.” I love this excerpt from the Better Up website. It seems like a great sales pitch for self awareness, and makes me want to get in on it! Can you imagine if this was a product to buy, a pill to take, or something that did not require effort and constant adjustment?
Self-Awareness Games
While there is no magic potion for building self awareness, there are some great Self Awareness Games out there to make building this skill more fun. Children and their adult counterparts are more likely to start and stick with something if it is motivating and fun.
Occupational therapy practitioners use tools such as games and play to facilitate the skills needed for functional tasks and independence. Self-awareness games can specifically target the social emotional skills needed for self-reflection, growth mindset, and other aspects of development.
Before we get into the games, let’s cover what self-awareness means.
what is self awareness and what are the benefits?
Self-awareness is more than just and awareness of your your own person. It’s also more than body awareness, or being physically aware of where your body is located in space. However, we might think about self-awareness as an internal mirror.
Psychologists Shelley Duval and Robert Wicklund proposed this definition: “Self-awareness is the ability to focus on yourself and how your actions, thoughts, or emotions do or don’t align with your internal standards.”
Only 10-15% of the population have self awareness. This Self Awareness Test can give you insight into what it means to be self aware.
Self awareness or enlightenment goes beyond just knowing if you are a nice person or not. There are several categories that take part in being aware. These include:
Being aware of your inner self (feelings, thoughts, voices) A fun feelings check in activity is great for this.
Awareness of your world view or how life exists and why we are here
Awareness of your personal beliefs
Awareness of your inner conflicts
Awareness of your life values
Being aware of stress and negativity triggers
Understanding your own personal limitations
Identifying self sabotage
Understanding your “inner parents” (what part of your parents do you carry with you)
Being clear on thoughts about your goals and future
This sounds like a lot of work and self reflection. It is. Let’s explore some Self Awareness Games that might make this process a little less painful.
All About Me activities supports children in understanding what makes them “tick”. For the younger kids, starting with all about me activities is a great place to start developing an awareness of what makes each person an individual. All About Me preschool activities has some ideas to get you started. You can also use this All About Me PDF for older kids.
self awareness games – store bought
Sometimes you just want to click on a website and order a game rather than trying to make it yourself. This is fine and there are certainly plenty of self awareness games to choose from.
Amazon affiliate links are included below. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.
The {AND} game self love edition (affiliate link) – “Discover yourself with selfcare and reflection cards, designed to help you discover your true self; With 199 questions and prompts, it encourages you to explore your feelings, beliefs, and experiences, helping you gain a deeper understanding of who you are”. This game is more appropriate for young adults than children.
Head Rush (affiliate link)- Head Rush requires quick self reflection, and less hesitation, encouraging more revealing answers. Perfect for building rapport and starting meaningful conversations that encourage players to reflect on their feelings, memories, desires and overall self. Appropriate for kids, teens and adults
The Ultimate CBT game (affiliate link)- 15 games suitable for 7-14 year-olds, based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and covering all ABCD model parts. Self-Regulation with Fun – Help them identify their feelings while providing skills to cope with their emotions in a relaxed atmosphere using mindfulness techniques, coping thoughts, breathing techniques, problem solving, etc.
What do you Stand For Card Game (affiliate link)- this game is based on a book series. This card game spotlights ten top character traits: Caring, Citizenship, Cooperation, Fairness, Forgiveness, Honesty, Relationships, Respect, Responsibility, and Safety.
Wood Rock Stacking Game (affiliate link)- This game has wooden rocks that need to be stacked. The person who knocks it over loses. There are several versions of this card set, each with a different skills game. Adding a simple game is another way to introduce talking and reflections cards.
Sussed (affiliate link)- a wacky “Would you Rather” card game – A great icebreaker and educational activity for improving social skills – no matter how old you are! Practice empathy, speaking & listening skills and self-awareness in just 15 minutes of play.
Other ideas include modifying games you already have. You can adapt ready made games with stickers, prompts, etc. You can add reflections and questions to store bought games like Jenga, Don’t Break the Ice, checkers, Memory, etc. We shared some ideas in our blog post on learning with games you already own.
DIY self awareness games
These self awareness games for students can be used in schools, homes, clinics, or any location. Because they are the homemade variety, the cost is low as well.
Journaling – while not a game, a great way to practice self awareness. This is a classic “go to” of therapists everywhere. There are some middle school journal prompt ideas that have been developed.
Puppet show – Get a few of your child’s favorite stuffed animals and put on a puppet show. Act out a past situation of exactly what happened. This could be your child getting angry at their sibling, feeling scared of the dark or being super excited on Christmas Eve. Acting out situations is a great way to explore emotions and think about alternative ways of expressing them.
Pass the Ball – write conversation starter questions on each wedge of a ball. Throw the ball and answer the question that pops up on top
The Mirror Game – This game is played by two people who sit facing each other. One person starts by making a facial expression (e.g., raising their eyebrows), and the other person must mimic their emotion. The goal is to match the face as closely as possible. This game helps improve self-awareness by teaching people to pay attention to their facial expressions and body language.
APPs and games – if you are into using technology as a learning tool, there are some great apps and games out there. We have some free apps for occupational therapy that can support these areas.
While working on oneself can be challenging, everyone has growth potential. Buy or make a self awareness game to work on this important skill.
Victoria Wood, OTR/L is a contributor to The OT Toolbox and has been providing Occupational Therapy treatment in pediatrics for more than 25 years. She has practiced in hospital settings (inpatient, outpatient, NICU, PICU), school systems, and outpatient clinics in several states. She has treated hundreds of children with various sensory processing dysfunction in the areas of behavior, gross/fine motor skills, social skills and self-care. Ms. Wood has also been a featured speaker at seminars, webinars, and school staff development training. She is the author of Seeing your Home and Community with Sensory Eyes.
Today’s post will highlight letter A, and include a “Letter A Worksheet.” Each post will have tips to the teach the letter, prewriting skills needed, and verbal prompts helpful to teaching these letters. Plus, you can use these letter a worksheets in various ways to teach multisensory motor planning to target letter formation.
As we get started with a new school year, the OT Toolbox is excited to showcase all 26 letters of the alphabet in upcoming blog posts on letter formation worksheets. Each post will offer information on how to teach the highlighted letter, and include a free download for that letter of the alphabet. Collect all 26 and you have a letter writing workbook!
These worksheets are designed for students to cut the page into sections and staple all the pieces together to create little alphabet tracing books for the dotted, tracing, playdough, and color sections.
Click the link below and add your email address to get the FREE downloadable PDF letter A worksheet. There are different ways to teach letter recognition and formation. A multisensory approach to learning is a great way to improve skills and meet the learning styles of all of your students.
Our Letter A worksheet includes sections to target sensory motor skills in forming the lines of uppercase letter A and lowercase letter a.
dotted letter a
tracing letter a
playdough letter a
color the letter a
Other students are kinesthetic learners that have to motor plan a motion for it to “stick”. These sections of the worksheet support those needs.
letter a dot worksheet
This page has a letter A dot activity. You can cut off this section of the worksheet and work on the motor plan needed to form the diagonal lines of uppercase letter A and the curved line/straight line of lowercase letter a.
Using the dot method to make these letters supports motor planning, crossing midline, diagonal lines, and forming letter a with multisensory methods.
If you collect all 26 pages with a sheet for each letter, you can create a mini flip book with a dot letter page for each letter of the alphabet.
tracing letter a Worksheet
We have covered the benefits of tracing letters as a strategy to target visual motor skills and letter forms. This section of the letter A printable includes a tracing lines activity. Tracing letters can be great for these students, provided they understand what they are tracing. Students can use their fingers for tracing, or add a writing tool to complete the task.
Users can trace upper case letter A as well as the lowercase letter a.
Break off pieces to create the diagonal and curved lines of the uppercase A and lowercase a
Some students are hands on, needing to make and feel things in order to learn. The playdough formation section of the letter A worksheet allows students the opportunity to form the letter A out of play dough or clay.
Color Letter A Worksheet
This section of the worksheet for letter A/a encourage hand strengthening and visual motor skills to color the shape of an A/a. There are many benefits of coloring with crayons and with this section, we are targeting those areas.
Color the A/a with colored pencils, crayons, finger paints, or more.
The coloring, writing, and dot sections are additional methods to teach the designated letter.
how to teach letter a
This letter A worksheet is a great start to teaching letter formation. Whether you are using the Handwriting without Tears curriculum, or teaching the letters in alphabetical order, these great worksheets provide a consistent method for teaching and tracking letter formation and understanding.
Uppercase Letter A includes lines which can be verbally prompted as:
Start at the top middle
Big slant line down to the left
Big slant line down to the right
Hop back to the middle
Little line across
Making an uppercase letter A involves skills like diagonal lines and crossing the midline. This means that even though it’s the first letter of the alphabet, and an upper case letter, that this letter isn’t a great one to start with, especially with young learners.
Diagonal lines in uppercase letter A are a pre-writing skill that is more advanced. Before the young writer can form diagonals, they need the other pre-writing lines. Because of this, you can see why letter order is so important.
Letter A verbal Prompts
Use one of the various options for different letter rhymes available for teaching letters.
The HWT curriculum lowercase “a” narrative says: Make a magic “c”. Start at the top and come around to the bottom. Go up like a helicopter and bump the top line. Come all the way down and bump the bottom line.
For the uppercase letter “A” HWT says: big line, big line, little line. In this program, the letters are not taught in sequential order, but rather in groups based on the shape of the letters.
Or, use visual cues like an apple or airplane that moves along the lines. You can say that the apple curves around to make the small curve of lowercase a and then it flies down to make the short line.
Use verbal prompts for the shapes of the letters: Upper case A has long slanted lines and a short line across the middle. Lowercase letter makes a curve or circle and then a short line down.
Rhymes for writing uppercase letters: A: First the attic, then go across.
Capital A: start at the top and move to the left and down. Take your pen off of the page, don’t mess around. Back to the start, then slide down the other way. Finish with a short line across the middle and you have made a capital A!
Lowercase a: starts with a “c” and go upwards all the way. Go straight back down again and hooray – you made an a!
Go around the apple, down and flick for lowercase “a” formation. Uppercase A: From the top, down to the left, up to the top, down to the right. Lift up and across.
prewriting skills needed to learn letters
As you are working on the Letter A Worksheet, be sure your students have the prewriting skills needed for writing letters. This includes fine motor skills and visual motor skills.
Here is a comprehensive post on all of the Prewriting Skills needed before letter formation.
There are dozens of additional skills children need to learn before they are truly ready for handwriting. So often, older, school-aged students struggling with handwriting, are missing the underlying areas that make up the skills for handwriting. This leads to poor letter formation, fatigue, compensation strategies, and inefficient writing.
tips to teach letter a
In addition to the rhymes above, there are other great strategies to teaching letter formation:
write letters in the air with big arm movements
make letters in sand, shaving cream, chalk, sandpaper
teach the letter names and sounds before forming the letters so students understand what they are writing
follow the same curriculum throughout the teaching for consistency. Whether you use Learning without Tears, Songs for Sounds, or another curriculum, being consistent helps students learn the language and follow the prompts
surround your students in letters. Games, lesson plans, activities, books, gross motor games, etc will immerse them in learning the letters
As described above, the pages, including this free Letter A Worksheet, can be cut into sections and made into workbooks. There are many other great options for using these work pages:
Laminate the pages to make them reusable. Punch holes in them, creating a binder
Separate all of the coloring letter sections and group them together to make an abc book. Then make a book of all the “do a dot” letters. Keep going until your students have six mini alphabet books
Cut the pages into six sections, then staple together. Each book with have six pages, all relating to the same letter. For example, this letter a worksheet would be turned into a small booklet with a traced a, written a, colored a, playdough a, etc.
Some of the sections such as the playdough parts might be better laminated so they are reusable, or take a photo of the letter made of playdough, rather than having students trying to keep their dough formations stuck in their books
Enlarge each section to make them full page sized. This might be helpful for younger learners who may need more room to write and color
Make your own modifications to some of the sections. Instead of tracing, students can fill the section with glue and glitter! In the coloring section, students can fill them with small manipulatives. Wikki sticks can be used instead of Playdough. Water color, paint, or any other creative medium you can find to fill in the spaces
Add this letter A worksheet to part of your bigger lesson plan including gross motor, sensory, social, reading, math, or other daily fun activities
Teaching Correct Letter Formation for Letter A
When it comes to teaching letter A, there are tips and tricks a school based OT will want you to be aware of. Check out our video on YouTube that walks you through how to teach uppercase A, step-by-step, how to make letter A with Wikki Stix, the diagonals in uppercase A, tips to fix mistakes in upper case A letter formation, and more:
a final word on letter a
Take the time to find the curriculum that works for you. If it is not pleasing to you, it will get annoying and repetitive very quickly.
If the rhymes you are using make no sense to you, they will be harder to teach your students. When you get excited about letters, it will catch on with your students.
Free Letter A Worksheet
Want a free printable letter A worksheet that you can use to work on learning the motor plan for letter A? We have a free worksheet that offers several multisensory letter formation strategies. Print off the page and use all of the sections to create uppercase letter A and lowercase letter a. Or, cut the worksheet into sections to create mini booklets to form the letter in a single sensory style.
Enter your email address into the form below to access your copy.
This printable is also available inside our membership club!
Want printable handwriting and sensory motor activities to target the visual motor skills needed for letter writing? Grab a copy of our Letters! Fine Motor Kit. The printable PDF contains 100 pages of hands-on letter writing practice for multisensory handwriting!
A-Z Multisensory Writing Pages: Roll a ball of dough letters, ASL sign language letters, gross motor movement, small-scale letter box writing task, finger isolation letter trace, and writing practice area
Alphabet Fine Motor Clip Cards– Clip clothespins or paper clips to match letters with various fonts to strengthen the hands and focusing on eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, visual processing skills, and more.
Cut and place Fine Motor Mazes– Cut out the letter pieces and trace the maze with a finger to work on eye-hand coordination and finger isolation. Place a small letter on the letter spots to address in-hand manipulation and dexterity skills.
A-Z Cotton Swab Cards– Includes upper case and lower case letters. Dot the cards using a cotton swab or laminate the cards and use them over and over again.
A-Z Pattern Block Cards– These cards include a section for tracing with a finger tip for separation of the sides of the hand, eye-hand coordination, and finger isolation during letter formation. There is also a space to “finger write” the letter using the fingertip. This multisensory letter formation activity can be a great brain break during handwriting or literacy tasks. Learners can then form the letter using parquetry blocks.
Fine Motor Letter Geo-Cards– These geo board cards include A-Z in upper case forms. Users can copy the letter forms in a variety of multi-sensory strategies.
A-Z Color and Cut Letter Memory Cards– These upper case and lower case letter cards can be used to color for letter formation. Then use them in fine motor matching tasks or in sensory bins.
Color By Size Sheets– Help learners discriminate between tall letters, small letters, and tail letters. This visual perception activity invites learners to color small areas, using hand muscles for strengthening and handwriting endurance.
A-Z Building Block Cards– These LEGO block cards invite users to copy the cards to form letters using small building blocks. Users can place the blocks on the cards or copy the letter to address visual shift and visual memory. This activity set comes in upper case and lowercase letter forms.
A-Z Play Dough Letter Formation Cards– Print off these cards and laminate them to create play dough mats. Learners can form the letters using the arrows to correctly form letters with play dough while strengthening their hands and visual motor skills. Each card includes a space for practicing the letter formation, using a dry erase marker if the cards are laminated.
Graded Lines Box Writing Sheets– Users can trace and form letters in boxes to work on formation of letters, line awareness, starting points, and letter size.
Alphabet Roll and Write Sheets– Roll a dice and form the letter associated with the number of dots on the dice. This is a great way to work on letter formation skills using motivation. Which letter will reach the top first? This activity is easily integrated with a rainbow writing task to increase number or repetitions for letter practice.
Pencil Control Letter Scan– Use the letter bubble tracks to scan for letters. Users can fill in the letters of the alphabet to work on pencil control skills.
Color and Cut Puzzles– Color the pictures to work on hand strength and letter formation skills. Then cut out the puzzles and build visual perceptual skills.
Victoria Wood, OTR/L is a contributor to The OT Toolbox and has been providing Occupational Therapy treatment in pediatrics for more than 25 years. She has practiced in hospital settings (inpatient, outpatient, NICU, PICU), school systems, and outpatient clinics in several states. She has treated hundreds of children with various sensory processing dysfunction in the areas of behavior, gross/fine motor skills, social skills and self-care. Ms. Wood has also been a featured speaker at seminars, webinars, and school staff development training. She is the author of Seeing your Home and Community with Sensory Eyes.
Today we are looking at Grasp Patterns, or the aspect of fine motor skills that involves the physical placement of the fingers on items we use to complete daily tasks. We will explore the types of grasp patterns (lateral key, hook, cylindrical, pincer, etc.) and offer activities to support development of each grasp pattern.
These various types of grasp patterns are important to understand when using finger strength exercises to build grasp and pinch strength in fine motor tasks.
Grasp Patterns
A grasp pattern refers to the motor positioning of the hand on a utensil, or the specific type of grip used by the fingers and thumb to hold and manipulate objects. Variances in patterns of grasp promote refined coordination in motor skills, or finger dexterity.
Various grasp patterns are needed to:
Hold objects like pencils, paint brushes, or crayons
Hold and manipulate a toothbrush
Squeeze a bottle of toothpaste
Hold and turn a doorknob
Hold and use a key
Turn a page in a book
Hold an ice cream cone or a hairbrush
Hold something round like a small ball
In this post we will take a look at the developmental grasp patterns that we use for fine motor skills.
why do we notice grasp patterns?
Occupational therapy practitioners tend to spot atypical grasp patterns from a mile away. Apparently I am acutely aware of the different grasp patterns and look for them. I was having dinner with a friend and her four year old son a few nights ago. I was discretely checking out his grasp pattern. Or so I thought. When she caught me looking, I confessed that I was looking at his grasp pattern, she said, “I know”. Luckily for me, he had a nice grasp pattern, so I did not have to go down that rabbit hole.
The reason I am aware of grasping patterns and notice them, is the amount of dysfunction I see.
Kids are being pushed too fast to develop grasping patterns that they are not ready for. This is one of the issues that comes up with pushing preschoolers to write. With the use of technology, you’ll also see a switch from previous grasp patterns into those that use stronger muscles in the hands caused by overuse of the muscles needed to hold cell phones and swipe on screens. Check out symptoms of too much screen time for more information.
Each grasp pattern develops at a certain age. Find out what activities you can do to support these developing grasp patterns.
development of grasp patterns in infancy
When babies are born, they do not notice their hands. Primitive reflexes drive grasp patterns at this stage.
They have a palmar reflex, in which their fingers curl around something (usually a parent’s finger) placed in their palms. This reflex becomes integrated around four months old, and is replaced by volitional behavior, meaning the child has to intentionally initiate the action.
palmar grasp pattern
Around four months old, the child holds an object against the palm, as their fingers curl around it. The thumb does not yet oppose the fingers. This is a crude palmar grasp. Babies grasp large objects, often when placed in their hands.
At six to eight months the thumb starts helping in the palmar grasp pattern. The child holds an object against the palm but is now supported by fingers around the top and the thumb on the side. The radial (thumb) side of the hand is known as the precision side, meaning this grasp pattern is now more precise than before. This is called a radial palmar grasp.
radial digital grasp pattern
Around eight to twelve months the radial digital grasp pattern emerges. When using a radial digital grasp, you hold an object between the fingers and opposed thumb. The fingers are now strong and coordinated enough to hold an object without exterior stabilization from the palm.
pincer grasp
Pincer grasp is the next grasp pattern. About ten months an immature pincer grasp begins to emerge. Babies are beginning to use isolated fingers and the opposed thumb to grasp an object.
Around the twelve month mark, babies demonstrate a more refined pincer grasp pattern. You hold an small object between the thumb and first finger. This is the time when babies are working on feeding themselves with dry cereal and finger foods. While this is definitely a messy stage, finger feeding is a great way to boost your baby’s independence!
Finger isolation begins to happen during this time. Baby learns to point or poke their finger into something.
raking grasp
Around the time that the the child develops a pincer grasp, they also use a raking grasp. This is where the child sweeps all fingers to pick up an object. Babies often get frustrated at this stage because they get little bits of food stuck in the palm of their hand, and have not yet learned to move it out to their fingertips. The whole hand ends up in the mouth at this stage. Keep providing opportunities for practice.
One way to decrease the raking grasp is to provide small objects one at a time, or far apart from each other. Young children us raking to grasp many objects at once, like a large pile of cereal.
Grasp Patterns and Motor Control
Now that babies have the basic ability to reach for and grab and object, the grasp pattern becomes more refined, with the development of hand-eye coordination. This will allow your child to manipulate objects, play with toys, open and close things, and eventually use tools.
Pencil grasp development is one direction the grasp pattern takes as the child learns to hold and use tools (crayons, markers, scissors). A pencil or crayon grasp introduces a new set of challenges, because now purposeful movement is required to manipulate the tool.
The key to an effective, functional pencil grasp is one that allows for dynamic finger movements (to move the pencil around to write), slight wrist extension, and appropriate force modulation so the hand does not become fatigued during writing tasks.
gross grasp pattern
This motor control starts with a Gross grasp. The gross grasp pattern is used when squeezing all of the fingers shut around an object, like when holding the handle of a suitcase.
Gross grasp is important in tasks like holding a cup, spoon, hairbrush, or tube of toothpaste. To do these activities, you need to squeeze your whole hand shut and maintain endurance to complete the activity.
Development of the hand arch and thumb web space is important for these functional skills and gross grasp plays a part.
Initially, at around 12-18 months, children typically rely on a palmar or gross grasp, similar to when grasping toys. This is also referred to as a fisted grasp, because it appears as if the child is holding the crayon in the middle of their fist.
The gross grasp is also known as the cylindrical grasp, or the palmar supinate. It is a fisted grasp with the thumb wrapped at the top of the writing utensil. This is usually accompanied by scribbling. This is considered a primitive grasp. This grasp does not involve finger movements to color, instead relying on less precise movements at the elbow and shoulder joints.
Allow your child to manipulate large tools such as (Amazon affiliate link) chunky crayons. These can be egg shaped, or small chubby crayons. It is too early to be introducing regular crayons, markers, and pencils at this point. To do so leads to poor grasping patterns and compensation strategies.
A power grasp is a variation of the gross grasp that emerges later. This is used when heavy or forceful grasp is needed, such as using a hammer. The thumb helps to stabilize the shaft of the tool rather than opposing the fingers.
other variations of the gross grasp pattern
In the gross grasp, or power grasp patterns, strength is required and involves holding an object between partially flexed fingers and the palm while the thumb opposed or adducts in order to provide pressure against the fingers.
Hook grasp – the fingers hook around an object with or without the assistance of the thumb. This is usually a smaller diameter object. An example of this is gripping the handle of a shopping cart, holding a bucket by the handle, or carrying a briefcase.
Spherical grasp – the fingers spread open wide to grasp a circular object such as a ball or an apple.
Conoid grasp – this grasp is used to hold cone shaped objects such as an ice cream cone. The thumb and fingers oppose to hold a cone shaped object with the apex of the cone at the ulnar side of the palm. The ring and little fingers provide extra control and stability at the smaller end of the cone.
Lumbrical grip – this grasp is used to grasp an object with all five fingers without curling around it. Examples of this are holding playing cards, or grasping a large book.
variations of the Precision grasp pattern
In addition to power grasp patterns (gross grasp, or the power grip) , we also have precision grasp patterns. These prehension grasp patterns typically describe the object that is being grasped, or the finger placements on an object.
While the pincer grasp is a great grasping pattern for holding small objects, it is not the only type of pinch grasp we use.
Lateral Pinch (Key pinch) – The lateral pinch is also known as a Key Pinch, or Key Grip. This is because you can picture the positioning of the fingers and thumb as they would be to hold a key between the pad of your thumb and the lateral side of your pointer finger. While the pincer grasp is finger tip to tip, the lateral pinch uses the side of the index finger to push against the thumb. We see the lateral pinch while holding a key in a lock to turn it, pulling up pants, or tearing paper. Here are some clothespin pinch exercises to improve the different types of pincer grasp patterns.
Three Jaw Chuck – this is also known as the palmar pinch. The thumb opposes against the tips of the first and second fingers to secure a small object. This is often used to pick up and hold objects that are slightly large for a pincer grasp, such as chess pieces, or building blocks.
Tip Pinch – this is more refined than the simple pincer grasp. The pincer grasp usually uses the pads of the finger tips, where the tip pinch grasps the object closer to the tips of the fingers. This can be used to pick up tiny objects such as pulling a pin out of a pin cushion.
We have a video showing these different types of grasp patterns. Check out how we used clothes pins to support strengthening and development of these different pinch types (If you can’t view the video, check it out on The OT Toolbox YouTube channel):
development of writing grasp patterns
Before a child can hold a writing tool with a dynamic tripod grasp, they go through several stages in order to be able to use this functional grasp. This is due to the development of the arches of the hand, the musculature of the hand, and bone formation.
Digital pronate grasp pattern – this grasp emerges around two to three years of age. The fingers are now pointed down towards the bottom of the writing utensil, however, all the fingers are being used along with a lot of whole arm movements. This is also a common grasp for self-feeding with utensils.
Five finger grasp – all of the fingers are involved in holding the writing utensil here, which may continue to limit dynamic finger movements. It marks the first turn toward a neutral wrist position (no longer pronated) and begins to appear similar to a functional grasp. Typically all of the fingers are touching the pencil, but closer to the end of the fingers than the palm. Often children get “stuck” in this grasping pattern, unable (or unwilling) to move to the next stage.
Around four to five years old, a static quadrupod grasp develops. Static means that the fingers still do not actively move, instead writing motions are driven by the wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints. Quadrupod refers to the four fingers that are involved (index, middle, ring + thumb). Children begin to show separation of the digits of the hand as the pinky finger is not actively engaged in grasping the writing utensil. Learners often maintain this grasping pattern into adulthood.
the start of the tripod grasp pattern
At the same time as the static quadrupod, or shortly after, a static tripod grasp may emerge. Some learners do not use a quadrupod grasp, but move right into a tripod grasping pattern. They hold the writing utensils crudely and use the whole pads of their fingers on the writing utensil. There also may still be some wrist range of motion and forearm movement to move the pencil, with the fingers not moving (static). The static tripod grasp is a 3 finger grasp, two fingers pinching the writing utensil and the 3rd (middle) finger tucked to the side of the pencil, forming a tripod. The 4th and 5th fingers are usually static next to these fingers and do not tuck into the palm of the hand yet.
Separation of the sides of the hand– This motor skill is where we see precision skills with stability offered through the base 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.
Finally around ages five to six, a dynamic tripod grasp emerges. Dynamic means that the fingers are now actively moving the writing utensil to produce written strokes. This helps prevent fatigue and increase legibility during writing tasks. Tripod refers to the 3 fingers involved (index, middle + thumb), while the ring and pinky finger are now separated and tucked into the palm. Here is a great post on activities to work on developing a tripod grasp.
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.
tips and activities to improve grasp pattern
While development of grasp pattern seems to come naturally to some children, others need a little help along the way. Providing activities and toys to help promote good development is a great way for all children to learn.
Offer tiny items for your child to practice picking up. If you are fearful of children playing with tiny objects, you can use food items such as sprinkles, cereal pieces, raisins, dried fruit, tiny pieces of cookies, or small cooked macaroni/rice
Placing small toys in an ice cube tray to encourage use of a pincer grasp
Coloring with broken crayons to encourage use of a tripod grasp
Have children hold a small pompom or coin in their fourth and fifth digits to promote a tripod grasp pattern
Practice writing or coloring on a vertical surface to promote wrist extension and dynamic finger movements
Engage in tactile play to help with mapping the hand
Playdough is always a great activity for helping to build grasping skills
Strengthen finger and arm muscles. Some fun activities include using squirt bottles, doing wheelbarrow or animal walks, playing with Legos, and squeezing resistive putty
Life skills are great tasks to build grasping patterns. Working on fasteners, grooming, cooking, self feeding are functional activities that work on grasping patterns. You can initiate play using household items for inexpensive skill-building or therapy at home.
Kitchen tools make great activities to develop grasp patterns. Check out our post on cooking and fine motor skills to get started. Get out the tongs, pincers, measuring cups, small containers to open/close, bottles for pouring, spoons, potato peeler, cracking eggs, a can opener, etc. This can be done in pretend play, or during a cooking task. Something as simple as muffins can use several tools.
Clean out the junk drawer – you would be amazed how many items are in the junk drawer that can be used to strengthen fine motor skills. Use buttons, coins, pieces of paper, stickers, string, chip clips, or whatever you can find
Create a fine motor toolkit – head to the dollar store and pick up some needed items to make your own toolkit. This can include blocks, beads, cut up sponges, scissors, stickers, playdough, putty, string, paper, and anything else you see. Put all of these items in a shoebox or clear tote. We love putting together occupational therapy toolkits. You could also try some of our printable, digital toolkits, like our back-to-school toolkit.
Set up a bin rotation system – have fine motor stations or small pencil boxes with different fine motor activities in them. Students can rotate through the bins as they master them.
the key to developing great fine motor skills
“Don’t wait for the right opportunity: create it.” — George Bernard Shaw
Create opportunities for children to learn and grow. This does not mean buying all of the latest toys and gadgets, or parking your kid in front of an Ipad. Provide the materials, and guidance needed for success.
It is much better to build the skills a child needs, than to spend months and years undoing the damage.
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.
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Victoria Wood, OTR/L is a contributor to The OT Toolbox and has been providing Occupational Therapy treatment in pediatrics for more than 25 years. She has practiced in hospital settings (inpatient, outpatient, NICU, PICU), school systems, and outpatient clinics in several states. She has treated hundreds of children with various sensory processing dysfunction in the areas of behavior, gross/fine motor skills, social skills and self-care. Ms. Wood has also been a featured speaker at seminars, webinars, and school staff development training. She is the author of Seeing your Home and Community with Sensory Eyes.
For young (and old) children, a great calming classroom tool that supports learning, social participation, and school tasks is the calm down corner. A calming corner in the classroom can be a great sensory strategy to support emotional regulation needs in students. It’s a place to calm or re-organize in a personal bubble, meeting regulation needs so learning can happen. Let’s go over fun calm down corner ideas to support various regulation needs in the classroom.
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Calm Down Corner
A classroom calming area can include a variety of movement and sensory based activities or tools.
A place to sit: A visual space for a child to sit in their calming area, that is large enough for one child only. This could be a bean bag chair, a cushion or a pillow. These soft spots will help make the cozy corner comfortable so children feel they can stay as long as they would like. There are so many options when it comes to Flexible Seating tools – bean bag chair, movement seat, deflated beach ball seat, couch, soft chair, floor mats, large pillows
Soft surfaces – yoga mat, gymnastics mat, or soft rug
Timer – visual timers with countdown options are great
Preferred sensory items such as tactile toys, chewing items, plushies, fidgets, etc.
Books: Looking through picture books of all kinds, helps to give children something to do, while keeping their minds calm. Most of the time that children are interested in using a cozy corner, is when they are feeling overwhelmed.These Zones of Regulation booksthat talk about different feelings and support regulation and processing through feelings such as sad, scared, angry and more. These empathy and friendship books are another tool to consider. Place the books in a basket or a shelf for easy access.
Emotional Supports: Visual and tactile supports help people of all ages, but it is essential to have a visual space in the classroom for preschoolers to retreat to when they need time to calm down. Soothing Sammymakes creating this area simple and makes it a positive experience for children. This adorable golden retriever has his calm down house which can be placed in the cozy corner, with items that help children calm down using their sensory system. As they calm down, they can use the visuals included in the kit to explain to other children and adults how they are feeling and what they need support with.
Stuffed Animals or Baby Dolls: When feeling lonely, sad, scared or overwhelmed, having access to baby dolls or adorable stuffed animals makes the space less lonely. Additions such as baby doll blankets, bottles and other caretaking tools, allow children to comfort others as they work on comforting themselves.
Personal space: Adding a privacy cover or even simply a boundary to the cozy corner space helps children not to be distracted by other aspects of the environment. Placing fabric, cloth or other child-safe covers over the cozy space allows children to feel like they are in charge of their own space. Some child care centers place the cozy areas in small tents, (Amazon affiliate links) canopies (affiliate link) or wooden privacy cube like this one. (affiliate link)
A feelings check in could be a great addition to this space. The child could enter the calm down area and identify how they are feeling and then use strategies to support those needs.
This list is just the beginning! A calm down corner can include any item from the list above or classroom sensory diet strategies, based on the needs of the individual student.
Calm down corners can be quiet soothing areas to decompress for certain learners, while others need a more active calm down area in classrooms.
How to Add movement to a calm down corner
There are many different ways that children can calm down. Movement is one of the most beneficial and complicated ways to manage feelings and emotions.
There are two different types of movement patterns that support the sensory system.
Both of these types of movement activities increase awareness of where a body is in space, calms the central nervous system and regulates emotions in an amazing way. Movement is complicated as it can be alerting and calming. Picking the right activity for the desired outcome is tricky, but effective.
Help your learner understand what they need for self regulation, rather than bouncing all over the calm down corner.
How is movement calming?
Have you noticed that children seem to pay attention longer after moving around for a while? This isn’t just because they are tired after completing an active task. Children and adults are able to attend for longer periods of time when movement breaks are embedded into their daily schedules due to the sensory benefits it provides.
For adults that have desk jobs, it is widely known that every 20 minutes, they should stand up. This not only helps blood flow, but also awakens the body. When children are engaged in circle time, implementing movement based activities within circle (like freeze dancing, jumping and marching) is beneficial to improving attention.
Movement has many benefits, including helping calm down when feeling overwhelmed with emotions.
When the sensory system becomes overstimulated due to internal feelings and frustrations, some people are quick to seek out movement activities to calm down. Adults may go for a walk or run, chew gum, lift weights or kick a ball. This strategy directly affects proprioceptive input.
There are many ways the body processes movement. This impacts the central nervous system in different ways.
Proprioceptive inputs is one of the ways the body processes movement. It tells the brain where the body is in space. Proprioception is guided by skin, muscle, and joint receptors in the body, to connect to the brain through the nervous system. In this way, a person knows where their body is in space, and what the body is doing, without needing to watch the body parts move. A great example of proprioception, is being able to walk down the stairs without looking at ones legs or feet
Heavy work, or tasks that involve heavy resistance, offers input to the muscles, joints, and connective tissue, and is essential to regulating the sensory system
In this article on neuroplasticity, evidence suggests the sensorimotor cortex that governs proprioception is not fixed, and can be changed through external manipulation.
Vestibular movement, like proprioception, also helps alert us where our body is in space. This system operates through the inner ear, passing information to the brainstem, affecting many areas of the body. If a person starts jumping, rocking to music, or dancing to calm the body, it activates the vestibular system. This article on vestibular activities does a great job explaining this system.
more about the vestibular system
Receptors in the inner ear, found in two structures (the otolith organs and the semicircular canals), respond to linear/angular/rotational movement, gravity, head tilt, and quick movement changes.
The receptors in the ear, provide information to the central nervous system about the body’s position in space. Information is used to:
control posture, eye, and head movements
correct the eyes with head and body movements
muscle tone and postural adjustments
perceive motion and spatial orientation, and integrates somatosensory information
Through the vestibular and proprioceptive systems, the body processes information about where it is space, interprets movement patterns, and recognizes touch and joint pressure. These senses greatly impact the ability to calm down by triggering pressure points through movement (such as rocking or swinging).
When a child (or adult) becomes upset or overwhelmed, it is helpful to utilize the vestibular and proprioceptive systems as intervention tools. This helps a person calm and self regulate, in order to process their feelings and problem solve.
Because children often need sensory strategies to self regulate, having a designated calm down area set up in the home/classroom makes redirecting children to the appropriate calming activities much easier.
The Soothing Sammy program is a great way to encourage children to take part in creating their own calm down corner through a story about a dog, Sammy, a golden retriever. As children help build Sammy’s calm down area to use when overwhelmed, they are gently taught that it is okay to have a variety of feelings. As children look through the book, they learn how to use objects in their calm down corner when needed, including drinking water, wiping their face with a cloth, jumping on a small mat (proprioceptive and vestibular input) and much more.
There are so many items that we can add to a calm down corner and every calm down corner will be different based on individual children’s needs. In the Soothing Sammy curriculum, there are recipes for lavender bubbles, slime, tactile fidgets, paint, and others.
Proprioception Calm Down Corner Ideas
Here are some great proprioceptive strategies to include in a calm down corner:
Calming Corner Printables- Print off the sensory stations listed below. These support heavy work needs (and vestibular input)
Jumping mat or small trampoline. When children jump, they put pressure on their joints
Weighted blanket. Weighted blankets provide deep pressure over the entire body, making this activity one of the an effective whole-body proprioceptive strategies to help children calm down
Watering plants. Lifting a watering can, can impact joints all over the body. As children stoop down to pick up the watering can, moving it over plants of different heights, they are getting great input
Weighted ball. Lifting and rolling over a weighted ball increases proprioceptive input in the hands, arms, shoulders, and core.
Play Dough. Squishing, squeezing and pulling apart playdough or clay, increases proprioceptive input in hands and small joints.
Some of these activities can be alerting or calming, therefore some trial and error may be needed.
Vestibular Calm Down Corner Ideas
Movement with changes in positioning can be calming as well. Think slow, rocking movements. Here are some Vestibular strategies to include in a calm down area:
Farm Brain Breaks – These simple, yet fun activities, provide visual ways to complete vestibular activities
Calming Corner Printables- Movement like yoga poses or those offering brain breaks can be just the calming input needed.
Swinging – Help your child move and sway in different directions with an indoor or outdoor swing. A Sensory Swing for modulationis an amazing way to provide an option to swing in a home or preschool setting
Trampoline – Provide a small trampoline for your child to jump on. (Amazon affiliate link:) This toddler trampoline with handle is perfect for indoors spaces
Dancing – Any type of movement to music, including freeze dancing or shaking instruments (such as a tambourine, bells, maracas) or using scarves, are wonderful additions to a calm down corner
Yoga Poses – There are several themed yoga poses perfect for children. Add a yoga book or cards like these Unicorn Yoga Posesto any calm down area
calming corner printables
One tool to add to a calming corner or calming space is a printable that offers a visual designed to promote calming and organizing self-regulation. These calming corner printables are easy to print off and start using right away.
Over the years, we’ve created seasonal sensory paths, or sensory stations that support regulation needs. We’ve received wonderful words of thanks and feedback letting us know how loved these sensory stations have been.
Check out each of these seasonal calming corner printable packets. Pick and choose the ones that support your needs in the classroom, therapy clinic, or home:
Additionally, other calming corner printables might include deep breathing posters. We have many free deep breathing exercises on the website, including:
Finally, a brain beak printable like our popular alphabet exercises makes a great wall poster for a calming corner of the classroom.
Keep in mInd about setting up a calming corner in classroom
Calm down areas should incorporate all the senses, as every mood, trigger, situation and response is different. Equally important is the co-regulation aspect, which relates to responding to the mood and behavior of those around us, or the peers that may be present in a classroom or home setting.
By utilizing a variety of calming tools in a calming corner, or calm down space within the classroom, children will be able to identify what they need, the moment they need it, while still engaging in active learning.
It can be daunting and complicated providing for the needs of all of your different learners, however, by incorporating vestibular and proprioceptive materials in a calm down corner, children are able to use these powerful movement strategies when they need them the most, all while taking a multisensory approach to academics.
Sensory Corner
We’ve covered ways to set up a calming area, but what if you really want to feature the cozy aspect of a sensory space in a classroom or home? A sensory corner is very much the same concept, with different terminology. The key to a calm down space is incorporating sensory components within these areas.
Research shows that having a designated space for children to have alone time in, during their school day, is a way to support emotional development and independence, while also teaching children that it is okay for their friends to take a break.
When combining visual, tactile and other sensory components into the design of a cozy area, children will independently seek it out when they need a break from their peers.
in the classroom is a cozy or quiet space for one child to spend time independently when they feel like they need a break from the regular commotion of a preschool day. This area can be used to take a sensory break, to calm down when they are feeling upset or overwhelmed, or to just take a break.
This area should be accessible for all children at any time of the school day. This area is best used when it is at the child’s level, is situated in an area of the classroom that is far away from the busier/louder areas of the classroom, and includes sensory supports to encourage calming and peaceful experiences.
Whatever you call your safe space, and however you set it up, what matters most is your intention.
Why Use a Sensory Corner?
A calming corner or a sensory corner may be used for many various reasons.
There are hundreds of reasons why children might need to take a break from other children in the classroom. They may feel sad, overstimulated or just need time to recharge.
This may include:
Feeling overstimulated in the classroom
Overwhelming feelings
Needing to recharge or refocus
Having a bad day
Changes in routines
Feeling “out of sorts”
Worried about a home situation
Worried about a friend situation or social situation
Worried about a test or project in the classroom
Sadness about home situations
Missing family or pets
Not sure what to expect or what is expected of them
Remember that the goal of the sensory corner is to offer a safe space, or to give children a place to calm down, feel safe, and regroup when they are overcome with big emotions at school.
One thing to consider is that a calm down area of the classroom can be effective at the start of the school year due to transitions in the classroom when a new classroom may mean a lot of unexpected sensory input. This is a great addition to back-to-school sensory activities that support students of all abilities.
Where to put a cozy area:
When looking at an indoor preschool classroom set up, there are many centers that are utilized by children throughout the day. The key is to avoid adding visual noise, or visual clutter when adding a cozy area to the classroom.
Some of the busiest areas include the circle time/gross motor area, the block area and the art areas. These areas tend to attract groups of children at once and aren’t the best spaces to put next to a calming area.
The library, dramatic play and animal/science areas, tend to be more quiet spaces in the classroom. Each of these spaces will support a calmer environment to build a calm down area. When deciding what wall or area to place the calm down spot, keep in mind the following environmental components:
Is there a window nearby that will give off too much light?
Are there large gross motor/sensory spots that are noisy?
How many pictures are on the wall, and are they soothing?
What are the colors of the walls by the calming area, and are they overstimulating?
Is the space adequate for one child, or will more children try to encroach on their alone time?
Can this space be easily visible by a teacher doing active supervision?
Is this space near high traffic areas, like the entry door or bathroom?
Many spaces may feel like the perfect spot for a calm down space inside the classroom. You know your kids the best and where they spend most of their time. As the school year progresses, there may be times where you want to move your calm down area to a better spot, and that’s okay!
Outdoor Sensory corner Ideas
Don’t forget about the outside as an option for a calm down space! We know the many benefits of outdoors as a calming area, so simply going outside is a great option for calming the mind and body while organizing (or regulating) the sensory motor systems. The outdoors is one way to add free sensory motor options to the classroom.
Kids need quiet spaces while they are playing outdoors also. When setting up an outdoor learning environment, make sure to incorporate some independent areas in a shady area of the playground. These spaces could be near the garden, near a book reading area, under a nice shade tree or near a swing. You can even add an outdoor sensory swing as a calming option.
When setting up an outdoor area as a sensory corner for classroom breaks, consider what science says: Research on outdoor sensory play tells us that playing outdoors supports development, but there are emotional benefits as well as benefits to learning.
Some components to think about when setting up your outdoor calm down area include:
Is it sunny or shady?
Is it near an area where children will be running quickly?
Is it near a highly trafficked area, like a parking lot, walkway or door?
Quiet cozy areas should be available for children at all times. It isn’t a punishment corner, rather a space that children can “take a break” when they need it.
Here are 5 simple ways to incorporate cozy spaces outdoors so children have the opportunity to play on their own when needed.
1.Place to Sit: The first step to creating a safe space is for children to have a space to be on their own. You can create this in a similar way with an area rug or cushion like the indoors, or you can create something with more of a visual “splash” like these calming spaces in children’s swimming pools.
2. Gardens: Nature is a great accessory to a cozy nook area outside. Consider creating a cozy nook with a variety of plants. Adding trellis’s and arches where different vegetables and flowers and grow over a child’s safe space, incorporates natural colors and healthy foods into the safe space that children will spend their time. Sensory gardening is also a great option for a sensory break from the classroom that fosters learning!
3. Swings: Attaching a child safe swing to a tree provides a sensory rich safe space where children have the opportunity to have quiet time and self soothe. There are so many sensory swing options including a hammock swing and a platform swing.
4. Individual Art Space: Child initiated process art in nature can be a calming and essential experience that supports children when they are overwhelmed or overstimulated. A simple way to create this individualized space is by attaching an easel to a fence and offering different mediums to use with the easel (markers, paint, chalk.) Some of these creative painting ideas are fun to try in a sensory calm down space.
5. Sensory Table: A small sensory table or a sensory bucket is a wonderful way to encourage individual calming time while outside. You can add a variety of different materials to the sensory tub, or offer options of 5 or six sensory buckets. This could include bubbles and wands, sand, goop or some more of these sensory bin ideas. Another idea is to set up a nature table. You could even use a picnic table with a sand writing tray on top where users draw in the sand on the table surface.
Best Practice for Calm Down Corners
No matter what you call them: calm down corners, cozy corners, or sensory corners…and no matter where they are located: indoors or outdoors, in the home, or in the classroom, these sensory spaces are a valuable tool for promoting self-regulation and emotional well-being.
They provide a dedicated space for students to practice calming techniques and engage in activities that help them manage their emotions. Calming corners may include tools such as breathing exercises, visual aids with coping strategies, mindfulness activities, and calming sensory items like stress balls or visual timers…or any item that offers a sense of peace.
The key is to create an environment that is quiet, comfortable, and free from distractions, allowing students to recharge and regain focus when needed!
If you are setting up a calm down corner for your classroom as you gear up for a new school year, be sure to check out our resource on back-to-school sensory activities as an addition to your classroom calming area.
Jeana Kinne is a veteran preschool teacher and director. She has over 20 years of experience in the Early Childhood Education field. Her Bachelors Degree is in Child Development and her Masters Degree is in Early Childhood Education. She has spent over 10 years as a coach, working with Parents and Preschool Teachers, and another 10 years working with infants and toddlers with special needs. She is also the author of the “Sammy the Golden Dog” series, teaching children important skills through play.
