Monthly Movement Activities

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Looking for ways to keep the kids moving and active? Maybe you need some indoor play ideas. Perhaps you are looking for movement activities for children when getting out of the house just isn’t possible. Kids just aren’t moving like they used to. Need a few ways to add movement activities into each and every day? Adding extra movement breaks or brain breaks into the classroom or just daily play can be a helpful tool for improving the underlying skills kids need for strengthening or just getting the sensory input they crave and need to develop. Sometimes, it’s as simple as coming up with creative movement ideas. Other times, kids play the same favorite gross motor games over and over again. These monthly sensory movement activities provide the sensory input and gross motor movement that kids need! 

Monthly movement activities for kids
Use these sensory movement ideas for kids to add movement and play into activities for kids all year long! They are perfect for play and occupational therapy activities.

Monthly Movement Activities

Add a few of the occupational therapy activities in this post into your therapy line-up. Having a few monthly themed activities for therapy can make the routines less boring and a great way to throw a wrench at the burnout machine.

Use the lists below to inspire therapy plans for the month or weeks ahead. Simply add the theme into your occupational therapy activities for the week. Then, use specific graded activities to meet the needs of each child on your caseload. This strategy can help in planning OT activities in the clinic or school-based interventions. (And, having a theme set up for the week totally helps with carting items from place to place in that trunk of yours, too!)

Monthly Movement Activities for Kids

Kids love a fresh occupational therapy activity, too. Adding a fresh and fun new game or activity can make a rainy indoor day more fun or can bring a little something different to a sunny afternoon outdoors. The best thing about these movement and play ideas is that they provide all of the right kind of sensory movement input that kids need to pay better attention, calm down, or self-regulate. Use these activity ideas as movement activities for preschoolers in planning lessons that meet movement needs. 

The movement activities listed below are play ideas that promote proprioceptive input, vestibular input, gross motor skills, body awareness, fine motor skills, visual motor integration, bilateral coordination, crossing midline, core strengthening, motor planning, and so much more. Best of all, they are FUN! 

Movement activities for Preschoolers

In the preschool setting, there is often an emphasis on writing letters. However, there is a much more important area that needs addressing…movement! Adding movement activities for preschoolers in learning builds the underlying skills that are many times, lacking in preschool-aged kids, and beyond. By adding movement activities to the preschool classroom, kids can learn letters, colors, numbers, and more through movement, and really gain that kinesthetic learning component.

Given that so many kids are spending more time on screens and have less opportunities to play outside, I wanted to provide a big old list of movement pay ideas that can be incorporated into every day of the year! These ideas cover each month and have themes but can be expanded on so that every day of every month is covered. 

occupational therapy games and activity list

Therapists will love to use these movement activities as home programs or as part of therapy interventions. Adding themed activities is a fun way to work on specific skills or goals using occupational therapy games with this activity list.

Teachers could sneak some of these movement ideas into the school day as brain breaks, indoor recess activities, or movement breaks to improve attention. 

The list below separates each month into themed sets of activities that can be used in handwriting, gross motor games, fine motor activities, sensory movement activities, movement breaks, and more.

Parents will love adding these activities into everyday of the year to get the kid active and moving both indoors and outdoors! 

A Year of Sensory Play
This year of movement activity list is part of our A Year of Sensory Play packet. It’s a printable packet of TONS of themed activities that will last the whole year long. Each activity is designed to promote movement and sensory processing through sensory challenges and play activities. There are 67 pages in the Year of Sensory Play Packet  and the activities cover every season. The packet also includes 12 months of sensory planning sheets, and the monthly movement activities listed below. There are also monthly sensory bin filler ideas so that every month of the year is covered when it comes to gross motor and fine motor sensory play. 


The Year of Sensory Play packet is a resource for planning out and actually USING the sensory ideas that provide sensory input kids need to develop the skills they require for attention, focus, regulation, handwriting, learning, managing clothing fasteners, and overall functioning as a thriving kiddo! 


Now onto the sensory play ideas! 


Monthly Sensory Movement Activities

The ideas listed below are movement-based activities. Each sensory activity doubles as a gross motor or fine motor movement activity that builds on sensory based activities. These are fun ways to get the kids learning through play and are activities for toddlers to gain skills like balance, eye-hand coordination, fine motor development, and core strength. 

When intending to improve various skills in preschool-aged kids, use these sensory movement activities for preschoolers, as well.

Try incorporating these ideas into each month for a year of movement and fun!

January Movement Activity Ideas

January movement activities for preschoolers, toddlers, and sensory learning.
Jumping Jacks
Indoor Yoga
“Snowman Says”
Indoor Tag
Build a couch fort
Hide and Seek
Burpees
Push-Ups
Brain Break YouTube Videos
Build with blocks
Indoor parade
Packing peanuts
Blanket tug-of-war
Bean bag toss
Hop on paper snowflakes


February Movement Activity Ideas

February movement activities for preschoolers, toddlers, and sensory play.
Heart hopscotch
Obstacle course
Masking tape maze
Paper plate ice skating
Slide on cardboard on carpet
Indoor snowball fight (paper)
Draw on windows-dry erase marker
Scrub floors with soapy water
Build with cardboard boxes
Gross motor Uno
Bedsheet parachute play
Crawl through tunnels
Movement scavenger hunt
Marching games
Wash walls


March Movement Activity Ideas

March movement activities for learning, play, brain breaks, and sensory learning.
Indoor trampoline

“Leprechaun Says”
Therapy ball
Sit and spin
Charades
Tumbling
Dance party
Balloon ball toss

Shamrock balance beam
Hoola hoop
Dribble a basketball
Plastic Easter egg race on spoons
Animal walks
Roll down hills
Easter egg hunt

April Movement Activity Ideas

April movement activities for occupational therapy games and activities.
Playground tour
Jump in puddles
Bear walks
Dig in dirt
Plant flowers
Sidewalk chalk race
Trace shadows with chalk
Bounce ball on wall
Flutter like a butterfly
Grow like a flower
Pick flowers
Fill a recycle bin
Wheelbarrow walks
Crawl like a bug
Draw big flowers with both hands

 

May Movement Activity Ideas

May movement activities for kids.
Leaf balance beam
Hula hoop race
Beach ball toss
Ride bikes
Mother May I
Use a bike pump
Outdoor yoga
Swim relay
Bouncing ball tic tac toe
Lawn games
Jungle gym
Hike
Outdoor picnic
Bounce a ball on a line
Collect sticks





June Movement Activity Ideas

June movement activities for occupational therapy activity planning.
Swimming
Craw walks
Log balance beam
“King of the Mountain”
Kick a ball course
Throw paper airplanes
Hammer golf tees into ground
Climb trees
Play catch
TV Tag
Limbo
Ride scooters
Collect nature
Walk a dog
Toy scavenger hunt



July Movement Activity Ideas

July movement activities for preschoolers and toddlers learning and play.
Fly like a bee
Jump waves
Creep like a caterpillar
Catch fireflies
Jump rope balance beam
Leap frog
Waterguns
Freeze tag
Shadow puppets
Put up a tent
Water balloon race
Pull a wagon
Pillow fight
Cartwheels
Blow bubbles




August Movement Activities Ideas

August movement activities for kids
Slither like a snake
Hop like a frog
August Sensory Bin
Catch bugs
Gallop like a horse
Sort seeds
Small toys frozen in ice
Finger paints
Hang clothes on a clothes line
Hunt for sounds
Walk with a ball between legs
Hit a kickball with tennis racket
Run through sprinkler
Pick fruit or berries
Water table play



September Movement Activity Ideas

September movement activities for occupational therapy games.
Write on sandpaper
Pool noodle balance beam
Balance board
Hop on leaves
Scurry like a squirrel
Fall hike
Bob for apples
Roll like a pumpkin
Fall leaf hunt
Collect acorns
Family walk
Bike parade
Wash the car
Donkey kicks
Waddle like a duck





October Movement Activity Ideas

October movement activities for preschool and toddler development.
Spin like a spider
Carve a pumpkin
Stretch spider web netting
Punch holes in leaves
Cut leaves
Football toss
Farmer in the Dell
Jump in pillows
Paper football
“Scarecrow Says”
Autumn art projects with leaves
Wash apples
Chair push-ups
Make applesauce





November Movement Activity Ideas

November movement activities for brain breaks, and classroom movement and learning.
Jump in leaves
Rake leaves
Catch falling leaves
Waddle like a turkey
“Turkey Pokey”
Thread beads on feathers
Flashlight Tag
Thanksgiving Charades
Crumble and stomp on leaves
Trace leaves
Turkey hunt
Roll a pumpkin
Run in place
Cut feathers
Blow a feather with a straw





 December Movement Activity Ideas

December movement activities for preschoolers, toddler learning, and occupational therapy activity planning.
Christmas themed yoga
Wrap presents
“Santa Says”
Prance like a reindeer
Shovel relay race 
Decorate a tree
Roll and knead dough
Pull a sled
Crunchy walk on ice or snow
Holiday themed charades
Holiday march
Jingle Bell Catch
Relay with gift bow on a spoon
Stocking guessing game
Push boxes


Looking for more ideas to add movement throughout the day? Check out The Sensory Lifestyle handbook to add sensory input throughout daily activities to create a lifestyle of sensory success! 

I’ve worked to create a book on creating an authentic and meaningful sensory lifestyle that addresses sensory needs. The book is now released as a digital e-book or softcover print book, available on Amazon. 
 
The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook walks you through sensory diet creation, set-up, and carry through. Not only that, but the book helps you take a sensory diet and weave it into a sensory lifestyle that supports the needs of a child with sensory processing challenges and the whole family.
 
 
The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook is a resource for creating sensory diets and turning them into a lifestyle of sensory success through meaningful and motivating sensory enrichment.
 
Use these monthly movement activities to encourage sensory input or gross motor play all year long.






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October movement activities for preschool and toddler development.

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