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How to Dye Pumpkin Seeds for Sensory Play

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How to Dye Pumpkin seeds

If you’ve ever carved a pumpkin and wondered how to dye pumpkin seeds, then you are in luck. The occupational therapists know the sensory benefits of lifting and carving a pumpkin, as well as separating pumpkin seeds from the ooey, gooey pumpkin guts. Here, we’re sharing one Fall Bucket List item must-have…dying pumpkin seeds for sensory play, pumpkin seed crafts, and pumpkin seed fine motor tasks! Read on for an easy dyeing method for pumpkin seeds that can be included in occupational therapy Halloween sessions or sent home as a home program for this time of year.

How to dye pumpkin seeds

Add dyed pumpkin seeds to your list of pumpkin activities!

How to Dye Pumpkin Seeds

This post on how to dye pumpkin seeds was one we originally created back in 2014. The thing is that colored pumpkin seeds is still just as much fun for fine motor and sensory play as it was years ago!

Dying pumpkin seeds isn’t hard. In fact, the kids will love to get in on the mixing action. They will love to use those dyed pumpkin seeds in sensory bins, for fine motor pumpkin seeds activities, or even Fall crafts like this pumpkin seed craft.

Once you dye the pumpkin seeds, use them for tons of fine motor activities, sensory play activities, and visual motor ideas, like sorting pumpkin seeds. These are fun Fall activities that will stick with kids as a memory!

I love that this recipe is simple because it is a great way to support development of specific skills when kids are involved in making the dyed pumpkin seeds. By getting kids involved in the process, you can work on several areas:

  • executive functioning skills: planning, prioritization, working memory
  • problem solving
  • direction following
  • bilateral coordination
  • safety awareness
  • spatial awareness
  • kitchen tool use
  • fine motor skills
  • functional fine motor skills: opening containers, opening a plastic bag, scooping with a spoon, closing a plastic bag
  • eye-hand coordination skills
  • proprioception skills and body awareness with shaking a bag to coat the seeds completely

We cover how using recipes to develop skills is such a powerful therapy tool in our resources on our blog on life skills cooking activities. It’s simple recipes like this one and others in our cooking with kids resources that pack a powerful punch in developing skill areas.

Be sure to check out this resource on fine motor kitchen activities to better grasp all of the fine motor skills developed through cooking tasks like this pumpkin seed dying task.

We also talked about about these skill areas in our resource on how to dye sand for sensory play.

Colorful Pumpkin Seeds

This post contains affiliate links.

We wanted to make a batch of colorful pumpkin seeds with vivid colors, so I wasn’t sure how to dye the seeds to make the colors really pop. We decided to test which method would work to really get the best colors on our pumpkin seeds.

We tested using To make our seeds this year, we used (Amazon affiliate links) liquid food coloring dye and gel food coloring.  In our tests, each type of food coloring worked really well.  

One thing to note is that if you use food coloring, technically, the pumpkin seeds are still edible. This is important if you have a child playing with the seeds that might put them into their mouth.

The problem with roasting the seeds after coloring them is that the colors don’t “stick” as well to the seed, making less vivid colors.  If you are going to roast the seeds so that they are edible for these situation, I would suggest first roasting your seeds and THEN dying them for the brightest colors.

That being said, you don’t NEED to roast the seeds in order to use them for sensory play. As long as the pumpkin seeds are dry, they will absorb the food coloring.

Use these instructions on how to dye pumpkin seeds to make colored pumpkin seeds for fine motor and sensory play with kids.

Materials to Dye Pumpkin Seeds:

To dye pumpkin seeds, you need just a couple of items:

  • raw, clean pumpkin seeds from a fresh pumpkin
  • a plastic bag (sandwich bag or a gallon-sized plastic bag)
  • food coloring
  • paper towels

That’s all of the items you need to dye pumpkin seeds! This is really a simple recipe, and one that is easy to make with kids.

Dying PUmpkin Seeds

To dye the pumpkin seeds, it is very simple:

  1. Put dry pumpkin seeds into a plastic bag.
  2. Add the food coloring.
  3. Seal the bag shut and shake the bag to coat all of the seeds with the food coloring.
  4. Pour the seeds out onto a surface covered with paper towels (A kitchen counter works well).
  5. Let the seeds dry.

Whether you use liquid food coloring dye or gel food coloring, (affiliate links) add the seeds to plastic baggies and add the food coloring.  Seal up the baggies, mix the seeds around, (or hand them over to the kids and let them go crazy), and get the seeds coated in coloring.  

For kids that might eat the seeds during play: As we mentioned above, f there are any risks of the child eating a seed during sensory play or crafting, you can first roast the seeds.

  1. Roast the seeds before dying them. Spread the seeds out on aluminum foil spread on a cookie sheet.  
  2. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.  Be sure to check on the seeds often to make sure they are not burning.  
  3. Then dye the seeds using food coloring as described above. If you roast them first, the colors will cover any brown spots.
Wondering how to dye pumpkin seeds and use in sensory play?


Pumpkin Seed Activities

Once you dye the pumpkin seeds, you can use them in pumpkin seed crafts and pumpkin seed activities that foster fine motor development.

Pumpkin Seed Sensory Ideas:

Pumpkin seeds are a great addition to sensory play experiences. Allowing kids to scoop the seeds directly from the pumpkin is such a tactile sensory experience!

But for some kids, that pumpkin goop is just too much tactile input. Using dyed pumpkin seeds in sensory play is a “just right” challenge in exposure to carving pumpkins. It’s a first step in the tactile experience.

Some of our favorite ways to use dyed pumpkin seeds in sensory play:

  • Use them in a sensory bin
  • Use colorful pumpkin seeds in a writing tray
  • Add dyed pumpkin seeds to a discovery bottle
  • Use rainbow pumpkin seeds on a Fall exploration table

Use the directions listed above to create a set of colored pumpkin seeds. Use the colorful pumpkin seeds in a big pumpkin sensory bin to create a tactile sensory experience. Kids can draw letters in the seeds to work on letter formation. Add this idea to your toolbox of sensory writing tray ideas.

Add a few Fall themed items such as small pumpkins, acorns, pinecones, scoops, and small bowls to the sensory bin activity. Dyed pumpkin seeds are a great sensory bin medium this time of year when making an easy sensory bin.

Dyed pumpkin seeds in a sensory bin

This sensory play activity was very fun.  We couldn’t keep our hands out of the tray as we played and created.

Use dyed pumpkin seeds for sensory play with kids.
Use this recipe for how to dye pumpkin seeds with kids.
Colored pumpkin seeds are great for kids to use in sensory play.

Pumpkin Seed Crafts

Pumpkin seeds are a great fine motor tool to use in crafting.

Try these craft ideas using dyed pumpkin seeds:

Make a suncatcher craft with pumpkin seeds
sun catchers with pumpkin seeds
Fine motor activity with dyed pumpkin seeds

We used our dyed seeds in art projects first.  Manipulating those seeds is a great way to work on fine motor skills.  Little Sister was SO excited to make art!

Add additional fine motor work by using a squeezable glue bottle to create a pumpkin seeds craft and pumpkin seed art. Squeezing that glue bottle adds a gross hand grasp and fine motor warm-up before performing fine motor tasks.

How to dye pumpkin seeds to use in a Fall mandala craft.

Use dyed pumpkin seeds to make a colorful mandala craft with fine motor benefits. Picking up the pumpkin seeds uses fine motor skills such as in-hand manipulation, separation of the sides of the hand, pincer grasp, open thumb web space, and distal mobility.

Sort colorful pumpkin seeds
  Use dyed pumpkin seeds to sort colors

Placing the colored pumpkin seeds into a symmetrical pattern of colors promotes eye-hand coordination and visual perceptual skills such as visual discrimination, figure ground, and other skills.

Dying pumpkin seeds is a fun Fall activity for kids.

Little Guy made a gingerbread man.  Because why not??! 😉

Squeezing the glue bottle into a shape and placing the colored pumpkin seeds along the line is another exercise in visual perception and eye-hand coordination.

Colored pumpkin seeds can be used in Fall sensory play and fine motor crafts.

Little Sister made a rainbow with her seeds.

Use colored pumpkin seeds to make a fine motor craft with kids.

How to dye pumpkin seeds for sensory play for kids.

Colored pumpkin seeds are fun for Fall crafts.

Be sure to use your dyed pumpkin seeds for a few fun ideas like these:

Pumpkin activity kit
Pumpkin Fine Motor Kit

Grab the Pumpkin Fine Motor Kit for more coloring, cutting, and eye-hand coordination activities with a Pumpkin theme! It includes:

  • 7 digital products that can be used any time of year- has a “pumpkins” theme
  • 5 pumpkin scissor skills cutting strips
  • Pumpkin scissor skills shapes- use in sensory bins, math, sorting, pattern activities
  • 2 pumpkin visual perception mazes with writing activity
  • Pumpkin “I Spy” sheet – color in the outline shapes to build pencil control and fine motor strength
  • Pumpkin Lacing cards – print, color, and hole punch to build bilateral coordination skills
  • 2 Pumpkin theme handwriting pages – single and double rule bold lined paper for handwriting practice

Work on underlying fine motor and visual motor integration skills so you can help students excel in handwriting, learning, and motor skill development.

You can grab this Pumpkin Fine Motor kit for just $6!

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

Bone Names Activity for Kids

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bone identification activity

As occupational therapy students, we had to learn bone names and all about anatomy and physiology. Naming bones comes in very handy as an occupational therapist! But, if you are working in pediatrics, kids need to learn names of bones, too! For one thing, kids learn bone names in school. But did you consider the interoception aspect to teaching bone names? When it comes to internal feelings or anatomical states that impact sensory processing and internal body actions, learning names of bones supports this awareness of self. Add this fun way to learn names of bones to your anatomy and physiology games!

Use labels to teach bone names with a fun way to learn the names of bones.

Bone Names Activity

Learning human anatomy has a special place in my heart. I mean, those semesters in Human Anatomy, Anatomy lab, and clinical kinesiology bring back fond memories.  

So, when my kids ask questions like how their arm can pick up a sandwich, I have a little fun telling them about bones, joints, and muscles. This bone naming activity is just one fun way to teach bone names and teach kids about anatomy.

(Moving a sandwich is a big deal in our house!)

We’ve done a body part identification activity before, using band-aides, but these labels were a big hit with my kids.  We used them to practice for a test for my big kids.  

My Kindergartner and Second grader had a bones theme in their gym class, we had fun talking about the bones in our body, and made this Bone Identification and movement activity. (It would be great as a skeleton activities for preschoolers, too.

Bones Activity

This bone activity for kids is one they won’t forget…and when teaching human anatomy to kids, it’s one that will stick! The fun stickers help! 🙂

This post contains affiliate links.

I threw this activity together really quickly.  We had a few sheets of blank address labels, and I grabbed a red permanent marker (affiliate link).  I made a quick strip across the top and bottom of the address labels and then wrote in black marker (affiliate link), “Hello my name is” with the bone names below.  

If your kids are like mine, they get a kick out of those Hello My Name Is Stickers.  You could use store bought stickers, or just make your own like we did.  (Amazon affiliate links)

bone identification

While we used this bone identification activity with kids, it would be a great way to learn bones as part of an anatomy and physiology lesson for OT or PT students, too!

This bones anatomy movement and learning activity is perfect for kids or anyone learning human anatomy and bones or musculature. Add this to a health or gym curriculum to learn body parts with kids.

list of bones in human body

After I wrote out the names of the bones, I tested my kids on what they knew. They recalled most of the bones from gym class lessons, but we had a few that needed practicing.  

For the second grade and kindergarten physical education curriculum, they had to know this list of bones in the human body: 

  • skull
  • humerus
  • radius
  • ulna
  • carpals
  • phalanges
  • clavicle
  • sternum
  • ribs
  • pelvis
  • femur
  • tibia
  • fibula
  • tarsals

Complete List of Bone Names

Above is just a simplified list of bone names, which can be used for teaching kids about the skeletal system. A more complete list is as follows. The bone identification activity shown below can definitely be used for this complete list of bone names and bone types. Classifying and naming the entire skeletal system requires much practice, and as occupational therapists we know the power of multi-sensory learning!

Bones in the skull (includes bones in the head and face):

  • Cranial bones:
    • frontal bones
    • Parietal bone
    • temporal bones
    • occipital bone
    • sphenoid bone
    • ethmoid bone
  • Facial bones:
    • mandible
    • maxilla
    • palatine bone
    • zygomatic bone
    • nasal bone
    • lacrimal bone
    • vomer bone
    • inferior nasal conchae

Bones in the thorax:

  • sternum
  • ribs

Bones in the throat:

  • hyoid bone

Bones in the vertebral column, or spine:

  • cervical vertebrae
  • thoracic vertebrae
  • lumbar vertebrae

Bones in the pelvis:

  • coccyx
  • sacrum
  • ossa coxae (hip bones)

Bones in the legs :

  • femur
  • patella
  • tibia
  • fibula

Bones in the feet:

  • Ankle (tarsal) bones:
    • calcaneus (heel bone)
    • talus 
    • navicular bone
    • medial cuneiform bone 
    • intermediate cuneiform bone 
    • lateral cuneiform bone
    • cuboid bone 
  • Instep bones:
    • metatarsal bone
  • Toe bones:
    • proximal phalanges
    • intermediate phalanges 
    • distal phalanges 

Bones in the middle ears:

  • malleus
  • incus
  • stapes

Bones in the shoulder girdle:

  • scapula or shoulder blade
  • clavicle or collarbone

Bones in the arms:

  • humerus
  • radius
  • ulna

Bones in the hands:

  • Wrist (carpal) bones:
    • scaphoid bone
    • lunate bone
    • triquetral bone
    • pisiform bone
    • trapezium
    • trapezoid bone 
    • capitate bone
    • hamate bone 
  • Palm or metacarpal bones:
    • metacarpal bones
  • Finger bones or phalanges:
    • proximal phalanges
    • intermediate phalanges
    • distal phalanges

Teach kids the names of bones with a bone identification activity.

We had a blast sticking the labels all over ourselves while saying “Hello my name is humerus!” in funny voices.  

While we had the labels on our body parts, we practiced the motions of that bone.  We talked about how that bone could move and what it could do.  

Yes, your humerus has a job in picking up a sandwich! (This is a very important fact when teaching bone names to preschoolers!)

Learn bone names by using this Bone identification activity and sticking bone name stickers onto a doll.
Bone identification activity with a doll.

Even the baby doll got in on the bone labeling action.

Use stickers to learn bone names

How cute are those tarsals??

This bones anatomy movement and learning activity is perfect for kids or anyone learning human anatomy and bones or musculature. Add this to a health or gym curriculum to learn body parts with kids.

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

Bedtime Relaxation Stretches for Kids

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Relaxation stretches for bedtime

In this post, you will find calming bedtime relaxation stretches for kids and families, based on the popular children’s book, Time for Bed. These activities are perfect for helping kids calm down before bed. We know the power of sleep hygiene in child development, but let’s consider the powerful impact of stretches before bed have on children.

Relaxation Stretches for Kids Sleep

An important thing to cover when it comes to helping children fall asleep and stay asleep at night is the concept of pre-bedtime yoga. When kids participate in bedtime stretches as part of their bedtime routine, it’s a sensory diet that supports sleep.

relaxation stretches for bed time
Use animal theme yoga poses to support relaxation at bedtime.

One thing that we’ll cover here is the impact that the interoception sensory system has on sleep.

Related is our resource on the role occupational therapy professionals can play in sleep for the whole family, when it comes to supporting a baby or newborn not sleeping.

Relaxation Stretches for Kids Sleep

An important thing to cover when it comes to helping children fall asleep and stay asleep at night is the concept of pre-bedtime yoga. When kids participate in bedtime stretches as part of their bedtime routine, it’s a sensory diet that supports sleep.

I love to bring this concept together for kids by first talking about how everyone needs sleep. Kids, adults, and even pets and animals. Sleep supports growth, learning, and allows our brains to rest. You can even use a few of our hibernation activities to take this concept further with kids, depending on the interest level.

Use these relaxation stretches for bedtime to incorporate calming sensory input.

One thing that we’ll cover here is the impact of the interoception sensory system has on sleep.

Children can get a little wound up before bed.  All it takes is one rouge energy burst and you’ve got giggling kids bouncing from every surface imaginable.  

Couch cushions? check. They are jumping up and down.  

Running from room to room? Check. There’s two of them chasing one another back and forth will the occasional knee slide across the hardwoods.  

Practicing the living room tumbling skills? Yep and check. There’s one more doing somersaults across the room.

Why must they gang up on me with their endless energy during those exhausting pre-bedtime hours?

Having a set of bedtime relaxation stretches in the nightly routine can support sensory needs and promote a sense of calm before bedtime, just when children are wound up and excitable.

benefits of stretching before bed

We know that sleep is a necessary occupation for all of us, but for children sleep patterns and healthy sleep cycles support so many aspects of development.

  • Cognition
  • Learning
  • Behavior
  • Nutrition
  • Emotional development
  • Social development

When children don’t get enough hours of sleep, or if they don’t get quality sleep on a consistent basis, there are several things that can occur:

  • Poor focus
  • Trouble concentrating
  • Attention and behavior problems
  • Poor academic performance in school
  • Excess weight or increased food intake
  • Problems paying attention
  • Health problems: obesity, type 2 diabetes, poor mental health, and injuries
  • Decreased physical activity
  • Poor mental health
  • Unhealthy risky behaviors related to decision-making
  • Risk-taking behaviors, bullying, school violence-related behaviors, and physical fighting
  • Higher risk of unintentional injury

There are several studies describing the benefits of stretching before bed. Kids can benefit from a pre-bedtime stretching sessions to integrate sensory processing systems and the calming benefits of slow movement, heavy work as a regulation tool. This calms the body and helps with relaxation before bed.

Stretching before bed supports sleep quality. One review of multiple studies found that mindfulness meditation practices that incorporate gentle stretching, such as yoga and tai chi, generally improve sleep quality.

Another study found that older adults reported improved sleep quality after performing low level physical and cognitive activity. The researchers found that gentle stretching resulted in better sleep than when the participants performed more strenuous exercises, such as aerobics.

Bedtime stretches help kids stay asleep. A study into resistance exercise training and stretching found that exercises could improve symptoms of insomnia. In the study, the participants performed stretching in 60-minute sessions three times per week for a period of 4 months. The results showed improved sleep quality when stretching in the evening.

Better sleep supports learning and executive functioning skills. Other studies tell us that better sleep hygiene in children support development of executive functioning skills.

yoga poses for stress relief

Today, I’m sharing a great way to calm kids down before bed so that quality sleep is possible. These yoga poses for stress relief and bedtime relaxation promote organizing heavy work through the proprioceptive sensory system and gentle movement through the vestibular sensory system.

Another contributing factor is the interoceptive system which connects our internal systems such as digestion, heart rate, circadian rhythms, and muscle tension. All of these factors play a vital role in impacting sleep, with both the ability to fall asleep, and the ability to stay asleep throughout the night. This study shares more on the interoceptive system’s role in sleep.

These organizing and calming yoga poses stretch the muscles and joints to offer feedback to regulate an overactive system.

If you’ve ever participated in a yoga session, you know the benefits of certain yoga poses in reducing stress and anxiety.

It’s important to make the connection between stress responses, anxiety, over-active thoughts, and a hyper-response to stimulation and emotional responses. The difficulty in identifying and describing emotions in self (a huge part of social emotional learning and development) is referred to as Alexithymia.

This ability develop social emotional skills occurs with age, and social skills interventions.

Specifically, alexithymia is defined as difficulty identifying and describing emotions in self. We know that noticing and understanding internal body signals (aka interoception) is crucial to a bodily systems, so it makes sense that if interoception is affected, using or showing emotions, and identifying emotions in self will be affected.

Interoception influences emotions by it’s control and underlying influence on internal processes of the body: toileting, hunger, thirst, and sleep!

When interoception impacts sleep, it then further impacts emotions:

  • stress
  • getting angry or frustrated easily
  • anxiety
  • fear
  • worry
  • overly emotional responses
  • sadness
  • over-excitability
  • hyperactive responses

All of these emotional responses are normal and good feelings to experience. However, when sleep is reduced, they can move into an area of impacting other functional tasks or everyday occupations.

You’ll also find information and resources in this article on the limbic system including the stress response. You can see how all of these concepts fit together to impact daily functioning.

How to use yoga poses for stress relief with children

Using yoga to support relaxation at bedtime is not a new concept. Yoga naturally supports relaxation through the heavy work input of the proprioceptive sense.

However, yoga also adds the benefit of deep breathing exercises to calm and center the body as an organization tool.

When it comes to bedtime, adding anything to the nightly routine can mean a delayed bedtime, so making the relaxation stretches part of the routine that is already in place is important. If you read a book together each night, incorporate stretches into that. If brushing teeth and going to the bathroom are the only tasks that happen each night, use the time just after those jobs to do a few stretches.

Adding bedtime stretches for the purpose of relaxation doesn’t need to be difficult. The most important thing here is to make it work for your situation and home. down the somersaults and hardwood floor stunts into relaxing bedtime.  

Here are some tips to support relaxation at bedtime:

  • Use bedtime relaxation stretches in a nightly routine. A visual schedule can be helpful with some kids.
  • Dim the lights and turn on soothing music
  • Read a book before bed
  • Drink a warm drink as a calming food/sensory tool.
  • Set the mood for sleep with a calming bedroom or sleep space: snuggly blankets, cozy pillows, or cool temperature, depending on the individual’s preferences.
  • Use the relaxation stretches listed below.

One way that helps to get kids relaxed before bed is reading a great book.  When kids can listen to an engaging story that is read aloud, their bodies can’t help but slow down.  

Bedtime Relaxation Stretches for Kids

These bedtime relaxation stretches are a combination of relaxing yoga moves and heavy work that helps to ground the body through proprioceptive input to the body’s sensory receptors in the muscles. 

Performing these relaxing stretches can help transition kids to a calmed state that allows for a better sleep.

Below are forms of yoga poses for children.

We decided to use one of our favorite going to bed books, (Amazon affiliate link) Mem Fox’s Time for Bed. 

In the book, we hear a rhyming verse about each animal’s transition to sleep.  It’s such a beautiful book to snuggle up with kids during night time routines.  In fact, Time for Bed can easily become one of those books that you read over and over again.

We loved looking at the watercolor pictures in Time for Bed and picturing each animal as it got ready for sleep.  

To go along with the book, we tried some of these bedtime relaxation stretches. 

Grab your copy of the free printable below by entering your email address into the form, or going to The OT Toolbox Member’s Club and heading to the Mindfulness Toolbox.

Time for Bed book by Mem Fox and relaxation stretches for bedtime

To do these exercises, simply cut out the printable on the lines, and create a small stack of stretches.  Kids can do one or more of these relaxation stretches to calm down before settling in with the Time for Bed book. (affiliate link)

Simply pull out a couple of the stretches and join your child on the floor to perform each stretch.  The stretches are designed based on the animals in the book.  

When doing the stretches, hold the stretch for 2-3 minutes while maintaining deep breathing. 

Bedtime relaxation stretches
Print off these relaxation stretches for a bedtime calm down session for kids.

As we all know, kids will be kids.  If your child is getting too wound up from the stretches (because sometimes the sleepy sillies take over and make concentrating on stretches and relaxing deep breaths nearly impossible!) simply put the stretches away and try them another day.

Bedtime stretches with an animal theme
Relaxation stretch for kids, incorporating yoga poses for stress, anxiety, or to calm down before bed.

Your child will love doing these bedtime relaxation stretches with you and the whole family!

Bedtime stretches to do before bed

Little Goose Stretch– Lie on the floor on your back, with your feet raised up on the wall.  Keep your knees straight.  Spread your arms out on the floor like a goose.  Bend and point your toes slowly.

Little Cat Stretch– Snuggle in tight!  Sit criss cross applesauce on the floor.  Bend forward at the hips and place your head on the ground.  Stretch your arms out on the floor over your head.

Little Calf Stretch– Grasp both hands together behind your back.  Bend forward at the hips and raise your arms up behind you.

Little Foal Stretch– Lie on your back and pull your knees in with your arms.  Hold the position and whisper about your day.

Little Fish Stretch–  Take a deep breath. Hold your breath in your cheeks and puff out those cheeks.  Slowly let out your breath with pursed lips.

Little Sheep Stretch–  Stand facing a wall and place your feet shoulder width apart.  Place your hands flat on the wall, shoulder width apart.  Push against the wall by bending and straightening your elbows.

Little Bird Stretch–  Close your eyes.  Think about your day and take deep breaths.  Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.  Add a “wing” component by raising your arms up high as you breathe in and lowering them as you slowly breathe out.

Little Snake Stretch–  Lie on your back on the floor.  Keep your legs straight and cross them at the ankles.  Place your arms over your head on the floor.  Cross them at the wrists.  

Little Pup Stretch–  Get into a downward dog yoga position.  

Little Deer Stretch– Sit on the floor with your legs straight. Spread them far apart and bend at the hips to touch one foot.  Hold it and then stretch to touch the other foot.

Try this tonight!  Do a few stretches and then snuggle up while reading Time for Bed! (affiliate link)

Calming bedtime books for kids

MORE relaxing bedtime books for kids

These relaxing bedtime books for kids are other ideas to use to support calming sensory input in a relaxation bedtime routine:

Amazon affiliate links are included below:

Free Printable set of relaxation stretches for bedtime

Use the Time For Bed book and relaxation stretches we used above in a bedtime routine of your own. Get a printable PDF of these stretches by entering your email address into the form below. Or, members in The OT Toolbox membership club can grab this PDF by logging in and heading to Brain Break Tools.

Free Time For Bed Relaxation Stretches

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    One more thing! If you are into creative ways to extend and learn based on books, you will LOVE this resource! 50 activities based on books that address friendship, acceptance, emotions…This ebook is amazing for covering all things emotional development through play!

    Get yours!  

    Read more about the book here.

    Exploring Books through Play helps kids develop fine motor skills and gross motor skills while learning about empathy and compassion.

    Sensory Activities For 1 Year Olds

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    sensory activities for 1 year olds

    This blog post is one of the oldest posts on the site, but the sensory activities for 1 year olds that we shared way back when are just as fun now! When this post was written, the babies that played with the balls and muffin tins were just 11 months and going on 1 year. Those little ones are now 11 years old! This is such a great brain building activity for babies that I wanted to reshare the idea for the latest crop of babies out there!

    If you are looking for more Baby activities, try the fun over on our Baby Play page. You’ll also find some great ideas for different ages on this post on baby sensory play.  We’ve been busy!

    sensory activities for 1 year olds

    sensory activities for 1 year olds

    This sensory activity for 1 year olds is an easy activity to set up. You’ll need just a few items:

    • colorful balls
    • muffin tins

    You can add create another sensory activity for the babies with the same colorful balls and a cardboard box or basket. We also used an empty cereal box with hole cut into the sides.

    Each sensory activity here supports development of eye-hand coordination, grasp and release, core strength and stability in dynamic sitting, positioning and seated play on the floor (floor play).

    Baby and Toddler Brain Building activity using balls and a muffin tin. Perfect for developing fine motor skills, visual perceptual skills in an active activity for sitting and mobile babies.

    An important consideration is the use of baby positioners as they can impact powerful movement-based play in babies.

    The best for sensory play for 1 year olds is just playing on the floor! There are so many benefits to playing on the floor with a basket of balls and a few muffin tins.

    Baby and Toddler Brain Building activity using balls and a muffin tin. Perfect for developing fine motor skills, visual perceptual skills in an active activity for sitting and mobile babies.

    What do babies love to do? Take things out and put them back into containers.

    We have a bunch of different colored and sized balls that are so fun to play with in so many ways. I had my niece and nephew here one day and we needed something different to do. My nephew and my Baby Girl are both 11 months old and they absolutely loved this play activity! 

    I pulled out my muffin tins and they had a blast putting the balls into the tins, taking them out, putting them back into the box, and pulling them out again!

    Little Guy (my 3 year old ) loved joining in too. Really, who could resist playing with all of these colorful balls???

    Peek a Boo Sensory Activity for 1 year olds

    What else do babies love? The peek-a-boo game!

    It’s at this age (around one year) that babies often struggle with separation anxiety when being dropped off at a caregiver’s when separated from their parents or caregivers. You will even see signs of separation angst when a parent goes into another room, which can especially happen when the baby is tired.

    The next sensory activity for baby was a fun one!

    We had an empty cereal box that I cut circles into. They had a ton of fun putting the balls into a hole, and pulling a different one out as the box moved around…there were a lot of little hands in there moving that box around 🙂

    The it’s-there-then-it’s not of a great game of peek-a-boo (or peek-a-ball in this case!) is awesome in building neural pathways of the brain. 

     

     

    More sensory activities for babies

    Other sensory activities for 1 year olds and babies include using small baskets or boxes to transfer the balls from one container to the other.

    Transferring from box to box…working those hands to pick up different sized/weighted/textured balls.  Dropping the ball to see what happens is so predictable, but it is important in learning for babies. Just like when baby drops the cup from her highchair a million times…

    We had a ball!

    (couldn’t resist that one…heehee)

    Baby and Toddler Brain Building activity using balls and a muffin tin. Perfect for developing fine motor skills, visual perceptual skills in an active activity for sitting and mobile babies.

    Need more sensory ideas for 1 year olds? Try these:

    • Sensory tables- put interesting toys, textures, scoops, and containers on a low table like a coffee table. The new cruiser or early walker can stand at the table and explore the textures
    • Messy play on a highchair- Strap baby in and encourage messy food play. Thing about apple sauce, pudding, or mashed potatoes.
    • Textured fabrics- Put a bunch of fabric scraps into a box and invite the one year old to pull them out and put them back in.
    • Play with cups and spoons– with supervision- This is a great activity for eye hand coordination skills.
    • Use a baby gym to encourage reach and play in various positions.

    Bilateral Integration

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    bilateral integration

    Bilateral Integration is an area that kids need for so many tasks…but it’s not a developmental milestone that stands out unless a problem is necessarily noticed unless there is a problem. What we do notice in as our kids grow and develop are the motor skills that impact functioning. We notice use of both hands, fluid and efficient movements in tasks like playing, getting dressed, and interacting with peers. Let’s take a look at bilateral integration and dissect how to support this essential sensory motor skill.

    Another resource that supports this information is our blog post on bilateral coordination. You’ll find many bilateral integration activities in that blog post.

    Bilateral integration resources and information

    Bilateral Integration

    From writing and holding the paper, to holding a art project and cutting with scissors, to zippering a jacket, coordinating both sides of the body in an efficient manner is a skill that is necessary for almost everything we do.

    Bilateral coordination develops from a very young age. When babies begin to bring both hands together at their mouth, you are seeing coordinated efforts begin. When the infant pushes up on both arms while lying in a tummy time position, the integrated movements of both hands and legs occurs along with strength and control.

    Research tells us that motor tasks like jumping, jumping jacks, riding a bike, hopping, etc. become easier and more fluid with age as children develop. It’s through play, sensory input, motor skill experience, and activities that these skills are developed.

    Below, you will find bilateral integration activities that can be incorporated at various ages. Use these bilateral coordination activities to promote coordinated and efficient movements in meaningful activities.

    What is Bilateral integration?

    Bilateral integration refers to the ability of both sides of the brain to work together in a coordinated manner. We see this ability when the skills associated with the left side of the brain are done in conjunction with skills associated with the right side of the brain.

    Skills associated with the left side of the brain:

    • Speech and language- Understanding using language (listening, reading, speaking and writing)
    • Comprehension
    • Math problems and facts
    • Handwriting
    • Linear thinking
    • Memory for spoken and written messages
    • Logic
    • Verbal language
    • Sequencing

    Skills associated with the right side of the brain:

    • Creativity and imagination
    • Creative thinking
    • Spatial skills
    • Intuition
    • Art, drawing, and creative artistic skills
    • Musical skills

    Then, when other aspects of functional performance are added to the mix and the individual is still able to complete the task, this is bilateral integration in action.

    Those other considerations include:

    • Attention and focus
    • Proprioceptive input
    • Vestibular input
    • Visual information
    • Motor targets achieved, or motor control shown by fluid movements
    • Praxis- movements thought about and completed in coordinated manner

    When both sides of the body work together in a coordinated manner so that the individual can manipulate objects such as cutlery with various amounts of force modulation, taking in sensory stimuli such as sights, sounds, tastes, and proprioceptive and vestibular input, and managing posture, coordination, and body awareness, bilateral integration is visible.

    When bilateral coordination or bilateral integration is intact and progressing appropriately through development, it is an indicator that both sides of the brain are communicating effectively and sharing information during functional tasks. 

    Tasks that require bilateral integration

    Knowing what we covered above, it is easy to see how some daily tasks are impacted by coordinated and integrated motor skills requiring both sides of the body. Each of these skills requires and has input from other sensory systems and cognitive systems as well, such as proprioceptive input, executive functioning, attention, and even creative thinking and problem solving.

    • Writing and holding the paper in a stable position
    • Cutting and holding the paper steady and at an appropriate height
    • Putting on a coat while holding a backpack (or other item)
    • Tying shoes
    • Pulling up pants and not losing balance
    • Putting socks on
    • Jumping jacks with coordinated movements
    • Turning a page and writing or copying work
    • Typing
    • Squeezing toothpaste and brushing teeth
    • Flossing teeth
    • Playing an instrument
    • Using a knife and fork
    • Pouring water from a pitcher into a cup
    • Cooking skills: chopping, cutting, slicing, peeling, taking food out of packages, putting food into the microwave or stove, taking food out of the fridge
    • Reaching for objects
    • Stabilizing an object with one hand while manipulating another object with the other
    • Jumping rope
    • Catching a ball
    • Riding a bike
    • Swimming
    • Many more tasks!
    These bilateral integration activities are creative ways to help kids with bilateral integration needed for fine motor tasks like handwriting, scissor use, and other functional skills.

    Bilateral Integration Activities 

    Amazon affiliate links are included in this post.

    First, let’s talk about some ways that coordinated use of the arms and legs are needed for coordinated movements. These are skills and tasks that can easily be performed by some children. Others, who struggle with motor planning, core strength, posture needs, left-right discrimination, visual motor skills, or many other areas can struggle. It’s easy to see that simply addressing some areas won’t fix the issue when an underlying concern is present.

    To promote the skills needed for these tasks, try some of the activities listed below to promote bilateral integration:

    Related Read: Here are are some additional bilateral coordination activities with a winter theme.

    Bilateral Integration Activities for Babies

    Bilateral movements are part of everyday life for baby! From turning, creeping on the floor, rolling, sitting, crawling, cruising on furniture, and taking first steps, babies are developing bilateral integration skills from birth.

    Read here about the types of crawling, all of which integrate bilateral coordination and motor planning.

    Encourage these bilateral integration activities with babies:

    There are ways to support child development at this stage through age-appropriate play that will support the child’s progression at later stages, too.

    • Provide various toys and objects appropriate for young babies. Include bold colored objects including black, white, and red items or contrasting colors, toys, or pictures on a blanket or play mat during tummy time. This black and white board book (affiliate link) can be propped up or used while on an adult’s lap.
    • Provide gentle infant massage during and after bath time, and on all extremities. Here is a resource book on infant massage. (affiliate link)
    • Provide toys and age-appropriate objects for reach and grasp. This banana toothbrush teether (affiliate link) has molded handles that make it a great teething item for little ones.
    • Provide teething toys as baby brings hands together at their mouth.
    • Provide toys that are appropriate for mouthing that can be held in both hands.
    • Provide hand-held toys while the child is seated in a high chair. This one (affiliate link) has a suction cup base to keep it stable, but has a black and white ring at the base that babies can grasp with one hand while manipulating with the other hand.
    • Provide toys of various weights when seated upright to provide resistance against gravity and to promote strengthening of the upper extremities. Blocks, rings, sorting toys, or something like this quality teething toy (affiliate link) made of heavier materials can be useful to provide variances in weight, while still allowing the baby to manipulate the item.
    • Provide toys available on a high chair or table surface at various distances to provide opportunities for depth of perception when reaching for toys and bringing them to the mouth.
    • Continue tummy time while playing in prone to promote strength and stability in upper extremities.
    • Use the ideas in our baby play library for more ideas.

    Bilateral Integration Activities for Toddlers

    Provide toys requiring one hand to stabilize a base while the other hands manipulates an object. Shape sorters are great for this.

    Other toys include:

    • Peg Boards (affiliate link)
    • Blocks- These press and stay sensory blocks are perfect for encouraging one hand to use as a stabilizer and one hand as a
    • Play Dough
    • Drawing/coloring- Here is more information on the benefits of coloring.
    • Use these crayons for toddlers to support bilateral coordination skills during coloring.

    Bilateral Integration Activities for Preschool

    Preschool is a time for building hand strength, coordination, eye-hand coordination, and improving motor skills needed for the upcoming years. You can find many preschool activities here on our website, but some specific ways to support bilateral integration include:

    • Encourage kids to participate in cooking activities.
    • Use play dough to cut with scissors and roll out play dough snakes or balls of play dough.
    • Age-appropriate crafts and craft sets are great for this age.
    • Play with stickers of various sizes.
    • Make “snow angels” on a carpet or fluffy blanket
    • Simon Says is a great game for encouraging novel and varied motor combinations. Use these Simon Says Commands to get started.
    • Play various song and movement games such as the Hokey Pokey, Farmer in the Dell, etc. Here are movement and song activities that can be used in circle time, warm-ups, centers, or in group activities. All of these move and dance songs promote core strength and stability.
    • Climb on outdoor play areas at playgrounds and in low trees.
    • Add sensory! Try this table top bilateral coordination activity to draw shapes.
    • Draw with both hands! This four leaf clover activity is a powerful one as it covers a variety of skills.

    Bilateral Coordination Activities for School-Aged Kids

    In schools, development of bilateral integration is important for tasks like putting on a coat or jacket and backpack, holding a paper with the supporting hand and writing, and using scissors. There are many other bilateral integration tasks that happen throughout the day.

    Some ways you can support development of these skills include:

    Try these bilateral integration activities and coordination ideas to promote use of both hands together in activities such as handwriting, cutting with scissors and so many other tasks!

    Last thoughts on encouraging bilateral integration

    The best way to encourage and promote integration of both sides of the body? Movement and play! Get the kids active, moving, and experiencing various planes against resistance and with exposure to all types of sensory experiences.

    The combination of proprioceptive input into a play experience that promotes strengthening in a fun way provides all of the benefits kids need to improve bilateral coordination skills. Add personal interests as the child grows. And finally, have fun!

    Use these bilateral coordination activities to promote bilateral integration needed for skills like writing and holding the paper and any activity that uses one hand to manipulate an object while stabilizing with the other hand.

    Feeding Developmental Milestones

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    feeding developmental milestones

    Below, you will find resources on feeding developmental milestones and information on development of bilateral coordination that are needed for the feeding skills to use both hands together in a coordinated manner. These bilateral coordination milestones are needed for independent feeding skills, so let’s break this down.

    Development of bilateral coordination skills is necessary for improved self-feeding in toddlers and improves through the childhood years. Independence with feeding skills is an important part of child development!

    Feeding developmental milestones in kids

    Bilateral Coordination Development

    When we talk about bilateral coordination development, we can also mean bilateral integration. Typically, bilateral coordination skills refer to the physical sensory motor use of both sides of the body in a coordinated and fluid manner.

    However, bilateral coordination requires the overarching bilateral integration of the brain hemispheres and takes into consideration the ability to manage all of the functions listed above.

    In fact, there are three components of bilateral coordination and these play a role in feeding developmental milestones:

    • Symmetrical movements- picking up a bottle with both hands to drink
    • Reciprocal movements- Using one hand to pick up food and another to pick up food the next time; we see this with babies and toddlers especially
    • Dominant hand/supporting hand movements- Using a knife to stabilize the food and the knife to stab the food. Or, holding a bowl with the supporting hand and the dominant hand to scoop the food from a bowl

    Independence with feeding progresses from symmetrical movements to reciprocal movements, to dominant/supporting hand movements.

    One way to really take a look at the developmental progress of bilateral coordination skills is through the functional task of feeding using cutlery, or utensils like spoons, forks, and knives and drinking tools: cups, bottles, etc.

    When children learn to feed themselves and become more independent with self-feeding tool use with finger foods, utensils, or cups, development of bilateral coordination is one aspect that is necessary.

    When we think about self-feeding, problems can arise based on a variety of areas. Upper extremity coordination is one of those aspects that are evaluated and addressed when self-feeding difficulties are present.

    When thinking about development of self-feeding, consider the following issues related to bilateral coordination difficulty and try using some of the bilateral coordination activities based on development of bilateral coordination to improve feeding skills.

    Related: For several ideas to support bilateral coordination skills while indoors, try our list of Winter Bilateral Coordination Activities that kids will love!

    Discover typical development of bilateral coordination in feeding skills in kids, which are needed for improved independence in self-feeding.

    Bilateral Coordination Milestones

    Bilateral coordination development begins prior to birth, while in the womb with the physical movements felt by the mother. From there and immediately after birth, bilateral coordination milestones are achieved.

    Amazon affiliate links are included in this post.

    feeding developmental milestones

    Development of bilateral coordination in self-feeding depends greatly on the child’s developmental level. Below, we’ll go through feeding milestones by age.

    Development of feeding skills is just one skill that is a great way to to assess and analyze the development of bilateral coordination. Also, development of fine motor skills and visual motor skills have an impact on coordination of the hands in self-feeding.

    In one blog post, we covered the skills needed for independence with functional tools, including holding a spoon, scooping with spoons, using forks, and other tools like toothbrushes, hair brushes, etc. That is a good place to start with understanding all of the other areas of development that go into tasks like feeding.

    Throughout these ages, oral motor development plays a significant role in the manipulation of foods. Consider how these aspects of oral motor skills impact the developmental progression of feeding skills:

    • Rooting
    • Sucking
    • Swallowing
    • Gag reflex
    • Tongue movement
    • Jaw thrust
    • Jaw movements (moving jaw side to side to move food and movement of foods)
    • Lip closure during swallow phase of eating and drinking
    • Biting into foods
    • Tolerating different solid food and liquid consistencies

    Development of bilateral coordination occurs at every stage of childhood and can be observed through feeding abilities.

    Newborn Feeding Skills

    At the newborn stage, primitive reflexes dominate movements. In particular the rooting reflex supports feeding at this age.

    Babies aged 0-3 months will root, suckle, and swallow in feeding activities. This stage progresses as vision and motor control develop.

    Related to this stage is our resource on the strategies occupational therapists can address when newborns are not sleeping through the night, as sleep impacts routine and feeding schedules.

    Feeding milestones 4-6 months

    In this stage, development of coordination between the eyes and motor skills are just developing. The child explores with their eyes, hands, and mouth and will start to reach for objects purposely around four months. Accuracy of hand use is limited.

    Babies can be observed using both hands in play as they pick up objects in their line of sight. However, they typically will pick up items with the hand that is closest to the object or toy. 

    During this phase, the baby is spoon fed and when presented with a spoon, makes a suckling movement with lips and mouth. The baby will show a gag reflex at this age. With foods on a spoon, the baby will thrust their tongue out at the presence of foods and push the spoon away at times.

    Look for munching of the jaw, or movements in the jaw indicating a chewing pattern, even though the young child can not chew at this stage.

    Feeding Skills at 6-9 Months

    At this stage, the child is typically sitting up with or without support. The child’s hands are often times used in grasp with a clenched or a fist-like grasp.

    The child will begin to separate the thumb from the rest of the fingers to use a gross grasp on objects. Babies at this stage will typically place everything in their mouth, using both hands together in symmetry.

    The child will hold a bottle or cup with assistance, placing both hands on the cup/bottle, but are not able to hold the cup or bottle on their own.

    The gag reflex is still present but it is less sensitive to foods and utensils.

    The baby has a voluntary bite on soft foods, chew cookies, and baby teething foods. They will begin to hold those items independently using both hands together at their mouth.

    You will see a raking motion from the fingers, but this movement is typically not successful in picking up small foods like baby puff snacks. the baby can , however begin to pick up small food pieces using the thumb and the side of the pointer finger to grasp items (not a pincer grasp)

    Feeding Skills at 9-12 Months

    The child is able to sit upright without support and develops proximal stability, allowing for increased development of distal extremities.

    In this stage, babies are developing pincer grasp and thumb and finger opposition skills. This stage brings the ability to hold one object in each hand such as two blocks.

    The baby will be able to bring both hands together at the same time. Children will be able to begin finger feeding skills around 9 months as they bring dry cereal foods to their mouth with a scraping motion.

    Finger isolation on both hands begins as they poke foods and explore textures with their hands. Children will use both hands to smear food and bring soft foods such as wet foods like a cereal mix or applesauce to their mouth. The child will be able to hold a cup with both hands and bring it to their mouth.

    This stage is when we begin to see functional performance related to arch development. As refined motor skills continue, this base will continue to include utensil use.

    The child will start to hold a fork and spoon with a gross grasp, or a palmer grasp but without a dominant arm. At this stage, grasp of the spoon occurs with a palmer grasp. The child will not hold the bowl or plate with their non-assisting hand.

    You may see the baby begin to take longer sips from a straw while managing the liquid in their mouth to show a true drink. Similarly, with cup use, there is more drinking patterns as a result of the increased jaw control. However, at this age, these drinking skills are with an adult present to hold and remove the cup or straw. The bilateral coordination skills are not present in order to engage the hands either symmetrical coordination or as a dominant hand/supporting hand along with the drinking aspect.

    You will start to see more controlled use of the thumb and pointer finger in a true pincer grasp to pick up foods. This occurs between the tip of the thumb and the pointer fingers. The baby at this age can finger feed themselves.

    Feeding Skills at 12-15 Months

    In this stage, the child begins to dip their spoon into foods. They will have more accuracy with dipping as opposed to scooping foods.

    The spoon is held with a digital grasp and the child will likely switch hands while holding the spoon. The child will lift and drink from a cup with one hand.

    As toddlers progress in development, they will begin to establish a dominant hand and crossing midline. This ability to utilize a dominant hand and a non-dominant hand in activities indicates a maturation of the brain and lateralization in functional tasks, which is very important for motor planning, directionality, and visual motor skills. 

    A scooper bowl with suction base (affiliate link) can be  help with scooping development and bilateral coordination at this stage.

    The child at this age can hold a spoon with a gross grasp or palmer grasp with an inverted wrist. They will dip the spoon in food. The spoon will make it back to the mouth, but typically, the spoon is only touched to the lips. They will not likely remove all of the food from the spoon using their lips at this point. The motion of the spoon is entirely with the shoulder and elbow. The wrist is in one position so that the spoon is dipped into the food upside down. You’ll see increased shoulder abduction in order to get the spoon into the food. The spoon may be upside down in their mouth too.

    Read more in a related blog post about how to hold a spoon.

    Feeding Skills at 15-18 Months

    The child is able to support the bowl with one hand while scooping with a spoon. Children can hold a small cup and pick out pieces of dry cereal or snacks.

    Fine motor skills are developing quickly.

    Drinking from a cup can move from a sippy cup to a spouted cup. Other young toddlers can drink from a straw. Holding the cup moves from a two handed grasp to a single grasp. You’ll see grasp on the handle of a sippy cup or spouted cup begins to move from a gross grasp to a pincer grasp. This grasp pattern development occurs in this later stage of toddler range because of the weight of the cup/drink.

    By the end of this age range, the 18 month child can hold an open cup on their own to pick up, drink, and set the cup back down with just some spilling of the liquid.

    Feeding Skills at 18-24 Months

    As a child gets closer to two years of age, the variety of foods increases and this allows for greater exposure to textures of foods (mushy, crunchy, etc.) and types of foods (liquids, solid foods, mixed consistency foods).

    The child will typically be able to drink from a cup with accuracy and with one hand but with more accuracy and precision. As the child moves toward two years, you can see a desire to drink from an open cup, but the accuracy of motor control and attention skills are not there for this type of cup.

    There will be more coordination of the spouted cup or sippy cup and accuracy, with less spillage.

    At this stage, the child will use a dominant hand in self-feeding and will begin to supinate the forearm when scooping with a spoon, resulting in greater accuracy. This looks like a typical spoon motion with the wrist, however there will still be a palmer or gross grasp on the spoon.

    By two years, the toddler can use the spoon to scoop and feed themselves chunkier or thicker foods such as applesauce, mashed potatoes, etc.

    Development of bilateral coordination for feeding skills is essential for accuracy and improving independence in self-feeding in kids.

    Feeding Skills at 24-36 Months

    During this stage, the child’s dominant hand is more established and the child can support with the non-dominant hand with greater accuracy.

    There will be greater control of forearm supination so that the palm is facing upward when scooping. Typically, the child is able to self-feed without assistance.

    Around 2.5 years, the child can drink from an open cup with one hand. A small, “pixie” cup or slightly larger small cup is great for this. They can also hold the spoon with a “palm up” position on the spoon. This allows for greater accuracy and ability to self feed thinner soups or cereals with milk.

    By the end of this stage, around 3 years, the child can use a fork to pierce soft foods and they can brink the fork to their mouth and remove the food using their teeth and lips.

    Feeding Skills at 3-4 Years

    The child will begin to use a fork with improving accuracy. They can use a straw and hold the cup with one or both hands. They can also hold a cup while drinking from a straw on their own, and without assistance.

    The child can use a pitcher to pour water into a cup, demonstrating bilateral coordination with advancement to the dominant hand/assisting hand stage.

    The child will use both hands together with improving coordination in self-feeding. At this age, it’s a great time to get kids involved in helping to cook recipes. This experience in the kitchen along with an adult supports development of fine motor, sensory motor, and visual motor skills. Check out these cooking with kids recipes to support these areas.

    Feeding Skills at 4-5 Years

    Children will be able to use a knife to spread butter or peanut butter with the dominant hand while holding the plate or bread with their non-dominant hand.

    Beginning use of child-friendly knives is appropriate. They will press with the knife rather than chopping or slicing.

    In this stage, you’ll see a coordinated use of hands, in most cases. At this age, it’s important to expose the preschool child to lots of fine motor play and sensory motor play experiences to support development and exposure to motor activities. These promote development needed for fine motor skills and success in later years in the classroom.

    Feeding Skills at 5-6 Years

    Children will use a fork and spoon accurately. They will be able to scoop, poke, and stab with a fork using appropriate positioning and without use of the non-dominant hand to support the plate.

    The child will begin to use a knife to cut foods.

    Feeding Skills 6+ Years

    The child will be able to cut meat with a knife with increasing accuracy and ability. As they develop, the child will increase coordination with knife and fork use in a coordinated manner.

    Spilling of cups and foods decreases with age and development.

    Attention in feeding tasks develops as children progress through the various stages, too. This makes a big difference in accuracy as well.

    The video below shows how grasp patterns impact holding a spoon and fork in feeding tasks. This is important because we can promote more independence with self-feeding by implementing simple activities and specific cues to promote a functional grasp on the fork or spoon. If you can’t view this video, check out our video on YouTube: Using a Spoon-3 Activities to Target Grasp Patterns.

    Trouble with Feeding Development

    It’s important to remember that all children are different and the developmental milestones for feeding tasks listed above are not set in stone. There is always fluidity with development and feeding skills are no different.

    If there are skills that seem to be delayed, be sure to reach out to the child’s pediatrician and a pediatric occupational therapist for individualized feeding evaluation and assessment as well as a specific treatment plan based on the individual’s needs.

    Some things to consider that may be impacting feeding development include oral motor problems, determining if the feeding development issues are a result of sensory vs. oral motor considerations, or there is a need for specific adaptive feeding equipment.

    Development of bilateral coordination skills in feeding occurs throughout childhood.

    Matching Uppercase and LowerCase Letters

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    uppercase and lowercase letter matching

    This interactive and hands on game to teach matching uppercase and lowercase letters is a fun gross motor game for preschool and kindergarten. Use this interactive letter activity along as an alphabet matching with objects and a sensory-motor learning activity!

    Matching uppercase letters to lowercase letters is a literacy task that supports reading skills, but also challenges visual discrimination skills, form constancy, and visual scanning, all of which are visual processing skills needed for handwriting and reading comprehension. What’s fun about this activity is that it builds these skills in a fun way!

    Be sure to grab our color by letter worksheet to work on letter matching, visual discrimination skills.

    Uppercase and lowercase letter match activity

    Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters

    Learning letters and matching upper and lower case letters is a Kindergarten skill that can be tricky for some kids.  We made this easy prep letter identification activity using items you probably already have in the house.  If you’ve seen our blog posts over the last few days, you’ve noticed we’re on a learning theme using free (or mostly free) items you probably already have.  

    We’re sharing 31 days of learning at home with free materials this month along with 25 other bloggers in the 31 days of homeschooling tips series.  

    Today’s easy letter learning activity can use any letters you have around the house or magnetic letters and coffee filters.

    Matching upper and lower case letters and alphabet letter identification can be difficult for kindergarteners. Use this letter matching game to prepare for kindergarten skills and gross motor play along with visual scanning. Uses magnetic letters and coffee filters for easy prep and set-up. Great letter matching ideas and activities here!


    While this activity is almost free if you’ve got the items at home already, we’re sharing the affiliate links for the items in this post.

    Matching upper and lower case letters and alphabet letter identification can be difficult for kindergarteners. Use this letter matching game to prepare for kindergarten skills and gross motor play along with visual scanning. Uses magnetic letters and coffee filters for easy prep and set-up. Great letter matching ideas and activities here!

    How to play this interactive letter matching activity

    You’ll need just a few items for this letter matching activity:

    • Magnetic letters
    • marker
    • coffee filters (but paper towels or recycled paper would work as well.

    To set up the activity, there are just a few steps:

    (Amazon affiliate links included below.)

    1. Grab the magnetic letters from the fridge and 26 coffee filters.
    2. Use a permanent marker to write one lower case letter of the alphabet on each coffee filter.
    3. With your child, match the magnetic letters to the lowercase letters on the coffee filters.
    4. Ask the child to help you crumble each letter inside the coffee filter that has its matching lowercase letter.
    5. Continue the play!
    Matching upper and lower case letters and alphabet letter identification can be difficult for kindergarteners. Use this letter matching game to prepare for kindergarten skills and gross motor play along with visual scanning. Uses magnetic letters and coffee filters for easy prep and set-up. Great letter matching ideas and activities here!

    More ways to match uppercase and lowercase letters

    By matching the magnetic uppercase letter to the lowercase letter on the coffee filter, kids get a chance to incorporate whole body movements and gross motor activity while looking for matching letters.

    With your child, first match up each lower case coffee filter letter to the upper case magnetic letter.  

    You can spread the filters out to encourage visual scanning and involve movement in the activity, OR you can stack the coffee filters in a pile and one by one match up the letters.  This technique requires the child to visually scan for the upper case magnet letters.  

    Try both ways for more upper/lower case letter practice!

    We then wrapped the coffee filters around the magnets in a little bundle.  There are so many games you can play with these upper and lower case letters:

    • Match the same letter– match uppercase letters to uppercase letters and lowercase letters to lowercase letters.
    • Alphabet matching with objects– Match an object that starts with the letter of the alphabet. Use small objects inside the coffee filter and match it to lowercase letters written in the coffee filter with uppercase magnet letters.
    • Match the picture with the letter– Print off pictures of words that start with each letter of the alphabet. Then match the picture with letters of the alphabet using lowercase letters written on the filter and uppercase letters in magnetic letter form.
    • Play a letter memory game– Hide letters around the room and challenge kids to find the letters in order to match the uppercase letter to the lowercase letters.
    • Letter sound matching– Make a letter sound and challenge kids to find the letter that makes that sound.
    • Letter Hide and Seek- Hide the bundled up letters around the room while your child hides his eyes.  Send him off to find the letters and ask him to open the bundle and identify the letter.
    • Letter Toss Activity- Toss the coffee filter bundles into a bucket or bin.  Any letters that make it into the bin are winners!
    • Name the letters- Unwrap the bundles and name the letters.  Spread the coffee filters out around the room.  Toss magnetic letters onto the matching lower case letter.  
    • Letter toss game- Toss a bean bag onto the coffee filters.  The child can identify the lower case letter, then go to the pile of magnetic letters and find the matching upper case letter.  
    Matching upper and lower case letters and alphabet letter identification can be difficult for kindergarteners. Use this letter matching game to prepare for kindergarten skills and gross motor play along with visual scanning. Uses magnetic letters and coffee filters for easy prep and set-up. Great letter matching ideas and activities here!

    Can you think of any more ways to work on upper and lower case letter matching with coffee filters and magnetic letters? 

    Matching Big and Small Letters

    The nice thing about this activity is that you can teach the concepts of big and small letters. When we say “big letters” and “small letters”, we are showing the concept of letters that touch the top and bottom lines, or the upper case letters.

    And teaching children the difference between those big letters and the small letters which touch just the middle point are part of the visual discrimination process that is needed for handwriting on the lines, or line awareness skills.

    You will enjoy more alphabet posts from our archives:
     
     
     

    Looking for more interactive letter activities to match uppercase and lowercase letters? The Letters! Fine Motor Kit is for you!

    Letters Fine Motor Kit
    Letter Kit for fine motor, visual motor, and sensory motor play.

    This 100 page printable packet includes everything you need for hands-on letter learning and multisensory handwriting!

    This digital and printable packet includes these multisensory handwriting and letter formation materials:

    • A-Z Multisensory Writing Pages
    • Alphabet Fine Motor Clip Cards
    • Cut and place Fine Motor Mazes
    • A-Z Cotton Swab Cards
    • A-Z Pattern Block Cards
    • Fine Motor Letter Geo-Cards
    • A-Z Color and Cut Letter Memory Cards
    • Color By Size Sheets
    • A-Z Building Block Cards
    • A-Z Play Dough Letter Formation Cards
    • Graded Lines Box Writing Sheets
    • Alphabet Roll and Write Sheets
    • Pencil Control Letter Scan
    • Color and Cut Puzzles

    Crossing Midline Activities

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    Crossing midline activities

    In this blog post, we are covering all things crossing midline activities…but what is crossing midline?? We’ll get into that too, as well as some fun ways to develop midline crossing skills and specific exercises that kids (and all ages) can do to support development of this motor skills task that is huge in the way of gross motor coordination.

    Crossing midline is one of those motor skills we do constantly throughout the day, but never really give a second thought. And that automaticity of motor movements is a good thing, too! Imagine processing the action to use one hand to pull a door open. Imagine the time it would take to shower, dress, put on and tie your shoes if you had to process through the action to move your hands fluidly across the middle line of your body.

    As therapists, we hear “crossing the midline” all the time.  Have you ever wondered what the big deal is?  Why is crossing the midline so important?  In this post we will delve into what crossing the midline is, what causes issues, and how it impacts daily function, especially schoolwork.

    Before we get started, if you are doubting the validity of crossing the midline, tie one hand behind your back and go about your day.  How much did you reach across your body to get something?  You reached across, diagonal, up and down to interact with your environment.  While a two-handed person does not do this much crossing the midline, there is still a fair amount.

    Crossing midline activities and exercises for crossing the midline.

    What is Crossing Midline?

    Crossing midline refers to moving the body (hand/arm/foot/leg across an imaginary line that runs vertically down the center of the body to the other side (and vise versa). Additionally, crossing midline also refers to twisting the body in rotation around this imaginary line, as well as leaning the upper or body across the middle of the body.

    Let’s break it down further:

    Midline of the body is an imaginary line that drops from the middle of the head, straight down over the nose, to the belly button and divides the body into left and right sides.  Imagine a line that starts at the middle part of your hair and runs straight down your forehead and ends at the core of your abdomen. This imaginary line effectively divides your body into a symmetrical (mostly) left side and a right side.

    “Crossing the midline” is a simplified way to indicate that part of the body moves over that imaginary line. This can look like 3 different aspects of movement:

    1. Reaching an arm/hand or foot/leg across the middle of the body to the other side of the body (Example: Reaching the right arm across the body for an object placed on a table to the left side)
    2. Rotating the body around the midline in a rotary motion in order to twist at the hips. This can look like putting your hands on your hips and rotating your upper body around at the abdomen (Example: reaching for a seatbelt involves reaching the hand and arm across the midline but it also involves twisting at the hips)
    3. Leaning the upper body over the middle line as in doing a side crunch. The head and shoulders move over the middle of the body (Example: Bending sideways at the waist while getting dressed or reaching while sitting for an object that’s fallen to the floor)
    What is crossing midline and why is it important to a child's development?

    Crossing the midline is a motor skill that requires using both hands together in a coordinated manner (bilateral hand coordination) allows kids to cross midline during tasks. This bilateral coordination ability is deeply connected to crossing midline.

    Why is Crossing Midline Important?

    Midline crossing is a developmental ability that is important for so many fine motor and gross motor tasks. This relates to functional skills in a major way. When a child has difficulty with crossing midline, they will demonstrate challenges in practically every functional task.

    When a child does efficiently cross the midline, they can use their dominant hand in skilled tasks.  They develop a dominant hand and the other extremity becomes the assisting hand.  They can manipulate objects in the world around them through all planes. They can demonstrate sensory integration by motor skills with vestibular, proprioceptive, and visual input.

    In particular, crossing the midline offers vestibular input. Moving the head from center plane shifts position of the inner ears. When bending, twisting, and moving from center, the vestibular system is at work.

    When the child does not cross the midline, they tend to use both hands equally in tasks like handwriting, coloring, and cutting with scissors. They may demonstrate awkward movements by moving the body to position itself so they don’t need to cross the middle line.

    Challenges with this motor skill impact learning, social skills, play, and self-care.

    In particular, we might notice sensory motor challenges at different age levels. For example, for children aged 3-5, we might see specific midline red flags that impact learning and play. We cover this specific age group in our blog post on Crossing Midline Activities for Preschoolers.

    Child crossing midline to place one hand on opposite knee

    Crossing Midline Occupational Therapy Asessments

    Occupational therapists perform individualized evaluations and assessments of underlying skills as they impact functional performance in every day tasks. Because of this, crossing midline is an essential skill that will be observed and looked for in every OT evaluation.

    Occupational therapists can complete a standardized evaluation, but most often, their skilled abilities will enable them to identify when crossing midline is a problem through play and interaction during the evaluation process.

    When you are watching for midline crossing, you should observe kids playing in normal situations.  A child will demonstrate a tendency to avoid crossing midline in activities or tasks, but if “set up” to cross the midline (i.e. setting items to the left of the body and asking them to reach over the midline with their right hand), they will typically be able to complete the requested movement pattern, but not carry over the action in a normal situation.

    If they have difficulty with crossing midline, a child will switch hands during handwriting because both hands get practice with pencil manipulation.  

    The child might rotate their whole body instead of twisting at the trunk or shift their weight in a task rather than leaning the upper body over the midline.  

    You can often times observe a tendency to avoid midline crossing in activities such as kicking a ball, throwing beanbags, switching hands in coloring, difficulty with putting on pants and shoes independently, and difficulty with visual tracking and reading.

    Crossing the midline exercise for child

    Crossing Midline Activities

    So, what do you do when crossing the midline is an issue? There are many ways to support the development of this skill.

    The ideas listed below are fun ways to play and develop motor skills by crossing midline, however they have a sensory component too.

    We mentioned above the aspect of vestibular input and proprioceptive input that occurs in crossing the midline. These midline activities have those sensory motor considerations through play.

    • Rotate the body in a twisting motion.
    • Bend the upper body side to side.
    • Play Simon Says. Use these therapy Simon Says commands to get you started.
    • Play hand clapping games
    • Thread lids on a long string – Position string and beads or lids at different placements to encourage crossing the midline.
    • Wash a large wall with big swooping arm motions.
    • Erase a large chalkboard.
    • Scoop balloons in a water bin.
    • Wash a car.  Encourage the child to use large circular motions with the sponge.
    • Kick a ball.
    • Yoga
    • Dinosaur Gross Motor Game
    • Brain Gym Bilateral Coordination activities
    • Toss bean bags -Encourage upper body movement! Bend through the legs, turn sideways, reach back behind you, rotate side to side…encourage vestibular input by bending and rotating.
    • Squirt gun activities at targets.
    • Play with magnets on the garage door.
    • Play Twister.
    • Slow motion cartwheels- Place both hands on the floor to the side, kick legs over. By doing the cartwheel in slow motion, the body is forced to move sequentially, adding midline crossing at the trunk.
    • Hit a ball with a bat.
    • Use pool noodles to hit a ball- think hockey and hitting the ball into a target on the floor
    • Play catch with rolled socks- Use a bucket or bin to catch the rolled socks. They will fly high, low, left, and right!
    • Play flashlight tag.
    • Catch lighting bugs or butterflies.
    • Show the child how to write their name in the air with large arm movements.
    • Bend over at the waist and swing the arm side to side, in large circles, and in figure 8 motions.
    • Play with scarves to music.
    • Move a ribbon wand to music.
    Midline march. Crossing midline gross motor activity to help with handwriting, and bilateral hand coordination skill.

    Crossing the Midline Exercises

    I love this crossing midline exercise below, because it has a ton of different movement options with one fun activity.

    We had fun one winter day with a few crossing the midline exercises, including marching, crossing arms over, and stomping out some wiggles.

    Our midline march activity was a marching parade with “Stop Stations”.  We marched along to music and when I turned off the sound, the kids had to do a midline exercise.    

    The midline exercises included:

    • Place left hand on right knee
    • Place right hand on left knee
    • Stand and bend to touch the opposite foot
    • Standing and place right elbow on left knee
    • Standing and place left elbow on right knee
    • Crunches with touching right elbow to left knee
    • Crunches with touching left elbow to right knee
    • Cherry picker crunches- lay on the back slightly bent forward at the hips so the upper body is off the ground. Move a ball or small toy from the right side to the left side.

    Because we were doing these midline exercises to music that quickly stopped and started, the thought process was quick. The kids had to quickly complete the exercise without much forethought.

    This quick start and stop activity allowed them to practice crossing midline without over-thinking about the action.

    Child crossing the midline with hand on knee
    Child crossing midline with hand on opposite knee

    Fine Motor Crossing Midline Exercises

    Crossing the midline can be done on a small scale, too. This activity is similar to the midline marching activity described above, but it uses paper, pencil, and small colored dots such as stickers or a small circle drawn with markers.

    1. Draw dots on the left margin of a paper using colored markers or colored stickers. There should be one of each color going down the left margin.
    2. Draw dots using the same colors going down the right margin. Use each color only once.
    3. Turn on music. The student can draw to music on the center of the page using their pencil or markers.
    4. Turn off the music. When the music stops, call out a direction: “Left hand, yellow!” The student should put down their marker and touch the yellow dot on the right margin using their left hand.
    5. Turn on the music to draw again and repeat.

    This activity is similar to the gross motor midline exercise because it requires the child to think on the spot. They have to listen to several instructions, but also process the motor skills and cross the midline automatically.

    You can adjust this activity by numbering the dots, using less colors, or less dots, and reducing the amount of instructions. This activity can be used with any level by grading the activity.


    Child bending to touch hand to opposite foot to cross the midline.

    This post is part of the Gross Motor A-Z series hosted by Still Playing School. You can see all of the gross motor activities here.

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

    Types of Scissors

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    Types of scissors

    Did you know there are many different types of scissors to support development of scissor skills? It’s true! No matter the motor skill ability, there are different type of scissors that supports that ability or skill development. Cutting skills, like writing, are a foundational fine motor skill.  Just as you would spend time selecting the right pen/pencil, makeup, hair accessory, or pair of shoes, it is important to select the correct types of scissors.

    Types of scissors and why each different type is used

    Why do different types of scissors matter?  

    What do you look for when selecting that perfect pair of shoes?

    • Fit
    • Size
    • Price
    • Durability
    • Reputation, reviews
    • Quality
    • Functionality 

    Believe it or not, the same care can be placed in selecting the correct pair of scissors.  This is especially important if your learner has fine motor delays, hand weakness, difficulty with motor planning/coordination, small/large/irregular hands, or a diagnosis impacting their skills.

    Here are a few real life examples:

    • Lula is 4 years old with dwarfism.  Her hands are tiny.  Her parents would be very unlikely to buy her shoes that fit a grown man.  At her school, Lula was provided with regular sized scissors, thus struggling to learn this important skill.
    • James is 7 and has Down Syndrome.  Not only are his hands weak, but they are small.  While care is taken to select the right shoes and clothes for him, selecting the right scissors is just as important.
    • Marcy is 5 year old and has cerebral palsy, limiting her hand and arm movements.  She too should have extra consideration in the type of scissors that she uses.
    Different types of scissors

    What are the options for types of scissors?

    *Disclamer – Many of the following product recommendations are affiliate links from Amazon.  This does not mean these are the best, just the easiest to find.  If you prefer another vendor, check out the examples below, then type them into your Google search bar.

    1. Small Sized scissors

    Beginner small-sized scissors- These scissors are all small in size.  They are not just for small hands.  These are great for learners with all types of fine motor issues, and hand weakness.

    These beginner scissors are Amazon affiliate links.

    • I like these toddler sized scissors because they are very small.  They are great for tiny hands, or learners with fine motor weakness.
    • This learning pack of scissors contains toddler sized scissors, as well as training scissors.  See below for more information about training scissors.
    • Sewing scissors are great because they are tiny, however, they are SHARP!  If you are going to use these, either dull the edges with a file, or be extra careful with your learners.
    • These Benbow Scissors, made by Mary Benbow are the gold standard of training scissors.  

    2. Training Scissors

    Training scissors should be used as a stepping stone to graduating to a higher level type of scissors, once they are mastered.  If training scissors are not mastered, your learner can use these indefinitely.

    The training scissors listed below are Amazon affiliate links.

    • Self-opening scissors: many learners are able to pinch their fingers together long before they can open them during cutting at will. The key to motivation is success.  While using these scissors, the hands get valuable feedback of this cutting motion. These self opening scissors fit the price and durability category, but they do not fit the functionality definition. These blunt scissors, while inherently safer than sharp scissors, do not cut well, and cause more frustration than progress.
    • Spring-assist scissors- This pair of self opening scissors or these soft-grip scissors fit the function, and durability categories. They are more expensive, but cut better than safety scissors.  They are larger than the toddler scissors, so be sure that size is not a concern first
    • Double loop scissors – While I do not like that these are labeled “mother and child scissors” (because this is not inclusive), they work well.  People learn by doing.  Kinesthetic awareness is learning by moving.  These double loop scissors give your learner the feedback needed to practice and learn the cutting motion
    • Trialing two kinds of scissors- This scissor pack has double loop scissors and self opening scissors to trial different kinds of scissors with your learners, or progress forward as they develop skills.

    3. Scissors for Special Needs

    There are times when traditional scissors do not work and a specific adaptive scissor type is required. If your learner has weakness, a hand injury, tremors, increased/decreased muscle tone, or another long term condition, various scissors for special need areas are a good option. 

    Scissors in this category include loop scissors, block scissors, tabletop scissors, and electric scissors.

    For learners with small hands, or who are developing hand strength, I would recommend self opening scissors first, or using these adaptive scissor types for a very short period of time.

    These different types of scissors designed to meet specific needs are Amazon affiliate links.

    Loop scissors – These are also described as self-opening scissors.  Some learners can not isolate their fingers enough to work traditional scissors, or have a sensory aversion to sticking their fingers into the little holes on the handles of the scissors. These spring open once depressed.  They do take a fair amount of strength to grip for a prolonged amount of time, so these may not be the best choice for your learners with low tone or decreased strength (unless of course you are looking for a tool to increase strength).  

    • While these mini loop scissors at 5.5 inches are smaller and take less grip strength, they also do not cut very fast, instead making small snips.
    • These larger loop scissors at 8 inches are a great choice for stronger hands.
    • These self opening loop type scissors are popular. They require less dexterity than traditional scissors, but they do not cut very well.  Because the mouth of the scissors does not open wide, they do not make large cuts.

    Scissors for Limited mobility –  For learners missing digits, or with limited grasp, such as amputees or quadruplegic patients, use of just one upper extremity, visual challenges, or other mobility and coordination concerns, these tabletop scissors can be fastened to a table with a clamp or velcro to assist in opening containers.  They are not great for intricate cutting, as they are labor intensive and can be frustrating, but more usable for self help skills. 

    Power option – for learners with limited mobility or fine motor dexterity, electric scissors can be a motivating option for cutting.  They take some strength and coordination, but can be helpful for learners who can not use traditional scissors. These types of scissors take some practice to get used to them.

    Left handed Scissors

    Similar to questions on left-handed writing, teachers and parents are forever inquiring about left handed scissors and how to help with left handed cutting. 

    What is the left handed scissors difference?

    There is definitely a difference between left-handed scissors and right-handed scissors. Right-handed scissors have the right blade positioned on top, whereas left-handed scissors have the left blade positioned on top. This prevents unnecessary bending and tearing of the paper. This difference between left and right handed scissors also allows each user to maintain a clear visual view of the cutting line.


    Scissor handles are often molded to accommodate either the left or right hand. When manufacturers claim they have created a pair of ambidextrous scissors, be aware that such a thing does not exist. They have simply created a “neutral” handle accessible for the both left and right hand. The blades are still right-hand oriented. Thus, left-handed users should not be given scissors marketed as being appropriate for both left-handers and right-handers.

    True left handed scissors have the cutting blade positioned on the top. Neutral scissors or scissors that can fit both left and right hands may cause additional frustrations.

    Read more on the term ambidextrous and what this means for functional tasks such as cutting with scissors.

    There are several types of scissors for lefty’s available, but what are the best left handed scissors?

    These basic lefty scissors (affiliate link) are ideal.  If it wasn’t such a right handed world, I would recommend these to all lefties. 

    Being a lefty myself, I understand the benefit and fit of left handed scissors. The majority of scissors your learner will encounter will be right handed, so it is better to learn and adapt to traditional scissors. There are only a few left handed items that are necessary (can opener, ice cream scoop, binder, ladle, vegetable peeler.)

    Tips for Left handed cutting:

    • Use sharp scissors – this way the blade has less chance of just bending the paper instead of neatly slicing through it
    • Don right handed scissors upside down – for some reason putting the thumb in the fingers hole changes the blade position, and makes cutting easier. 
    • Lefties cut CLOCKWISE.  Righties cut COUNTERCLOCKWISE.  This is important.  If your learner cuts in the wrong direction, this leaves them without the ability to hold onto and turn the piece of paper that is being cut.  Try it!

    time to learn to cut

    Now that you have selected the right fit, durability, functionality, and quality of scissors for your learner, it is time to learn to cut!  The OT Toolbox has multiple posts and products available for practicing scissor skills.  There is a comprehensive scissor skills guide available also.

    The key to cutting skills –

    • Thumb and middle finger in the scissor loops.  You can add ring finger into the loops if they are large.  Pointer finger stays out and points the way.  This adds to hand stability and opens the arches of the hand further.
    • Thumbs up!  The helper hand grips the object being cut, with their thumb facing up.  This gives the object being held greater stability, and ease of movement. All of the various types of scissors could have a sticker added as an additional adaptation to help with positioning.
    • How to hold scissors – check out this helpful post on the OT Toolbox
    • Steps of scissor skill development
    • Scissor Skills
    • Scissor Skills Crash Course

    Guide to Types of Scissors

    Want a printable guide to the various types of scissors? You are in luck. We have a one page printable guide that shows images of the different versions of scissors on the market. These are the different scissor types you might see in a therapists’ therapy bag!

    Now you can quickly share information on why each type of scissor might be used and determine which type of scissor to use based on the individual needs of the learner.

    To get your copy, just enter your email into the form below.

    This handout set is also available in our OT Toolbox Member’s Club.

    Current Membership Club members can log into your account and head to the dashboard toolbox labeled “Scissor Skills Downloads“. Print off the handouts without the need to enter an email address.

    Want to add this resource to your therapy toolbox so you can help kids thrive? Enter your email into the form below to access this printable tool.

    Want to add this resource to your therapy toolbox so you can help kids thrive? Enter your email into the form below to access this printable tool.

    This resource is just one of the many tools available in The OT Toolbox Member’s Club. Each month, members get instant access to downloadable activities, handouts, worksheets, and printable tools to support development. Members can log into their dashboard and access all of our free downloads in one place. Plus, you’ll find exclusive materials and premium level materials.

    Level 1 members gain instant access to all of the downloads available on the site, without enter your email each time PLUS exclusive new resources each month.

    Level 2 members get access to all of our downloads, exclusive new resources each month, PLUS additional, premium content each month: therapy kits, screening tools, games, therapy packets, and much more. AND, level 2 members get ad-free content across the entire OT Toolbox website.

    Join the Member’s Club today!

    FREE Handout: Types of Scissors

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      a final note on selecting the correct types of scissors

      Pamper your learner with a great pair of scissors, just like you do when you purchase those amazing shoes.  Fit and function over price. Quality always wins.  Fiskars are the gold standard for traditional scissors, and the one type almost every therapy provider has in their OT bag of tricks.  They cut paper well and come in tons of sizes and designs. 

      So…what are the worst scissors?  Most therapists agree that those “safety scissors” that don’t cut anything except maybe playdough are absolutely the worst.  Save those for playdough, and upgrade when it comes to cutting anything else. 

      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.

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

      The Scissor Skills Book

      Looking for tips, strategies, and activities to support development of scissor skills? Grab a copy of The Scissor Skills Book!

      The Scissor Skills Book breaks the functional skill of cutting with scissors into several developmental areas including:

      • Developmental progression of scissor use
      • Fine motor skill involvement
      • Gross motor development
      • Sensory considerations and visual perceptual skills

      Each section includes strategies and tips to improve these underlying areas.

      • Help for kids who struggle with cutting accurately
      • Creative tips to keep things interesting for kids who lose interest easily
      • Quick, practical strategies that can be put into action today!
      • Ideas for kids who cut too fast or too slow
      • Support for kids who can’t grasp scissors efficiently
      • Strategies for right-handed and left-handed children

      Click here to get your copy today.

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