Looking for a play dough activity (or many) that develop and strengthen fine motor skills? Here, you’ll find playdough activities for fine motor skills, and specifically play dough occupational therapy ideas to strengthen the hands, improve eye-hand coordination, and address underlying skills that kids so very need. These play dough exercises are fun tools for finger strength exercises and grip strength exercises that don’t seem so much like “work”.
You’ll find a lot of fine motor activities here on The OT Toolbox…today we’re sharing fine motor activities with play dough. Whether it’s homemade play dough or store bought, play dough is a great way to build motor skills needed for precision tasks like pencil grasp, scissor skills, precision in buttoning, zippering, or tying shoes? Fine motor play is a great way to build the skills kids need.
occupational therapy fine motor skills
In occupational therapy, fine motor skills are a huge area of consideration. OTs often address fine motor skills and the impact on play, self-care, and other functional skills. A play dough activity is one way to make strengthening fine motor skills fun!
Here are ways to use a fun play dough activity to strengthen small motor skills…let’s use play dough to work those hands!
Speaking of occupational therapy and fine motor skills, using other commonly found materials (play dough being one, there are other items that work little muscles of the hand in OT sessions…playing cards, craft pom poms, beads, and paper clips are some ideas.
We wanted to share the reasons why play dough exercises are a fine motor power tool. However, you’re not limited to using play dough to gain these benefits. Theraputty exercises or slime exercises can be interchanged with the play dough fine motor exercises.
Here’s the thing: play dough is an easy and effective means for building fine motor skills for preschoolers. The soft and squishy dough provides a tactile sensory challenge with proprioceptive sensory feedback. The bonus is the strengthening of the arches of the hands and precision of grasp.
Fine motor activities like playing with playdough build many fine motor skill areas:
Precision- Precision occurs with development of grasp when child to use the pads of the index finger, middle finger, and thumb to manipulate objects with opposition.
Here are all of the intricacies of fine motor skills. Read about the definitions of fine motor skills and how each skill area is needed for tasks like pencil grasp, buttons, and other fine motor tasks.
Playing with play dough builds other skills as well:
Check out our video below for play dough exercises that you can do with a container of play dough. In the video, we walk through specific exercises like making a play dough snake, making a play dough snail, pinching off balls of play dough, finger isolation play dough tasks, how to isolate the thumb with play dough, and resistive tendon glides using play dough exercises.
Follow along with the video for Play Dough exercises to strengthen the hands.
playdough activities for fine motor skills
We’ve covered all of the various ways play dough supports fine motor development. Now, let’s discover how to use play dough for fine motor skills.
Let’s get to those playdough activities for fine motor skills! A tub of play dough has so many options for building fine motor strength and dexterity.
Roll balls of dough between the thumb and pointer/middle fingers.
Make a rainbow with rolls of different colors of play dough.
Roll a long rope of play dough and roll it into a cinnamon bun
Hide beads and have a race to find them
Create an obstacle course for the fingers with hurdles and jumps
Spread the play dough out into a pizza. Use scissors to cut it into slices
Make a small world with hills and mountains for small animal figures
Make a maze for a ping pong ball. Blow the ball through the maze with a straw
Make a small keyboard using balls of dough. Press on the play dough balls with one finger
Make a play dough pie. Pinch the crust, create play dough berries.
Form letters using the play dough
Mix water into the play dough for a squishy, messy dough
Build structures using popsicle sticks and play dough. Add details with feathers scraps of paper, etc
Make play dough emoji faces
Roll play dough into a sheet. Cut it with scissors.
Cut with cookie cutters
Press google eyes into play dough
Press buttons into playdough
Push pegs into play dough
Press straws into play dough to make circles
Press kitchen utensils into play dough
Press feathers into playdough
Nature sculptures- add leaves, pine cones, acorns, etc.
Make play dough muffins with muffin tin
Press rocks into play dough
Use candles or pipe cleaners and craft sticks to create playdough birthday cakes
Press craft sticks into play dough to make a STEM fine motor building set
Several of the play dough activities above mentioned using scissors. Here is a resource on types of scissors to start with to address various fine motor needs.
Printable Fine Motor Play Dough Activity
One way to support fine motor skills with play dough is using a printable play dough mat. We have many play dough mats here on the site. These are also available in our Membership Club as well as in our fine motor kits.
What would you add to this list of fine motor activities using play dough?
Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.
Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:
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.
If you have kids, you’ve probably been aware of the fascination with play dough…and this farm small world hits the mark! We created a farm play dough world using different colors of play dough and a few miniature farm animals to develop fine motor skills, sensory play, and so much more. This was a huge hit when my kids were smaller and one that I love to go back on and look at the pictures! This farm animal play dough idea is a great addition to a farm activities theme for therapy or the classroom!
Farm Small World
Play dough farm animals are fun ways to support skills in kids…So, what is a farm small world and how can we use this play dough activity to support skill building in kids?
First of all, a farm small world is just that: a miniature farm play activity on a small scale. For kids, play is all about pretend, and play is a powerful means to develop skills: motor skills, cognitive, sensory, etc.
A farm small world is a play set-up with a farm theme to inspire skills in areas such as:
Fine motor work– Using the fingers to manipulate farm animal figures in play dough for strengthening and precision
Heavy work (proprioceptive input) through the hands– By pressing play dough into a small world surface and pressing farm animal figures into the play dough
Creativity– Imaginative play to create scenarios, and pretend play scenes using the farm play dough creations
Communication skills– Using receptive language and expressive language to communicate between farm animals or farmer, etc.
Self-awareness and body awareness– Moving the body through space to manipulate animals and farm figures
Crossing midline– Moving on the floor or table surface to reach across the small world farm
Floor play– Playing on the floor for heavy work. Also using principles of DIR Floor Play as a therapy modal
Visual Processing skills– Eye-hand coordination, visual motor skills, visual scanning, form constancy
A DIY Farm play dough kit can develop so many skill areas!
You can even use the play dough farm animals set along with our Farm Brain Breaks for whole-body therapy fun.
How to Make a Farm Play Dough Small WOrld
To create a farm small world play space, you can gather a few materials:
Play dough in various colors (brown, blue, and green)
Farm figures: miniature farm animals, plastic fence, and small trucks or tractors if you have them
A surface- We used a plastic frisbee for our farm small world, but you could use a plastic plate, a small bin, or a box.
To make the farm playdough world, first press the play dough into the surface of the container. Use fingertips to press the brown, green, and blue play doh into the surface.
Next, add miniature cows, horses, chicken, ducks, pigs, etc. Press the farm animals into the play dough to create animal footprints.
Add farm details such as plastic fencing, miniature tractors, etc.
Then play with the farm play dough kit!
Little Guy loved playing with this little play dough set up. We pulled out our farm animals and a few colors of play dough, and played farm! Little Guy said we needed to get a couple of his cars too. Because the animals needed to go places on his farm 🙂
We explored footprints and tire impressions in the play dough.
The pigs had the mud to themselves…
…and all of the birds stayed in the “lake”.
And then all of the animals got hot and had to take a dip in the lake 🙂
This was a fun way to spend a little time playing with my Little Guy and exploring that imagination of his. He is such a sweet little dude with big ideas and loves having FUN.
We thought it was pretty funny to make animal impressions in the play dough, too. This is a great way to work on fine motor strength and visual motor skills such as visual closure.
We played a little guessing game where one of us would cover our eyes and the other would make an imprint in the play dough. Then the other person would guess what animal made the shape. We did this for a long time…doing each animal.
And then back to the farm we went. And the animals took a few joy rides on their cars and trucks!
So, what do you think? Does this farm small world play look like a fun idea or what? Farm small world animals and a few containers of play dough can support so many developmental areas!
Looking for more fine motor and pretend play skill-builders? Check out our fine motor kits for themed OT work, including these:
Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.
Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Do you know how to use graph paper to meet specific OT goal areas? We can use grid paper in occupational therapy sessions to develop many goal areas. Did you ever see a student using graphed paper in occupational therapy and wonder about the pre-gridded paper purpose in supporting goals? Not only is graph paper a type of adapted paper for some, it can be a tool too! There are so many different reasons to use this type of paper to support specific handwriting or visual perception needs. Here we are discussing using graph paper and why this type of therapy tool can be helpful.
Graph Paper Purpose in OT
Graph paper comes in many sizes! Specific activities can be easily graded in difficulty just by making it easier when boxes are large and of course more challenging as boxes become smaller in size.
Graph paper can be used as a tool to support many areas of development:
Try these paper activities in occupational therapy sessions or at home. Here are ideas on using graph paper to meet specific goal areas in OT or at home:
Graph Paper for Visual Perception
Tasks like forming letters the correct size, using margins, aligning lists or columns are all visual perceptual areas of handwriting. You can use grid paper to support these needs.
Graph paper is great to use for math problems! Simply place one number in each box and line them up so numbers are easily read and there’s a spot for each number in your answer. Your math work just might be easier to do and it will for sure be easier to read.
Graph paper for visual motor skills
Related to the visual perception aspect is the contribution of motor skills. In order to copy shapes, copy and write words, recreate graphs, plot lines, etc. one needs visual motor skills.
Graph paper can be used to address visual motor skills with these activities:
Create a plot diagram. Use a ruler to connect lines.
Copy shapes and designs using the grid blocks on the paper.
Form block letters with or without a model.
Cut shapes and trace the shape using the graph paper template.
Create symmetry drawings by folding the graph paper in half.
I love to use graph paper for imitating drawings. I will draw an odd shape or maybe even a specific item and ask a student to copy my drawing by counting and using the boxes to replicate my shape. Students can also draw their own shape and try to “stump” the therapist or other player.
If the adult/other player is creative, s/he can label the boxes with letters and numbers across the top and side edges (kind of like a BINGO board) and the student is asked to fill in box A-1, or C-3, etc. to create a picture that will mysteriously become visible at the end. The one helping here must do a little homework on their own first to make sure the colored in boxes will actually create a picture.
Draw shapes–
The student can also be instructed (verbally or with written cues) to draw shapes, lines, letters, etc. in certain boxes or at the intersection of certain lines (e.g. put a yellow circle in box A-1, or draw a tree at line F-7 or similar).
This helps to follow written instructions, draw a specific shape, and locate the correct space on the graph paper. Be creative and make it fun!
Graph paper Letter Size Activity-
Finally, it would be an injustice to graph paper if I didn’t mention the use it can play in creating letter boxes for a box and dot handwriting task. Your student may already be familiar with this through OT sessions.
Graph lines can be used to outline the space in which a letter sits, using one single box for lower case letters. Upper case letters and lower case tall letters: (t, d, f, h, k, l, b) will need to include the box ON TOP to make it a one wide by a 2 tall defined space.
Lower case letters that are descending below the line, or tail letters (q, y, p, g, j) must include the box BELOW, making it also a one wide by 2 space, but the box on bottom goes below the line on which the letters are written.
Missing letter activities-
Making up a “key” of words, or a game, have the student place the letters in the proper defined word space that has letter boxes outlined or maybe even just the word outlined. This may be a fun way to practice spelling words.
Cutting activity-
If nothing else, you can always use graph paper to practice cutting on the lines, creating a colored picture, making paper air planes, or crumpling into a ball to play a game. Graph paper is one style of cutting paper with a graded resistance we talk about in our scissor skills crash course.
I’m sure your student can think of many non-traditional things to do with it on his/her own!
If you don’t have graph paper on hand, below are resources I have found which may be helpful.
The Handwriting Book is a comprehensive resource created by experienced pediatric OTs and PTs.
The Handwriting Book covers everything you need to know about handwriting, guided by development and focused on function. This digital resource is is the ultimate resource for tips, strategies, suggestions, and information to support handwriting development in kids.
The Handwriting Book breaks down the functional skill of handwriting into developmental areas. These include developmental progression of pre-writing strokes, fine motor skills, gross motor development, sensory considerations, and visual perceptual skills. Each section includes strategies and tips to improve these underlying areas.
Strategies to address letter and number formation and reversals
Ideas for combining handwriting and play
Activities to practice handwriting skills at home
Tips and strategies for the reluctant writer
Tips to improve pencil grip
Tips for sizing, spacing, and alignment with overall improved legibility
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.
I love this Dollar Store therapy idea because it develops so many skills, making the materials a great addition to any occupational therapy bag. If you are looking for a Dollar Store craft that builds several areas (and can be used with a variety of levels of your caseload), then this animal soap holder craft is a great one to try! If you’ve used a soap holder travel item in your travels in the past, then you may even have all of the items you need to make a mini fine motor kit! Plus, it’s a great addition to a list of spider activities if you are using this idea around a theme.
All you need is a plastic travel bar soap case and a few items to create a ton of fine motor skill-building!
travel bar soap case THerapy Kit
Looking for a fine motor craft idea that boosts all of the underlying skills kids need? This fine motor craft is a soap holder animal and it adds opportunities for skills like fine motor strength, precision of fine motor skills, dexterity, coordination, visual motor skills, and many more therapy areas.
The best part is, after kids make this fun fine motor craft, they have a fine motor toolkit that can be used again and again to address the motor skills they need!
Let’s take a look at how to make a soap holder animal and use this fine motor craft idea to maximize the therapeutic benefits!
Dollar Store Craft for Therapy
All you need is a colorful soap holder and a few other materials from the Dollar Store to create your own soap container craft.
Soap holder animals are great busy box kits which are made with simple materials and come in their own storage containers. They address creativity, visual perception, eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, problem solving and fine motor skills.
Being stored within themselves makes them easily portable allowing a therapist to toss one quickly into their therapy bag or cart.
Kids love soap holder animal crafts and therapists will find they make for a cool and engaging therapy activity. Soap holder busy box kits fit the bill for many pediatric therapists who travel from site to site.
They are a cheap and easy fine motor craft to transport, are easy to store, and are fun to create with an engaging focus on child skill development.
Therapists will find soap holder animal make for a great send home activity too!
Occupational Therapy Bag Item
Filling a plastic soap dish with small materials is great for the traveling occupational therapist, because you can add this mini container to your occupational therapy bag, and opening and closing the container is part of the therapy processes to further develop fine motor skills, bilateral coordination, and other areas.
Children love opening the boxes to see what’s inside and they are intrigued by what they are able to create with them. They love crafting animals and making them come to life.
Soap holder busy box kits allow for children to expand on their skills while also enjoying the high level of creativity that can be achieved.
With these soap holder creations, children experience an improved feeling of success and achievement having used their own skills to create something fun and entertaining.
Many skill areas are hidden within the process of this fun activity. Just the developmental benefits of bead stringing alone would be enough to make the activity worth using! Bead stringing activities can help improve overall fine motor, visual perception, visual motor and cognitive skills. Functionally, bead stringing can help a child improve their pencil grasp and control for drawing, writing and coloring as well as improve their ability to manipulate fasteners on clothing.
This soap dish kit is actually a piece of pediatric therapy equipment you may not immediately think of when you think of occupational therapy toys, but it’s sure to be a big hit!
Use the travel bar soap case craft to build skills
The skills and target areas addressed with soap holder animal crafts and use of these fun busy box kits include:
Bilateral coordination – The act of opening and closing the boxes, threading and un-threading the beads, and building legs or other appendages requires the child to use two hands together in a coordinated manner.
Pincer grasp and finger strength – Pinching small beads for placement and threading them requires a thumb to index finger pinch pattern and small muscle strength to manipulate and place the bead.
In-hand manipulation – Pinching small beads and turning them around within the fingers for placement requires coordination of the small hand and finger muscles working on shift and rotation movements.
Eye-hand coordination – Threading and un-threading beads and building legs or other appendages requires the child’s eyes and hands to work together.
Visual perception – Recalling the bead color pattern while searching for one specific bead color from a group of assorted beads requires visual memory, visual scanning and visual discrimination skills.
Executive functioning – Deciding what type of creature the child wants to make and organizing and planning their approach while also determining what kind of pattern they want to use and where to place the appendages requires organization, planning and problem-solving skills.
Graded Fine Motor Craft Kids Love
Travel soap dish with lid are nice because you can fill the mini fine motor kit with any item that meets the needs of the child you are working with.
Soap holder busy box kits can easily be downgraded or upgraded by matching the type of materials used to the needs and abilities of the child or by modifying the approach and the necessary skills required to complete the activity.
A few considerations on adjusting this fine motor craft to meet the needs and skills of various children:
1. Consider the use of larger beads vs. smaller beads. Determine if the bead hole diameter is small enough or large enough to meet or challenge the child’s skills.
2. Use flexible string vs. pipe cleaners. (Be sure the string is flexible enough that the box lid can close once they are inserted and that beads do not easily fall off.) Flexible string can provide a good challenge for some children.
3. Keep pipe cleaners full length or cut in half to make the activity more challenging for appendage placement, manipulation, and orientation.
4. Consider keeping the process simple by having the activity set-up for the child and then have them only string the beads.
5. Have the child simply string beads at random vs. following a color pattern.
6. Work on opening containers using the travel soap dish with lid.
How to Make a travel bar soap case craft
Now that you know the total benefits and a few ways to grade the activity, here is what you need to create your very own soap holder animal using a travel bar soap case.
Place all of the materials in the travel bar soap case. It’s ready to go into your occupational therapy bag.
When you are ready to use the travel bar soap case in therapy sessions, pull out the travel bar soap case filled with fine motor items. Kids can open the container and use the materials to thread beads or explore.
Bend the pipe cleaners to make legs for a spider or wings for a butterfly.
Thread beads onto the pipe cleaners.
Place the ends of the pipe cleaners onto the edge of the travel soap container and close the lid.
Decorate the top with googly eyes.
They never get old as they may never be the same creation twice!
Soap holder busy bead kits are easy to assemble for use as a therapy activity or home busy box. Take a short time to gather the materials and use it all year long to build a multitude of skills with children.
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Let us know if you make this soap holder animal fine motor craft!
Regina Parsons-Allen is a school-based certified occupational therapy assistant. She has a pediatrics practice area of emphasis from the NBCOT. She graduated from the OTA program at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute in Hudson, North Carolina with an A.A.S degree in occupational therapy assistant. She has been practicing occupational therapy in the same school district for 20 years. She loves her children, husband, OT, working with children and teaching Sunday school. She is passionate about engaging, empowering, and enabling children to reach their maximum potential in ALL of their occupations as well assuring them that God loves them!
Looking for more fun ways to develop fine motor skills? Grab one of our digital Fine Motor Kits!
Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.
Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:
Have you ever thought about making colored sand? It is possible to color sand, easily, and get the kids involved in the process, too. Here, we are covering how to color sand as a sensory play material for the sandbox, for art, and for homemade colored sand fun!
We have been playing outside so much recently. Our sandbox is right outside and the kids are in there daily. We added a little color to some of the sand this week and have been having fun with our colored sand!
Color Sand for Developing Skills
Kids love to color sand, and the process is a fun motor and sensory activity to support development of a variety of skill areas, too:
Bilateral coordination to pour sand into a bag or container
Gross motor skills, heavy work, proprioception, and motor planning skills to shake the containers of sand and paint
Executive functioning skills to mix and color the sand
Tactile sensory play to manipulate the mixed textures of dry sand and wet paint.
Fine motor skills to pinch the crumbled dry clumps of colored sand
How to Color Sand
We made a simple batch of colored sand very easily. This simple recipe is a great activity for kids to make as a cognitive and direction-following activity. Read on for directions on how to make colored sand…
Big Sister helped me with this and we had fun while the little kids were napping. So how did we make our colored sand?
Scoop a little sand into plastic baggies.
Add around 10-15 drops of food coloring.
Seal the baggie and shake it up. (great for some gross motor play!!)
Let the sand dry and have fun playing.
We left our sand right in the open baggies and let it dry overnight. If you wanted to play right away, you could spread the sand out on a tray and it would dry much sooner.
Color Sand Activities
Once you have mixed a batch of colorful sand, you can use it in various sensory and motor activities.
Make Color Sand Pictures
So the next day, we spread the sand out on a tray and played! She loves making pictures in the sand and telling stories (like Nina on Sprout!) This was such a fun activity.
Practice Writing Letters with Colored Sand
We spread out the sand onto a low tray and used it as a writing tray. My preschooler told me all kinds of stories, made words, and we practiced some lower case letter formation.
Big Sister is knows how to make most lowercase letters and can copy all of the letters. This is a great activity for letter formation and practicing handwriting.
Use Colored Sand for Pre-Writing Skills
For kids that are still working on diagonals, crossed lines, and shapes, a sand sensory writing tray is a great tool to work on pre-writing skills. The tactile feedback offers muscle memory for forming lines and shapes.
The sand adds a sensory aspect to letter formation. Using a large tray like this one adds whole arm movements which are perfect for the young child who is just learning letter formation. I love the contrast that the white tray adds to the colored sand.
We played for a long time with this (again during Little Kid nap time).
Of course, when you have bags of colored sand, you have to mix the colors together to see what happens 🙂
Grade the colored sand activity for therapy
How can you grade this activity for different aged children? There are many ways to color sand and use one batch with several ages. This is especially good for families with children at various ages. Consider the contamination aspect when using a batch of colored sand in the therapy setting.
Toddlers would love to explore the colors and sensation of the sand on their fingers.
Pre-writers can copy and trace shapes, zig-zag and intersecting lines
Early writers can trace upper case letters.
Older hand-writers can copy a word from a card positioned off to the side.
Practice spelling words with school-aged kids.
We saved our bags of colored sand and will be using them again. Have you done any projects with colored sand?
Finally, after playing with your homemade colored sand, use the opportunity to add this tactile sensory play experience to your toolbox of handwashing activities!
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
Working on other fine motor skills through play? Grab one of our Fine Motor Kits to get started!
Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.
Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:
This pasta threading activity is a fine motor task that supports development of many skills. If you are looking for toddler activities, preschool activities, or ideas for older kids to develop motor control and coordination, pasta threading is the way to go!
Pasta Threading
First, you might be wondering what is “pasta threading”? If you have Pinterest, you may have seen activities where kids thread pasta onto straws placed into play dough. This is one form of pasta threading.
Another way to thread pasta as a fine motor activity is to simply create a pasta necklace by threading the pasta onto string or yarn. This is a classic craft that helps develop many skill areas.
By threading pasta, kids develop skills in areas such as:
We’ve covered other threading activities in the past, including this gross motor threading activity. Working from a larger aspect like using whole-body movements is a great precursor to the more refined fine motor work needed for threading pasta noodles.
Pasta Threading Activity
Similar to stringing beads as a therapy tool, threading pasta can be graded in many aspects to support the individual needs of the user.
Modify the material– You can stringing pasta onto cord, thick yarn, straws, or even lightweight string.
Modify the pasta size– Use a larger noodle or a smaller noodle. You can target in-hand manipulation skills, pincer grasp, and arch development by using different sizes of noodle.
Modify the positioning– Ask users to thread onto a free lying piece of string. Or place straws or skewers into playdough to change the positioning and shoulder involvement.
Depending on the needs of the individual, you can adapt or modify these materials. Use a thicker straw or a smaller straw cut into pieces. Position the straws on angles or all in one direction.
There are so many ways to change this single activity to support a variety of needs and skill levels.
To complete this fine motor activity, you need only a few materials:
plastic straw or straight spaghetti
tubular pasta
play dough
Be sure to incorporate the play dough into the activity so that the user has ownership in setting up the activity. There are also the added fine motor benefits of play dough as well.
How to thread pasta
To set up this fine motor activity, follow these steps:
flatten out play dough on to table
stick the straw/spaghetti into the play dough
thread the pasta onto the straw
Pasta threading is a great fine motor activity that supports so many areas, and can easily be set up at home.
Looking for more ways to develop fine motor skills and visual motor skills?
Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.
Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:
Today I have a fun Star Wars occupational therapy activity. This block light saber requires just one material, but you can use this Lightsaber for so many OT goals! We actually created this counting block light saber years ago (original blog post was written in 2015) for May 4th activities for occupational therapy. May the 4th be with you with this fine motor Star Wars activity!
Star Wars occupational therapy
Pediatric occupational therapy professionals know the power of using themes in OT therapy sessions. When we come up with a theme for fine motor, gross motor, visual motor, and sensory motor tasks, we can cover a wide range of OT goals while meeting the client (patient, student, etc.) where they are with a focus on their interests.
Using interests in therapy fosters meaning and engagement.
That’s where this Star Wars occupational therapy theme comes into play.
How many children have you met that love all things Star Wars? When you bring up the topic of light sabers, Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca, and Luke, you may see a sparkle in the eyes of a child that could talk for hours on all things Star Wars. That’s when you know you have a great therapy theme on your hands.
Using that Star Wars theme in therapy allows kids to focus on the tasks at hand, try new activities, and put themselves out there to try activities that might be just a little difficult on the range of “just right” tasks. The point here is to meet those goals but when working on goals is difficult, it can be easy to quit or give up. However, if there is a topic of interest that really sparks a light of engagement, then you have a tool to support goal development.
This is when we see kids thrive!
Let’s go over a few Star Wars occupational therapy activities focusing on fine motor skills, visual motor skills, gross motor skills, handwriting, and sensory play.
Star Wars Fine Motor Activity- Build a Block Light Saber
If your sons (and daughters) are anything like mine they love to make lightsabers out of anything. Ever since they were introduced to Star Wars, the lightsaber is definitely a favorite in our house. We built these blocks Star Wars lightsabers using counting blocks and wanted to share. Because it sure is fun!
The block light saber is a fine motor powerhouse. By snapping together the blocks, you’ll see:
All of these fine motor skills are essential to functional tasks. Using the Star Wars theme adds a “4th” theme (force) that can’t be beat!
How to Make a Star Wars Lightsaber with Blocks
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To make build our lightsabers, we used one of our favorite toys; these snapping blocks (affiliate link) are a toy that is used almost every day in our house. From building robots to spaceships, and now lightsabers…we love these blocks. They are great when used as a counting manipulative for preschoolers. Other counting blocks (affiliate link) could also be used.
How to use this light saber in OT activities:
Visual Motor Skills- Create a block light saber model. Ask the child to copy the light saber using pattern blocks or snap blocks. They can copy the colors and spacing of the blocks to work on visual motor skills.
Other visual skills addressed with this activity include:
Visual scanning
Visual attention
Visual figure ground
Visual closure
Gross Motor Skills- Use the light saber to copy gross motor movements and motor planning patterns. The therapist can make movements with a block light saber and the client can copy them. Work on adding a sequence of movement patterns to work on sequencing, balance, motor planning, and recall. You can use the light saber like a movement stick like we did with this cursive writing warm-up activity.
Other gross motor skills that are addressed with this Star Wars light saber therapy tool include:
Crossing midline
Balance
sequencing
Motor planning
Visual tracking
Core strength and stability
Handwriting- This is one way to use the blocks light saber that I really love. Once the light saber has been built, use it as a spacing tool to space between words!
To use the light saber as a spacing tool, the child can build their light saber using the snapping blocks. Then, ask them to write sentences on paper or a dry erase board, focusing on copying or writing words accurately on the lines. Show the child how to place the light saber blocks between each word as a visual cue and a tactile support to add space after the words. When they are completed with writing the sentence, they will have words that are accurately and consistently spaced out, making handwriting legibility a breeze.
Spatial awareness impacts handwriting legibility in big ways. The child can then recall using a light saber as their handwriting “force” each time they write, whether they have the actual light saber in hand or not. It’s a handwriting force that can’t be beat!
Sensory Activities- By adding sensory play into therapy sessions, children can address self-regulation needs, sensory challenges, and play-based learning. Scatter the blocks in a sensory bin with scoops, tongs, and cups. You’ll need a sensory bin base material as well. The sensory materials offer a way to explore textures and create in therapy sessions.
The student or child can find the needed items and then build their own light saber.
This sensory Star Wars idea addresses various skill areas:
Tactile exploration
Sensory motor skills
Visual processing
Proprioception
Build the lightsabers using a row of counting blocks(affiliate link). Encourage your child to count out the blocks and match up the numbers when making a double lightsaber. This is a fun way to encourage math through play and interests in Star Wars. Have fun with your counting block lightsabers!
Add this activity to these other Star Wars occupational therapy activities:
Star Wars Sensory Activities
Use Star Wars Moon Dough to encourage tactile hand sensory input, add heavy work through the hands with proprioceptive input.
Mix and make LEGO Star Wars Putty and develop tactile sensory challenges with bilateral coordination. Then address handwashing after playing.
Work on sensory based executive functioning skills and fine motor work to find mini Lego hidden in slime with Light Saber Glow in the Dark Slime.
Incorporate bilateral coordination, hand strength, coloring skills, and heavy work through the hands to make this Crayon Resist Death Star.
Use this Star Wars kids’ embroidery: Yoda quote craft with older students to work on fine motor skills in the middle school or high school range.
Work on scissor skills, bilateral coordination, precision, glue use, and handwriting to make this Star Wars R2-D2 Craft.
Incorporate wrist extension, fine motor precision, hand strength, grasp development, tool use, and scissor skills and Make a Toilet Paper Roll Yoda.
Address tripod grasp, neat precision grasp, separation of the sides of the hand, open thumb web space, eye hand coordination, and visual motor skills with this Star Wars Day Perler Bead Pattern.
Star Wars Handwriting
Use the light saber spacing tool above with these Star Wars handwriting ideas in occupational therapy sessions:
Incorporate letter formation, copying skills, line use, spatial awareness, and handwriting legibility in a functional and meaningful Star Wars craft using this May the Fourth Be With You Card.
Print off these Star Wars Printable Word Cloud Worksheets and then students can copy the words they see in the word clouds to work on handwriting skills as well as visual perceptual skills.
Use these Star Wars Children’s Books to work on handwriting skills by asking kids to copy sentences from the books or to find specific letters in the book and then work on letter formation. They can even use the pictures as inspiration for creative writing with a Star Wars theme.
Star Wars Executive Function Ideas
All of the crafts and activities above involve aspects of executive functioning skills. Making a play dough or slime recipe involves planning, prioritization, and other EF skill work. Try this activity with your star Wars theme to add more executive function work to your occupational therapy session:
Make stop action creations and work on planning, prioritization, impulse control, task completion and other executive functioning skills. You’ll find inspiration in this Star Wars stop action activity.
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.
This beaded feather activity is a fine motor task that we created YEARS ago. WE love it because beads and feathers are common craft materials found in many pediatric occupational therapy professionals’ therapy toolbox. In fact OTs love crafts as a fine motor strategy and this feather bead activity is a powerhouse!
Beaded Feather Activity
If you need a quick and easy little activity for the kids while you are making dinner, or just something fun for the kids to keep practice a few fine motor skills, then this is a great activity for you. Simple to set up and easy to clean up, this one will get those little muscles going and moving with fine motor dexterity!
This can be a great skill-building task to add to a STEAM activity or a STEM fine motor activity.
Beading with feathers
This activity works on several grasps, color awareness, counting, sorting, visual scanning, and eye-hand-coordination. How can you beat such an easy activity with so many benefits??
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You’ll need just two craft materials for this fine motor activity:
Get your feathers and some coordinating beads and lay them out on the table. I started a few feathers to show the kids what we were doing and had the invitation to start ready to go.
They came over to check it out and would bead a bit here and there throughout the day. It was kind of like a therapeutic little break from bouncing off of couch cushions and each other.
Their little bodies needed a chance to slow down and re-group before getting back into the routine of regularly scheduled chaos.
But maybe that’s just my kids?
Pincer Grasp Activity With Beads and Feathers
You could also put out a big old tray of all kinds of beads with different colors, shapes, sizes to work with.
This slightly makes the activity just a little more difficult as the child has to visually scan for the colors needed and pick out the beads that they want with a neat pincer grasp.
Using the tips of the index finger and the thumb in a precision grasp to manipulate beads from a big tray of colors is great for eye-hand coordination.
Holding the feather and the beads requires two hands to work together in a coordinated way (bilateral hand coordination).
This is a great way to practice pre-writing skills and those requirements needed for self- care like managing buttons, zippers, shoe-tying, and scissor skills.
Bead Feathers to learn colors
Younger children (Baby Girl is just getting this!) can learn colors and practice naming colors as they pick out the beads and match to the color of the feather.
How many other ways can you think of to make this a learning opportunity?
Patterns, sorting, counting…this is a fun learning op and a great way to get those little hands moving!
The beaded feather activity and the other fine motor tasks listed above are a great addition to our popular Fine Motor Kits:
Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.
Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:
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.
