Bone Names Activity for Kids

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.

How to Hold a Spoon and Fork

How to hold a fork and spoon

Teaching a child how to hold a spoon and scoop food requires several motor skills that must be developed before a toddler can use utensils themselves. Even older children struggle with the ADLs of holding a spoon and scooping food to feed themselves. Here, we’re covering sensory motor skills needed to hold a spoon, fork, knife, and other utensils. You’ll also find some creative activities and play ideas to develop the underlying skills that play into using utensils.

How to hold a fork and spoon
How to hold a fork and spoon with efficient grasp patterns.

Note that these strategies and skill areas are needed across the lifespan when it comes to self-feeding. Older children and even adults who may have had a physical or cognitive impairment can benefit from addressing the underlying skill areas needed for using utensils. No matter the age, noting how an individual holds a spoon and fork is part of a comprehensive feeding evaluation.

how to hold spoon and fork

Before we get to the skills in play when holding a spoon or using a fork, let’s cover the specifics on how to hold these utensils. Why? Because often, we see older children who hold a spoon with a gross grasp or hold a fork with the whole hand. These grasp patterns can impact functional performance, but can also be a cause of concern for parents.

Note that the way an individual holds a spoon or holds a fork can differ when adaptive equipment for eating is used.

How to hold a spoon
How to hold a spoon.

how to hold a spoon

To hold a spoon, one needs to grasp the utensil with their dominant hand.

  • The spoon is placed along the lateral edge of the middle finger or pad of the middle finger.
  • The pointer or index finger typically rests over the top of the neck of the spoon, and guides movements when scooping.
  • The thumb rests and stabilizes the flat handle of the spoon on the top, above the pointer finger in a modified lateral key grasp.
  • The scoop of the spoon is pointing out toward the direction the thumb points, and the handle is above the thumb web space.

In this position, one can scoop with refined movements and graded precision using the pad of the thumb on the flat part of the spoon handle. When the spoon is properly placed in the hand, the wrist is slightly pronated and slightly flexed.

You can see from the image below that there are many different grasp patterns used when holding a spoon, which progress as the child develops more refined fine motor skills. The most efficient grasp pattern is the “adult grip”, however, the other grasp patterns are typically part of a progression as the toddler or young child gains experience with eating with a spoon.

Using a spoon is likely one of the first functional tools that a small child has experience with, and while messy eating will ensue, it is important to allow the baby or toddler experience with holding and manipulating a spoon, even if they are not getting actual food into their mouth at first.

Grasp patterns for holding a spoon
Grasp patterns for holding a spoon.
No source was found for this image, may be subject to copyright

Inefficient grasp on a spoon- When the handle end of the spoon is UNDER the thumb web space, the grasp moves into a poor position for function and accuracy of scooping. In this case, the hand moves into a gross grasp pattern, and in order to gain motor control with graded precision, the elbow tends to pop out as the shoulder abducts. In this poor functional grasp pattern, you’ll see the wrist fully supinated.

Activities to move from an inefficient grasp pattern to an efficient grasp pattern include PLAY:

How to hold a fork
How to hold a fork.

how to hold a fork

Next, let’s cover the proper grasp pattern required to effectively hold a fork. Note that there are different ways to hold a fork, depending on location, no one way of these different style being better or worse for functional performance to hold and use a fork to stab and eat food.

To hold a fork, the fork is held in the dominant hand much like a pencil is held. The thumb stabilizes the narrow part of the fork handle, or the neck of the fork. This area is located above the prongs, or tines of the fork. The neck of the fork rests on the lateral side of the middle finger or the pad of the middle finger.

Like holding a spoon, the end of the fork is above the back of the hand, and not under the thumb web space into the palm.

The wrist of the hand should be slightly pronated and slightly flexed.

Note that when holding a fork to scoop food, a different grasp pattern is used than when using a fork to stab food, and still another grasp pattern is used to stabilize food when using a knife to cut.

To stab food with a fork, the fork rotates in the hand and skills of in-hand manipulation are used.

To stabilize food with a fork, in order to hold food stabile so a knife can cut the food item, the fork continues to rotate within the hand using in-hand manipulation, but the addition of finger isolation of the index finger is used to hold the fork steady.

Inefficient grasp on a fork– When the end of the fork handle is under the palm, the hand tends to pull into a gross grasp on the fork, which is a more primitive grasp pattern, and is less functional for refined and graded movements. Similar to the motions used with a spoon held in this manner, a fork held in a gross grasp will include elbow and shoulder.

Much like using a spoon, progression from inefficient grasp patterns on a fork is developmental and requires practice. Allowing kids to use and hold a fork with verbal and visual prompts is helpful. Other fine motor and eye-hand coordination tasks will support development from inefficient grasp patterns when holding a fork to more efficient and refined motor skills:

We’ve created a video that shows how different grasp patterns impact functional use in holding and using a spoon and fork. If you can’t view this video, we’ve also posted the activity ideas to help kids hold a spoon on our YouTube channel.

Prerequisites to hold a spoon and fork

Before a child can use fine motor tools such as a spoon, fork, knife and other self-care tools (hair brush, toothbrush, pencil, scissors…) independently, there are certain physical, cognitive, and emotional prerequisites that must fall into place.

These self-care skills include many of the same sensory motor components, so in this blog post, we’re covering primarily the skills needed to hold a spoon and fork.

Toddlers and young preschoolers that sit at the table, probably have taken notice of how adults and older children at the table eat. This is actually part of the developmental process. When sitting at a table, a baby and toddler is observing and noticing how older siblings and parents use forks to stab food, spoons to scoop, and knives to cut.

Toddlers often want to take part in the action!

Using a spoon and fork during the Toddler years is a natural development of self-awareness and self-control.  Using utensils is part of that progression of feeding developmental milestones that children go through. A child becomes more aware of the skills that they are developing and that they can assert their own independence. 

Likewise, using a spoon to eat at first can lead to messy eating with young children, and that’s totally normally, developmentally.

But, before these areas of independence arise, there are certain prerequisites that need to be in place. Using tools in self-feeding, brushing one’s own teeth, using a knife, crayon, pencil, or other tool requires development in a few areas. 

Speaking of using crayons to develop motor skills, these crayons for toddlers support fine motor development and coordination skills through play.

 

Prerequisites that are necessary for kids (or adults!) to effectively and efficiently use tools in fine motor and self-care tasks, like scissor use, handwriting, hair brushing, self-feeding, tooth brushing, and more.  From an Occupational Therapist.

This post contains affiliate links.

Skills Needed to Hold a spoon and fork

When you take a look at the motor breakdown of using a spoon and fork, there are several components you’ll see in action:

  • Posture
  • Grasp Development
  • Hand Preference
  • Cognition
  • Attention
  • Eye-hand coordination
  • Somatosensory experience
  • And even play!

Let’s cover each of these areas needed to hold a spoon and fork in more detail:

  • Posture- When using a tool like a fork, pencil, scissors, toothbrush, paint brush, knife…postural control is essential.  Like anything else, it all starts at the center and at the body.  You can’s use your hands in fine motor play activities if your upper body is slumped or slouched.  If postural support is the issue, work on getting into a better sitting position. Speak to an Occupational Therapist for individualized assessment and recommendations.                   
  • Grasp Development- For using tools, a child needs prehension skills and  precision skills, including grasp, release, and the ability to stabilize their arm and write while moving the hand.  Sometimes a pinch or required muscle movement is too much for an unstable arm/wrist and that required muscle effort makes the upper body slouch.  Start over with posturing is this happens.
  • Hand dominance–  A true hand dominance doesn’t typically become established until 5-6 years.  And that is a good thing!  A child’s body is developing strength, balance, muscle tone, and sensorimotor abilities at an even and symmetrical rate in the early years.  We want that to happen!  If a very strong preference of dominance is noticed at an early age, ask your pediatrician or occupational therapist for assessment of asymmetry or delay.
  • Cognitive prerequisites– Appropriate ability to follow simple directions is a must in order for use of tools in typical ways.  Sure, a fork makes a great hair brush.  A spoon is an excellent drumstick. But, inappropriate use of utensils can be dangerous.
  • Attentional Prerequisites– Appropriate attention span is needed for using tools in functional tasks. This blog post covers more on attention needed during meals.
  • Constructive play– What? A child needs functional play in order to use a pencil? Yep!  Building with blocks, combining toys, and pretending provides the base of fine motor development, skilled use, strength, imagination, and creativity that is needed to problem solve and use tools appropriately.
  • Eye Hand Coordination– More play!  Catch a ball and use crayons to establish the base of hand eye coordination needed for skilled maneuvering of tools to the mouth, paper, hair, or teeth.
  • Somatosensory Experience– Playing and experiencing the senses in typical every day activities are essential for the child to build on their awareness of textures, weights, manipulating objects, and sizes.

Given all of these areas that a child must have in place before showing success with tools in functional tasks, it’s important to work on certain areas.

Below, you’ll find a great printable resource that covers all of these skill areas that are needed for using a spoon and fork. This is a great handout to use especially when working with families of young children who are learning to hold a spoon and fork.

You can enter your email address into the form below and access this printable handout, or The OT Toolbox Member’s Club members can log into their accounts and access the handout in the Educational Handouts Toolbox area.

Prerequisites that are necessary for kids (or adults!) to effectively and efficiently use tools in fine motor and self-care tasks, like scissor use, handwriting, hair brushing, self-feeding, tooth brushing, and more.  From an Occupational Therapist.

Scooping food with a spoon

Teaching kids how to hold a spoon is the first step, but then actually scooping food, getting the food to the mouth, clearing the food from the spoon, and then repeating the process is part of the functional task of eating.

Remember that eating is a developmental process, and that this is another occupation in which practice is key to functional performance!

To improve use with a spoon and fork (and then spoon, fork, and knife!), it’s important to have various opportunities for practice.

Provide opportunities to use tools like spoons in scooping items.  You’ll find more information on the topic of scooping in our blog post on scooping and pouring.

These black beans are a great way to practice tool use and all of the skills needed in managing tools.  See the bottom of this post for more ideas.

Be sure to provide your little one with lots of opportunities to use tools in activities and play!

Related activities that you will love for teaching kids to use tools:

  • Sight Word Scoop– this scooping activity encourages users to develop the eye-hand coordination needed to use a spoon to scoop an object in a liquid, much like scooping the remaining cereals in a bowl of milk, or scooping food from a soup broth.
  • Toddler Visual Motor Scoop (Ping Pong balls)– This activity is another great way to teach toddlers to use a spoon, using a large and bright object with high visual contrast.
  • Invitation to Scoop and Pour– In this activity users can use a spoon with graded precision and refined movements to scoop grains of corn which can be a great way to practice motor skills to hold a spoon.
  • Field Corn Sensory Bin– Another activity using spoons to scoop field corn, this activity offers proprioceptive feedback through the joints and muscles of the hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder.
  • Moon Dough Scooping– In this activity, users use a spoon to scoop and pick up a moist and dry material. This can be a great way to practice using a spoon with different materials.
  • Scooping Ice– Using a spoon to pick up ice is a fun way to practice using a spoon with a different material that also offers precision and refinement in using a spoon or scoop.
  • Relaxing Lavender Water Bin– Kids love this sensory bin, but therapists love the functionality! Use a spoon to pick up small items in a liquid, developing eye-hand coordination skills with sensory benefits.
  • Invitation to Scoop, Pour, Transfer Nuts– Use a spoon to pick up nuts with a fun sensory activity that offers feedback with movement.
  • Scooping Dyed Alphabet pasta– Kids can pick up dry pasta with a spoon and practice motor skills.
  • (Amazon affiliate link) Learning Resources Handy Scoopers are colorful and bright and a great way to practice the prerequisites for tool use in many ways.
How to hold a fork and spoon handout
Get this free handout on skills needed to hold a fork and spoon below or in The OT Toolbox Member’s Club

Free Handout- Skills Needed to Hold a Spoon and Fork

Want a printable handout of the skills kids need to hold a spoon and fork? Working with families on teaching kids how to hold a fork and spoon and need actionable tips and strategies in a handout format?

You can enter your email address into the form below and access this printable handout, or The OT Toolbox Member’s Club members can log into their accounts and access the handout in the Educational Handouts Toolbox area.

Free Handout: Using a Spoon and Fork

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

    Bedtime Relaxation Stretches for Kids

    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

      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

      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.

      Farm Small World Play Dough Activity

      farm small world

      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 activity with a farm play dough idea

      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.

      Occupational therapists involve play in therapy sessions to support development of skills through the child’s primary occupation, play!

      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.

      Farm play dough small world with farm animal minifigures

      How to Make a Farm Play Dough Small WOrld

      To create a farm small world play space, you can gather a few materials:

      1. Play dough in various colors (brown, blue, and green)
      2. Farm figures: miniature farm animals, plastic fence, and small trucks or tractors if you have them
      3. 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 🙂

      Use a tractor vehicle in a play dough farm small world activity.

        We explored footprints and tire impressions in the play dough.    

      Child pressing a toy tractor into a farm play dough activity, with tractor tracks in the play dough.

        The pigs had the mud to themselves…

      Farm play dough small world with miniature pigs in brown play dough

        …and all of the birds stayed in the “lake”.

      Play dough farm with chicken, ducks, and geese minifigures.

         And then all of the animals got hot and had to take a dip in the lake 🙂  

      Farm animals in play dough in a play dough small world

      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.

      Press animal mini figures into play dough to guess the animal by shape.

      And then back to the farm we went.  And the animals took a few joy rides on their cars and trucks!  

      Goose toy on a farm tractor in a play dough small world farm activity

      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:

      Free Farm themed Scissor Skills Sheets

      You’ll also love our 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:

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

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

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

      Crossing Midline Activities

      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.

      Apple Brain Breaks

      apple brain breaks for kids

      These Apple Brain breaks are a resource that has been popular on the site for many years. During the fall months, all things apple theme is the way to go, so when it comes to adding themed resources into a Fall, harvest, farm, or back-to-school theme, apple themed exercises and movement activities are the way to go!

      Apple brain Breaks

      Many of you have used the brain break activities that we have here on the OT Toolbox help kids focus and pay attention in the classroom environment. Movement in the classroom is helpful for learning and helping kids with movement needs such as fidgeting or attention. The brain break activities listed below can go along really nicely with an apple theme. Try adding the Apple themed brain breaks in between activities, lessons, and other classroom tasks.

      Apple themed brain breaks can be a great way for kids to extend on an Apple theme activity while adding movement into the classroom.

      Other brain breaks you might enjoy include:

      Apple Theme Brain Breaks

      apple brain breaks for kids

      Looking for brain break videos for the classroom or home? Here are the best brain break videos on YouTube.

      Related read: These visual perception apple theme shape stamps are a perfect way to work on visual perceptual skills and fine motor skills with DIY stampers.

      Apple themed brain breaks for kids to use in the classroom or as part of an apple theme in learning and play.

      How to Use Apple Brain Breaks

      Get this list of apple theme activities as a printable sheet to use in the classroom. Print them off, glue them to cardstock or index cards and laminate for durability. Kids can complete apple brain breaks as a group or individually.      

      In the PDF below, you’ll find printable cards that you can cut out and use over and over again as a movement break for kids. Other ways to use these fall brain breaks?

      • Incorporate into an apple tree life cycle curriculum or any apple lesson plan
      • Use with talking about Johnny Appleseed during the Fall months
      • Use as a Johnny Appleseed game
      • Add to a harvest theme or visiting the Farm during the Fall
      • Use as a transition activity between classroom activities
      • Use along with our Fall sensory stations kit (another great Fall brain break!)
      • Indoor recess activities during the Fall months
      • Great for waiting activities or transitions in an apple themed classroom!
      • Use when waiting periods during classroom breaks
      • Add as sensory motor activities to promote attention, focus, re-direction, or needed heavy work input

      These apple theme exercises can be added to a weekly therapy theme when planning occupational therapy lesson plans, and then individualized based on the child’s needs and interests.

      Apple Exercises

      The brain break cards include activities like these ones. These apple theme exercises can be adapted or modified as needed to meet specific needs.

      Here are some apple think brain break activities that can be used at movement into the classroom using an Apple theme:  

      1.) Reach and climb- Ask students to stand up beside their desks and pretend to climb a ladder. Students can reach up high with alternating arms as they climb in place. Imagine climbing up a ladder to reach the top of an apple tree.

      2.) Pick apples- Ask students to imagine reaching up to grab an apple from an apple tree’s branch, and  then bend down to drop it into a basket. Ask students to repeat this motion repetitively reaching up high and then bending down low to the ground.

      3.) Peel and toss apples- Ask students to imagine peeling an apple as they roll their arms over and over again at the elbows. Then ask them to toss an imaginary apple into a bucket. They can imagine the buckets are at different levels and distances as they pretend tossing apples. Continue this exercise for one minute.

      4.) Apple dash – Ask students to run in place and imagine running at an apple farm. Students can pretend they are delivering bushels of apple from a tree to a barn as they run in place while carrying an imaginary bucket. Ask them to imagine hopping over logs or running faster or slower.

      5.) Make a pie- Ask students to imagine picking an apple and buffing it with their sleeve. Ask them to buff an apple on their left sleeve and then their right sleeve. Doing this activity encourages crossing of the midline. They can then pretend to slice the apple, roll out dough, pour the apple slices into the pie pan, and putting the pie into an oven.

      6.) Apple spell- Ask students to form the letters used to spell the word “apple” using their arms and legs. To make an “A”, the student can reach up over their head putting their hands in the middle and stretching their legs wide next. Next, make a “P” by standing with feet together and arms curved toward the side to create the bump of the letter. Complete the same movement again for the second P in the word apple. Next, form a letter L using by sitting on the floor and bending at the waist stretching legs out straight. Finally, create a letter E by sitting on the floor bent at the waist with leg s extended straight and feet together. Put one arm out at the waist and reach the other arm out overhead bent at the elbow.

      7.) Spell and clap- To the tune of “BINGO”, spell the word apple. After singing a round, replace one letter with a clap of the hands. Each round adds another clap in place of a letter. Try adding other movements in place of clapping such as hopping in place or stomping a foot.

      8.) I’m a Little Apple- Use the song “I’m a little teapot” only pretend you are an apple. Kids can sing  “I’m a little apple small and round. Here is my stem and here is my leaf. When I get so red, I fall from the tree. Reach down low and pick me up.” Add movements to go along with the words.

      Can you think of any other apple themed brain breaks?

      Squirrel Themed Brain Breaks may be another fun movement idea that you are looking to pair with a book.  

      Apple themed brain breaks for kids to use in the classroom or as part of an apple theme in learning and play.

      Free Apple Brain Break Cards

      Want a copy of these apple brain break cards to add to your toolbox? Enter your email address into the form below to access these printable tools.

      This freebie is also available inside our Members Club! Members have easy access to all downloads on the site, in one place, without the need to enter your email address for each item.

      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!

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      Free Apple Brain Breaks

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        More Apple Theme Activities for Kids:

         
        You will love these apple activities to go along with an apple theme.
         
        Ten Apples Up on Top pre-writing activity
         
         
        Apple fine motor strengthening activity and fall math with hands-on learning.
         
         
         
         
        Gross Motor Apple Tree activity for learning red and apples with toddlers and preschool children. Kids love this in the Fall!
         
         
         
         

        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.

        Summer Occupational Therapy Activities

        Summer occupational therapy activities

        Looking for summer occupational therapy activities to support skill building or developmental areas with a summer OT theme? Today, we have a spin on our traditional occupational therapy activities to bring you Summer occupational therapy strategies that can be used in summer sessions or in home programs for the summer.

        Summer Occupational Therapy Activities

        Summer OT activities may look a little different than previous years. In years past, therapists may have been gearing up for an end of another school year and a break from in-person OT sessions. In recent years, you may be seeing more pencil grasp needs, self-regulation needs, handwriting issues, and fine motor skill needs.

        What hasn’t changed about the end of a school year is the carefree days of summer that are ahead. As an OT, I love the feeling of the start of summer. There is just something about back-to-the-basics play of summer. Running around the backyard, hopping on bikes, sidewalk chalk, sprinklers and water play…summer play is a goldmine of motor and sensory activities that can boost those underlying skills kids NEED.

        Because of this, I wanted to put together a resource on summer occupational therapy activities that can be implemented today. These are strategies to use for your own child to boost development and challenge skills. These are ideas to use in teletherapy or in home programs. These are play ideas that help kids with the balance of screens and active play. Use the summer resources for parents, teachers, and therapists to develop underlying skills in very fun ways! These are AWESOME summer occupational therapy activities!

        Let’s help kids struggling from a year of mega-screen overload meet the goals they need to thrive. Plus…take more time for you this summer by using done-for-you resources!

        Occupational therapists can use these summer occupational therapy activities when planning OT home programs for for summer programs.

        Summer Occupational Therapy Activities 

        In many areas, schools are winding down for the year. You may have a few weeks or a few days left. The daily countdown of number of remaining school days is dwindling.

        You might be wondering how to balance work-from home and making summer days count.

        You might be wondering how to keep the kids busy this summer without breaking the bank.

        You might be a clinician thinking about summer programming and need a few fresh ideas.

        You might be thinking about summer plans and ways to encourage development in fun ways the whole family can enjoy.

        You might be a therapist putting together summer home programs.

        You might be a teacher who is READY for the final bell to ring this school year 🙂

        I wanted to put together a list of resources for summer activities that can boost the skills kids need. The “summer slide” can happen in handwriting and other school-based therapy goal areas, too!

        Summer Occupational Therapy Activity Ideas

        Occupational therapy practitioners often use movement and sensory experiences in therapy sessions to challenge motor planning, motor skill development, and incorporate sensory motor activity through the primary occupation of childhood: PLAY.

        Because of this, sensory motor rich activity is recommended as supplemental and everyday activity for kids of all ages to support development of skill growth. Many of the OT activity ideas listed below also support executive functioning skills, problem solving, and other cognitive aspects of functional tasks.

        First, grab this summer sensory path printable packet. It’s a free sensory path printable with a summer theme. Use it in therapy clinics, home OT sessions, or in summer sensory camps!

        Try adding these OT activities to your summer bucket list:

        • Make our 3 ingredient kinetic sand– Making kinetic sand offers heavy work through the hands as a self-regulation tool and offers a tactile sensory experience.
        • Make a kite craft to develop fine motor skills, visual motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and scissor skills.
        • Play TV tag (or one of these tag games)- Tag is a great gross motor activity to develop endurance, motor planning, coordination, balance, and visual motor skills while adding proprioceptive and vestibular input to regulate the system.
        • Make an ice cream craft to support hand strength and fine motor skills. This craft is great for developing scissor skills too.
        • Play sidewalk hopscotch– Use sidewalk chalk to draw a hopscotch board. Then play using rocks or bean bags. Hopscotch is a great tool to add heavy work, vestibular and proprioceptive input, and to challenge motor planning, balance, and other gross motor skills. Hopscotch is a way to teach skipping skills, too.
        • Paint rocks- This sensory experience challenges tactile input and offers a fine motor activity. Use finger paints or a paint brush to incorporate tool use and more fine motor work.
        • Wheelbarrow walk– This exercise is a heavy work exercise that helps kids with motor planning, movement, and endurance through play while adding heavy work. Use wheelbarrow walks in relay races or in obstacle courses.
        • Make a flower craft– Go on a nature walk as a motor and sensory experience. Then use the nature hunt findings to make a fine motor flower craft. There will be no two crafts alike with this fine motor activity.
        • Plant seeds- There are so many sensory benefits to gardening. Read more about sensory gardening with kids.
        • Wrap sticks in string- This simple activity is big on bilateral coordination, fine motor skills, precision, eye-hand coordination, and executive functioning skills. Go out in the yard and gather some small twigs. Then, tie a knot with the string and wrap around the stick. Switch out colors to make colorful designs and patterns. Can you cross different colored strings or yarn together to make a pretty wrapped stick? You can see how we wrapped craft sticks in string here.
        • Make lemonade- Making food with kids is a huge fine motor, sensory motor, and executive functioning tool to develop many skills with kids of all ages. Check out our cooking with kids page for tons more cooking ideas and recipes for kids as well as why each recipe supports development of skills.
        • Make a bug catcher– This fine motor activity is a huge hit with kids, and you can use the materials you have on hand. Just raid the recycle bin or grab some boxes and containers before they go into the trash can. Then, head outside to catch some bugs. This is a challenging activity that supports fine motor, visual motor, and sensory development.
        • Visit a playground- Playing at the playground has many sensory integration benefits and there are so many ways to use regular playground equipment to develop motor and sensory skill sin kids. If self-regulation is a challenge, then the playground is a wonderful summer haven for supporting specific needs.
        • Play tug of war- This heavy work game offers strengthening, balance, motor planning, and proprioceptive input that can be calming to support self-regulation needs.
        • Play in the sprinkler- A hallmark of hot summer days is playing in the hose or sprinkler. Children can practice putting on their swimming suit, applying sunscreen, and work on hopping, jumping, skipping, and moving through the sprinkler. And, don’t forget about involving the child in setting up and removing the sprinkler and hose, too. Pulling a hose is an opportunity for proprioceptive input that can be very calming.
        • Pick flowers- Go on a sensory nature walk with the family along a trail or in a park. Picking flowers supports development of visual perceptual skills, working memory, visual processing, fine motor, and self-regulation skills. Getting outside in nature can be a great overall activity that supports development and is a reset for the whole family.
        • Make lunch for your family- Develop fine motor skills, sensory experiences, executive functioning skills, and functional participation development by making lunch or dinner. Here are all of our cooking with kids recipes where you’ll find specific recipe ideas that support development, all from the perspective of an occupational therapist.
        • Chalk line obstacle course- Work on balance, motor planning, gross motor skill coordination through play using sidewalk chalk to create a driveway obstacle course. Can you hop on lily pads, tiptoe along a bridge, and animal walk on a wavy line?
        • Make DIY musical instruments- Making musical instruments are a fun way to build fine motor skills and address auditory processing skills too. Ideas include:
        • Climb a tree- Climbing on trees and limbs are a wonderful way to offer proprioceptive input, vestibular input, visual processing skills with depth perception, visual scanning, and eye-hand coordination. Holding on to a branch, pulling oneself up and over limbs, crossing midline, and bilateral coordination are developed through play. When finished, this is a powerful confidence booster!
        • Write a letter to a friend- (or a post card or email!)- Work on letter formation and other handwriting skills by writing a short letter or card to a friend this summer. It’s a very functional handwriting task that kids will be proud of!
        • Make a fairy garden- Use materials found around the home to support development of fine motor skills. The pretend play is a fun way to develop social emotional skills, too.
        • Wash the car (or a bike)- Support gross motor development by using a sponge, soapy water, and the hose to add proprioceptive input.
        • Watch and draw birds- Look for birds outdoors, in the yard, or from the windows. Address visual scanning, working memory, and pencil skills.
        • Go on a rainbow nature hunt- Use a piece of contact paper and find items of different colors of the rainbow to make a rainbow nature hunt craft. This is a great activity for fine motor, visual processing, and heavy work input.
        • Trace a friend with chalk on a driveway or sidewalk- Use sidewalk chalk to trace a friend on the driveway or sidewalk. This is a great activity to develop fine motor skills, and can support development of interoception by drawing internal organs and talking about how the body works inside and out!
        • Make bubble wands with pipe cleaners- use pipe cleaners and beads to develop fine motor skills to make a bubble wand. Then support oral motor skill development by blowing bubbles.
        • Play Red Rover- Lawn games like red Rover develop gross motor skills, visual motor skills, and executive functioning as well as adding proprioceptive and vestibular input.
        • Write the alphabet with chalk- Writing letters with sidewalk chalk supports the motor plan to create each letter and offers great proprioceptive feedback through kinesthetic learning. Writing letters with chalk or names and words can be a fun summer activity. Then spray the letters and words off with the hose or a spray bottle for more motor skill development!
        • Find shapes and images in the clouds- Look up to work on visual canning, memory, attention, and visual motor skill by finding shapes and outlines in the clouds.
        • Bake cookies
        • FInger paints
        • Fly a kite
        • Splash pad or water park
        • Write in a journal
        • Call a friend
        • Start a kickball game
        • Make leaf rubbings
        • Play hide and seek
        • Catch fireflies
        • Tie dye
        • Play cards
        • Build a fort
        • Have a sleepover
        • Play with glow bracelets at night in the yard
        • Read a book outside
        • Have a family game night
        • Draw self-portraits
        • Walk a pet

        Need even more summer ideas?

        ~Add these hula hoop activities to therapy sessions.

        ~Use sidewalk chalk to support fine motor skills.

        ~ Print off and send home this list of 100 things to do this Summer. It’s a therapist-approved list of Summer activities!

        ~Print off these Summer Writing Lists to work on handwriting skills.

        ~Grab some of the materials in The OT Toolbox Member’s Club. There is something for everyone and Summer themed activities to support all skill levels.

        ~ Do some or all of the activities listed here in this Sensory Summer Camp at Home plan. All of the activities and ideas are free and use items you probably already have.

        ~ Sneak in handwriting practice while traveling with these motivating and authentic ideas. HERE are a few MORE natural writing experiences for summer that keep those pencils moving.

        ~ Try some of the activities in this Summer Activity Guide designed to encourage play and creativity in activities for the whole family.

        ~ Practice the motor planning and fine motor skills needed for handwriting and with a sensory twist using the ideas outlined in this Sensory Handwriting Backyard Summer Camp.

        ~ Try these Backyard Vestibular Activities for Summer to encourage movement and sensory experiences right in the backyard.

        ~ Print off this June Occupational Therapy Calendar for ideas to last the whole month. (It’s from a couple of years back so the dates are off, but the activities still work!)

        ~ These no-prep, basically free summer activities won’t break the bank and boost the underlying skills kids NEED, in fun ways.

        ~ Use sidewalk chalk to boost fine motor skills.  

        ~Make a summer time capsule with the whole family and create memories that can be looked back on years from now.   

        ~Create a summer kick-off bucket filled with toys and items for months of sensory play.     

        ~The kids will love these frozen fruit kabob snacks. It’s a great alerting sensory snack that doubles as a healthy summer treat.

        One tool to support Summer OT home programs, OT tutoring sessions, or occupational therapy summer camps is our Summer Occupational Therapy Activities Packet.

        It’s a collection of 14 items that guide summer programming at home, at school, and in therapy sessions. The summer activities bundle covers handwriting, visual perceptual skills and visual motor skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, regulation, and more.

        You’ll find ideas to use in virtual therapy sessions and to send home as home activities that build skills and power development with a fun, summer theme. Kids will love the Summer Spot It! game, the puzzles, handouts, and movement activities. Therapists will love the teletherapy slide deck and the easy, ready-to-go activities to slot into OT sessions. The packet is only $10.00 and can be used over and over again for every student/client!

        Grab the Spring Occupational Therapy Activities Packet HERE.

        NEW RESOURCE: The Summer Fine Motor Kit– This 90 page packet it specifically designed to build the motor skills kids have been limited in over the past year or so: handwriting, cutting with scissors, small motor manipulation, arch development and hand endurance, strength, pinch, and coloring. The Summer Fine Motor Kit includes different tools and materials than our other fine motor kits, but has some of the most-requested favorites in fun summer themes:

        • Summer Play Dough/Handwriting Mats (3 writing paper styles: single rule, double rule, and highlighted lines)
        • Lacing cards
        • Color and cut sensory bin cards
        • Sea Creature, Summer Play, & Summer Treats Silly Paths (great for pencil control and eye-hand coordination)
        • Tracing mazes/ Fine motor mazes
        • Symmetry drawing page
        • Fine Motor Flip Pages (flip a coin or small object and place them along a path)
        • Glue skills pages
        • Prewriting shapes sheets
        • Toothpick art activities
        • Pencil control worksheets/Fine motor placement paths
        • Scissor skills activities (simple and complex shapes)
        • Sensory bin cards

        NEW RESOURCE: The Summer OT Bundle– Want to cover all your bases this summer? This bundle has everything you need for therapy planning, home programs, summer camps, Grandma’s house, or extended school year programs so you can just print and go. The bundle is $20 and includes:

        The ideas listed above should help you create therapy home programs, and keep the kids loaded up on creative, open-ended, and movement-based PLAY that their little bodies NEED!

        Use these summer occupational therapy activities when planning sensory activities, fine motor, and gross motor developmental ideas for kids.

        Want to take summer play to the next level? Be sure to grab your copy of the Summer OT Activities Bundle!

        Summer activities for kids