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Indoor Recess Ideas

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indoor recess ideas

Looking for indoor recess ideas? Below, you’ll find winter indoor games and activities to add to the recess line up when it’s too cold to go outdoors for recess. We’ve tried to come up with indoor recess games for older kids AND indoor recess ideas for kindergarten and the younger grades. Some of these ideas work well with traditional indoor recess group activities, and others are better suited for socially distancing during indoor recess, while still allowing kids to move! All of the inside recess ideas can be used to add activity and movement when it’s raining or too cold for outdoor recess!

During the winter months, kids can have trouble staying active! These indoor recess ideas will help with adding movement, bilateral coordination, motor planning, and development through indoor games.



Indoor Recess Winter Activities for Kids

Here are more ways to get the kids moving this time of year:

MONDAY- INDOOR RECESS IDEAS

TUESDAY- WINTER BRAIN BREAK IDEAS

WEDNESDAY- WINTER BILATERAL COORDINATION ACTIVITIES

THURSDAY-WINTER MINDFULNESS ACTIVITIES

FRIDAY- WINTER FINE MOTOR ACTIVITIES


Indoor Recess Ideas

This time of year can be a real struggle for kids. They’ve got a long school day, where it’s too cold to go outside for recess. Many are on screens during much of that day, especially if schooling is done virtually or at home with distance learning.

After school brings continued cold temps and an  followed by coming home to an early sunset. Not to mention, many kids have after-school activities scheduled. It’s no wonder that kids are less active than ever before.

Because of this, I wanted to share these indoor recess ideas that can be used to add activity, motor planning, visual motor skills, midline crossing, and general movement!

1. Turn on the music and have a Crossing Gross Motor March. Crossing Midline is a developmental ability that is important for so many gross motor tasks.  When a child has difficulty with crossing midline, they may demonstrate inefficiency with other areas like fine motor skills, bilateral coordination, hand dominance, self-care, reading, handwriting, and so many other areas. This can be done in a socially distanced format in a well-spaced out area such as a gym or hallway. And, for our virtual learners, this activity is fun for the whole family.


2. Add proprioceptive and vestibular input with an Indoor Skating activity! All you need for this activity is a pile of paper plates or old tissue boxes. If you have a carpeted area in the classroom, this can be a great way to identify a space for indoor ice skating during indoor recess. Add specific moves and have kids copy the ice skating moves to really incorporate motor planning and direction following.


3. Do the Hokey Pokey. Need some fresh ideas when it comes to the classic hokey pokey? Try playing “Snow-key Pokey” with a snowman theme. Just label the various body parts a snowman would have. For example: Snow cap, stick arms, boots, snow bottom, etc.


4. Animal Races- Gather a group of kids and have relay races in the hallway or gymnasium area. Kids can split into two teams and race against one another. Each child will need to come up with an animal walk as they race back to tag another person on their team. Some animal walk ideas include: donkey kicks, penguin waddles, bear walks, crab walks, frog jumps, elephant walks, snake slithers, etc.


5. Arctic Animal Yoga- Add animal walks with an artic theme. These would go perfectly with an animal theme and add the bonus of calming stretches. They are a great movement break during the day, use at circle time, morning meeting, free time or for use during stations. These cards are fun for use during physical education or in group/individual physical and occupational therapy. They are a great way to add simple movement into the day which we know is essential for learning and concentration. Use them with an arctic unit! These polar bear gross motor therapy activities can be used as a winter brain break or recess activity.


6. Freeze Dance- Turn on YouTube and dance to the music. When the music stops, everyone needs to FREEZE!


7. Charades- Ask each student to write on a slip of paper a character, animal, or object. Combine themes from the curriculum, favorite books, or movies. Students can act out the people or objects on the cards while the rest of the class guesses what the student is describing with movement.


8. Indoor Balance Beam- Try some of these indoor balance beams using everyday items or a roll of painters tape. There are so many benefits to using balance beams. It’s a fun way to break up indoor recess into centers, too.


9. Ribbon Wand Dance- Make a handful of DIY ribbon wands and sneak in some gross motor skills and movement by dancing to music.


10. Indoor Gross Motor Game- Get the whole class involved in gross motor play with jumping, hopping, and more with this Dinosaur Gross Motor Game uses mini dinosaur figures. Grab the free printable game spinner and activity here. 


11. Bean Bag Games- This group gross motor core strengthening activity is a fun way to get the whole class involved in a group game! Make it a winter theme with these snowflake bean bags.


12. Play the Four Corners Classroom Game– Add movement and sneak in some auditory processing work with this fun game shared over on The Game Gal.


13. Who Am I Game- The kids can write down book and movie characters on a sticky note and stick it to their forehead. They can ask other students questions as they move around the room, trying to figure out who they “are”!

11. Winter Toothpick Art– Use the Winter Fine Motor Kit materials to get kids moving with the toothpick art activities. These can be used on cardboard or a carpeted area to help kids build fine motor strength and tripod grasp.

12. Winter Crumble Art- This is another fun fine motor activity for indoor recess. Use bits of tissue paper or crumbled up construction paper to create a winter picture. These sheets are in the Winter Fine Motor Kit, too.

I hope these ideas are helpful in creating opportunities for movement and activity during these indoor recess months at school! 

winter fine motor kit

The Winter Fine Motor Kit has materials to print-and-go, including arctic animal finger puppets to develop finger isolation, toothpick art activities with winter themes, crumble art pages, coloring and pencil control activities for building strength and endurance in the hands. All of these materials are included in a 100 page packet with winter themes: snowmen, mittens, snowflakes, penguins, polar bears, arctic animals, and more.

 

Add gross motor play and activities to the classroom with indoor recess ideas that get the kids moving.
 

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.

Polar Bear Therapy Slide Deck

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Polar bear therapy activities

This week, we’re all about the polar bears. You’re going to love this polar bear therapy slide deck, and actually, my kids are loving it, too! The polar bear gross motor activities go well with an arctic animal theme. We’ve been using the gross motor activities as a warm-up for the Winter Fine Motor Kit and all of the winter activities in that resource. You’ll want to grab this therapy slide deck to get your new year off to a great start and get the kids moving with whole-body movements.

Free gross motor therapy slide deck with a polar bear theme. Use in virtual therapy sessions or as a polar bear brain break.

Be sure to grab the free polar bear deep self-regulation activity. It’s a wintery breathing exercise that went up earlier today. You’ll find a bunch of other polar bear activities listed in that blog post, so that your therapy theme for the week is full of movement-based activities that help kids develop skills.

Included are some slides to incorporate propriocepetion and vestibular input as well.

Because incorporating gross motor skills in teletherapy is sometimes a challenge, this gross motor slide deck was designed for teletherapy in a way that instructs kids to copy various positions as they balance and strengthen their core. All of these skills can be addressed with this gross motor slide deck in teletherapy sessions:

  • Core strength
  • Stability
  • Balance and equilibrium skills
  • Coordination
  • Range of motion
  • Flexibility
  • Motor planning
  • Crossing midline
  • Movement patterns
  • Posture and postural control
  • Muscle tone
  • Proprioceptive input
  • Vestibular input

Polar Bear Resource: DON’T MISS IT:

Grab the Winter Fine Motor Kit, with 100 pages of done-for-you therapy activities, including polar bear themes. Grab it now before January 9th and you get a bonus of 3 fine motor slide deck activities.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE WINTER FINE MOTOR KIT.

winter fine motor kit

More therapy slide decks


Be sure to check out these other slide decks to use in OT teletherapy sessions, distance learning, or homeschooling:

Try this Alphabet Gross Motor Slide Deck.

Here is a Space Theme Therapy Slide Deck.

Here is a Strait Line Letters Slide Deck.

Try this self-awareness slide deck with an animal theme.

Kids love this football theme slide deck.

There are gross motor activities in this outer space slide deck, too.

Polar Bear Therapy Slide Deck

Use this polar bear theme therapy slide deck in virtual therapy sessions or as a brain break.

Be sure to make a copy of this slide deck and not change the url to indicate “edit” at the end. When you make a copy of the slide deck onto your Google drive, you will end up with your own version that you are free to adjust in order to meet your student’s needs. By changing the url to “edit”, you can potentially mess up the original version that many other therapists and The OT Toolbox users are given.

You can grab a copy of this Google slide deck and use it to work on specific skills.

Enter your email address below and you will receive a PDF containing a link to copy the slide deck onto your Google drive. Save that PDF file, because you can come back to it again and again and send it to the kids on your caseload (or classroom) so they can make their own copy on their Google drive.

Please use the copy of the slide deck and do not change the url.

FREE Polar Bear Gross Motor Therapy Activities!

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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.

    Indoor Winter Activities for Kids

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    indoor winter activities

    Here you will find indoor winter activities for kids and indoor winter activities for families. These indoor activities are designed to help kids develop skills when it is too cold to go outside. We’ve used many of these occupational therapy activities when the weather is icy or frigid outside. Fun indoor winter activities can be essential to help kids get their energy out during winter days. This year, indoor therapy ideas may be needed to meet teletherapy needs, as well. Related: Add our Winter Fine Motor Kit to your daily toolbox, to help kids develop fine motor strength and dexterity with easy, no-prep activities.

    An indoor winter activity like a winter crossword puzzle is a fun way to spend a winter day, while building skills. Let’s cover a few more indoor ideas…

    Indoor winter activities for kids and indoor activities for families to help kids develop skills.

    Indoor Winter Activities

    I’ve sorted these activities into areas so that you can find activities to meet therapy needs. Included below are indoor activities designed to boost fine motor skills, gross motor skills, visual motor skills, sensory input, regulation, and more.

    Winter Activities for Fine Motor Skills

    Here are a bunch of winter fine motor activities that we’ve shared in the past.

    Use these winter crafts to develop fine motor dexterity and strength.

    Here are winter bird crafts and activities.

    This icicle craft builds visual motor skills and scissor skills, too.

    Use these winter books to pair with a fine motor craft or activity based on the book.

    Make this snowman painting craft to build precision and dexterity.

    Cut mini snowflakes for a fine motor activity that builds hand strength and heavy work input.

    Play tic tac toe with miniature snowflakes. This is also a great sight word activity, too.

    This winter snowflake stamp art is a fun fine motor activity that looks great and the kids love.

    The Winter Fine Motor Kit has materials to print-and-go, including arctic animal finger puppets to develop finger isolation, toothpick art activities with winter themes, crumble art pages, coloring and pencil control activities for building strength and endurance in the hands. All of these materials are included in a 100 page packet with winter themes: snowmen, mittens, snowflakes, penguins, polar bears, arctic animals, and more.

    Indoor Winter Activities for Gross Motor Skills

    Here are winter-themed bilateral coordination activities to work on motor planning and coordination skills.

    Here are indoor recess activities to use during the winter months

    Use these winter brain break activities to add movement and gross motor work during the indoor months.

    Try this snowflake theme balance beam for indoor play, balance, coordination, and motor planning.

    Use this indoor snowball fight to work on eye-hand coordination skills.

    Winter Sensory Activities

    Try these snow and ice themed activities.

    Here is a snowflake themed proprioceptive activity that helps kids develop motor planning skills, coordination, and strengthening.

    This indoor snowball activity adds vestibular input as well as eye-hand coordination skills.

    Use a blanket to create a sensory winter themed heavy work activity.

    These winter mindfulness activities can help with self-regulation, awareness, and social emotional skills.

    Use these January occupational therapy calendars for vestibular and proprioceptive sensory input.

    Try these snowball theme activities to incorporate movement and learning during winter months.

    Here are winter science experiments that incorporate the senses and hands-on learning.

    winter fine motor kit

    Click here to access the Winter Fine Motor Kit and develop fine motor skills and dexterity with winter themes.


    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.

    Gingerbread Man Activities

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    gingerbread man activities

    Looking for gingerbread man activities? We’ve got you covered. From gingerbread men to gingerbread houses to gingerbread cookies, it’s the theme of gingerbread for this festive season! Can you smell the ginger? Ah, it’s so cozy and the theme of gingerbread is so classic and fun! Browse an old blog post from The OT Toolbox to find gingerbread activities for kids by kids. Lots of fun ideas in that post as well as some new ideas in this post! You can also find a Cardboard Gingerbread House idea.

    Use these activities with our decorate a gingerbread house slide deck and our gingerbread man handwriting and fine motor slide deck.

    Gingerbread man activities for kids

    GINGERBREAD MAN ACTIVITIES

    Included below are gingerbread man books that you can pair with hands-on activities. The gingerbread man ideas below build fine motor skills, gross motor skills, motor planning, direction-following, and sensory exploration. Let’s get started with the holiday activities!

    You can’t go the season without reading at least one gingerbread man book. So grab one or more of these gingerbread-related books and work on critical thinking and early literacy skills!

    GINGERBREAD MAN BOOKS

    Take a look at these gingerbread man books: (Amazon links included below.) These are great books to use along with therapeutic activities.


    The Gingerbread Man
    Gingerbread Baby
    Gingerbread Friends
    Gingerbread Christmas
    The Gingerbread Man Loose at School
    The Gingerbread Boy
    The Gingerbread Girl
    The Gingerbread Cowboy
    Gingerbread Mouse
    The Gingerbread Pirates

    This Gingerbread Man book activity from Fun-A-Day pairs well with these books.

    GINGERBREAD MAN CRAFTS

    Do you have visions of colorfully decorated gingerbread houses or some icing covered gingerbread men? Crafts are the supreme skill builder for kiddos and highly motivating.

    Crafts can work on scissor cutting, drawing, coloring, tool grasp, glue management, direction following, and sequencing. Now, let’s craft some gingerbread goodies.


    This fun gingerbread man stapling craft is a super fun way to build a gingerbread man while working on stapler use that incorporates strength, bilateral coordination, visual motor control, and precision handling.

    Craft a fun paper bag gingerbread house using office stickers galore! Stickers are an easy way to work on pincer grasp, bilateral coordination, spatial awareness with placement, and hand dominance.


    Craft a fun plate of gingerbread cookies using a paper plate and paper bag being sure to decorate with crayons. Don’t forget broken crayons color too and they can be better for kids to work on their tool grasp!


    Maybe a collage art gingerbread man is more what your kiddos would enjoy. Providing a tray of decorating goodies can give a child the opportunity for creativity and independence. But if you’re looking for more therapeutic benefits, you can incorporate body awareness and multiple fine motor skills.

    Provide a fun gingerbread man lacing craft that automatically incorporates fine motor precision, pincer grasp, motor planning, eye-hand coordination and bilateral hand use.

    Here is a baby gingerbread house from Pre-K Pages that works fine motor skills, too.

    Plus, they turn out super cute.

    Gingerbread Man Gross Motor

    Maybe you have the need for some energy consuming gingerbread movement! So many gingerbread books provide action words that can easily be utilized for movement exercises. Try substituting these actions with various movements you need your child to practice.

    Use these Gingerbread Man gross motor activities as a brain breaks for a physical break in the classroom, at home, or during a transition. Brain break movement activities can involve so many different body moves with a wonderfully festive theme!

    Here’s an activity that you can try called, Gingerbread Man Gross Motor Activity. It combines the simple idea of gross motor skills and literacy skills.

    You can also try these fun Gingerbread Man Gross Motor Dice printables to further incorporate movements related to the book. Read and move together!

    Try Gingerbread Passing to work on core strength, coordination, motor planning, and social skills. It’s a great team work activity or it can be simplified to have one child work on passing a gingerbread man from one place to another.

    Try this fun idea of some Gingerbread Hokey Pokey using a classic game with a gingerbread theme to work on body awareness and motor planning.

    Gingerbread Man Fine Motor

    Feeling the need to focus on fine motor or visual motor skills, maybe? How about drawing, handwriting or visual perception? Read on to find some great activity ideas.


    Here are some fun Gingerbread Letter Tracing Sheets or Gingerbread Prewriting Strips or Gingerbread Letter Tracing Strips to work on pencil control, letter formation and letter size.

    Need a low prep Gingerbread Man Cutting activity to work on bilateral hand skills and eye hand coordination along with scissor grasp? Try this fun idea! Maybe cardboard is too difficult for your kiddos to cut, so simply change to paper or even sandpaper for a fun approach.

    Maybe using scissors is not the skill level of your child so try a Gingerbread Pom-Pom Match activity and use tongs as a pre-scissor skill.

    How about a Gingerbread Man I-Spy activity that is perfect for visual scanning and discrimination? It’s a simple print and go for therapeutic fun!

    Do you have a child working on spoon use? Try this fun Feed the Gingerbread Man printable to set up a low prep scoop and pour activity or use tongs to feed the gingerbread man.

    Maybe simple Gingerbread Theme Play Dough Mats are all you are looking for to have kiddos work on fine motor hand skills.

    Gingerbread Sensory Activities

    This post started with a list and now it’s ending with a list! There are always children who need the sensory input or need to work on sensory tolerance provided by multiple sensory-related activities. Take a look at the list below and click on each item to read the details of how to create these varied sensory goodies all within the gingerbread theme!

    Gingerbread Salt Dough
    Gingerbread Play Dough
    Gingerbread Slime
    Gingerbread Rice
    Gingerbread Oobleck
    Gingerbread Cloud Dough
    Gingerbread Salt Tray
    Gingerbread Paint
    Gingerbread Sensory Bottles
    Gingerbread Sensory Bags

    Now, run, run, as fast you can…and prepare some fun gingerbread activities for the kiddos in your life as all of these activities are super skill builders for children at all levels of development! There’s something about this time of year and gingerbread.  The scent of ginger in the kitchen makes this time of year so warm and cozy!  

    Gingerbread Christmas activities for kids and by kids




    gingerbread activities for kids

    Christmas Handwriting Activities

    Writing out that Christmas wish list is a difficult task that brings out tears instead of holiday excitement.  I’ve got a solution for your kiddo with handwriting difficulties: a packet of modified paper for all of the Christmas handwriting tasks that come up each year.  Use this handwriting pack to help kids who struggle with handwriting to participate in holiday traditions while even working on and developing their handwriting skills!
    Working on handwriting with kids this Christmas season? Grab your copy of the Christmas Modified Handwriting Packet. It’s got three types of adapted paper that kids can use to write letters to Santa, Thank You notes, holiday bucket lists and much more…all while working on handwriting skills in a motivating and fun way! Read more about the adapted Christmas Paper here.   

    Peppermint Moon Dough Recipe

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    Moon dough recipe is a peppermint dough recipe for Christmas sensory play.

    Have you ever played with moon sand, or moon dough? This moon dough recipe is an old post here on The OT Toolbox, and one that we loved looking back at. Have you made your own moon dough?  This stuff is seriously messy and majorly fun!  We made our Peppermint Moon Dough recipe a little different than the usual moon dough recipe that is out there.  This moon dough recipe is very soft and fun even for moms to play with!  It’s a great companion to our peppermint play dough recipe from years ago, and our free printable candy cand puzzles, too.

    Moon dough recipe is a peppermint dough recipe for Christmas sensory play.


    Moon Dough Recipe

    We started with what we had on hand.  When it comes to kid-related messy play and making these sensory play activities, we love to use something that otherwise would be thrown away.  Likewise, waste in these activities is not something we are big fans of.  So, when ever possible, we’ll re-use sensory play materials for other activities and save things like dyed pasta and rice for future sensory activities.  

    Note: This post contains affiliate links.  

    This moon dough recipe used something that would otherwise be headed to the trash bin…I had some scented lotion that I had for a while… I really didn’t care for the scent.  That and some corns starch were all that were needed to make the base of our moon dough!  

    Moon Dough Ingredients

    There are only four ingredients in this easy moon dough recipe. You could even omit the food coloring and make this a 3 ingredient moon dough recipe!


    To make the consistency of moon dough, use a 4:1 ratio of corn starch to lotion.  This will make a nice and fluffy, but moldable moon dough. 

    We added a few drops of peppermint extract and some red food coloring.  We used the gel type of food coloring, but only because that is all we had on hand.  I’m sure liquid food coloring would work just as well, although with the added liquid of scent and food coloring, a little extra corn starch might be needed. 

    Also to note when making your moon dough recipe is that different brands of lotion may effect this recipe.  As you mix the ingredients together, you many need to use more or less corn starch depending on the consistency.

    Moon dough recipe that kids can make for a Christmas sensory activity. Make this candy cane scented sensory dough with kids.

    Half of the moon dough, I kept plain white and the other half got the red food coloring for a very candy cane look.   Add a few little bowls and spoons for scooping, and a couple of Candy Cane cookie cutters, and we were ready to play!

    Peppermint dough for Christmas sensory play with an easy moon dough recipe.

    We all got busy scooping, fluffing, and mixing.  This was such a fun sensory play experience (for mom, too!)  The lotion made this dough very soft and with the peppermint scent, you could no longer smell the lotion’s scent.

    Peppermint moon dough recipe that kids can use to scoop and pour for fine motor work.

    Baby Girl (age 2) especially loved to scoop the moon dough.  She used the spoons and filled one cup after another.  And what great fine motor skills this was for her!  She liked to mix the red and the white colors together, dump it all out, and start scooping again!  Here is information on the developmental benefits of scooping and pouring with toddlers.

    We played right on the hard wood floor of our dining room for an easy clean up.  Any stray moon dough bits were easy to broom right up.  

    Moon dough activity for kids to scoop and pour for a holiday sensory activity.

    Little Guy’s favorite part was making the candy cane molds.  We packed the moon dough into the cookie cutters and then pulled it up.  The moon dough would hold it’s shape of the candy cane.  There were a bunch of little moon dough candy canes before we finished!

    Candy cane moon dough is a sensory material that smells so fresh for holiday family fun.

        The scent of peppermint candy canes filled the room!  We had so much fun playing with this moon dough!   

    Christmas sensory dough with a 4 ingredient moon dough recipe.

    When we were finished playing, I poured all of the moon dough into a storage bad and saved it to make a new play activity.  We’ll be using it again, soon!

    Have you made moon dough? How about candy cane scented moon dough? 

    Looking for more fun candy cane scented sensory play? 

    More Christmas sensory ideas

    You’ll find more Christmas sensory activities here, but be sure to try some of these sensory dough materials this holiday season.

    Gingerbread salt dough recipe

    Gingerbread Salt Dough Recipe

    Christmas sensory bottle

    Christmas Sensory Bottle

    Christmas tree sensory activity

    Christmas Tree Sensory and Fine Motor Play

    Christmas modified paper

    Christmas Modified Paper Pack

    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.

    Fall Gross Motor Activities

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    Fall gross motor activities

    Adding to the fun of autumn are these Fall gross motor activities. There is so much about this time of year that offers opportunities for heavy work activities and gross motor play, all using a Fall theme!

    Use these Fall activities for family fun or ways to offer different movement challenges. Many of these ideas use all that Autumn has to offer: cooler weather, piles of leaves, hay bales, pumpkins, and apples. Other gross motor ideas listed here are gross motor ideas that can be done indoors. Either way, they are perfect for gross motor preschool activities, gross motor activities for toddlers, and whole-body activities to help kids build core strength, balance, coordination, and endurance.

    Fall Gross Motor Activities

    Isn’t Fall the perfect time to get outside, enjoy the season and the crisp air while getting active?  There are so many great active and gross motor activities you and your family can do even with little prep or planning.  Jump in leaves, go on a nature walk, collect leaves and fall items…just get moving! 

    Fall gross motor activities

    Fall Activities

    Collect fall leaves with Leaf Identification Cards.

    Print off this free Fall Tic Tac Toe board. Try to fill the board by doing all of the fall activities.

    Talk a walk and enjoy nature. What do you see? Smell? Hear?

    Get active with a Ghost Catch Game.

    Go on a hunt with Halloween Scavenger Hunt

    Rake leaves as a family.

    Then, JUMP in the leaves!

    Spending time time indoors doesn’t mean there’s no room for gross motor activities. Creep and crawl like a spider with this Motor Planning Spider Web Maze.

    Explore apples and red while balancing a tree trunk with Learning Apples/Red.

    Sing and dance this season with Red and Yellow and Orange and Brown Songs for Autumn (and dance).

    Get those shoulder girdles activated with Easy Indoor Halloween Obstacle Course.

    For sensory input, try these Fall Vestibular Activities that will add movement.

    You’ll love the calming heavy work that these Fall Proprioception Activities offer.

    Fall Fine Motor activities

    Try Fall Fine Motor Activities, too!

     

     

     

    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.

    Space Activities for Kids

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    Space camp ideas for home programs or DIY summer camp with space fine motor, galaxy crafts, and space sensory play

    If your kids are outer space enthusiasts, then this space theme activities are just the thing to add learning and skill building with space activities. This collection of space activities for kids are actually part of a DIY summer camp that we designed. When the kids need a backyard summer camp or something fun to look forward to, easy and creative activities based on a space theme can do just that. This summer, create a home summer camp with an Outer Space theme…all while building skills in therapy or at home. Our space theme slide deck is just one way to help kids build skills, and a great way to lead into space theme learning and play with the kids!

    For another space themed virtual therapy activity, try this free outer space Connect 4 game. It’s great for kids of all ages.

    Space camp ideas for home programs or DIY summer camp with space fine motor, galaxy crafts, and space sensory play

    Here, you’ll find everything you need to plan a space camp fun that builds skills like fine motor skills, gross motor skill development, sensory input, regulation, emotional support, bilateral coordination, eye-hand coordination, executive functioning skills, and more. Read on for all of the outer space fun!

    Space Camp for Kids

    Whether you are planning a space camp in your therapy programming or trying to think of ways to build skills for kids this summer in a fun and creative way, this space camp idea is for you. For parents that need something out-of-the-box this summer (that doesn’t break the bank!), a backyard space camp can be just the thing to get excited about.

    Outer space activities for a space camp or space theme home program

    Space theme ideas

    You’ll want to check out some other space activities we have here on the Toolbox website. Add these ideas to your space camp planning. These ideas can get you started with planning. Scroll below to find more specific space activities based on skill area.

    For more creative ideas with a space theme, be sure to check out my Outer Space Awesome Pinterest board.  

    We even grabbed up a handful of our all-time favorite Outer Space books from the library to share with you.  If you’re looking for activities to do with the kids this summer, a space theme will be a sure hit. Your Summer Camp at home will be complete with Space crafts, Space snacks, Space sensory, fine motor, and gross motor learning and play.

    Outer space theme activities for kids

    Space theme

    These activities are set up by theme (books, snacks, crafts, solar system models, sensory play, and movement learning activities) so that you can pick and choose activities for each day of your themed camp.  Make the week work for you!  Choose just one or two activities for each day, or go all out and do one from each category.  It’s totally up to you and your little campers! 

    space fine motor activities for using to improve fine motor skills with a space theme

    Space Fine Motor Activities

    Use this outer space play dough mat printable to work on hand strength, fine motor skills, and eye-hand coordination. Simply print it off and slide into a page protector to use each day during your space camp.

     We made this Outer Space model using pipe cleaners.  We didn’t get into planet size, but rather checked out the size of each planet compared to the others from The Planets book and crafted them based on the pictures in the book. we strung the pipe cleaner planets along fishing line and taped it between two walls. This was a fun way to explore how the planets are spaced from the sun.

    Outer Space Pipe cleaner solar system model

    Space Visual Motor Activities

    Visual motor skills and visual perception can be worked on with a space theme. Grab this free space visual discrimination worksheet to incorporate visual processing into a space camp.

    Here is another free space visual perception worksheet to print off and work on visual processing skills.

    This space maze is a visual motor activity that my own kids loved. Use Wikki Stix to build a maze and work on eye-hand coordination and other visual processing skills to work through the outer space maze.


    Outer Space Books

    Start off your daily activities during a week of Space activities with a Space book.  Some of our favorites are ones we read weekly and others are ones we love to check out from the library.
    Here are outer space books for kids.



    Outer Space Snacks

    Cooking with kids is a huge way to build motor skills and executive functioning skills through cooking. Below are outer space snacks that the kids can help to make while building skills.

    Outer space themed snack Stars and Planets snack for kids

    Affiliate links included below.

    We quickly made this space snack while doing a little space reading.  Kids will gobble up the stars and planets. We even made it a fine motor sorting activity by sorting the stars and planets from the snack mix.  This outer space themed snack will be a hit during your Summer Camp at home or space themed week.  We used a cup of Cheerios Cereal and a cup of Puffs snacks to make our stars and planets snack mix.  Have the kids sort the planets and stars into separate bowls for fine motor practice that Toddlers and young Preschoolers will love.

    More Space themed snacks to fill the rest of your week:

    Outer space snack ideas for kids

    Eat the solar system from Creative Kid Snacks
    Rocket Ship Wrap from Creative Kid Snacks
    Eat the Moon snack from Things to Share and Remember

    More Solar System Models for Kids for the rest of the week: 

    Make a solar system mobile like Artsy Craftsy Mom
    Create a balloon solar system model from Creekside Learning
    Use recycled plastic lids to create a solar system like Still Playing School
    Make a solar system with Legos like Kitchen Counter Chronicles.

    Outer Space Crafts

    If there is one thing that occupational therapists love, it’s the use of kids crafts as a therapy tool. Be sure to check out our Constellation crafts.  There are a bunch of space and star craft ideas based on constellations and outer space…that double as a fine motor and visual motor skill building tool.

    Use this space martian craft that the kids can make to build fine motor skills, and then use in handwriting activities to space between letters and words.

    Use these outer space crafts to make one each day of the week of your DIY summer camp…or just use them with your space-loving kiddo!

    Make a Rainbow Rocket ship like Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails
    Create a Textured Moon craft from Fantastic Fun and Learning
    Make Q-tip Star Art like Mess for Less
    Kids will love this Launching Rocket Ship toy from Lalymom.
    This Moon mobile will be a hit. (from Fantastic Fun and Learning)

    Outer Space Sensory Play

     Our Outer Space sensory activities were a huge hit in adding proprioception, vestibular, and tactile sensory play into the day. Use them as part of a sensory diet with learning components. Mix these space sensory ideas into the schedule as a reward that also meets the sensory needs to benefit regulation and social-emotional skills.

    These space themed sensory play ideas are ways to teach about planets, with an astronaut theme in mind. Know a little future astronaut? They will love these sensory play and learning ideas.

    Lots of ideas are to be found on our Outer Space sensory  round up!

    Space Themed Move and Learn Activities

    I love the rocket ship in this space themed party!  Climb in and out of a cardboard rocket ship for lots of movement and play. 
    Then, use another cardboard box to make this glow in the dark space fort like Lalymom.
    Nurturestore made a great Space math game.

    Space Fine Motor Kit

    Know a kiddo that loves all things space, astronauts, and planets? The Outer Space Fine Motor Kit is your chance to develop fine motor strength, dexterity, and coordination skills.

    Addressing hand strength, endurance, and precision is out of this world fun! The Outer Space Fine Motor Kit includes:

    • Fine Motor Mazes
    • Fine Motor Ten Frames for motor activities
    • 1-20 Star Counting Cards
    • Bead Copying Strips
    • Space Alien Directed Drawing Sheets

    This fine motor kit includes 24 pages of printable resources. Included in this printable pack are:

    1. Two pages of color coded bead copying strips
    2. Two pages of blank bead copying strips
    3. Four pages of “draw and write” directed drawing activities with a space theme (Includes 3 styles of handwriting lines: highlighted lines, single rule, and double rule)
    4. Nine pages of fine motor mazes
    5. 1-20 Outer Space Counting Cards
    6. Four pages of fine motor ten frames activities

    These printable activities extend to work on a variety of other functional areas, too: handwriting skills, numbers, math, adding, subtracting, one-to-one correspondence, scissor skills, coloring, and more.

    Click HERE to grab the Outer Space Fine Motor Mini-Kit.

    Outer Space Fine Motor Kit



    Have fun with your Outer Space themed week of fun! 

    Outer Space and Star Wars

    For even more space themed activities for kids, add some of these Star Wars occupational therapy ideas to your therapy planning. We’ve broken down a bunch of space ideas using the Star Wars theme and include handwriting activities, sensory play, executive functioning ideas, crafts, gross motor ideas, and more. Kids will love it!

    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.

    Sensory Activities for Babies

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    My baby hates tummy time! Here are ideas to help with tummy time for infants and babies

    Sensory activities for babies is a tool to help little ones grow and develop life-long essential skills. Baby sensory experiences and sensory play go hand in hand.  A baby has so much exposure to sensory stimulation each day.  From sounds, to sights, to textures and temperatures, a baby’s sensory system is rapidly developing and filing away information.  In our house, when child number four was a baby, she was exposed to A LOT of auditory and visual stimulation from older siblings!

    Sensory ACTIVITIES for Infants

    Here, you will find sensory activities for infants and babies that can be used to help you connect and play with your little one. These baby sensory play ideas will encourage exploration of colors, textures, and properties.

    First, I wanted to share this resource for parents of new babies and also therapists that work with families.

    Resource for New Parents

    First, I wanted to let you know about an exciting new resource for new parents. Many people think new parents are the only ones that need baby advice. Maybe you found yourself as a new mother who suddenly had a lot of questions on sleep patterns, eating and childhood milestones. But, if there is one thing that therapists wish they could tell new parents, it’s that parents could have a better understanding of how movement plays into development.

    Therapists are many times, seeking resources to share with parents to support a family through the first year of baby’s development so they can thrive.

    Remarkable Infants is a great opportunity for parents and professionals alike to educate more people on how to support a baby’s first-year development for future learning development.

    Yes, this course does provide information on helping a baby sleep and eat, but this course is the other more comprehensive sections. The pieces most other baby trainings don’t provide.

    It’s a 5-step, all-inclusive online training for new moms focusing on the development of the whole child from birth through 12 months of age. It includes the following:

    • Language Development (Talking with your baby)
    • Healthy Sleep Habits (Understanding baby sleep)
    • Cognitive Development and Motor Development (Playing with your Baby)
    • Reading with your Baby (Vocabulary, visual-motor, speech and language)
    • Infant Nutrition (Feeding your baby)

    Even though this course is geared to moms, it’s also great for professionals. It can be a HUGE help to clients, expecting moms you work with and those that have kids with learning challenges. The more we can help educate parents on the necessity of building a baby’s cognition, speech and language and motor movements in their first year, the further ahead that child will be later in life.

    The 2 best parts are:

    1. Each section is taught by a specific professional (Occupational Therapist, Speech and Language Pathologist, Pediatric Sleep Sleep Specialists and Registered Dietitian) with evidence-based research. So you know you’re getting advice from the pros!

    2. If you are a professional, you can get CEU credits/Certificate of Completion for taking this course.

    You can also get an additional 10% discount when you use our coupon code “COLLEEN10.” To join the Mommy Academy, click here. Don’t forget to enter the discount code!

    Our Mission at the Mommy Academy is to provide new mamas with easily accessible, organized, evidence based information and practical skills.  Our resources strive to remove overwhelm and exhaustion and allow new moms to spend less time on Google and more time connecting with their baby and taking care of themselves.  Our mission is to make new mamas feel less alone through heartfelt encouragement, a mama community and expert support.

    Sensory Play Ideas for Babies

    Child development begins in the womb. As that baby develops and grows in utero, they are already stretching and moving, practicing reach and grasp, and stretching against the walls of their mother’s uterus. That push and pull that you felt as an expecting mom was your little one gaining strength and sensory input! That motor development continues after birth, and that’s when the fun begins because as mom or dad, we get to snuggle that little one, engage with them, and watch their every move!

    Sensory activities for babies 0-3 months old

    Sensory Activities for newborns

    Let’s talk specifics. During the newborn and infant stages (0-3 months), you’ll see so many physical and sensory milestones. These are developments that impact movement, communication, and feeding. Sensory developmental milestones during the first three months include:

    • Following a person with their eyes
    • Lifting their head to observe and listen
    • Pushing up to their arms while lying in tummy time, now baby can REALLY start to take in the world around them
    • Holding the head up while laying on their belly
    • Opening their fist into stretched fingers- Little one can grasp and begin to explore textures
    • Bringing hands to the mouth for sensory input, calming, and soothing
    • Reaching for toys to explore
    • Turns toward sounds or voices
    • Makes eye contact
    • Moving legs and arms- They are figuring out how their body moves in space and how much effort needs to be exerted to move

    From the first weeks when baby doesn’t focus their eyes on anything, they strengthen eye movements and focus to visually track a toy or person by the end of the three months of age. During this stage, it’s important to allow that little one to move, stretch, kick, and strengthen their core, neck, arms, and legs, and eye muscles. Sensory activities for newborns can include:

    Songs and Nursery Rhymes- For our littlest newborns, this is a wonderful first play activity. Singing softly or reciting nursery rhymes to infants gets your little one used to the sound of your voice. Make eye contact up close as you recite rhymes and songs. Baby’s vision is capable of focusing on objects at about 8 inches from their face. Using exaggerated mouth movements and wide eyes when you speak to your little one provides a high-contrast point that they can focus on.

    Follow the noise- Use a rattle, squeaky toy, or other toy that makes noise as you move the toy in front of your little one’s field of vision. You want your baby to visually track the noise and follow the toy with their eyes. While baby won’t be able to really follow moving objects with their eyes until about three months of age, this activity boosts so many areas and creates the building blocks of auditory processing and visual processing. This activity can be accomplished at various stages, and in various positions. Baby can be swaddled up and laying on their back while following the toy with their eyes. Try it when baby is in tummy time. Soon, you will see reaching for that fun toy. It’s a great way to encourage reach, grasp, and even gross motor skills like lifting the head and neck while in tummy time, and rolling.

    Tummy Time Back Rub- Tummy Time can be hard for babies! That little cry is so sad and makes you want to pick your little one up and snuggle them until they feel safe. But, remember the benefits of tummy time and help them to feel safe and comforted on their belly. Get down on the floor with your little one and lightly rub their back while you sing, speak, or hum. Put your face right next to your little one so they feel the warmth of your body. Make eye contact and engage with that sweet nugget!

    Chest to chest- We talked before about how tummy time doesn’t need to happen on the floor. Place baby on your chest as you lean back on a couch. Your baby’s face will be close to yours and at a great position to speak softly. Depth perception of the eyes doesn’t develop until about 5 months of age, so until then, your little one is building the eye strength to better see the world. This positioning is helpful to help your little one build upper body strength.

    Blanket time- A colorful play blanket is a great space to stretch, kick, and move those arms and legs. Positioning toys around baby encourages them to engage while strengthening their core, neck, arms, legs, and eye muscles. Position toys in a semi-circle around baby and get down on the floor to get in on the play action. This is a great way to build the skills needed for rolling and manipulating objects.

    Leg Kick- While baby is on the floor on their back or belly, provide some bicycle action to their legs. You can slowly “bike” their legs to get them moving and then tap the bottoms of their feet. This tactile input “wakes up” the feet and can get them kicking and moving. Place a toy or object that makes noise at their feet and they will see and hear a response to moving their legs.

    sensory activities for babies 3-6 months old

    Sensory Activities for 3-6 months

    Purposeful movement drives development and development occurs through purposeful movement. This is a fun series of months. You’ll see sensory development that drives motor skills and communication milestones:

    • Rolls from back to belly and belly to back- baby is starting to really explore proprioception and vestibular input as they move and figure out how their body moves
    • Holds the head and neck steady in sitting- They can focus vision on moving targets when the neck and head are steady
    • Investigates textures, size, shapes, and details of objects

    During 3-6 months, the baby is starting to gain some control of their body. They will start to use purposeful movement, influenced by toys and faces on the people around them in order to explore. Try these sensory activities for 3-6 month age range:

    Foot Rattles- There are socks out there that have built-in noise makers. These little foot rattles encourage baby to move and shake those legs. While lying on their back, they can see how intentional movement works.

    Peek-a-Boo- This is an age-old favorite…and there’s a good reason why we love this classic game! When mom or dad hides their face and then suddenly takes their hands away, baby is learning some valuable skills. They learn that objects don’t go away just because they can’t see them. Object permanence, cause and effect, and problem solving begin at this young age, and while it can take a while to master, it’s an essential skill down the road! Try playing peek-a-book with faces, objects and a blanket, and by gently swiping a blanket over baby. (Always use super close supervision with this activity!)

    Crinkly Soft Toys- One of my favorite ways to develop those early fine motor skills is with a simple crinkly soft blanket. You know the kind…it’s soft material on the outside, but crinkly fabric sewn into the middle. So, when baby squeezes and grabs the soft toy, they hear a crinkly noise. The best kind are small fabric swatches because they are light enough for baby to manipulate and pick up. The OT in me loves to see that little grip grab and pull the material. You can see those motor skills develop right in front of your eyes! Use the crinkly toy in tummy time to encourage reaching and rolling, or while laying on the floor as baby brings both hands together and gives the toy a taste. They can work both hands together in a coordinated manner with feedback from the mouth. It’s a great toy for building cause and effect, too!

    Mirror Play- Find a baby-safe mirror and use it in tummy time. Place a few baby items on the mirror and they can begin to push up onto their arms by putting weight through their shoulders and upper body. Another way to use a baby safe mirror is to place it in front of baby while they are in supported sitting. Baby will begin to babble and “talk” to the baby they see in the mirror.

    Hula-Hoop Reach- Your little one is still building those motor skills and someday down the road they will be doing big kid things! For now, use a hula hoop to attach rattles and baby toys in a circle around them as they are in tummy time in the center. The circular positioning of toys encourages reach (and eye-hand coordination), visual scanning, rolling, and pivoting on the upper body as they move and stretch for different toys.

    Sensory activities for babies 6-9 months

    Sensory ACTIVITIES for 6-9 months

    The months between 6-9 months are a big one for little ones’ development. Senses prevail and as your baby starts to gain more physical control, they are exploring more sensory input. Little one will begin solid foods for the first time and what a sensory experience that is!

    Movement and gains in gross motor skills allow baby will move from tummy time with weight through their arms to pushing up on their arms. They will begin to lift their belly off the floor to all fours. They will move from supported sitting to unsupported sitting with reaching for toys. You’ll see that little bundle move from tummy time to rolling, crawling, and reaching. Let them move, kick, and stretch!

    • Moves from supported sitting to independent sitting- Exploring the world around them
    • Bears weight through hands in crawling position
    • Reaches for toys while lying in the belly
    • Moves toys from one hand to the other
    • Uses both hands to manipulate and explore toys
    • Reacts to sudden sounds
    • Listen and responds to sounds or voices
    • Begins to babble
    • Shows an interest in foods
    • Tries baby food for the first time and will move to explore more tastes and varieties of soft foods
    • Imitates others in play
    • Focuses on near and far objects

    This is a fun age! Purposeful movement occurs and you will see baby learning so much. Here are some baby play ideas that boost the sensory development and motor skills babies need to move, manipulate toys, feed themselves, and get from place to place:

    Sitting Games- Place pillows around your little one to create a soft crash mat. As baby gains the skills to sit up with balance, they can reach for toys around them. Offer a basket of washcloths, a bowl of nesting toys, hand-sized balls (ones that can’t be placed into the mouth), or other novel items. This is a great opportunity to practice reaching, placing objects into containers, and getting stronger at balance!

    Living Room Obstacle Course- Along the same lines as the previous activity, use living room pillows and couch cushions to create obstacles on the floor. This is a great way to encourage movement in a variety of patterns and gain skills in crawling. As baby grows, they will become more confident in their movement and this is great to see! Be sure to stay close by and ensure the space is baby-proofed!

    Bubbles- Blowing bubbles with baby is a wonderful way to encourage visual tracking, eye-hand coordination, core strength, sitting balance, neck control, and even fine motor skills! Encourage your little one to watch the bubbles as they float away and visual processing skills develop. Ask them to get the bubble and they can work on controlled reach and grasp. Bubbles are a great activity throughout the toddle years too as baby learns to gain control in standing and walking. Grab a container of bubbles and have fun!

    Roll a Ball- A partially blown up beach ball is a wonderful tool for helping your little one gain balance and strength in sitting. The ball when not blown up entirely provides a great opportunity for grasp. Just be sure to keep a close watch on your little ball player. This activity should only be done under very close supervision and always trust your gut. You know that the ball is going straight to the mouth once your little one has a hold of it, so stay close by. Rolling a beach ball toward baby is wonderful for developing visual processing skills, eye-hand coordination, grasp and release, strengthening, and more. Adding more air to the ball makes it harder to grasp and harder to catch as the ball will roll more quickly and smoothly. Older kiddos can use that ball to kick, throw, and even pat-pat-pat!

    Box of Toys- Have an Amazon delivery box or a shoebox sitting around? It’s a novel toy for your little one! Fill it with baby-safe objects or toys and get ready to have fun. Pulling items out and dropping them back in teaches baby so much about weight, grasp, eye-hand coordination, and even gravity. They will love to see how things fall and how they hit off other toys. Dumping a box of toys is fun of its own and is another experiment of it’s own. Baby, as they start to move and crawl can push or pull a box and gain the feedback of pushing the object along the floor. Babies that are standing at a coffee table or couch can explore and drop items into the box while they learn to hold on the safety of the couch and use one arm to hold an object. SO much development can happen with a simple cardboard box!

    Put in and Take Out- Take that box play even further by using a smaller opening. An empty tissue box is another awesome tool for building skills in fine motor work, eye-hand coordination, and visual processing skills. By placing items in a container, little ones can work on things like visual discrimination and visual memory, all through play and not aware that those basic skills will carryover far into their educational years as they learn to read, write, and complete math. Amazing, right??!

    Sensory activities for babies from 10-12 months old

    Sensory Activities for 10-12 months

    The next phase is a big one! During the tail end of the first year, you see big strides in free movement. You see stronger eye-hand coordination, and intentional movement. You see refined fine motor skills, improved mobility, and a stronger baby. Here are more specifics about this stage:

    • Pulls up to stand at furniture
    • Takes first steps holding onto furniture to “cruise”
    • Moves in various positions from laying to sitting, sitting to pulling up to stand, etc.
    • Drops toys into containers and grabs them to manipulate
    • Uses a pincer grasp (holds small items like cereal between the pads of the thumb and pointer finger)
    • Explores toys with mouth, hands, and visually
    • Says first words
    • Feeds self with finger foods
    • Takes first steps without support

    During this stage of development, babies are moving and grooving! They are building on the skills they’ve achieved and refining those motor skills. Babies are using what they’ve got in the way of grasp, reach, and gross movement to really develop their vestibular sense. By moving in different planes to crawl, swing, turn, and roll, there is movement of the fluid in the inner ear which stimulates the vestibular sense. The vestibular sense allows us to know where our body is in space. With the vestibular sense, we are able to sit without falling over, move from one point to another safely, and track objects with our eyes (which is needed in reading and writing). Try these sensory activities for 10-12 months:

    Tunnels- Set ups a floor obstacle course like we talked about a few slides ago, but add some more challenging experiences. Use a baby tunnel or a large cardboard box. What a fun space to add baby toys, bins, baskets, and soft blankets for crawling over and playing with!

    Kitchen Play- At this stage, baby will be much sturdier in their sitting. Set ups a scattering of kitchen bowls and wooden spoons or scoops. They can bang, stack, and drop to see how items work and move. Recycled items such as egg cartons, cereal boxes, and plastic container are fun to explore too. Be sure to make the space baby safe. This is a great way to engage your little one while cooking and preparing meals.

    Sensory Play- This stage is fun because as the fine motor skills develop, you will see more refined use of the hands from a raking grasp” where all of the fingers rake items in order to pick them up in the palm of the hand into a “pincer grasp” where the pointer finger and the thumb are able to pick up a small item. Encourage sensory play by providing cooked spaghetti cut up into small lengths. Scatter the cooked spaghetti on a black placemat or tray. The high visual contrast and interesting sensory experience will engage your little one and build fine motor skills they will need down the road.

    Fine Motor Play- Around 10 months, you will see more refined fine motor skills as baby uses their pointer finger and thumb to pick up small items with the pincer grasp we just talked about in our last slide. Suddenly, you will notice every speck of dirt and fuzz ball on the carpet…and so will your little one! Encourage those fine motor skills by providing baby cereal and a container for them to drop pieces into.

    Stacking Activities- Use stacking cups, blocks, or small boxes (empty tissue boxes work great!) to stack and knock over! Baby will begin to gain more refined motor skills and the excitement of knocking those towers over again and again will not end!

    Rolling Toys- Use balls of various sizes, toy cars, and even recycled paper towel tubes to explore how things move and roll. Take the excitement level up a notch by adding a ramp using a large cardboard piece to make a ramp. Watching items as they roll down and grabbing them to push them down all over again is big fun! It’s a great way to encourage fine and gross motor skills, visual motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and balance.

    baby toys for sensory play positioned on mirrors on the floor. Includes colorful teething rings, colorful cups, refrigerator magnets, and other baby safe toys.

    This post contains affiliate links.  

    We shared recently our Visual Motor Integration developmental milestones post with general timelines of baby’s hand-eye coordination.  It’s important to note that all children develop differently and some of these activities may not be appropriate until they are developmentally able to participate.   

    Tummy Time and Sensory ACTIVITIES

    Really important pieces of advice like placing your baby in tummy time, limiting time spent in baby positioners, encouraging a variety of sensory stimulation, allowing movement, and connecting with your baby through play aren’t just tips. They are really important. They are strategies for success. The next few slides I’m sharing are tools to give your baby a motor and sensory baseline that will impact them down the road with things like visual motor skills, attention, reading and writing, frustration tolerance, emotional regulation, and more. It’s the skills that kids today are really lacking in

    baby laying on her belly on a nursing pillow, playing with ball pit balls on a mirror while older siblings help
    My baby hates tummy time! Here are ideas to help with tummy time for infants and babies

     When Baby Hates Tummy Time

    We shared this mirror play idea on Instagram.  At the time, Baby Girl was five months old an able to do tummy time in a Boppy pillow. Having a better understand of tummy time myths is important for new parents to understand what to do when baby hates tummy time.

    The thing is that floor play for babies is essential for developing skills in infants and toddlers. And, that floor time play is important to building visual motor skills, strength, and coordination even throughout the first year (and beyond)!

    Here is information on how tummy time impacts spatial awareness development in babies.

    The baby positioning floor pillow provided extra support and elevated my little one’s upper body to encourage reach during tummy time. As with any piece of baby equipment, this pillow and others should be used under supervision by an adult and for short periods of time.  We used a small mirror and a few colorful ball pit balls to encourage reach and exploration.  Of course the big sisters had to help! Here are more ball pit activities that young children love.

    How to help baby enjoy tummy time

    Helping to encourage lots of tummy time in your little one doesn’t need to be stressful. But many times, it may seem like your baby hates tummy time! They scream, they cry, and they place their face right on the floor. Scary, right? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there as new moms.

    Tips to help with tummy time:

    Get down on the floor with your baby and encourage reaching for enticing toys or towards your face/hands as you are right out of reach.

    Try some of the tummy time ideas in the Mommy Academy course.

    Add tummy time in throughout the day. Try a few minutes after diaper changes or when baby is in a pleasant mood. All of that tummy time adds up to build the strength needed for pushing over to the side.

    Try chest to chest tummy time as the adult holding the baby lies back on couch cushions.

    Try a football hold.

    While sitting on a couch, try tummy time on your lap while rubbing baby’s back.

    Also, is your little one pushing up on their arms when in tummy time? The weight of the head tends to pull them over into a side position/laying on belly from tummy time, so that is another benefit.

    Baby positioned on a nursing pillow on the floor, on her stomach in tummy time. She's playing with her siblings and using ball pit balls on a mirror.

     Babies get so much exposure to different textures naturally through play.  This is just a simple way to encourage functional reach and tummy time play.  Some other items that work well with this baby sensory play activity that we love:   

    Colorful plastic cups 

    Extra large soft blocks. Be sure to closely monitor baby if they are able to place items into their mouth! 

    Chew items

    Baby safe, plastic baby links

    Find many more baby play ideas here to drive sensory input through play based on each stage through the first year.

    Baby smiling in a baby swing. Text reads Baby Play Ideas Learning Through Play

    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.

    Dinosaur Proprioception Activities

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    dinosaur movement cards for kids to use for heavy work and coping tools to address dinosaur sized feelings

    This dinosaur brain break activity is a set of free proprioception activities that provides heavy work with a dinosaur theme, making movement and proprioceptive input a fun way to address dinosaur -sized needs. Whether you are looking for heavy work activities for the kids to add to distance learning or heavy work activities for OT teletherapy programs, these free dinosaur movement cards are a great sensory activity to add to your therapy toolbox. Scroll all the way to the bottom of this post to grab your Dinosaur Movement Activity Cards…and check out the Dinosaur OT activities too!

    dinosaur movement cards for kids to use for heavy work and coping tools to address dinosaur sized feelings

    This post explains more about proprioception sensory activities but to better understand why and how to incorporate movement breaks into learning, check out this post on brain breaks for kids.

    This freebie was originally created as part of October’s Sensory Processing Awareness Month, however, for a kiddo that loves anything dinosaurs, it works out great any time of year. Kids with sensory integration needs are those kiddos who are bumping into everything and everyone.  

    The little ones who fall out of their chairs, press too hard on their pencils, are clumsy, fidget, or seek extra movements. They might flap their hands or slap their feet when they walk.  

    he thing about kids is that everyone is different and everyone will have different needs, interests, and abilities.  This Dinosaur Sized Feelings sensory movement activity  is perfect for kids seeking sensory input and kids who just need to move!

    Dinosaur feelings can impact emotional regulation, sensory processing, self-care, and function. Use dinosaur themed activities like these dinosaur heavy work cards as a coping tool.

    Now, it’s important for me to note, that when I say Dinosaur-Sized feelings in this post, I’m talking about the child’s feeling of hyposensitivity to their environment.

     They are seeking out extra stimulation from people, walls, cushions…anything really and are feeling a big need to improve their central neural system functioning in order to complete tasks and function.  

    (Read more about the Central Nervous System below!)  

    What I’m not talking about in this post is the emotional side of feelings.  There has been at least one study done that attempts to determine whether emotional feelings can be influenced by proprioceptive input.

    I’m not talking about the big emotional feels we all have. In this activity, I’m focusing on the big feelings of sensory needs kids might have, and how to stomp those sensory needs out with proprioception.

    It’s all about the ability to regulate those giant, dinosaur-sized sensory related feelings that impact emotional regulation, coping abilities, worries, anxieties. This post on Zones of Regulation activities explains a little more on self-regulation and specific ways to address these needs.

    What is Sensory Integration?

    Let’s cover some of the background info about what’s going on behind self-regulation. Typically, our Central Nervous System integrates sensory input from the environment in a balanced process that screens out certain information and acts on important information, at an automatic level…one that we are not cognitively aware of.  

    For kiddos with atypical sensory integration, the central nervous system has difficulty screening out unimportant information from our environment.  

    For those children, interaction with their surroundings can be stressful as they are either over responsive or under-responsive to normal stimulus. This results in dysfunctional behavior and social difficulties. 

    For a thorough explanation of sensory integration, sensory processing, and what specific actions look like as a part of our sensory systems, grab this free sensory processing booklet.

    You’ll access the free booklet and join a short email course that explains sensory processing in great detail. It’s a free informative course via email that you don’t want to miss.

    free sensory processing booklet

    Proprioception Activities for kids

    I shared a post in the past about proprioception and handwriting with too much pressure.  

    In that post, I told you how  the proprioceptive system receives input from the muscles and joints about body position, weight, pressure, stretch, movement and changes in position in space.  

    Our bodies are able to grade and coordinate movements based on the way muscles move, stretch, and contract. Proprioception allows us to apply more or less pressure and force in a task.

    Instinctively, we know that lifting a feather requires very little pressure and effort, while moving a large backpack requires more work.  We are able to coordinate our movements effectively to manage our day’s activities with the proprioceptive system.  

    The brain also must coordinate input about gravity, movement, and balance involving the vestibular system.   

    (This post does contain affiliate links.)

    Kids who are showing signs of proprioceptive dysfunction might do some of these things:

    • Appear clumsy
    • Fidget when asked to sit quietly.
    • Show an increased activity level or arousal level.
    • Seek intense proprioceptive input by “crashing and bashing” into anything.
    • Slap their feet when walking.
    • Flap hands.
    • Use too much or too little force on pencils, scissors, objects, and people.
    • “No fear” when jumping or walking down stairs.
    • Or, are overly fearful of walking down steps/jumping.
    • Look at their body parts (hands/feet) when completing simple tasks.
    • Sit down too hard or miss chairs when sitting.
    • Fall out of their seat.
    • Fluctuates between over-reacting and under-reacting in response to stimulation.
    • Constantly on the move.
    • Slow to get moving and then fatigue easily.
    Dinosaur themed sensory (proprioception) heavy work activities for organizing and calming sensory input. This is perfect for a child who seeks out sensory stimulation.


    Dinosaur Themed Heavy Work Activities

    This activity is easy.  There is not much to it really, other than being a dinosaur themed way to calm and organize those big dinosaur feelings.

    The heavy work activities add proprioception that can be a tool to address regulation or sensory needs. Here, I’m sharing with you a few heavy work suggestions that may help hyposensitive kiddos.  

    I wanted to share activities that might be of interest to the child that loves a dinosaur theme.  It’s my hope that these work for you and your family!  If you are looking for more dinosaur themed movement activities, check out this past post sharing Dinosaur movement activities, based on the book popular children’s book, Dinosaurumpus.  

    Dinosaur heavy work activities can help as a coping tool for self-regulation in kids.

    Please note (as with any activity that you find on this website): This is meant to be a resource and not Occupational Therapy treatment.  

    Please seek individualized evaluation and treatment strategies for your child.  All kids are so different in their sensory needs and abilities and adverse reactions can occur with globalized treatments.   

    Dinosaur themed sensory (proprioception) heavy work activities for organizing and calming sensory input. This is perfect for a child who seeks out sensory stimulation.

      Big dino-sized feelings can happen in a little body!    

    These dinosaur brain breaks are free heavy work cards for dinosaur proprioception activities

     Simply print out the free printable, cut out the cards, and pretend to play, walk, and eat like a dinosaur!  

    We did use our Mini Dinosaurs as we practiced all of the Dino Moves in these activities. Use them in a scavenger hunt. Your child needs to find hidden dinosaurs and once they bring them back to you, do a proprioception activity from the handout.

    Another idea is to do the heavy wok activities before a fine motor task like handwriting to calm and organize the body. 

    You can get the free dinosaur proprioception activities printable by joining the thousands of others on our newsletter subscriber list.  You will receive occasional newsletter emails.

    Once you subscribe you’ll receive an email with a link to the free printable, as well as other freebies that only our subscribers receive.  

    Kids will love these dinosaur activities for occupational therapy to help kids address fine and gross motor skills using OT dinosaur activities.

    Dinosaur Activities for OT sessions

    Looking for more Dinosaur activities?  Try adding these to your occupational therapy interventions. Some of the ideas below are great for adding to teletherapy sessions. Others make great OT home programs.

    Dinosaur Activities for Occupational Therapy

    Ok, you have a child on your OT caseload (on in your classroom or home) that LOVES all things dinosaur…how do you get them involved in therapy sessions? You can totally guide therapy goals along a theme like dinosaurs.

    The OT dinosaur activities listed below are fun ways to work on specific skills in therapy sessions, using hands-on play and activities. You’ll find fine motor dinosaur activities, gross motor dinosaur ideas, dinosaur printables, sensory play with a dino theme, and even dinosaur visual perception activities.

    If you have a child in OT who LOVES all things dinosaur, these are great incentive activities that will build attention and focus to the session. Adding a much-loved theme to therapy sessions can empower a child as they play with more intent and attention.

    Occupational therapy activities with a dinosaur theme for heavy work activities and movement.

    Dinosaur Gross Motor Game– This dinosaur game offers kids a chance to MOVE! Use a child’s love of dinosaurs to create movement breaks and indoor activity with a dinosaur theme.

    This is one indoor play idea that my own children loved when they were little, but the bonus is that they gain midline crossing, motor planning, sequencing, bilateral coordination, balance, endurance, proprioception, and vestibular benefits all in the same movement activity.

    Dinosaur Playdough Kit can be made with play dough and a few small dinosaur figures. It’s a great way to add proprioception to the hands as heavy work before a handwriting activity.

    This busy activity can be pulled out at any time and kids can keep those hands busy while building intrinsic hand strength and endurance needed for tasks like coloring. Read more about warming-up the hands before fine motor tasks here.

    Free Dinosaur Visual Perception Sheet– This printable page can be printed off once and used with a page protector sheet for the whole therapy caseload. Or, add it to teletherapy sessions or distance learning as part of a child’s specific plan.

    Kids can work on visual perceptual skills such as scanning, form discrimination, figure ground, form constancy, and other visual perception skills. It’s perfect for dinosaur fans of all ages!

    Dinosaur Counting Cards with clothes pins to clip onto the matching number of dinosaurs is a great way to build hand strength with a dinosaur theme. Print them off and add them to your therapy toolbox. Here are more ways to use clothes pins in building skills in kids.

    Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs book and jacks game– have you read the children’s book, Goldilocks and the three dinosaurs? This children’s book is very cute and a fun way to add books to occupational therapy sessions.

    Then, add the fine motor and motor planning jacks game to build coordination and dexterity skills by playing jacks. This is such a fun way to add movement and reading to therapy sessions, making motor planning, sustained attention, bilateral coordination, crossing midline, floor play (heavy work!), all integrated into a single dinosaur activity!

    Dinosaur Matching with mini-figure dinosaurs is a fun way to work on visual scanning, visual discrimination, visual memory, and other visual perceptual skills. Using a small ball of play dough, press the dinosaur’s feet into the dough. They can then try to match up the feet to the footprints.

    All you need are mini dinosaur figures and salt dough, play dough, or similar dough. It’s a fun way to work on skills that come in handy for handwriting, reading, and number identification.

    Dinosaur Guessing Game is a fun way to work on discrimination skills and visual attention. For kids that have trouble attending to tasks, this dinosaur themed activity may do just the trick. Use dinosaur figurines and a box or basket to hide the dinosaurs.

    You can cover the dinosaurs and ask children to find the dino with specific features such as sharp teeth or a specific color. This visual memory game builds skills needed for letter discrimination and attention to detail.

    Free Dinosaur Number Puzzles– Kids can cut the paper puzzles into strips to work on scissor skills and bilateral coordination. The strait lines or these puzzles make it a great beginning scissor activity for children learning to use scissors. Then, they can challenge those visual perceptual skills to build the puzzle by scanning, and attending to details as they discriminate parts of the puzzles.

    Dinosaur Emergent Reader– Use a piece of colored paper to create a cone dinosaur craft like the one shown in this post.

    Kids can make colored dinosaurs and match them to dinosaur counters or small pieces of paper that match the colors. Don’t want to make the dinosaur crafts? Use colored cups to pretend!

    Free Dinosaur Subtilizing Game– This dinosaur subtilizing printable page has a fine motor component by that builds precision and dexterity as kids place counters on a printable play mat. They can roll a dice and work on an the essential math skill of subtilizing.

    What is subtilizing? Essentially, this skill means kids can look at a group of objects and know how many there without having to count each object one by one. Subtilizing is important in math, especially higher math skills.

    Dinosaur Sensory Bottle– You know we love sensory bottles! Sensory bottles are a great tool to add to your toolbox to address sensory needs or self-regulation. Using a sensory bottle as a coping tool can help kids relax, calm down, or focus.

    This dinosaur themed sensory bottle is great for kids who love dinosaur anything! Here is more information on how to make a sensory bottle.

    Dinosaur Letter Tracing– Kids can work on fine motor precision and dexterity while also working on letter formation, gross motor skills, bilateral coordination, crossing midline, visual tracking, and so many more skills.

    All you need are dinosaur mini-figures, paper, and a marker. Draw a large letter on the paper and then children can place the small dinosaurs along the lines to “build” the letters. Here is more information on teaching letter formation and using manipulatives like these small dinosaur figures in teaching letters.


    DIY Dinosaur Tangrams     All you need is a set of tangram shapes, paper, and markers to make your own dinosaur tangram pattern cards. Kids will love building their own pattern cards, too.

    This is a great activity for those who have the actual tangram puzzle pieces, but don’t have access to a color printer or are able to purchase pre-made dinosaur pattern cards. Work on visual perceptual skills by copying and building the geometric dinosaurs together as a fun activity that little dinosaur fans will love.

    Here is a great resource on how to use tangrams to build visual perceptual skills. Check out that article, and then you can read more on the specifics of tangrams and handwriting. The fine motor activity and the functional task of writing go “hand-in-hand”!

    Dinosaur themed sensory (proprioception) heavy work activities for organizing and calming sensory input. This is perfect for a child who seeks out sensory stimulation.

    Are you looking for thorough information on Sensory Processing and Proprioception (or any of the sensory systems and how they affect functional skills, behavior, and the body’s sensory systems?  This book, Sensory Lifestyle Handbook, will explain it all.  Activities and Resources are included. Get it today and never struggle to understand or explain Sensory Integration again.  Shop HERE.

    This post is part of our 31 Days of Occupational Therapy series where you can find free or almost free treatment activities and ideas.  Stop by every day!  You’ll find more fun ideas each day in October.

    Free Dinosaur Movement Cards

    Dinosaur brain breaks and proprioception activities

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