Back to School Activities

Occupational therapy practitioners working in school based occupational therapy know that collecting data, building rapport with students, and coming up with fun ways to support educational needs is a tricky, but fun challenge in OT sessions. We have pulled together some of our favorite activities to cover various aspects of the scope of school based OT. I’ve been busy behind the scenes here at The OT Toolbox building tools that you can use during the first weeks of school that will make your life easier. Here, you will find first day of school activities, first day of school printables, and back to school baseline screening activities, back to school crafts, and ideas to use in therapy or the classroom this week (and coming weeks).

Back to school therapy activities for occupational therapy

Let’s get started with the back to school OT activities…

Back to School Activities

These activities should keep your students (virtual or in-person) busy the first few weeks of school. Some of these activities are great for online icebreaker activities and others are wonderful ways to build rapport while assessing baseline status in areas like pencil grasp, handwriting, math, scissor skills, or other learning/school tasks.

Back to School Slide Deck- This interactive back to school slide deck works with Google slides. Enter your email address and log into your Google account. You will receive an email with a prompt to access a file for your personal use. Click the button on that pdf and the interactive slide can be copied right into your Google drive. Then, make a copy for each student and they can work through the slides in edit mode. These slides are designed to address visual perceptual skills. Kids will enjoy the back to school supply activities and won’t even know they are building skills that will help them thrive in learning.

Back to school activities for kindergarten- (and first grade, second grade, etc.) These back to school fine motor activities are fun ways to quickly screen for fine motor skills needed at school while building rapport with the students. First day of school activities for kindergarten can involved fine motor activities that are fun and get children excited about their time in therapy sessions.

Visual Schedules- There is something about having a visual schedule that makes things easier when it comes to transitions. We made these back to school story stones a while back and used them to adjust to the new routine that back to school time brings. Visual schedules can be effective in virtual sessions or hybrid learning. Why not use a visual schedule as a tool to move students between group online activities?

Back to school activities for kids of all ages, including first day of school activities, first day of school printables, back to school crafts, icebreaker activities, and more.

Online Icebreaker Activity

Back to School Writing and I Spy Slide Deck- Another interactive slide deck for back to school writing, this slide deck covers a variety of areas. Use the school supplies I Spy slide as a fun activity to get started with the school year. The icebreaker slide can be used to get to know students as they fill out an All About Me activity. The slides include handwriting tasks so students can write words and sentences while teachers or therapists assess baseline levels for each student.

Separation Anxiety Activity- After being out of the classroom for a much longer period of time this year, kids might have some worries or separation anxiety that leaves them anxious. Try this separation anxiety activity that uses a popular children’s book. Reading a book and doing a book-related activity a great icebreaker activity for kids.

Icebreaker Questions- Go through some icebreaker questions for kids. This is fun in person or in virtual settings. Use these questions as a writing prompt to work on handwriting, too.

Icebreaker questions for kids for the first day of school or therapy.

Effective online learning

Heading back to the classroom means switching gears back to online learning. Having a productive and effective online learning experience can be hard for some kids, and the same is true for virual therapy sessions. Here are tips for parents to make the most of teletherapy and online learning sessions.

Having a toolbox of coping strategies for kids can make a big difference, too. Be sure to offer brain breaks, movement activities, and have a set of rules in place to make the most of online learning and virtual therapy sessions.

These back to school sensory activities can be effective movement strategies for kids to stay alert to online learning and pay attention during virtual classroom sessions.

Staying organized- Using organization strategies is more important than ever this school year. Here are organization strategies for the school-based OT, and here are organization strategies for students.

This free editable therapy planner will keep you organized with themes and planning activities this school year.

This therapy planning interactive bulletin board might be just the thing you need to prepare virtual therapy sessions, home programs, and keeping track of therapy plans.

Back to School Crafts

School Bus Craft- This school bus craft is a simple one to set up and can be done as a group online activity or in person. Record the activity for a recorded session, too. With the simple shapes, the bus craft is great for working on scissor skills, visual motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and problem solving.

The Kissing Hand Craft- You’ve read the book The Kissing Hand, right? The book is a helpful tool to help kids with the transition to school. We made a The Kissing Hand craft that involved salt dough key chains (fine motor fun!) and be sure to check out the four other Kissing Hand crafts in the blog post, too.

Pencil Fidget Tool Craft- This pencil topper fidget is a fun craft for kids but it can double as a fidget tool, too. Making this DIY fidget tool builds fine motor skills with sensory-related benefits.

Handwriting Spacing Tools Craft- These spacing tools can be a fun way to get kids invested in spacing between letters and words. Make this spacing tool craft that kids can add to their pencil box and pull out for handwriting tasks. The best news is that making the craft builds fine motor skills too! Try this button spacing tool, this easy craft stick spacing tool, this pipe cleaner spacing tool, this clothes pin spacing tool, and this space martian spacing tool craft.

First Day of School Printables

The first day of school is exciting! Having a set of printables ready for kids of different ages makes the teacher or therapist feel a little more organized and ready for back-to-school, too. Try these first day of school printables:

Back to school printable toolkit- This set of back to school printable activities is fun for the first day of school or the first weeks of school! There are book themed hole punch cards, school supplies I Spy printable page, school materials handwriting paper, an exclusive school supplies “spot it” matching game, and a printable PDF version of the school materials match-up game. Grab the toolkit here OR, get the free back to school writing slide deck listed for a special discount price 🙂

Emotions and Feelings Printable- Talking about feelings on the first day of school (or first weeks of school) is important, especially this year. Grab this social emotional learning worksheet to cover facial expressions and emotions with kids.

Deep Breathing Pencil– Use this printable to work on calming self regulation as a deep breathing strategy.

Deep Breathing School Bus– I love this calming self regulation tool because it’s a strategy that can be used on the school bus or just as a back to school themed activity.

Add this sensory strategy in school environment to the bus environment which can be unpredictable, full of loud sounds, vibration and unpredictable movements, and an opportunity for sensory overload.

More first day of school activities

What are your favorite ways to get kids excited about the first weeks of school or therapy?

Add this set of back to school activities to your therapy or classroom toolkit…on sale now!

Back to school toolkit– school materials and activities for kids.

Back to school activities for occupational therapy or the classroom

Back to School Therapy Plan

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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.

    Check out our newest resource, the Back to School Therapy Bundle!

    back to school therapy bundle of occupational therapy resources

    Learn with Board Games You Already Own

    learn with game boards

    One of the ways that pediatric occupational therapy practitioners help their clients is by using everyday items and toys to support development. Sometimes, OT practitioners go into a setting and support skill achievement with whatever is available in the home or classroom. We love to do this in the environment the individual is in because it’s so meaningful! That’s why I wanted to pull together a few ways to use board games to support learning and development. This is an older blog post (originally written July 27, 2015) and updated July 15, 2024. These are classic games that are found in many home game rooms or therapy game closets, but there are many ways to adapt the games to support learning! Here are ways that we use games in OT…

    learn with board games

    Learning with Board Games

    It can be fun to introduce learning into a summer day or after-dinner evening with the family during Family Time.  Pull out board games that you’ve played a thousand times and add a learning component to them for a new twist on the game.  A math, literacy, history, or any educational spin can be made to board games to make them appropriate for your child’s age and interests.  See how we’ve made modifications to board games:

     
     
     
    Use board games like Guess Who, Kerplunk, Zingo, and more in learning  extension activities: math, literacy, and educational ideas based on your child's interests. Perfect for homeschooling, classroom, and home extension activities.
    Some games that we love to use in developing skills include: Zingo, Connect 4, Hedbanz, and more.
     
     


    Learn with Board Games

    There are so many ways to learn using board games. Occupational therapy providers love to use games and play as a facilitator to supporting skills. Try some of these ideas for example:

    Then there are games that use specific items that are found in the home. Using items like game pieces, paper clips, etc. are easy ways to make a DIY game that supports learning. Try these ideas:

    This post contains affiliate links.
     

    Board Games to Use in Learning Activities

     
    Let’s get specific with HOW to learn with board games! We pulled some of our favorite games from the closet and came up with different ways to learn and support skill development.
     
    Some of our favorite rainy day activities are board games.  When you play a game 500ish times, they can become boring (Board-ing Games?) and go back on the shelf for months before they are played with again.  
     
    We’ve got some ideas for extending the play with your favorite games to make them an appropriate (free) learning tool.
     
     
    Use board games like Guess Who, Kerplunk, Zingo, and more in learning  extension activities: math, literacy, and educational ideas based on your child's interests. Perfect for homeschooling, classroom, and home extension activities.
    You can use games like Guess Who to learn with board games you already have! 
     

    How to Adapt the Guess Who Game

    One way we LOVE to use a favorite game is to grab the Guess Who game. The recent versions have doors that open and a card that you slide in to change out the images behind the doors. We have one that has people on one side and pets on the other. The cool thing is that with this version, you can slide the cardboard in and out to change the options. When we play this game, however, I love to change it up even more. 

    Take the card out of the Guess Who game, and use it as a template to create a new background. I cut a piece of cardstock to fit the game. Then, I slid it into the slot and used a pen or a marker to write letters, words, numbers, etc. into the spaces behind the doors.

    We used it to practice letter formation and identifying letters. For example, I ask my student to find the “tail letter” that I’m looking for. They had to first find the tail letters that were on the board and then they had to describe the letters. It’s a great way to work on letter discrimination and to work on visual discrimination skills.

    You can change this version to meet any needs that you are working on!

     
    Practice Math with Guess Who (affiliate link):
    We added a piece of paper to our Guess Who (affiliate link)game.  Write numbers on the paper inside the windows and on the top.  Slide the sheets into both boards.  
     
    Game players can take turns asking questions like, “Is your number 3+3?” or “Is your number 17-4?”.  The first player to determine the other player’s number is the winner.  
     
    Adjust this game to meet any educational needs.  Learning presidents?  Write them in the windows.  Kids can guess the answers based on facts or dates.  
     
    Learning States, science, or historical facts?  Write them in and adjust the game based on the interests and needs of your child or student.
     
    Use Practice Sight Words with HedBanz (affiliate link):
    Simply write sight words on post it notes and stick them to the headband pieces.  Participants can act out the sight word.  
     
    Other options are molding the sight word out of play dough or drawing the sight word.  This game can easily be adjusted to meet any topic.
     
    Practice Math with the game, Zingo
    A fun way to introduce coding to kids is to create simple decoding activities.  
    Assign the card pictures from the game, ThinkFun Zingo (affiliate link)
    to specific letters.  Players keep the cards that they capture by playing the game with the game boards.  
     
    They then have to use the letters they’ve accumulated to form a word. 
     
    Literacy Practice with Ker Plunk Game (affiliate link):
    As the marbles drop in the game, say the letters of the alphabet out loud.
     
    It will be tricky to say all of the letters when the marbles fall quickly once the game goes on.
     
    Math with Checkers (affiliate link):
    We recently posted our favorite way to practice math with checkers.
     
    Math with Uno Card Game affiliate link)is played, add the numbers that are played.  Depending on the players ages, you can add just two cards together keep adding.
     
     
     
     
    Don't Break the Ice Occupational Therapy Game

    One game that we love to use in learning and building skills in OT is the game Don’t Break the Ice (affiliate link). Here are some ways we like to use this to work on specific areas:

    For example, here are creative ways to adapt the game “Don’t Break the Ice” to support various learning objectives:

    Self-Regulation- we covered how to use Don’t Break the Ice as a self regulation game in a post that has different ideas for other board games.

    1. Letter Recognition and Handwriting Practice
      Materials Needed: Letter stickers, paper, and writing tools.
      How to Play:
    • Place letter stickers on each ice block piece.
    • As players knock out a block, they identify the letter and then practice writing it on a sheet of paper.

    2. Number Formation/ Math Skills
    Materials Needed: Number stickers, math problems on cards.
    How to Play:

    • Put number stickers on the ice blocks.
    • As players knock out a block, they write the numbers or solve a math problem that corresponds to the number (e.g., addition, subtraction).

    3. Writing and Reading Sight Words
    Materials Needed: Sight word stickers or cards.
    How to Play:

    • Place sight words on each ice block piece.
    • When a player knocks out a block, they must read the word aloud and use it in a sentence.

    4. Color and Shape Identification

    Materials Needed: Color and shape stickers or drawings.

    How to Play:

    • Put different colors and shapes on each ice block.
    • As players knock out a block, they identify the color and shape and can match it to a chart.

    5. Handwriting
    Materials Needed: Vocabulary word stickers or cards, definition cards.
    How to Play:

    • Place vocabulary words on the ice blocks.
    • When a block is knocked out, the player must provide a definition or use the word in a sentence and then write it for handwriting practice.

    6. Social Skills
    Materials Needed: Emotion stickers or social scenarios.
    How to Play:

    • Place stickers showing different emotions or social situations on each ice block.
    • When a block is knocked out, the player must describe the emotion or how they would handle the social situation.

    7. Writing Prompts

    Materials Needed: Stickers with story prompts or characters.

    How to Play:

    • Place stickers on each block.
    • When a block is knocked out, the player writes a word describing the sticker.

    8. Fine Motor Skills
    Materials Needed: Small manipulatives or objects.
    How to Play:

    • Attach small manipulatives (e.g., beads, buttons) to the ice blocks.
    • Players must carefully knock out a block without dislodging the manipulatives, improving hand-eye coordination.

    9. Visual Memory Game
    Materials Needed: Pair stickers.
    How to Play:

    • Place pairs of matching stickers on the ice blocks.
    • Players must remember the position of each pair as they play, enhancing memory skills.

    There are so many ways to use games in learning activities! This is just the start. Hopefully this helps you think of more ideas to use the games you already have.

    This post is part of our month-long series: Learning with Free Materials series, where we share ideas to learn at home using free (or almost free) materials.  It’s part of the 31 Days of Homeschooling Tips as we blog along with other bloggers with learning at home tips and tools.

    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.

    31 Days of Learning with Free Materials

    This blog post on learning at home with materials found around the home is a great resource for school based OT providers because many of the skills we work on in therapy sessions need to be carried over at home to ensure results. It’s the everyday practice that makes skills stick! Here you will find our top picks for DIY learning materials using items found around the home. These are great items for occupational therapy at home, too. The thing is that I love to share activities that build skills using everyday items.

    diy learning materials

    We are big fans of using free and recycled materials in our crafts and activities.  Many times, people ask: “How do you do so many fun activities without spending a fortune?!” Most of our learning, crafts, and activities involve using free or almost free materials.  While we are not a homeschooling family, we do SO many learning through play activities and homework extension skills that work on the skills that my kids are doing at school.  

    Some of our top picks using items found in the home include:



    We’re excited to join homeschooling bloggers with 31 Days of ideas for learning at home.  In this series, we share 31 days of Learning at Home with Free (or almost free) Materials.  Each day, we’ll bring you tips and ideas to use materials you already have in learning and school extension activities. Most of these materials are household items you may already have in the house and others will be recycled materials.

    Use these learning at home ideas using free materials or items already found in the home.

    All of the activities will be using free (or almost free) items to build on learning concepts that are age appropriate for our kids.  We will be sharing ways to use these items in different age ranges, as well.  

    These activities are sure to be a fun way to work on skills over the summer to prevent an academic “summer slide” and ways to creatively learn and extend on school homework and homeschool curricula during the year.  Be sure to stop by each day in July for creative learning ideas as we fill in our month with Free Learning!

     
    31 days of learning with almost free materials.  Learn at home through play with recycled and free materials.

     
     

    Learning with Free (or almost Free) materials at home:

    This series is about easy learning ideas that you can make your own.  Your child’s needs and interests will make these ideas work in your family.  My hope for the 31 Days of Learning with (almost) Free materials is to bring you creative ideas.  

    Start with these games with paper clips to use an everyday material found in most junk drawers.

    Creative & Playful Learning.  Be inspired.


    31 Days of Learning with Free Materials (items you probably already have):


    Click on the images below and the list of posts for our month of learning at home!

     

     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Distance learning ideas for learning at home with free materials.

    More Learning at Home Ideas

    These learning with free materials ideas use items you probably have in the home right now to work on math or writing concepts, AND build fine motor skills. Try some of these learning ideas using items in the home, including:

    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.

    Vegetable Quesadilla Learning with Cooking

    This recipe for making a vegetable quesadilla with the kids was originally published in July 2015. We updated it in April 2024 with resources on using the quesadilla recipe for developing life skills and executive functioning. The easy quesadilla recipe is a great tool for developing brain skills in the kitchen.

    Cooking with the kids in the kitchen is such a wonderful learning opportunity. The sights and smells of new and interesting foods and the textures and tasks of cooking provide children with a rich  experience.  Then there is the awareness of accomplishment. Kids can help to prepare the food that feeds the family.  Kids can learn the steps of cooking a meal from start to finish.  All of this is so supportive to developing executive functioning skills and life skills.

    Life skills recipe for OT- an easy vegetable quesadilla recipe

    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe Kids Can Make

    This week in our Cooking With Kids A-Z series where we made a recipe for each letter of the alphabet, we are exploring Mushrooms. We made a vegetable quesadilla while learning along the way.

    I love to use cooking tasks like the simple veggie quesadilla to support skill development. We’ve previously explained how cooking tasks support fine motor skills. Just like all of the scooping, dicing, and mixing strengthens motor control and coordination, the process of preparing a recipe’s ingredients, using kitchen tools, using safety in the kitchen, washing hands and dishes, and preparing the food are all areas of development for daily life skills.

    Cooking is functional and function is cooking! Love that as an OT!

    So, when you allow kids to cook and prepare foods, they are gaining so much more than just a snack!

    This post is part of our month-long Learning with Free Materials series where we are sharing learning ideas for homeschoolers and school-extension activities using items that are free or mostly free (i.e. CHEAP or you already have in the home), and is part of the 31 Days of Homeschooling Tips as we blog along with other bloggers with learning at home tips and tools.  While the food needed to create this meal is not free, you do need to feed your family.  So, while doing the chore of making dinner, why not learn along the way? Speaking of chores, be sure to check out our resource on age-appropriate chores that kids can help with, because different ages can be involved with various aspects of cooking, even if you think a toddler or preschooler can’t make a quesadilla. They can do different tasks like wash veggies or even help dry and to rinse dishes.

    The educational opportunities that go along with cooking are a free lesson in math, process, direction following, listening skills, and safety.

    This post contains affiliate links.

    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!
    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!


    How can kids learn when cooking?

    When cooking with kids, there are so many learning opportunities.  Create a list of steps for the recipe and have your child read as they work.  Children can check off completed steps.  Stress the importance of completing the recipe in order.  Oral and verbal direction following are worked on while kids cook.  Kids can learn about safety while cooking.  Shredding cheese with a grater, using a knife, and cooking at the stove are opportunities for safety lessons. 

    Did you know that occupational therapy learn to use cooking tasks as a therapy modality in their education? It’s true! We have entire courses dedicated to activity analysis and often times, cooking tasks play a huge role in those lessons.

    We learn to use a simple cooking task to support many areas, from safety and motor skills, to balance, to practically every underlying area that supports function and development of skills.

    In fact, executive functioning skills and cooking are pretty much co-existing, so a task like our simple veggie quesadilla is the perfect modality for supporting development. It’s practical and engaging!

    When we cook, executive functioning skills are in motion, including cognitive processes such as planning, organization, task initiation, problem-solving, working memory, attention to detail, and self-monitoring. These skills are crucial for daily living and can be developed and enhanced through various activities, including cooking.

    We included information on this aspect in each of the steps listed below. We also included information on the life skills components for each step of this recipe. Talk about activity analysis!

    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!
    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!

    Easy Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe

    First, you’ll want to gather the ingredients for the vegetable quesadilla recipe. Planning and Organization: Before starting a cooking task, the individual needs to plan by gathering all the necessary ingredients and cooking tools. This step requires thinking ahead and organizing the workspace.

    Life Skills Application- You can’t cook without ingredients and you can’t complete daily life tasks without your materials! Just as organizing ingredients and tools is crucial for cooking, being able to organize one’s belongings, workspace, or schedule is essential in daily life. This can translate to managing personal items, setting up a workspace for efficiency, or planning a daily agenda.

    Life Skill Activity– Ask your kiddos to conduct a safety audit in the kitchen, identifying potential hazards.

    Ingredients:

    • 2 Tortillas
    • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
    • Vegetables (peppers, mushrooms, onions, etc)
    • 1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
    • 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
    • salsa, ranch dressing, or sour cream to dip 

    Directions:

    1. We began our Vegetable Quesadilla recipe by shredding a cup of cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese. Put these aside on a plate.
    2. Chop, dice, and slice green peppers, red peppers, yellow peppers, onion, and mushrooms.  The nice thing about a vegetable quesadilla is that you can substitute and add any vegetable.  Add in tomatoes, squash, beans, hot peppers, or eggplant…your produce department or garden is the limit!

    Attention to Detail: Paying attention to the size and uniformity of the chopped vegetables can enhance focus and attention to detail.

    Life Skill Application- Chopping, dicing, and all of the fun of cooking requires fine motor control and concentration, similar to tasks such as writing, typing, or assembling small parts. The precision needed for chopping can improve one’s ability to perform tasks that require attention to detail, like filling out forms or crafting.

    Life Skills Activity- Try chopping and cutting with different kitchen tools.

    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!
    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!

    3. Next, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan.  Sauté all of the vegetables except the mushrooms. Task Initiation and Self-Monitoring: This means that adjusting the heat to the correct temperature requires self-monitoring for safety. And, the ability to start a task promptly is needed to stay on task.

    Life Skill Application- When you cook, you have to keep an eye on the stove or there can be huge safety issues! Starting and then monitoring the sautéing process supports life skills tasks like beginning a laundry cycle and checking on it periodically. It teaches us to start tasks independently and monitor their progress, adjusting as needed.

    4. After 2-3 minutes, add the mushrooms to the pan.  Continue cooking until soft. Teach the kids about safety with the oven at this point!

    5. Warm a Quesadilla Maker and place a tortilla on the bottom.  

    6. Spread out the cooked vegetables over the tortilla.  Working Memory: Remembering the order of ingredients and where they are placed on the tortilla engages working memory.

    Life Skill Application- Placing ingredients on the tortilla in a specific order involves understanding sequences and spatial relationships, and this is a skill we use day in and day out! Think about life skill tasks like organizing a drawer or planning how to pack a suitcase efficiently.

    Life Skills Activity- Manage a small budget for a project or a shopping list, making sure to stay within the set limits.

    7. Sprinkle cheese all over the vegetables and layer a second tortilla on top of the cheese.  Close the lid to the quesadilla maker and allow it to cook until the light changes, indicating done-ness (about 4-5 minutes).  Problem-Solving: Deciding when to check on the quesadilla in the quesadilla maker uses problem solving. If you are cooking in a pan on the stove top, you’ll need to flip the quesadilla at this point. This ensures it is cooked evenly without burning involves problem-solving and decision-making skills.

    Life Skill Application- Cooking each side for the right amount of time requires time management, similar to allocating time for different tasks throughout the day. Adjusting the heat if the quesadilla is cooking too quickly or too slowly involves problem-solving, which is applicable in situations like adjusting plans when an unexpected event changes the day’s schedule.

    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!

    8. Slice the quesadillas along the section lines using a pizza wheel.  Goal Achievement: Completing the cooking process and serving the quesadilla provides a tangible result, reinforcing the concept of following through to achieve a goal.

    Life Skill Application- Cutting and serving food is a huge life skill! This is one that you will use several times a day.

    Life Skills Activity- Prepare the food and ask the kiddos to focus on the layout and organization of the content to make it appealing.

    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!

    Serve with salsa, sour cream, or ranch to dip.

    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!
    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!
    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!
    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!
    Vegetable Quesadilla Recipe with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and two kinds of cheese, a great dish for kids to eat and make in the kitchen.  Cooking with kids is a great learning opportunity in so many areas!

    With a vegetable quesadilla, children get the opportunity to try new vegetables that might be new to them.  The hand-held finished dish is a fun one to eat.  

    Dipping the quesadilla slices into ranch, salsa, or sour cream may encourage your child to try this recipe and new tastes.  Have fun experimenting with vegetable combinations!

     
     
     

    Here are more recipes that kids can make to support skill development:

    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.

    Vision Books for Developing Skills

    Vision books to develop visual processing skills

    In this post, I have highlighted references to vision books that can specifically be used in therapy interventions to support the development of visual processing skills. These are the Top 9 Books for addressing vision concerns, that might be incorporated into visual therapy, or occupational therapy activities.  Each of these visual skill building books covers aspects of visual perception, visual processing, and visual motor skills. 

    Start by reading, “Visual Problems or Attention” to help decipher the cause of visual processing difficulties.

    After reading Visual Problems or Attention, check out the Visual Screening Packet available on the OT Toolbox to further assist in diagnoses and treatment.

    For more information on vision skills, check out this post from the OT Toolbox archives.

    Vision books to support visual processing development

    Vision Books

    Looking for books on vision, visual motor integration and visual perceptual skills? Check out the list of books below that are chock full of information and treatment ideas! 

    Many of these books have reproducible pages, or can be laminated/placed into plastic sleeves to be reused.

    Vision Book: Eyegames

    The list of vision books below are linked to Amazon affiliate links for ease of searching, however they can be also found by googling the titles.

    An OT and Optometrist Offer Activities to Enhance Vision! (affiliate link) By Lois Hickman and Rebecca Hutchins is an easy and fun vison book with games and exercises for developing visual skills.

    This vision book is an easy read about vision deficits, and how they impact function. It has a checklist of red flags to be on the lookout for. There are also loads of great therapy activities to target each skill deficit. Activities are geared for a variety of function levels, along with easy task gradation. Activities are designed to be completed in the home, clinic, or school settings. 

    Vision Book for Visual Tracking Exercises

    Visual Perception, Visual Discrimination & Visual Tracking Exercises for Better Reading, Writing and Focus (affiliate link)

    The next set of vision books are created by Bridgette Sharp, and Bridgette O’Neil. These books make for a great set of tools to have in your bag. 

    The Visual Tracking Exercises Book is a beginner book for developing tracking skills. As a bonus, you can use this with learners who are working on left/right awareness as well. Worksheets are varied with numbers, shapes, patterns, color, and black and white fonts, to help keep things interesting. 

    Vision Book for Scanning Skills

    Advanced Visual Scanning Exercises (affiliate link)

    As it says in the title, this visual perception book is for your advanced learners who are continuing to work on strengthening their eye muscles, gearing up for chapter book reading, and increased desk work. Patterns become more complex, and are in black and white only. 

    It can be helpful to read more on what is visual scanning and check out the red flags section and then use this vision book if needed.

    Visual Scanning Exercises for Young Students (affiliate link)

    This visual scanning beginner book has a variety of simple grid patterns with large colorful pictures for younger children, beginning learners, pre-readers, and children who are behind in reading readiness due to tracking and scanning issues. The images are large, colorful, and have plenty of variety to keep them engaged in therapy.

    Vision Books, Visual Scanning for Students  (affiliate link)

    This Ready to Scan vision book is for more advanced scanners, or for kids/learners who are skipping lines when reading or copying. It’s a great resource for building endurance and eye muscle strength. As a bonus, use the patterns for reversal training and directionality! 

    BIG BOOK: Beginners, Intermediate & Advanced Visual Scanning Exercises (affiliate link)

    Like it’s title says, this book has something for everyone. This is a great place to start your toolbox for visual skills. Patterns work through a progression, starting with large images, moving onto smaller images. They present a variety of pictures and geometric shapes, both in color and black/white. This book is a great place to create home programs with and homework from each session. 

    Vision Book for Visual Tracking

    Vision books, Visual Tracking Exercises with 100 High Frequency Sight Words (affiliate link)

    If you’re looking to change it up from geometric patterns and pictures, this book is a great option. The book consists of a variety of exercises using sight words. Use the pages to work on discrimination and word shape training as well. 

    Start by reading up on what visual tracking is and then go from there with this vision workbook.

    Visual Skills Book for Reversals

    Letter reversals are related to vision skills. You’ll want to start by reading more on p and q reversals or b and d reversals. Others who write letters backwards can benefit as well.

    The visual skills book, Brain Training for Reversals, is a brain training vision book consists of exercises specifically for reversals of b-d-p-q. Exercises range in complexity to address all skill levels. These brain training worksheets can also be used for scanning, to practice reading, and directionality. You can also use these worksheets similar to an eye spy game, by having the child look for all of one letter. 

    Visual Discrimination Book

    Visual discrimination is a visual skill that impacts reading, writing, math, comprehension, and learning.

    The Visual Discrimination book is great for grades 2-8 and focuses on finding patterns and solving problems through the use of colorful geometric patterns and images. This is great for critical thinking skills, along with working on spot the difference (visual disclination) tasks.

    Book 9 is a higher level book, so save it for your older, more high functioning learners, or adult learners who are working at this reading level.

    Spot the Difference Vision Books

    Another great resource are “spot the difference” books! (affiliate link) There are hundreds of spot the difference books to choose from. These books not only address visual discrimination, but can also be used to work on following directions, scanning, item location in a busy environment, and general visual processing skills.

    The OT Toolbox is offering a FREE visual perception packet to download and use with your learners.

    Visual Closure Book

    The Visual Closure Workbook is a 65 page digital file designed to impact visual perceptual skills for reading comprehension and efficiency, and the ability to visualize a complete image or feature when given incomplete or partial information.

    Visual closure skills are essential for reading with fluency.  It’s necessary for written work to happen without concentrating on each letter’s lines and curves. Visual Closure allows us to comprehend words and letters without actively assessing each line.

    Challenges with puzzles, identifying sight words, copying in handwriting, math tasks, and other reading or writing activities require visual closure skills.

    This workbook includes:

    • Information on visual closure and visual processing
    • Red Flags Indicating a Visual Closure Problem
    • 15 ways to use the workbook and strategies
    • More Visual Closure Activities (use these tactics to grade the visual closure activities to meet individual needs, challenge, users, and support the development of skills)
    • Workbook – Level 1
    • Workbook – Level 2
    • Workbook – Level 3

    This workbook is designed to provide background information on visual closure as a tool for understanding this visual perceptual skill. It’s a guide for advocating for common visual closure difficulties through the included screening tool broken down as “red flags”.

    NOTE* The term, “learner” is used throughout this post for readability and inclusion. The previous information is relevant for students, patients, clients, preschoolers, kids/children of all ages and stages, or whomever could benefit from these resources.

    Contributor: Kaylee is a pediatric occupational therapist with a bachelors in Health Science from Syracuse University at Utica College, and a Masters in Occupational Therapy from Utica College. Kaylee has been working with children with special needs for 8 years, and practicing occupational therapy for 4 years, primarily in a private clinic, but has home health experience as well. Kaylee has a passion for working with the areas of feeding, visual development, and motor integration.

    Truths About Toddlerhood The OT Wants You To Know

    toddlerhood

    The toddler years can be a struggle! From the age of one year to 3 years, toddlers grow and develop immensely. But when parents are in the midst of toddlerhood, it can seem like the never-ending tantrums, meltdowns, sometimes crazed attempts at independence, and picky eating, sleep issues, etc… never end. Not to mention learning new words (with little-to-no filter), sleep changes, appetite and eating considerations, toddler years can be a real challenge to parents. But as an occupational therapist, there is a very real developmental need for these toddler antics.

    Be sure to read our resource on newborns not sleeping through the night, because sometimes sleep habits can carry over to toddler sleep issues that impact function, development, and family dynamics.

    Toddlerhood gets a bad rap with terms like the “terrible twos” and the “three-nager years”. But is it all bad? Here’s what your friendly OT wants you to know…

    Strategies for toddlerhood

    Toddlerhood Development

    So, what is it about the toddler years? These cute packages of rolly, squishy, no-longer babies are little people with BIG emotions, BIG personalities, and BIG smiles. Some of the sweetest memories I have from when my kids were younger come from the toddler stage, when little voices pronounce words totally incorrectly…but in the cutest way possible. Those big teethy smiles and non-stop play was nothing but learning and developing skills.

    As a mom, I loved to watch my littles learn. I loved to kiss their sweet heads to sleep each night. Oh, there were meltdowns, demanding, whining breakdowns that these cuties experienced (daily). There were messes, spills, diaper issues, and the house was in a constant state of disaster zone.

    But as the occupational therapist? I knew this was all part of the stage of development and toddlerhood means messy repetition. (i.e. Yes, we will need to practice cleaning up blocks 37 times a day. Yes, we will do it again tomorrow).

    But, from that perspective of a pediatric developmental professional, there is so much more to say about the toddler years. ALL of that pushing buttons, whining, changing minds, meltdowns, carrying purses full of toys, getting into the kitchen cupboards, streaking naked through the house…it’s all essential toddler development! Really!

    We have a great resource on child development that covers developmental milestones. From that blog post, you’ll discover the toddler developmental stages that occur from 1-3 years.

    This developmental checklist can help to define specific milestones.

    Early childhood is a critical time when children develop skills they will use throughout their lives. These areas of development include:

    • physical
    • cognitive
    • communication/language
    • emotional
    • social skills

    It is during the first years of life that children show a tremendous level of growth in each of these areas.

    Occupational Therapy and Toddlerhood…

    As a pediatric OT, there are a few sticking points that is important to remember.

    The toddler years get a bad rap for behaviors, saying “no”, tantrums, going “boneless” as we used to say about sudden tantrums where the toddler flops on the floor in refusal for some task, activity, or thing like getting dressed. However, if there are extreme issues, regressions, or you have a gut feeling about certain developmental concerns, these may be toddler behavior red flags to explore in further detail along with a pediatrician.

    But, here are a few things about the “good” of toddlerhood…

    1. Have patience with your toddler.

    Because of the tremendous amount of development, it is easy to become overwhelmed by skills (running, hopping, getting dressed, manipulating toys and materials, self-feeding…the list goes on and on!) Plus, young children want to exhibit independence in these areas. They want to do what mom or dad or big siblings are doing, but they may not have the skills to do so. Frustration ensues!

    Things to remember is that the child is developing in all of these areas at once. By watching routines, listening to parents talking, watching siblings, they learn to throw, carry, put away, wash, color…these are multi-faceted skills. There is sensory, motor, cognitive, visual all happening at once with daily tasks.

    Plus, the cognitive development occurring at the same time means that following directions are not always on target with what the small child wants to do. They want a piece of toast for breakfast. Then they don’t. It can be easy to lose patience as the toddler has a tantrum on the floor, but they are managing emotions, thought processes, decisions, and communication challenges all at once. It can be a lot to process! Be patient as the adult in the situation.

    Patience is key as your little toddler develops skills at the rate that is right for them.

    That brings us to our next point.

    2. Remember that each child is different.

    Toddlers grow and develop at a fairly predictable course and rate. There are general developmental expectations that happen during the toddler years, called developmental milestones. However, not all child achieves these milestones at the same time. And that’s ok!

    It can be easy to become upset as a parent when a friend’s child achieves skills or abilities. Remember that each child is on their course of development. From birth to three years, a child visits the pediatrician many times.

    You’ll experience many questions on development during those visits, where the doctor or staff ask about milestones. If there is a concern with development, or evident delay, this is where you can explore services to support needs.

    Even through each toddler is different and development occurs in different stages, it’s all part of showing independence. This can mean picky eating, throwing food, saying “NO!” or any other aspect of showing independence.

    3. Development occurs through play.

    Occupational therapy practitioners use play as a tool to promote more play! And it’s through play that toddlers develop skills.

    It’s through play that toddlers achieve stability, build relationships with parents, siblings, and others.

    They test boundaries and explore the world around them.

    Play offers opportunities to use their reflexes, transform motor skills, and distinguish refined motor skills (i.e. using their arms and legs to achieve a desired action such as getting up those stairs!)

    Sensorimotor skills expand and toddlers gain control in play objects and tool use; They begin to use crayons, spoons, forks, and manage clothing. Previously, we’ve shared the best crayons for toddlers that support this development through functional play.

    Young children are fascinated by mastering new skills and learning new things. You might see them drawn to activities or experiences that offer sensory experiences, are repetitious, or involve exploration. But even though novel opportunities support child development, routine is essential.

    Read about the power of play for more ideas to support your toddler.

    Physical Development during toddlerhood

    Going back to the development aspect, you can generally expect to see the following skills developed during toddlerhood:

    12-18 months

    • First steps
    • Walking
    • Climbing stairs

    18-24 months

    • Running

    24-36 months

    • Jumping
    • Begin to ride a tricycle

    3 years

    • True run with both feet leaving the ground
    • Walk upstairs with alternating feet
    • Walk downstairs
    • Able to remove most clothing

    Cognitive Development During Toddlerhood

    From 1-3 years of age, so many cognitive skills are built and expanded upon. You’ll notice in the list below that many of these cognitive skill components are grounded in play. Remember that play builds skills! Let’s break down the skills by age:

    12-18 months

    • Includes others at recipients of play behaviors
    • Imitates new behavior

    18-24 months

    • Demonstrates invention by combining mental combinations
    • Finds hidden objects (separation skills)
    • Shows differed imitation
    • Uses toys or dolls in pretend play

    24-36 months

    • Substitutes objects in pretend play
    • Integrates themes in play

    3 years

    • Begins operational thinking
    • Counting words up to 5
    • Can solve nesting cup problems

    Language Development for Toddlers

    The first few years are a huge time for development of receptive language and expressive language. Here are some specifics:

    12-18 months

    • Expresses self through jargon, sounds, cries

    18-24 months

    • Understands multi-word phrases/sentences
    • Uses multi-word phrases to express thoughts (“Me up” to indicate a desire to be picked up; “Mommy go” to indicate that mommy has left the house)

    24-36 months

    • Initiates a conversation with words or phrases
    • Uses 2 part sentences or phrases (“Me go home.”)

    3 years

    • Understands positional terminology (in, on, under)
    • Uses more complex sentences
    • Distinguishes between images and words or text on paper or in books
    • Begins to generalize rules for verb tenses and using plurals

    Toddler Social-Emotional Development

    Social emotional development occurs even from the young age in toddler years. Social skill development occurs through interaction with others, play, and day to day tasks. Here are some milestones you may see:

    12-18 months

    • Experiences peak of separation anxiety

    18-24 months

    • Demonstrates less separation anxiety
    • Begins to show empathy for another person, animal, toy

    24-36 months

    • Begins to respond with empathy to another person’s distress
    • Includes others in pretend play

    3 years

    • Shows physical aggression over verbal aggression when distressed or upset

    Toddlerhood Tips

    So, how can you and your toddler thrive during these hectic years? A pinch of patience, play, play, and more play! We actually have actionable strategies over on our toddler play page, including fun ways to play with your toddler that inspire development.

    Some quick tips (described in more detail over on that main toddler page) include:

    1. Meet the level of the child.
    2. Set up a toddler safe space.
    3. Be a balanced play partner.
    4. Enjoy & have fun with the play.
    5. Limit screens. (Or use in moderation.)

    Transforming Toddlerhood With Play

    Ask any occupational therapist and you’ll see that play is the way and the means to develop skills during these years. Looking for therapist-approved activities to inspire learning through play for toddlers? These are some of our favorite ideas:

    Or, try making a craft with 2 year olds and 3 year olds…an easy suncatcher activity using items you have in the house!

    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.

    ABC’s of Summer Learning

    ABCs of summer

    Summer is a time to relax and have fun, but with a little thought, play can inspire learning! We created this ABCs of Summer list of summer alphabet activities years ago, but it is still a fun resource! Go through the activities week by week, or use switch to a new letter every few days. The best thing about this list of A-Z summer activities is that it’s very open-ended! Pick the ones that work for you!

    ABCs of summer activities for kids

    ABCs of Summer

    This list of a-z summer activities was inspired when our kids were preschoolers. We wanted to pull together a list of fun alphabet themed play ideas that could be a Summer Bucket List of sorts.

    With the end of summer looming and back-to-school fall schedules not so far off, we thought it would be fun to present an A to Z list of fun, creative, and educational play and learning activities. 

    That’s where this summer alphabet comes into play!

    There are so many reasons why messy, sensory play supports development and learning. Not only are kids learning the alphabet, they are developing skills in other areas, too:

    • Learning the letters of the alphabet
    • Fine motor skill development
    • Visual motor skills
    • Gross motor skills
    • Sensory input for self-regulation
    • Handwriting or pre-writing skills
    • Eye-hand coordination
    • Confidence
    • Body awareness
    • Connection with others
    • Attention and focus
    • Executive functioning skills

    We wanted to pull together a list from around the web and share playful and fun activities to make the most of summer before those fall schedules start up again.  Now is the time to make a few memories.  

    Kids learn through play so the best learning comes through playful activities.  Let’s wrap up the summer with a full alphabet of fun.   Here we have it…the ABCs of Summer Learning! 

    ABCs of summer for kids

    How to Do ABCs of Summer

     These ideas can be done all throughout the summer, but it’s very open-ended.

    You can look through the list and pick and choose a few activities to extend out the dog days of summer. 

    Motor Skills- Encourage movement. You can use our alphabet exercises to get started with ideas. Pick a letter, do the letter exercise, and then do an activity or two based on that letter. Then repeat in a few days with a different letter.

    Sensory-Based- The alphabet summer ideas listed below are mainly sensory-based play, meaning that they involve texture exploration, messy play, and getting the hands and body involved in the play. This is designed to inspire learning! Consider making an alphabet sensory bottle to start off your summer ABC theme. Shake up the bottle, find a letter, and do the activities associated with that letter until you complete the whole alphabet. You could select a random letter or you could look for a specific letter. It’s up to you!

    Incorporate Handwriting– For children in kindergarten and above, adding in writing practice is a good idea. Use these letter formation strategies for practicing each letter…also grounded in movement and sensory experiences to promote motor memory of letter formation. For children in preschool, addressing pre-writing skills over letter formation is recommended, based on development. Simply go through the abcs of summer based on the lines used in letters. Our recourse on letter formation covers recommended progression of letters based on development and lines. Older kids can even just write some of the words that start with that letter, for additional practice with copying words, writing on lines, and spacing.

    Writing Trays- Speaking of writing practice, there is more than one way to practice forming letters or the lines that make up letters. Use one of our many writing trays for handwriting as an added way to incorporate motor and sensory movements to form individual letters or pre-writing skills associated with the letters. (lines, diagonals, shapes, line changes, etc.)

    One final tip: Summer is meant to be a time to slow down on the schedules, lists, educational tips and pointers…and  a time for the kids to just have fun being kids.  So be sure to make this FUN and a way to connect through play.

    With these tips in mind, let’s get started on the ABCs of Summer!

    Summer Words that Start with A:

    Summer Words that Start with B

    Summer Words that Start with C

    Summer Words that Start with D

    Summer Words that Start with E

    Summer Words that Start with F

    Summer Words that Start with G

    Summer Words that Start with H

    Summer Words that Start with I

    Summer Words that Start with J

    Summer Words that Start with K

    Summer Words that Start with L

    Summer Words that Start with M

    Summer Words that Start with N

    Summer Words that Start with O

    Summer Words that Start with P

    Summer Words that Start with Q

    • Sort and Manipulate Quarters 
    • Play the Quiet Game
    • Make a fort with a Quilt
    •                                  

    Summer Words that Start with R

    Summer Words that Start with S

    Summer Words that Start with T

    Summer Words that Start with U

    • Plan an Under The Sea Party
    • Use an Umbrella in the rain or sun
    • Help Unload the dishwasher
    • Blow bubbles with a straw underwater

    Summer Words that Start with V

    Summer Words that Start with W

    Summer Words that Start with X

    Summer Words that Start with Y

    • Go for a walk and Look For Yellow
    • Name the months in the Year   
    • Play in the yard
    • Visit a yard sale

    Summer Words that Start with Z

    What are your favorite summer activities?

    Audio Books for Occupational Therapists

    audio books for occupational therapists

    Today, I’ve got a list of free audiobooks for occupational therapists. These occupational therapy audiobook ideas can be used to develop, learn, and grow as a therapist. These occupational therapy books are audiobooks, making them great tools for learning new skills while on the go.

    Therapists are short on time, so occupational therapist audio courses and audiobooks are the way to go when it comes to learning. One of the best things about growing as a professional is the ability to continue to learn. As therapists, we strive to develop in our profession to meet the needs of our ever-changing client list. Reading or listening to books for occupational therapists is just one way to learn and grow professionally.

    Here, we’re covering parenting books on Audible, or audio books that OTs can recommend to parents to better understand parenting and child development.

    These audiobooks for occupational therapists are great for the travelling OT, or listening to while on a commute to work, covering a variety of areas that can improve your occupational therapy practice, in educating OT clients, advocating for occupational therapy patients, and improving OT practice areas.

    Audible Books for Occupational Therapists

    Amazon affiliate links are included below.

    Amazon has some great mindfulness audiobook resources for parents and professionals available on Audible and other formats. Audiobooks are a great alternative to paper books, as they can be listened to almost anywhere.

    There are tons of resources on mindfulness in audiobooks. I tried to find ones that had good reviews, were accurate and easy to read/listen to, and provided useful strategies.

    If you are an Amazon Prime member, You’re eligible to claim 2 free titles from our entire selection (one title per month thereafter) with a free Audible 30 day trial. A standard trial includes 1 credit for an audiobook download. After the Audible trial period, all members receive 1 credit per month.

    Click here start your free Audible Trial Period.

    Recently, I came across a few books on Amazon that are perfect for therapists looking for books to grow and learn in different aspects of occupational therapy.

    These are audiobooks that can help OTs grow as a practitioner by staying on tap of hot topics. As therapists, we strive to advocate for our clients, educate parents, teachers, or others on the child’s tribe or team. These are audiobooks for occupational therapists that can help us grow as therapists!


    Best of all, they are available as audiobooks for those of us looking for books to listen to while commuting, cooking, or working out!

    Free Audio Books for Occupational Therapists

    This post contains affiliate links.


    Audible is a subset of Amazon and offers free books to members. While the membership does have a fee, there is a free 30 day trial, where books can be listened to anytime and anywhere. 


    There’s more: When you sign up for the free trial of Audible, you’ll get two free books. In addition to the 2 Free audiobooks, you’ll also get 2 Free Audible Originals to get you started. 


    After your free trial ends, if you do choose to continue with the membership, you’ll get 1 audiobook and 2 Originals per month after trial. You can cancel anytime and keep all your audiobooks. You’ll also get 30% off the price of additional audiobook purchases. 


    So, after reading this, I had to check to see what books are available on Amazon’s Audible that would be interesting as an OT. How cool to grab a free audio book on a topic I wanted to learn more about!
     

    Parenting Books on Audible

    Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children– Written by occupational therapist, Angela J. Hanscom, describes children of today who have more sedentary lifestyles and desperately need outdoor play in order to develop their sensory, motor, and executive functions.

    The book describes nature as the ultimate sensory experience, and helps you discover little things you can do anytime, anywhere to help your kids achieve the movement they need to be happy and healthy in mind, body, and spirit.

    Sensory Processing Disorder: Not Just a Strong-Willed Child, Book 1– This audiobook is a resource for parents that therapists can recommend for those looking for more information on Sensory Processing Disorder or those striving to empower their child.

    By listening to this audiobook, you’ll learn more about what is sensory processing disorder, common behaviors of different types of SPD, differences between SPD and some other look-alike conditions like ADHD, OCD, ODD and anxiety disorder, tips on how to manage SPD at home, school, and community.

    Overcoming Dyslexia– This book on dyslexia helps us to understand, identify, and overcome the reading problems that so many kids struggle with in schools. In this audio book, you’ll learn exactly what dyslexia is and how to identify dyslexia in preschoolers, schoolchildren, young adults, and adults.

    You’ll discover how to work productively with the teacher of a child with dyslexia or reading challenges. Included are exercises to help children use the parts of the brain that control reading, including a twenty-minute nightly home program to enhance reading. There are also ways to improve a child’s self-esteem and more.

    Also be sure to check out our blog post on dyslexia and occupational therapy.

    The Smart but Scattered Guide to Success: How to Use Your Brain’s Executive Skills to Keep Up, Stay Calm, and Get Organized at Work and at Home– This audiobook helps the listener identify their executive skills profile and shares effective steps to boost organizational skills, time management, emotional control, and nine other essential skills.

    This is a resource for parents and therapists who may be struggling with executive functioning skills or those working with teens or older clients. 

    Smart but Scattered Teens: The “Executive Skills” Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential– This audiobook describes research-based strategies for promoting teens’ independence by building their executive functioning skills in order to get organized, stay focused, and control impulses and emotions.

    Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up: Help Your Child Overcome Slow Processing Speed and Succeed in a Fast-Paced World– This audiobook is geared toward those kids who struggle with processing speed in tasks like classwork, homework, caring for themselves, motor tasks, or following directions.

    Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew– This audiobook describes 10 characteristics that help illuminate, not define,  children with autism. The book describes and helps listeners  understand the needs and the potential of every child with autism. It’s been said that “Every parent, teacher, social worker, therapist, and physician should have this succinct and informative audiobook in their back pocket”.

    1001 Great Ideas for Teaching and Raising Children with Autism or Asperger’s– This book shares tons of tips, strategies, tools, and resources that can be helpful to parents, teachers, and therapists working with kids with autism or Asperger’s syndrome. There are modifications for older kids to help children achieve success at home, in school, and in the community. 

    The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum– This book by Dr.  Temple Grandin teaches listeners the science of the autistic brain, and with it the history and sociology of autism.

    The Loving Push: How Parents and Professionals Can Help Spectrum Kids Become Successful Adults– This book is described as an essential roadmap for parents, teachers, therapists, and anyone working with the child with autism. Another resource by Dr. Temple Grandin, psychologist and autism specialist Dr. Debra Moore share insight in helping kids  build on their strengths to improve motivation in real life strategies.

    What’s Going on in There?: How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life– This book by a research neuroscientist describes how the baby’s brain is formed, and when each sense, skill, and cognitive ability is developed from conception through the first five years.

    The book shares development of motor skills, social and emotional behaviors, and mental functions such as attention, language, memory, reasoning, and intelligence. 

    The Emotional Life of the Toddler– This audiobook covers the emotional development of kids through the toddler years, with the latest research on this crucial stage of development. This is a great resource for the pediatric OT.

    Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child: The Heart of Parenting– Dr. John Gottman shares strategies to teach their children self-awareness and self-control and to foster good emotional development. This audiobook is a resource for parents and those working with families with young children.

    Raising Your Spirited Child, Third Edition: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic– This audiobook is the very same as the book that has been voted one of the top 20 parenting books out there. It’s a tool therapists can use to provide parents with the tips and tools they need based on research and practical strategies for raising spirited children. It’s a book for anyone who knows meltdowns, behavior, and spirited kids!

      What are your favorite audiobooks for occupational therapy? You know, those audiobooks you LOVE that advance your practice knowledge, improve your advocacy for OT clients, and help to educate parents or teachers of  occupational therapy clients?

    These audiobooks for occupational therapists are great for advancing as an occupational therapist by reading the hot topics in the field, so that you can advocate for OT clients, educate the parents and teachers of kids on an occupational therapy caseload.

    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 we Can Tell Time Through Rocks (hands on learning)

    Use rocks to make a rock clock

    In this activity, we can use rocks to tell time! It’s true…not by shadows and watching the sun as it passes by, but by physically moving and manipulating rocks as a time telling tool. In this rock and learn math activity, we can use rocks found around the home with heavy work input as a clock building time telling activity! This is just one more way to teach kids to tell time through hands on play.

    Tell Time Through Rocks

    It’s always nice to play and learn with the kids when the supplies are completely free.  Learn and play with rocks from your backyard or natures walks with a few fun ideas to Learn using Rocks!   You might have seen a few of our other rock activities.  (We really have a lot, believe it or not!)    

    In this activity, though, we are asking kids to lift rocks that offer heavy work input, or proprioceptive input while learning to tell time using a simple rock.

    Learn with rocks, including teaching kids to tell time, math, literacy, fine motor, sensory.

    Teach kids for free using rocks!

    This post is part of our month-long Learning with Free Materials series where we are sharing learning ideas for homeschoolers and school-extension activities using items that are free or mostly free (i.e. CHEAP or you already have in the home)…and rocks are most certainly free!  

    This series is part of the 31 Days of Homeschooling Tips as we blog along with other bloggers with learning at home tips and tools.  We do have affiliate links in this post for your convenience.

    While using rocks in clock building not time telling, but to learn the concepts of time is fun, it’s also functional. Kids can play to learn and learn to play with rocks!

    Use rocks to tell time

      There are a ton of ways to learn at home, either through homeschooling, or as school-based enrichment activities using rocks from your own backyard. 

    Let’s take a look at more ideas for rocks:  

    Math with Rocks

    • Count rocks in a line.
    • Add and subtract with rocks.
    • Sort rocks by characteristic.
    • Arrange rocks and pebbles into patterns with AB, ABA, ABBA, ABAB, and more complex patterns.
    • Create charts on the ground using rock markers.
    • Write numbers on rocks as a manipulative in math problems.
    • Tell Time with rocks.
    Build a clock with rocks to teach kids to tell time, including minute hands, hour hands, and numbers on the clock.

    Teach Time Telling with a Rock Clock

    We used smooth rocks to create and build a clock.  Clock building and time telling is a fun and common activity for us recently, so building a clock with rocks was a challenge when the rocks didn’t have numbers written on them.  

    Teach kids to position the “3”, “6”, “9”, and ” 12″ rocks first then fill in the other “numbers”.  

    You could also write the numbers on the rocks using a (Amazon affiliate link) paint marker.  Use twigs to create the minute and hour hands and work on time telling outdoors with nature.

    Use pebbles to teach time with rocks. This is a fun hands on activity for kids learning to tell time.

    Use smaller pebbles to teach time with rocks. We found smooth pebbles from a garden that worked well as the numbers on a clock.

    Kids can move them around to the correct position on the rock clock face. This is a fun hands on activity for kids learning to tell time.

    Engineering with Rocks

    Rocks are a great material in STEM for kids:  

    • Build towers.
    • Create bridges using rocks.
    • Explore balance.  How does one rock balance on another.  Will a different rock stay put in the same way?
    • Explore force and movement. How can rocks move items?

    Building a small tower of rocks is a great eye-hand coordination and fine motor activity, and you can show kids how to mark shadows from the sun to mark the passing of time.

    As the sun moves across the sky and the shadow from the rock tower moves along the ground, kids can associate the passage of time with this visual. Then move the hands on the clock to show how much time has passed.

    Use rocks to teach like telling time with rocks.

    Rocks in Literacy

    • Use that paint marker like we did here to build letter blends.
    • Use the rocks in a letter sensory bin.
    • Use rocks and pebbles in pretend play and story telling literacy activity by creating story-based small worlds.

      More learning ideas using rocks: Use rocks in sensory play,  pretend play sensory bins,  and fine motor with play dough.

    A final note on this rock clock activity

    While teaching time isn’t something that is always addressed in occupational therapy, we can support the need to learn time as it relates to time management and functional task completion. After all, if one can’t note the time on the clock, they can’t be out the door to school or an appointment, resulting in many issues.

    OTs do support their clients in the educational space, and sometimes telling time is a challenge, especially for those with executive functioning issues, visual perceptual issues, or cognitive impairments. So in theses cases, OT can intervene to support the educational curriculum or to offer alternatives that help the individual to succeed at their goals.

    When working with this clock activity, learners or clients can build on educational goals as well as executive functioning skills.

    These kids rock ideas develop many skill areas:

    • They can learn clock concepts
    • Participants can manipulate small objects to develop fine motor skills.
    • Clients or students can use the hands-on approach to develop motor planning and eye-hand coordination skills while learning time to the nearest five minutes
    • They can develop and learn relationships between time elements.
    • Participates can learn through play.
    • Students can develop and create, using rock manipulatives as a models to support learning.
    • Participates can develop skills and experience in using symbols in learning, organization, working memory, communication, mathematical skills, and more.

    How will you use this rock clock activity to teach time or time telling skills 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.