If you are looking for Summer occupational therapy activities, this June occupational therapy calendar is for you! It’s loaded with June calendar ideas to help kids move, develop skills, and play this summer. Having a calendar for therapy activities ready to go is important to beat the summer slide when it comes to helping kids move with therapist-approved activities. Use this printable June calendar in occupational therapy home programs, summer lesson plans, and OT summer sessions! You’ll find more summer occupational therapy ideas on various places on the website.
Both can be printed and used along with this free June activity calendar to support kids’ OT needs this year.
June Occupational Therapy Calendar
We’re plugging along as the end of this school year arrives and the start of summer is right around the corner. Are you ready for a summer with the kids?
It can be hard to stay on track with Occupational Therapy goals during the carefree days of summer. This month, with the June activity calendar, I wanted to bring you easy ways to keep up on therapy goals.
There is nothing better than the whole family getting involved with a game or an outing. Family time is memory-making time and so this month’s Occupational Therapy calendar is focused around family activities.
June Activities
This Family wellness BINGO game is another tool to support overall family needs and can be a great addition to summer activities.
The June calendar ideas include other activities at the bottom of the page to support a variety of needs. These ideas can be used to replace activities on the calendar, if needed.
All of the June activities support a variety of developmental areas. We’ve selected the activity ideas based on development of skills through play and movement.
Some of the developmental areas addressed in these June activities include:
Sensory processing
Visual processing
Executive functioning skills
Direction following
Motor skill development (fine motor and gross motor)
Each June activity on the OT calendar targets sensory motor areas:
Tactile input
Proprioception
Vestibular input
Visual input
Some activities are guided by olfactory, auditory, and gustatory input.
We’ve selected these June activities to support areas of functioning such as:
Handwriting
Scissor skills
Self-care
Cooking (following recipes)
Game play
Exploring the community
More June Activities
Exploring all that summer allows is a great way to develop skills during the Summer months. However, if you need a strategy, we’ve created a few resources for just this need.
In fact, I’ve created a whole summer of OT activities that the get the family involved! These are sensory-based treatment activities that build on skills that may make up your child’s Occupational Therapy goals. The nice thing about these activities is that you can adjust the activity to meet individual goals.
You’ll be interested in our new Summer Occupational Therapy Activities Packet. It’s a collection of 14 items that guide summer programming at home, at school, and in therapy sessions. The summer activities bundle covers handwriting, visual perceptual skills and visual motor skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, regulation, and more.
You’ll find ideas to use in virtual therapy sessions and to send home as home activities that build skills and power development with a fun, summer theme. Kids will love the Summer Spot It! game, the puzzles, handouts, and movement activities. Therapists will love the teletherapy slide deck and the easy, ready-to-go activities to slot into OT sessions. The packet is only $10.00 and can be used over and over again for every student/client!
Want to print off this calendar and add it to home programs or use it in therapy planning this summer? Enter your email address into the form below.
Want to add this resource to your therapy toolbox so you can help kids thrive? Enter your email into the form below to access this printable tool.
This resource is just one of the many tools available in The OT Toolbox Member’s Club. Each month, members get instant access to downloadable activities, handouts, worksheets, and printable tools to support development. Members can log into their dashboard and access all of our free downloads in one place. Plus, you’ll find exclusive materials and premium level materials.
Level 1 members gain instant access to all of the downloads available on the site, without enter your email each time PLUS exclusive new resources each month.
Level 2 members get access to all of our downloads, exclusive new resources each month, PLUS additional, premium content each month: therapy kits, screening tools, games, therapy packets, and much more. AND, level 2 members get ad-free content across the entire OT Toolbox website.
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.
There are so many ways to include multisensory play in teaching colors to children. Here, you’ll find hands-on, creative ways to teach colors of the rainbow using play that helps kids develop skills, move, and grow. Use these color activities in preschool or to teach toddlers colors. It’s a fun way to develop visual discrimination skills in young children.
Teaching colors and coloring goes hand-in-hand. Our resource on the best crayons for toddlers is a huge help, especially when deciding on the type of crayon to use at the age of teaching colors to toddlers and young children.
I’m including color activities for kindergarten and school-aged children, as well, because this color themes can be used in therapy activities or to help kids develop handwriting, or visual motor skills in the older grades. There is a lot of fun, hands-on activities listed here that help children learn colors and explore through play!
Teaching Colors to Toddlers
Toddler play and development is all about the hands-on exploration of the world. We have a lot of toddler activities designed to develop motor skills and learning here on the website that you’ll want to check out.
To teach colors to toddlers, it’s all about making things fun. These toddler activities will get you started with hands-on development activities.
So many color activities in the toddler years involve sorting colors, identifying colors, and pointing out colors. All of these activities lay the building blocks for visual discrimination that kids will use in reading and writing down the road.
Try these activities for teaching colors to toddlers:
Toddler Color Sorting with Toys– This activity uses toys and items that are found around the home, making the color identification part of every day life. You can use items that the child uses and sees every day.
Teach Color Sorting Activity– This simple color sorting activity is great for families that have a preschooler and a toddler. The preschooler can cut foam sheets and work on scissor skills and then both the preschooler and toddler can sort the paper scraps by color. This is a nice activity that allows siblings to work together to learn concepts and grow skills together.
Color Sort Busy Bag– Toddlers love to drop items into containers, and put things into buckets, bins, and bags…and then take them back out again. It’s all part of the learning process! This color sorting busy bag gives toddlers colored craft sticks or dyed lollipop sticks and has them sort by color. It’s a great activity for developing fine motor skills and coordination, too.
Cup Sorting for Toddlers– This color sorting activity uses items in the home, like plastic toddler cups! There is just something about toddlers playing in the kitchen with baby-safe items…and this one builds pre-literacy and pre-math skills that they will use long down the road…through play!
Talk about colors– Pointing out colors during play, conversation, in reading books, and going for walks…there are so many ways to teach colors to babies and toddlers through everyday conversation. It’s as simple as saying, “look at that blue flower” to add descriptive terms to kids.
Color with painting– Incorporate all of the colors of the rainbow in multisensory activities from a young age. These art play activities incorporates colors into play and learning through art with toddlers.
In the preschool stage, learning occurs through play! These color learning activities are designed to promote learning through hands-on exploration, because those are the ways that learning “sticks”…when hands are busy and developing motor skills that they will later need for holding and writing with a pencil. Let’s look at some ways to teach colors in the preschool years:
Color by Letter Worksheets– These are great for the preschool age because they are getting the exposure to letters in uppercase and lowercase format but not through writing. the coloring builds hand strength and fine motor skills needed in kindergarten and beyond.
Teaching Shapes and Colors with Rainbow Rocks by Fun-A-Day- This activity is fun because it uses the heavy weight of rocks to teach colors and shapes. But, kids are also strengthening their hands and gaining motor feedback about objects as they explore colors and other discriminating factors like weight and size.
Color and shape sorting– This preschool color sorting activity gives kids fine motor experiences with wikki stix. Ask preschoolers to copy the shapes, too for extra fine motor skill building and visual motor integration.
Fine Motor Color Sort– Grab an old spice container or cheese container, and some straws. This color sorting activity lays the groundwork for fine motor skill development and math skills. Kids can count the straws as they drop into the container and work on sorting colors while developing open thumb web space, separation of the sides of the hand and arch strength.
Color Matching Water Bin– This color learning activity is a sensory motor activity that also teaches letters. It’s perfect for preschool and kindergarten or even older grades as kids are immersed in multi- sensory learning with letters and pre-reading skills.
Clothespin Color Match– Children will love this fine motor activity that builds hand strength in a big way.
Bear Sees Colors Book and Activity– We used a snack to explore colors with a beloved preschool book. This is multisensory learning at its finest.
Gross Motor Color Games– There are many ways to explore and teach colors using games. Try some of these to add movement and play into learning colors at the preschool level:
Color I Spy- Call out a color and kids can run to touch something that is that color. Add variations of movement by asking kids to skip, hop, leap, crawl, or bear walk to touch the colors.
Color Simon Says- Call out directions based on clothing colors that kids are wearing. Add as many variations of movement and auditory challenges. This is a great activity for building working memory skills in preschoolers.
Color Tag- Kids can play tag and when they tag another player, they need to say a color for that person to go to. Another variation is having the players who are tagged run to a color that the tagger calls out.
Kindergarten Color Activities
At the kindergarten level, children are moving beyond basic color naming and into more advanced use of color in learning. At this stage of development, most children can consistently identify and name common colors, and they begin to understand how color relates to academic tasks such as sorting, categorizing, and following multi-step directions.
From a developmental perspective, kindergarteners are refining:
Color discrimination (noticing subtle differences between shades)
Conceptual understanding (recognizing that objects can be different colors)
Language use (describing and comparing colors)
Application of color knowledge in structured tasks
Color learning at this stage supports reading readiness, math concepts, and classroom participation. Children are often expected to follow directions such as “circle the green object” or “underline the word in red,” which requires both recognition and functional use of color.
Kindergarten Color Activities
Color-coded math sorting (by shape and color)
Graphing objects by color
Color pattern creation with blocks or beads
Following multi-step directions using color cues
Color scavenger hunts with written checklists
Color mixing experiments with paints
Sorting classroom objects into colored bins
Color-coded center activities
Matching shades and gradients
Color word recognition and labeling
Highlighting sight words by color
Directed drawing using specific colors
Color-coded obstacle courses
Using colored manipulatives for math problems
Sorting and categorizing by multiple attributes (color + size)
Teach Colors in Kindergarten and older grades
Once children are school-aged, teaching colors doesn’t end. In the school years, children explore color mixing, learning about primary colors, and more. Look at all of these color experiences that kids learn during the school years:
Spelling color names
Learning Primary Colors
Learning secondary colors
Color mixing
Color theory
Color wheel
Complimentary colors
Preschool Color Activities
Teaching colors in preschool is a huge part of the curriculum.
Teaching Colors to Preschoolers
In preschool, children are just beginning to develop the ability to recognize and name colors. This stage is focused on exposure, repetition, and meaningful interaction with color in everyday activities.
Developmentally, preschoolers are building:
Visual perception skills (noticing differences in color)
Early language development (learning color names)
Attention and memory (recalling color information)
Concept formation (understanding color as a property)
At this stage, children may recognize a color before they can name it. They also commonly confuse similar colors or use color names inconsistently. This is a normal part of development.
Why Teaching Colors Matters in Preschool
Teaching colors in preschool supports:
Early communication skills
Following simple directions
Participation in play and routines
Preparation for academic tasks
Color learning is most effective when it is embedded in play and daily experiences rather than taught in isolation.
How to Teach Colors to Preschoolers
Use repetition in daily routines (e.g., “Here is your blue cup”)
Focus on one or two colors at a time
Pair colors with familiar objects
Use hands-on, sensory-based activities
Keep learning playful and engaging
Color sorting with large objects
Matching colored blocks or toys
Simple color scavenger hunts
Finger painting with one or two colors
Color matching with stickers
Sorting pom-poms by color
Matching colored cups and objects
Color-themed sensory bins
Color hop games (jump to the color called out)
Matching colored shapes
Using dot markers for color matching
Sorting crayons by color
Color I Spy activities
Matching colored puzzle pieces
Rolling and matching colored balls
Try some of these color activities for older children:
Color I Spy free therapy slide deck- This color themed scavenger hunt will get kids up and moving, using the items they have in their home as they work on visual perceptual skills, handwriting, and more. Kids can visually scan around their home to match the colors on the slide deck. Then, there is a handwriting component. This is a great slide deck for anyone working on handwriting skills with kids, virtually.
Color Exercises– Use gross motor exercises and stretches as well as fine motor exercises to get kids moving while working on SO many skill areas: bilateral coordination, motor planning, strengthening, core strength, precision, dexterity, visual motor skills…
Rainbow Deep Breathing Exercise– This free printable PDF is super popular. There’s a reason why: kids love the deep breathing activity and We love the mindfulness, coping skills, calming, and regulation benefits. Great for all ages.
Rainbow Binoculars Craft– Kids can use paper towel tubes in a craft that helps them look for and identify colors. Use these rainbow binoculars in visual scanning, visual discrimination, visual figure-ground, and other perceptual skills.
Colored pencils activities– All you need is a couple of colored pencils (or substitute with a regular pencil if that’s all you’ve got on hand) to work on pencil control, line awareness, pencil pressure, and letter formation.
Make crayon play dough– Explore colors with heavy work input through the hands and arms using all the colors of the rainbow. This crayon play dough recipe is a popular sensory recipe here on the website.
Key Differences Between Preschool and Kindergarten Color Learning
Preschool focuses on exposure, recognition, and early naming
Kindergarten focuses on consistency, application, and use in academic tasks
Understanding this progression helps ensure that activities are developmentally appropriate and support functional skill development.
One activity book we love is our Colors Handwriting Kit:
Rainbow Handwriting Kit– This resource pack includes handwriting sheets, write the room cards, color worksheets, visual motor activities, and so much more. The handwriting kit includes:
Write the Room, Color Names: Lowercase Letters
Write the Room, Color Names: Uppercase Letters
Write the Room, Color Names: Cursive Writing
Copy/Draw/Color/Cut Color Worksheets
Colors Roll & Write Page
Color Names Letter Size Puzzle Pages
Flip and Fill A-Z Letter Pages
Colors Pre-Writing Lines Pencil Control Mazes
This handwriting kit now includes a bonus pack of pencil control worksheets, 1-10 fine motor clip cards, visual discrimination maze for directionality, handwriting sheets, and working memory/direction following sheet! Valued at $5, this bonus kit triples the goal areas you can work on in each therapy session or home program.
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
If you are looking for OT activities for the month, then you are in luck with this April occupational therapy calendar! April is occupational therapy month and here, you’ll find an Occupational Therapy calendar for your therapy planning.
April Occupational Therapy Calendar
Not only will you find a great calendar of activities for OT sessions, but we’ve included other therapy ideas and activities for OT month, and all of Spring!
I have a HUGE resource for you that will carry you throughout the rest of Spring with treatment ideas and activities that are designed to meet the needs of many common goal areas. This resource is perfect for planning a month or a season of therapeutic activities for kids.
If you’ve seen the last few months’ calendars (Check them out, if you missed them: January, February, & March), then you will see that this month’s calendar is just a bit different.
Other Spring-related activities that will go well with this activities calendar include:
Spring Sensory Stations- add movement and mindfulness with a Spring theme.
I’ve found that I completely love coming up with themed activities that are designed to address many needs of children receiving (or who need to receive) Occupational Therapy services. I’m enjoying this monthly calendar so much that I decided to take it a bit further.
For April’s calendar, I decided to provide MORE ideas, more ways to develop necessary skills, and more ways to cover many more systems of development.
This month’s calendar is essentially going to rock your OT kiddo’s socks!
Activities based on the Pyramid of Learning
This month, I’ve decided to create a huge resource for your OT treatment activity ideas.
Each month’s calendar is such a valuable resource of OT ideas, and this month is no different, except that it has a TON more ideas to address many areas of deficits that typically present in kids receiving OT services. I’ve got Spring themed activities that can be modified to meet the needs of your child.
Each activity in this month’s OT calendar takes into account, the Williams and Shellenberger Pyramid of Learning.
The activities are designed so that they allow for proper sensory experiences in order to adjust for the child’s needs and presenting areas of difficulty.
Based on the Pyramid of Learning, the activities are designed to meet the foundations of sensory needs in order to work on higher tasks that present as difficulties in functional skills.
The pyramid uses a triangle illustration to depict the central nervous system at the base of sensory systems as a support and underlying tier to sensory motor skills, perceptual motor skills, and cognition.
Using the visual of the pyramid of learning in activity development, we can see how integration of the sensory systems as a part of the CNS impact development, functioning, and intellect.
Let’s take a closer look at the pyramid of learning before exploring how the activities in our April calendar cover these areas.
Base of the Pyramid of Learning
The base of the pyramid is the Central Nervous System. Above that is the second tier, which identifies the body’s sensory systems. These systems include:
Tactile (touch)
Vestibular (balance)
Proprioception (knowing where their bodies are in space)
Note that these three are at the base of they other sensory systems. This is an important concept covered in our book, Sensory Lifestyle Handbook.
Then comes the other sensory systems:
Olfactory (smell)
Visual (vision)
Auditory (hearing)
Gustatory (taste)
Sensory Motor Development Tier of the Pyramid of Learning
Next is the sensory motor development level. This area includes body awareness, reflex maturity, sensory screening abilities, postural stability, bilateral integration, motor planning.
These areas of development are closely related to the sensory systems. They are also essential to functional participation in essentially every functional task we perform throughout the day.
Note that there are three areas of sensory motor development on the base of this tier:
Postural security (confidence in maintaining certain postures to prevent falling)
Awareness of two sides of the body (bilateral integration)
Motor planning (ability to plan their movement)
Then, above those three areas are three more areas of sensory motor development. This relationship is also discussed in our book, The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook.
Body scheme (body awareness through movement)
Reflex maturity (having developed reflexes, for safety purposes)
Ability to screen input (knowing what sensory experiences are important to pay more attention to)
Perceptual Motor Development Tier of the Pyramid of Learning
Above the sensory motor level is the perceptual motor development tier. Perceptual motor skills rely and build on sensory motor abilities. These skill areas are smaller and more distally presented in relation to the internal systems. While built heavily on the sensory systems and motor abilities, these areas allow us to take in information about the world around us. It allows us to use that information to move and perceive what is happening in our world.
This connection is essential to function and occupational performance.
This is easy to conceptualize when you think about the areas that make up this level:
Eye-hand coordination (when they use what they see to guide the movement of their hands)
Ocular motor control (locating and fixating on something in their environment)
Postural adjustment (adjusting their posture to maintain balance)
Then above those three areas of motor control areas are three additional perceptual motor skill areas of development:
Auditory language skills (hearing and speaking appropriately)
Visual-spatial perception (identifying what is seen in space)
Attention center functions (maintaining attention to tasks)
Cognition Intellect Tier on the Pyramid of Learning
At the top of the pyramid of learning stands the cognition or intellect tier. This area begins with daily living skills and behaviour at the base of the top tier, followed by academic learning.
Daily living activities (such as eating, toileting, bathing)
Behavior
Academic learning
What does the pyramid of learning tell us?
The very clear visual graphic of a pyramid shows us exactly how cognitive and learning abilities are based on sensory, motor, and perceptual development. These underlying areas are essential to functioning, behaviors, or the way we act and behave in any given situation, and learning.
In order to move and participate in functional tasks, development in bilateral coordination, motor planning, and vision, proprioception, and tactile systems is necessary. In order to learn, auditory language development, oculomotor skills, the ability to screen input, and vestibular, visual, auditory, and proprioceptive input is necessary.
Every functional task could be filtered down to identify underlying areas that impact one’s ability to perform specific tasks. And the entire pyramid builds upon itself, so that each task includes all of the skills and developmental areas under it as a whole pyramid.
April Activities Based on Underlying Skill Areas
And what I like best about this month’s calendar, is that the activities can be adapted in several different ways so that the resource calendar can be used over and over again in coming months.
When you combine the calendar with the Spring Occupational Therapy Activities booklet, you’ll discover many ways to add movement, sensory movement, perceptual movement, and learning to Spring-themed activities.
In fact, there are 109 activities in this book using all of the combinations of activities.
This month’s calendar is a little different that the last few calendars. I’m including a schedule of sensory activities but it does not include specifics to perform each day’s task.
You’ll need the Spring Occupational Therapy Activities ebook in order to complete each day’s activity. You will be guided through sensory activities that meet many different goal areas.
This ebook will carry you through the next few months as you work on each task and it’s breakdown of variant activities. It’s all included in the ebook:
Play your way through the next few months with Spring-y activities that are broken down into several different goal areas.
April Occupational Therapy Activities for Home Carryover
The month of April is a meaningful time to highlight the occupational therapy profession and the impact it has on helping individuals participate in everyday life. Recognized by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), this month celebrates how occupational therapy practitioners support people in building skills for independent lives through engagement in meaningful daily activities.
For parents and caregivers, April is the perfect opportunity to bring occupational therapy activities into the home. Simple, intentional activities can reinforce skills children are working on in therapy sessions and help support carryover in real-life situations.
Why Home Carryover Matters in Occupational Therapy
One of the most important parts of occupational therapy is helping children apply skills outside of therapy sessions. Practicing activities at home allows children to build consistency, confidence, and independence in natural environments.
Occupational therapy activities at home can support:
Fine motor skills (writing, cutting, dressing)
Sensory processing and regulation
Coordination and motor planning
Executive functioning and routines
When families are involved, children are more likely to generalize skills into their daily routines.
Easy Occupational Therapy Activities to Try at Home
Here are simple, effective activities families can use to support development at home:
Fine Motor Activities
Use tongs or clothespins during snack time
Practice buttoning, zipping, and dressing skills
Build with small blocks or beads
Sensory Activities
Create sensory bins with rice, beans, or sand
Use movement breaks like jumping or animal walks
Try calming strategies like deep breathing or heavy work
Daily Living Skills
Help set the table
Practice pouring drinks or preparing snacks
Organize toys or personal items
These types of activities naturally support the goals addressed in occupational therapy sessions.
Celebrating Occupational Therapy in April
Throughout April, the occupational therapy community celebrates the work of therapists, assistants, and families who support participation and independence. Events such as the AOTA annual conference and professional gatherings like an expo highlight new ideas, research, and strategies that support best practices in the field.
The work of occupational therapy extends far beyond the clinic. It impacts homes, schools, and communities every day.
Sharing Occupational Therapy Ideas on Social Media
April is also a great time to share ideas and inspiration on social media. Parents, teachers, and therapists can highlight meaningful activities, success stories, and simple strategies that support development.
Using hashtags like:
#occupationaltherapy
#OTmonth
#OTactivities
#pediatricOT
can help connect with others and spread awareness about the value of occupational therapy.
Supporting Caregivers and Families
Occupational therapy is most effective when it includes collaboration with caregivers. By sharing simple activities and strategies, therapists empower families to support their child’s development in everyday routines.
Even small changes, like adding a fine motor task during play or incorporating movement into transitions, can have a big impact over time.
Bringing OT Into Everyday Life
The goal of occupational therapy is to help children participate fully in their daily lives. By incorporating simple activities at home, families can support skill development in a natural, meaningful way.
April is the perfect time to reflect on how occupational therapy supports growth, independence, and participation, and to take small steps toward building those skills every day.
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.
Happy occupational therapy month! April is OT month and every year, I love to recirculate this blog post because it offers so many OT memes and social media graphics for explaining what we do in occupational therapy. This year, we’ve got a few fun free OT PDFs for OT month, too, so if you are working in school based therapy, in clinics, or in homes and want to celebrate the OT profession WHILE building skills, those resources are for you.
I also wanted to update this blog post because, and I don’t know about you, but I am busier than ever before.
One thing that seems to be coming up more and more is the sense of “burnout” that therapy providers experience. This happens early in the OT career or it can happen later. We are seeing burnout with new grads to those in the field for 30+ years. We have this resource, the Self-Reflection Journal that is designed to support burnout through mindful journaling and other resources to re-light your professional spark, just in time for OT month.
April is OT Month!
There are new challenges that seem to be getting more difficult each year that impact the profession. Some things that I’m seeing that are new challenges for OT professionals include:
Demanding schedules (higher number of students on caseload than ever before, more eval requests, extremely high productivity…)
Challenging client needs. Kids seem to be struggling just as much as we are. I’m seeing more referrals for self regulation needs, emotional skills, and coping needs, in addition to the very tasks that limit functional performance. We as OT professionals are skilled in supporting the whole person. And it seems like there are more and more of our clients that are struggling in the social/emotional/regulation area than ever. Do you see this too?
Limited time in the schedule for making things fun and engaging. When the schedule is full of demanding caseload numbers, it’s hard to find the time to come up with new and fun activities that keep the attention of kids we learn. It’s a recipe for burnout on the part of us as the practitioner, and the child as the client/student.
What other areas are you seeing struggles in as an OT provider?
So, because of these things that seem to be more and more prevalent, I added a few ideas to this OT month activity post. I added ideas that don’t take up extra time, or don’t require bringing in cookies (i.e. making cookies for colleagues that might not even recognize the true value of OT). In years past we might have provided a workshop or seminar on the value of OT. But who has time or energy for that?! Just thinking about creating a workshop is exhausting. Then try to find time in the schedule to fit one in…it’s just an unfeasible thing. There’s no way!
OT Month Activities
Below, you’ll find easy ways to celebrate OT month so we can celebrate the profession of occupational therapy and share with others what an amazing thing it is to be an OT professional!
Below, you’ll find ideas for OT month:
OT Month memes (share them on social media!)
OT month printable activities. Use the free occupational therapy PDFs in treatment sessions. Grab all of them below.
If you are a member in The OT Toolbox membership, log in and head to OT Month resources. You’ll love the grab and go activities!
Collaboration ideas to celebrate OT month with your colleagues
Also be sure to check out our occupational therapy jokes post…it’s a fun way to celebrate OT month with colleagues!
I’ll update this post each day during the first week of April so you can gather your OT month materials. And, don’t forget to grab some of the memes below to share on your social media (just link back to this page) so you can celebrate occupational therapy along with all of your friends!
OT Month Activities
There are a five fun, EASY ways to celebrate OT month. Pick out these activities for the whole month of April:
But before we get started with the OT month ideas, be sure to check out this Autism acceptance month, during the month of April and all year long.
Share OT memes on social media! Scroll below for a new graphic explaining what we do in therapy sessions (and why!). There are enough for every day in April. You’ll even find inspirational occupational therapy memes, too. Here are more OT memes to share.
Get creative with fun and festive OT month activities. Make OT month even better with an April occupational therapy calendar that is a perfect addition to your therapy lesson plans this year. Let’s make occupational therapy month exciting with fresh OT ideas!
Use some of our OT month worksheets and activities that build skills. Not your typical “worksheet”, these are printable activities that get kids moving and functioning, with an emphasis on FUN. You’ll find 5 new OT month activities that celebrate the profession and use therapy materials for occupational therapy awareness.
Grab the OT Materials Bundle! During the month of April, it’s only $8 and includes 13 OT month resources using supplies that we use every day during OT sessions. You’ll also find 8 bonus articles on ways to grow as a professional.
Collaborate with other OT professionals! April is the perfect time to grow as a professional, celebrate others in the field and chat all things OT. In the OT Materials Bundle, you’ll find articles on how to collaborate with others, how to reflect on OT practice, how to find an OT mentor, and ways to network as a busy OT professional.
Low-Effort Ways to Promote OT Month
Those of us working with demanding schedules, the thought of setting up a whole “OT month” event is exhausting! We added this list of ways to celebrate Occupational Therapy Month with little to no effort. These ideas can be integrated into your daily work routines without requiring significant additional effort.
Share Educational Posts on Social Media. Sharing a quick post on Facebook or Instagram is a low pressure way to celebrate the profession. Share some quick facts about OT, educational memes, or inspiring stories about occupational therapy. Check out The OT Toolbox on Facebook and The OT Toolbox Instagram page for one-and-done social media sharing.
Wear OT-Themed Shirts. This is an easy way to promote the profession. Grab an OT-themed shirt from Amazon (affiliate link) and you’re good to go. We have put together a whole page of OT shirts over on our Amazon page. This can serve as a conversation starter and a way to spread awareness about the field. Click here for our OT shirts list (affiliate link).
Change your Email Signature. One super simple way to promote the profession is to edit your email signature. Add a one-liner or a banner to your email signature that celebrates OT Month, such as “Proud to Celebrate Occupational Therapy Month!” or include a brief message about the importance of OT in improving patients’ lives. We included some fresh email banners to the bottom of this blog post that you can add to your email signature.
Tell your Clients! One way to celebrate OT month is to bring it up in therapy sessions. Briefly discuss the significance of OT Month with clients during sessions, and highlight how occupational therapy has impacted their lives. This can enhance client awareness and appreciation of the profession.
Thank another OT! A simple (and free way to celebrate OT month) is a simple thank you to your OT colleagues. I love to thank my co-workers for their dedication and hard work, and it’s a nice way to authentically appreciate the efforts that others put into their work each day. I like to think of it as starting small with a simple word of thanks and appreciation. It can expand and encourage your workplace!
Share OT Resources: Recommend blog posts (like this one!), articles, podcasts, or social media posts about occupational therapy to your friends. We try to share a lot of information in our email newsletters and in blog posts that really reflect the impact that an OT has on development. Simply sharing these blog posts with others can have an impact on the person you share it with, as well as promotes the profession.
I hope these low cost ways to support and promote OT help!
Occupational Therapy Month Memes
As Occupational therapy professionals, we can celebrate the profession that we love by sharing a bit about what we do. This includes informational memes that advocate for the profession of occupational therapy, those we serve, and the interventions that we use as tools to support functional skills. You’ll also want to check out our blog post on occupational therapy memes. This is a fun way to share a joke or two about the profession. We also have a post on sensory memes that are just about sensory processing.
Below are OT memes that can be shared on social media.
Each image is an underlying area that influences development and includes a therapist quick tip. These are occupational therapy tricks and tips!
It’s my hope that each day in April, you’ll share your creative ways to work on these skills.
Use these OT month graphics to promote occupational therapy. The professional of occupational therapy is an incredible profession. Let’s share all that we love about OT and bring awareness of this amazing profession to others!
Happy Occupational Therapy Month!
As we step into occupational therapy month again with another April, let’s remember what it is that makes our profession special. Occupational therapists (OTs) and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) help patients to participate in every day occupations! We help people do the things that occupy others’ time. We help others do the things that matter most to them It’s all of the most meaningful activities a person desires and needs to participate in for daily life.
For children this may include things like doing cartwheels, riding a bike, getting dressed, writing their name, brushing their hair, or playing with friends.
For us as professionals, the most important thing IS to serve and support others. OT is the most encouraging, enlightening, and inspiring profession there is, and YOU are a part of that light!
YOU make a difference in the world. That difference makes a ripple of impact. Helping one person achieve a small goal effects that person’s family and everyone they are in contact with. Now multiply that wellbeing to your entire caseload.
Occupational therapists are difference makers!
Occupational therapy assistants are difference makers!
We literally do, as occupational therapy professionals, what matters most in this world.
Happy OT month, fellow occupational therapy professionals!
Occupational Therapy Email Signature
One way that we mentioned above, which is a low effort way to celebrate OT month, is by updating your email signature. Here are some email signature banners that you can add to your email. So, every time you respond to an email, this celebration of OT month will go out, promoting the profession!
To use these OT email signature banners, copy and save the picture to your computer or device. Then go into your email settings and add the image to your email signature. That’s all you need to do! Then, you can celebrate occupational therapy all month long!
Have fun celebrating all that occupational therapy is!
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
This DIY light box for tracing is an easy light box we put together in minutes. All you need is an under the bed storage container and a string of lights to make a tracing tool that kids will love. There are benefits to tracing and this tool is a fun way to build fine motor skills and visual motor skills as a visual motor skill leading to better handwriting.
Amazon affiliate links are included in this blog post. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.
DIY Light Box for Kids
A DIY light box is a simple and effective tool that can be used for learning, play, and creativity. Light boxes provide a bright surface that makes it easier to see lines, shapes, and images for tracing or visual exploration. You can easily create a light box at home using materials like a plastic storage bin, LED lights, and a translucent lid.
This type of setup is especially helpful for kids because it makes activities more engaging and visually clear. A homemade light box can be used for tracing, drawing, sensory play, and even early writing activities.
DIY Light Box for Tracing
A DIY light box for tracing is perfect for helping children practice handwriting, drawing, and visual motor skills. The light shining through the surface allows kids to clearly see letters, shapes, or pictures placed underneath a sheet of paper.
This makes it easier for children to trace lines accurately, which supports motor planning and control. A DIY tracing box can be used for tracing alphabet letters, numbers, shapes, and simple drawings. It is a great tool for kids who are just beginning to learn how to write or who need extra visual support.
Sensory Light Box and Tracing Table Ideas
A sensory light box adds an extra layer of engagement by combining visual input with hands-on exploration. Kids can place different materials on the light surface, such as colored shapes, beads, or translucent objects, to explore how light changes the appearance of items.
You can also use your light box as a tracing table by placing worksheets or drawings underneath paper. This creates a bright, inviting workspace that encourages focus and creativity. Sensory light boxes are especially helpful for children who benefit from visual and tactile learning experiences.
Can You Make Your Own Light Box?
Yes, you can absolutely make your own light box at home with simple materials. Many DIY versions use:
A clear or translucent storage bin
LED strip lights or push lights. You can also use a tablet or studio lights (a video ring light found at many stores)
Wax paper or parchment paper (to diffuse light)
A flat surface lid
By placing lights inside the bin and covering the top with a translucent surface, you can create an affordable and functional light box. This DIY option works well for home use, classrooms, or therapy settings.
Can I Use My iPad as a Light Box?
Yes, an iPad or tablet can be used as a simple light box alternative. By increasing the brightness and displaying a white screen, the tablet can provide enough light for basic tracing activities.
However, there are some limitations. Tablets are smaller than most light boxes and may not provide as much working space. They are also more delicate, so supervision is important. A tablet can be a convenient option for quick tracing tasks, while a DIY light box offers a larger and more durable surface for regular use.
Reduce glare by upping the brightness when placing the tablet inside the plastic bin.
Specific Tracing Activity Ideas
Using a DIY light box for tracing opens up many opportunities for learning and skill development. Here are some beginner-friendly tracing ideas that parents, teachers, and therapists can start using right away:
Letter Tracing
Place alphabet worksheets under paper and have children trace uppercase and lowercase letters. This supports handwriting development and letter recognition.
Shape Tracing
Use simple shapes like circles, squares, triangles, and stars. This helps build pre-writing skills and visual motor coordination.
Name Tracing
Write a child’s name in large letters and have them trace over it. This is a motivating way to practice writing.
Picture Tracing
Trace simple pictures such as animals, vehicles, or objects. This supports creativity and drawing skills. Make sure you use white paper to see the objects.
Line and Pattern Tracing
Use straight lines, zig-zags, curves, and waves to build control and precision needed for writing.
Number Tracing
Practice forming numbers by tracing over large, clear models.
Themed Tracing Pages
Create seasonal or themed tracing sheets (weather, holidays, animals) to keep activities engaging.
Why Use a DIY Tracing Box?
A DIY tracing box makes learning more interactive and accessible. The light helps children see lines more clearly, which can reduce frustration and improve accuracy. This tool supports fine motor skills, visual tracking, and hand-eye coordination while making writing practice feel more like play.
DIY light box for tracing
A light box is a fun activity, and one you see in preschool classrooms, as it’s intended for hands-on play and exploring the senses. But did you know there are many benefits to using a light box for tracing (and other exploring play)?
This DIY Light Box was something I’ve seen around Pinterest and have wanted to try for a while…Once we had our Christmas lights outside, I thought we would definitely be doing this project after we pulled all of the lights back in. So, after we brought the Christmas lights in from the outside bushes, this was easy to put together for a cold evening’s play!
You need just two items to make a DIY light table:
Important: The under the bed storage bin needs to be made of clear plastic or have just a slight opaque color to the plastic. Also, the top should be smooth. Many storage bins have textured surface or a white surface. The flat, smooth lid is important for sensory play as well as tracing with paper on the DIY light table. This brand (affiliate link) is a good one to use.
Instructions to make a DIY light box:
Plug in the lights.
Place them into the bin.
Either cut a hole in the base of the bin for the lights to go through or cut a small notch into the lid so the strand of lights can go under the lid.
To make this homemade light box safer and not use plug in lights, you can use battery operated button lights (affiliate link) inside the storage bin. Or, there are many battery operated LED lights available now too. These are a great idea because many of them have a color-changing capability and can be operated from an app on your phone.
IMPORTANT: This homemade light box project should always be done under the supervision of an adult. The lights can get warm inside the bin and they should be unplugged periodically.
This is not a project that should be set up and forgotten about. The OT Toolbox is not responsible for any harm, injury, or situation caused by this activity. It is for educational purposes only. Always use caution and consider the environment and individualized situation, including with this activity. Your use of this idea is your acceptance of this disclaimer.
I put all of the (already bundled-up) strands of Christmas lights …seriously, this does not get much easier…into an under-the-bed storage bin, connected the strands, and plugged in!
Once you put the top on, it is perfect for tracing pictures!
Tracing pictures on a light table
This is so great for new (or seasoned) hand-writers. They are working on pencil control, line awareness, hand-eye coordination…and end up with a super cool horse picture they can be proud of!
Use printable coloring pages and encourage bilateral coordination to hold the paper down. You can modify the activity by taping the coloring page onto the plastic bin lid.
Big Sister LOOOOVED doing this! And, I have to say, that she was doing the tracing thing for so long, that we had to turn the lights off because the bin was getting warm.
Other ways to use a DIY Light Table
We went around the house looking for cool things to place on top of the bin. Magnetic letters looked really neat with the light glowing through…Baby Girl had a lot of fun playing with this.
You can add many different items onto the DIY light table:
Magnetic letters (the light shines through them slightly)
Sand for a tracing table- We cover how to use a sand writing tray in another blog post and all the benefits of tracing in a sensory medium. With the lights under the tracing area, this adds another multisensory component to the learning.
…All in a new and fun manner! We had a lot of fun with this, but have since put our Christmas lights back up into the attic. We will be sure to do this one again next year, once the lights come back out again 🙂
Please: if you do make one of these light boxes, keep an adult eye on it, as the box did warm up…not to burning warmth, but I would worry about the lights becoming over heated. This is NOT something that kids should play with unsupervised!
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.
Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:
Understanding therapy for kids can be overwhelming for the parents. Now especially, with distancing requirements, hybrid learning, or teletherapy, occupational therapy services might look different than you expected. Let’s break down pediatric occupational therapy so your questions and concerns are answered and the overwhelm dissipates a little. If you have a need for some sort of child therapy, then you are in the right place.
Ok, so you’ve received a recommendation to have your child screened or evaluated by occupational therapy. So what next? What does that mean? When there is an apparent need to take your child to therapy, it can be helpful to know what to expect. You might have a lot of questions about getting started with your child in therapy. I want to create a space where your questions are answered when it comes to occupational therapy. So, sit back, relax, and read on…
What is occupational therapy?
Occupational therapy is a service that helps people achieve function and independence in the things that are important to them…in the things that occupy one’s day. OTs do this by offering adaptations, modifications, and by addressing underlying factors that impact independence.
Let’s take it a step further; Think about what you do in a single day: getting out of bed, brushing your teeth, getting dressed, making the bed, making and eating breakfast, getting out the door on time and with everything you need for the day, doing your job at work and everything that entails, driving, shopping for groceries, setting the table, balancing your checkbook. This list could go on and on and on!
All of these skills are your daily occupations, or things that occupational therapists can help one accomplish so they are as independent and functional as possible. But there’s more to it than just the daily tasks. There’s also the ability to physically accomplish these jobs. There’s the ability to staying focused on the task at hand, prioritize what’s important, and to stay organized. There’s safety and higher level thinking involved. There’s tolerance to one’s senses and the world around you. There’s balance, vision, coordination, and endurance involved. Essentially, every system in your body needs to be working optimally so that you can be as functional as possible during each and every task that you accomplish during the day.
Kids in therapy can accomplish so much! Occupational therapy works on all of these things!
What do occupational therapists work on with kids?
Occupational therapists can work on many different things with kids.
Occupational Therapy In Schools:
Any need that impacts education or learning
Fine motor skills
Cutting with scissors
Handwriting
Assistive technology to improve education or learning
Managing containers in the lunch room
Keyboarding or typing as an accommodation to learning
Sensory needs that impact education
Staying organized
Cognitive processing
Attention
Visual processing
Executive functioning
Motor abilities
Self-regulation
Participation in the classroom
Occupational therapy In the Home or Outpatient Settings:
Play
Self-care skills- getting dressed, grooming, bathing, caring for oneself and the tasks associated with self-care
Executive functioning skills- organization, attention, working memory, planning, prioritization, impulse control, and other skills
Fine and gross motor skills
Eye-hand coordination
Balance and gross motor coordination
Occupational therapy can also work with children in early intervention or birth though 3 years of age on development of skills. This can occur as a result of a disability or difficulty in developing certain skills. Still other aspects of care can be related to autism, sensory integration needs, mental health, and specific diagnoses.
Who Needs occupational therapy?
The above lists might help explain the question of who OTs service, but it can be helpful to have a list of those who benefit from occupational therapy. This diagnosis list should give you a starting point, but know that OT works with anyone struggling to achieve functional skills or independence in an aspect of any task! This page is referring to pediatric occupational therapy interventions.
Autism Spectrum, Asperger’s syndrome
Sensory processing disorders
Auditory processing disorders
Visual processing impairments
PANDAs
Birth injuries or birth defects
ADHD/ADD
Behavioral or mental health impairments
Visually impaired
Traumatic injuries to the brain or spinal cord
Traumatic injuries to the body- amputation’s, etc.
Learning disabilities or learning problems
Developmental delays
Brachial plexus injuries
Down Syndrome
Rett’s Syndrome
Spina Bifida
Cerebral palsy
Childhood stroke
Pediatric rheumatoid arthritis
Cognitive disorders
Broken bones, injuries, surgical impairments, or other orthopedic injuries
Post-surgical impairments or conditions
Motor or coordination impairments
MUCH, much more!
How does occupational therapy work?
When it comes to occupational therapy, one thing is for certain. There are no two treatment plans that are alike. That’s because OT is so specialized! What is important for one child may be goals for them in occupational therapy while another child with similar needs will have completely different goals to address.
Parents can work closely with occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants to implement strategies and home programs in the home.
Identifying specific needs and progress toward goals requires contact between parents, caregivers, and the occupational therapist professional.
Many times, OTs work with the family as a whole to address challenges faced by the family of a child with needs.
In most states, occupational therapists require a doctor’s order in order to administer evaluation and intervention services. In the schools, typically, the child’s educational recommends a need for occupational therapy evaluation.
How will my child receive teletherapy?
If your child has received occupational therapy services in the past, you might be wondering how teletherapy works. Or, maybe your child is new to therapy and the thought of having a child in therapy via a computer screen seems impossible. You have valid concerns! Occupational therapy is very much centered on hands-on interaction with the therapist who strives to help your child build skills and accommodate for adjustments needed in positioning, motor skills, etc. and that service is very much an in-person skilled service.
Ask any occupational therapist and they will say they WANT to be face-to-face with your child, physically playing with your sweet kiddo, and interactiving in a hands-on ways.
However, occupational therapists are skilled at problem solving, adjusting to needs and the environment, and pivoting on a dime. OTs have got the requirements of social distancing as a result of a global pandemic in the bag!
Therapists are excelling at providing fun, engaging, and skill-building services through digital, virtual therapy, and through motivating and encouraging hybrid versions of therapy that needs to be done during these strange times.
Teletherapy is just one more hat that occupational therapists have had to wear and they are excelling at it! Here is more information on teletherapy and what it looks like.
How to Explain Occupational Therapy to a Child
Starting occupational therapy (OT) can feel like a big unknown, not only for kids, but for parents, too. One of the first questions many families have is: How do I explain occupational therapy to my child in a way that makes sense, and doesn’t feel scary? If you’re wondering where to begin, you’re not alone.
Occupational therapy for kids is all about helping them do the things they need and want to do in daily life, from brushing teeth to holding a pencil, from joining recess games with peers to managing big emotions. OT helps kids build the skills they need for success in daily activities, school tasks, and social participation.
Here’s how to explain it in kid-friendly terms:
“Your OT helps you get better at things that are tricky for you. They do this through games, crafts, obstacle courses, and sometimes even using swings or tools that make your muscles stronger. It’s kind of like having a helper-coach who makes hard things easier, and a lot of fun, too!”
What Is Occupational Therapy for Kids?
When parents ask “What is OT for kids?” the short answer is: OT helps children become more independent in their daily activities, also called activities of daily living (ADLs). These may include getting dressed, using utensils, writing at school, or following instructions in a classroom.
Children might see an occupational therapist if they struggle with:
Sensory overload in busy environments
Trouble with fine motor skills (like holding a pencil or tying shoes)
Delays in gross motor skills, like balance and coordination
Difficulties with social skills, emotional regulation, or attention
Using adaptive equipment or tools that support independence
In a typical OT session, your child might climb through an obstacle course, squeeze putty to build hand strength, or practice zipping their coat. An OT session is often play-based, but every part is working toward a goal outlined in your child’s treatment plan.
What Does an Occupational Therapist Do for a Child?
An occupational therapist (or OTD, if they hold a doctorate) helps children with different needs improve their ability to participate in their daily lives. OTs evaluate how your child plays, learns, moves, and connects with others, and then create a plan to support skill development across those areas.
Here are some things an OT might help with:
Using utensils at lunch
Putting on socks or managing fasteners
Writing neatly and following classroom instructions
Playing with peers and navigating social interactions
Managing textures, sensory input, or emotions
An OT may work in different settings, like a school environment, home, or OT clinic, and may collaborate with other providers like physical therapists, teachers, and speech-language pathologists to support your child’s quality of life.
What Should Parents Expect from OT for Their Child?
Parents play a huge role in the success of OT for kids. Whether your child receives OT services at school or in a clinic, you can expect collaboration, check-ins, and ideas to carry over into home routines.
Here’s what to expect:
A treatment plan based on your child’s strengths and challenges
A blend of structured tasks and play-based activities
Support for tasks like getting dressed, focusing during class, or calming down after a meltdown
Strategies for siblings, family routines, or school tasks
You may notice changes in your child’s confidence, independence, and even how they interact with siblings or new people. OT is designed to support the whole child, emotionally, socially, and physically.
How to Help Your Child Feel Comfortable with OT
Starting something new can cause anxiety for some children, especially if they’ve struggled in other settings. Here are some ways to ease that transition:
Explain OT in positive, simple terms: “It’s a place where you get to work on things you want to be better at, with fun games and friendly helpers.”
Practice visiting the OT clinic or look at photos of what it looks like
Role-play the first session so your child knows what to expect
Involve siblings or peers in supportive conversations
Let your child bring a comfort item if they feel nervous (like a fidget or stuffed animal)
OT Is a Team Effort
Every child deserves support that meets their unique needs, and that’s what occupational therapy for kids is all about. Whether your child is working on handwriting, managing emotions, or tolerating textures, OT helps build a foundation that supports success across their day.
If you’re starting this journey, know that collaboration between your family, the OT, teachers, and the school team will be key. And most importantly, OT is often a place where your child will feel seen, supported, and celebrated, while having a lot of fun along the way.
Frequently Asked Questions About Explaining Occupational Therapy to Kids
What is occupational therapy in simple terms? Occupational therapy helps people do everyday things more easily. For kids, that might mean learning to hold a pencil, get dressed, follow directions, or feel calmer in busy places. OT helps children build skills so they can succeed at home, school, and play.
What is the best way to explain occupational therapy? You can tell your child, “An occupational therapist helps you get better at things that are tricky, like using scissors, sitting still, or making friends. They do it with fun games and tools that help your body and brain work together.”
What is the definition of occupational therapy for kids? Occupational therapy for kids is a health service that supports children’s development by improving how they move, think, feel, and take part in daily life. It addresses everything from fine motor skills to emotional regulation, attention, and independence.
How do you explain therapy to a child? Try saying, “Therapy is a special time where someone helps you practice things that are hard. You’ll play games and do fun activities that make your muscles stronger, your thinking faster, and your feelings easier to handle.”
How do you describe occupational therapy to a child? Say something like, “Your OT helps you learn new skills through play, art, movement, and fun tools. They’re like a coach who helps your body and brain work better together.”
What are age-appropriate ways to explain the evaluation process to kids? You can say, “We’re going to meet someone who will play games and do fun activities with you to see what you’re really good at and what might be a little tricky. They want to learn how to help you feel stronger, calmer, and more confident.” For older kids, add: “It’s like a check-up for how your body and brain are working together.”
How do I prepare my child for OT? Talk positively about the experience. Explain that OT is a fun and helpful place where they get to move, play, and try new things. You might say, “You’ll meet someone kind who helps kids practice things like getting dressed, using their hands, or staying focused.” Let them know you’ll be nearby and that it’s a safe, supportive space.
How to explain OT to a 4-year-old? Use very simple language: “We’re going to see someone who helps kids get better at things like using their hands, staying calm, and having fun doing crafts or games.” Emphasize play and familiarity: “They have swings, toys, and games to help you grow strong and smart.”
How to explain therapy to a child? Therapy helps your body and brain learn new things. Say, “Therapy is where you go to practice stuff that’s hard for you, like using scissors or tying your shoes. You’ll play, move, and do fun activities that help make those things easier.”
What does therapy mean for kids? Therapy is a way to help kids feel better, learn new skills, and handle things that might feel hard. It might involve movement, games, crafts, or practicing everyday routines with a helper.
What is therapy in simple terms? Therapy is when someone helps you get better at something. For kids, it often looks like playtime with a purpose, building strength, focus, or emotional skills in a fun and safe way.
How to explain treatment to a child? You can say, “Treatment is something we do to help your body or brain feel stronger or work better. It might mean playing games, using cool tools, or learning ways to stay calm or move more easily.”
What is the main purpose of occupational therapy? The main goal of occupational therapy is to help kids become more independent and successful in their daily lives. That means building the skills they need for school, home, play, and relationships, all while supporting their development in a personalized and engaging way.
Your child’s occupational therapist will be the biggest advocate on your child’s team. Use them as a resource! However, I wanted to offer resources here as well. These are great places to start when it comes to discovering tools, strategies, and specific activities that can help your child. I’ve had many parents of kids receiving therapy tell me that they’ve passed information and resources from this site onto their therapists. I’ve also had many therapists tell me that they’ve found this site because of a parent’s recommendation or request to work on specific areas of need. This is your starting space to find the resources and tools that will best serve your child.
Occupational Therapy Home Programs– START HERE for activities to work on occupational therapy goals or specific skills at home, so kids can do the very activities that your child’s OT might suggest to supplement or support therapy services.
Executive Function Resources for Parents
Executive Functioning Resources– START HERE for resources, activities, and strategies to address attention, impulse control, planning, prioritization, organization, problem solving, and other brain-related challenges that impact learning and accomplishing chores or daily tasks at home.
Fine Motor Skills– START HEREfor specific activities designed to help kids develop stronger hands so they can manipulate toys and clothing fasteners…or have enough endurance to color a picture without complaining their hands are tired…or have strong fingers that can hold the pencil so they can write neatly and so you can read their handwriting.
Occupations of Kids…resources for Parents to Help Kids Become More Independent
Occupations– START HERE to help your child build independence in their daily tasks like getting themselves dressed, tying their shoes, learning to type, potty training, staying safe in the community, and all of the exact ways that parents want their children to grow and learn.
Handwriting– START HERE to understand what’s going on behind sloppy handwriting. You’ll find resources and specific strategies to help kids write on the lines, space between words, form letters accurately, learn cursive writing, so they can write independency and so you and others can read their writing.
Sensory– START HERE to help your child manage their behaviors, emotions, and all things “sensory”. OTs help kids tolerate and accommodate for sensory input like that scratchy tag on their clothes or their hatred for the sock seam on their feet. They can help kids with the tools they need for picky eating, specific sounds, or other sensory issues. Therapists can help you create a sensory diet that works and that kids actually want to do. There is so much to sensory and you can find activities and tools to help.
Vision– START HERE for information on what’s going on behind trouble with reading, coordination troubles, or even math. Did you know that vision is related to all of these things? It’s true! Here, you’ll find your way on how to help your child with visual perceptual skills, visual motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and even motor planning! Wondering what these words even mean and how they relate to your kiddo? We’ve got you covered!
There is a lot to consider when it comes to occupational therapy for your child. One thing is for certain, though: in occupational therapy, dreams and that far-reaching goal does become possible. Whether it’s getting your child to follow morning routines, banishing picky eating, or helping your kiddo to regulate their emotions, occupational therapy can help.
Occupational therapists use play, activities, and strategies that address underlying areas so that your child can accomplish the goals they have for themselves, too. From learning to ride a bike, learning cartwheels, or mastering climbing that tree.
One thing is for certain; having a child in therapy that is led by an occupational therapist will lead to organizing, motivating, and fun play that drives independence in your child!
Be sure to reach out to your child’s occupational therapist with specific questions!
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.
Having a summer bucket list of Summer activities for kids that keeps kids from the inevitable summer boredom is good. And using an occupational therapy perspective on your Summer fun is better! We wanted to put together a Summer bucket list that actually helps kids develop skills and gain stronger bodies is powerful! This list of Summer things to do with kids and families this summer is a list of therapist-approved activities that help promote stronger core muscles, refined fine motor skills, and the very skills kids need to learn, play, and develop.
Read on for fine motor Summer fun and gross motor ideas for Summer that keep kids moving!
I also updated this blog post to add a big list of daily tasks that kids can do this Summer that are daily life skills tasks. These are important because these life skills are ones that happen during the day and are important to building functional skills in our kids. They also really facilitate executive functioning skills! I love to use a list like this along with a task tracker or a daily chore checklist type of printable because you can have your child do the tasks that contribute to the family household and they are learning at the same time. You could also use this list along with our screentime checklist where kids need to do a certain number of items from their list before they earn screentime for the Summer day.
Summer Bucket List
Need things to do this summer with the kids? Need therapist-approved activities for the whole family, that actually help kids develop motor skills, get off the screens, and build stronger kids? This printable list of summer activities for kids and families is just the thing to battle the boredom this summer!
I am a mom of four. I have heard, “I’m bored!” 4,000 times. Each summer. This summer might look a little different that most years, and because of that, I wanted to come up with summer activities for kids that are therapy-approved. These are summer things and active play ideas. You might call this an adventure challenge. You might call it a therapy home program. What this list of summer activities is for certain, is a way to get the kids active and off the screens. This list of 100 summer things (actually 104 summer things) costs little to no money, use the items found around the house, and meets the needs of kids. It’s part of our Wellness Challenge (More info on that coming next week!)
100 Things to do this summer
There is just something fun about creating a summer bucket list with the kids. But, what if you could hand-pick the very summer activities that help kids gross stronger muscles, gain sensory input that helps with regulation, and motor activities that improve balance, coordination, strength, and endurance? What if your summer bucket list not only built a summer of family memories, but also stronger and more functional minds and bodies?
This printable summer bucket list does just that!
Well, here we are at the tail end of another school year. This is the time that most parents and teachers celebrate the end of school and the start of summer…maybe more than the kids. With the end of the school year, it’s a time to celebrate lazy, hazy days of summer. This year is a different. Parents are celebrating the end of distance learning. Teaching kids at home through distance learning, while working from home is simply not a sustainable task for most. The list below is 100 things to do this summer. These are activities to keep the kids (and the whole family) active, and enjoying time together in play. Play is healing. Play is a learning opportunity.
For pediatric occupational therapists, we know that play is the primary occupation of the child. Play is therapy and therapy is play. These summer activities for kids are designed to boost skills, while helping children emotionally, physically, and mentally.
Kids NEED active play. They NEED to move. Kids need to create, think outside of the box, and they need to be bored. With boredom comes creativity, interest-based thinking, and innovation. This list of 100 things to do this summer might be an idea starter.
The activities on this list fall into six categories: outdoor activities, indoor activities, water activities, games, creative “maker” activities, and imagination activities. Each summer activity challenges movement and is a summer activity that can be added to home programs.
When the kids say they are bored, send them to this summer bucket list checklist and ask them to pick something on the list. With 104 ideas, there is something for each day this summer.
Summer Bucket List for Occupational Therapy
The activities on this summer activity list inspire active play for kids. They build heavy work to add proprioceptive input. They add movement for vestibular input. They add tactile input. The activities are calming or alerting. They are sensory-based movement activities.
Use this list as a home program. The list can be sent home to parents to inspire active play each day. Or, post it on your fridge and when the kids say they need something to do, ask them to pick one activity. Your challenge is to complete as many of the activities as you can. When boredom strikes, add these activities.
Outdoor Active Play for a summer bucket list
Obstacle course
Nature walk
Climb a tree
Kick a ball
Driveway chalk
Go for a hike
Roll down a hill
Make a hideout
Draw the clouds
Run around the house
Pick flowers
Do jumping jacks
Fly a kite
Draw with chalk
Go swimming
Ride a bike
Watch the birds
Indoor Activities for a Summer BUCKET LIST
Animal walks
Couch cushion course
Balloon toss
Bowl plastic cups
Indoor balance beam
Freeze dance
Yoga
Build puzzles
Hand clapping games
Board games
Catch socks
Write in a journal
Wheelbarrow walks
Army crawls
Wall push-ups
Dance party
Play with stickers
SUMMER BUCKET LIST Water Activites
Water sensory bin
Spray bottle art
Squirt gun painting
Paint with water
Swim
Play in a sprinkler
Make a sensory bottle
Make sponge balls
Play in the hose water
Water flowers
Wash a car
play in the rain
Water table
Water balloons
Play in soapy water
Bubbles
Sink or float tests
Summer Bucket List Games
Red rover
Play tag
Hide and seek
Play Uno
Play cards
Soccer
Catch a football
Board games
Hopscotch
4 Square
Basketball
Relay Race
Charades
7 Up
Mr. Wolf
Tug of war
Lawn tic tac toe
Bean bag toss
Creative Activities for Summer
Torn paper art
Make play dough
Build with LEGO
Finger paint
Make a fort
Make a recipe
STM project
Make lemonade
Paint rocks
Leaf resist art
Coffee filter butterfly
Toilet paper roll craft
Paper bag puppets
Make bird treats
Create a song
Write a letter
Bake cookies
Draw
Imagination Play for summer
Think of a goal for you to accomplish
Dress up
Make up a play
Invent something
Make up a dance
Act out a story
Write a story
Imagine a cardboard box is something unique
Pretend to be something or someone else
Think of a new ending to a movie
Imagine all the things you are grateful for
Imagine you had $1,000. What would you do?
Think of a random act of kindness. And do it
Imagine you were…whatever you could do or be. How can you get to that point? Make a list of the steps.
Get this list in a printable format below! Print it off, hand it out as an occupational therapy home program, or hang it on the fridge and when the kids say they are bored, direct them to the list!
Life Skills List for Summer
I also wanted to make a list of life skills tasks that kids can do this Summer. These are great to add to a Summer list, especially for daily tasks that kids do before doing something fun like playing outside with their friends or heading to the pool. Yes, it’s ok (and good!) to make kids do a short list of basic chores before they head out for the day.
Help with meal prep (cutting, stirring, measuring)
Plan a picnic
Follow a recipe
Set the table for dinner
Sort mail with a parent
Budget and spend allowance money
Create and stick to a summer reading plan
Pack and unpack a travel bag
Choose clothes for the next day
Organize art supplies or craft materials
Make a cleaning checklist
Plan a family game night
Clean out a closet or drawer
Track the weather and dress appropriately
Keep a daily journal
Plan a backyard scavenger hunt
Check and refill household supplies
Make a summer calendar with events and activities
Plan a DIY project or craft
Keep a daily hydration log
Create a quiet-time routine
Use timers to stay on task
Write a packing list for a sleepover
Take inventory of school supplies
More things to do this summer
For more therapist-approved things to do this summer, use the Summer OT Bundle to work on all things handwriting, hand strength, fine motor skills, puzzles, scissor skills, and function in FUN and engaging ways.
If you are a therapist who just doesn’t have it in you to reinvent the wheel this summer, the Summer OT Bundle is for you.
If you are a parent who wants to work on the skills kids NEED to develop so they can write with a pencil and use scissors (but you’re tired of hearing the complaining about doing these activities), the Summer OT Bundle is for you.
If you need resources and tools to fill home programs, extended year programs, summer camps, or to have the babysitter do with the kids, the Summer OT Bundle is for you.
It’s 19 different products, resources, activities and guides to help kids gain the very motor skills they need to thrive. Read more about the Summer OT Bundle here and start having fun in effective ways this summer!
Grab a copy of our Summer bucket list and send it home with therapy students for low-prep activities that support skill development. We wanted to select activities that are low budget and can be done over the Summer months. This is a great home program for carrying over skills…in a low effort way.
I love that these bucket list items are in a checklist format too…you can have your kids check off as many tasks as they do, without using a calendar that limits the students to a specific task each day.
This printable is found inside The OT Toolbox membership club (Level 1 free downloads) and Level 2.
Enter your email here to get your copy:
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.
Have you ever thought about running a camp program as part of your therapy offerings? Maybe you work at an outpatient therapy clinic and are looking for summer camps to offer to kids for a cash-based service. Perhaps you are looking for themed ideas to add to summer therapy sessions. Maybe you want to offer a therapeutic summer program that hits on specific skill areas. Or, maybe you are wondering how to set up a DIY backyard summer camp for your kids. A therapy camp may be just the way to build skills in a fun way this summer.
Before we jump into HOW to actually do this, be sure to check out the resource we’ve added to our shop: Create Your Own Summer Camp Side-Business. This is a printable workbook that walks you through every step of setting up a paid Summer Camp. You can use this process for year-round paid playgroups, handwriting tutoring, or any themed group.
The Summer Camp & Tutoring Side Business Workbook gives you everything you need to plan, price, and launch your own skill-based program, perfect for OTs, PTs, and SLPs who want to use their expertise in a fun, flexible way.
Setting up a space camp, handwriting camp, or sensory camp as a supplemental activity resource is easy and requires just a little planning. In this post, we’ll discuss how to set up a camp program as a side income, a supplemental service to therapy clinics, a summer therapeutic camp, or DIY home program.
How to start a therapy Summer Camp
The steps below will help you decide how to run a summer camp at home or as a therapy camp that supplements summer programming.
The first thing to consider (prior to deciding on a theme or goals of the summer camp) is to determine the scope of your therapy camp. Is it a supplement to therapy where therapy goals will be addressed generally across a group of kids? Will insurance need to be involved? Will you be using your therapy license to make clinical decisions? Or, will the summer program be a supplement to therapy where goals are not specific to each child and each child moves through the same set of activities without individualized adjustments? Will the camp be a cash-based activity type of program, designed to prevent summer slide in handwriting or pencil grasp skills? Or will the summer camp act as a developmental play sessions? All of these are important to questions to consider before making other decisions on the program.
Decide on the summer camp theme
First, you’ll want to decide on the theme of your summer camp. Will your theme be based on an interest area? Some ideas include pirate theme, outer space theme, water theme, sports theme, fairies theme, and more. The options are truly limitless when if comes to a summer camp theme. The best thing about a themed summer camp program is that kids are typically highly motivated if the theme interests them.
Summer camp theme ideas
Summer camp theme ideas can be as specific or general as you like.
Summer camp themes can be based on skills: fine motor, gross motor, handwriting, cursive writing, executive functioning skills, cursive writing, shoe tying, etc.
Summer camps can also be based on the activities that will be done: play dough, science experiments, gardening, cooking, dancing, acting, writing, or messy sensory play.
Or, the summer camp theme ideas can be based on a general theme like princesses, pirates, fairies, pretend play, cooking, nature, hiking, obstacle courses, camping, or anything! There are so many ways to incorporate interests and meaningful, motivating themes into a summer camp theme.
You can find lots of weekly theme ideas here. These are tailored toward using a set theme in occupational therapy sessions, but are designed to be open-ended so that they can be adjusted to meet a variety of needs and skill levels like in a typical therapy caseload. The thing about a summer camp program is that the activities are not therapeutic or individual in nature. Rather, they are a set of specific activities and so the weekly themes you find in this resource will be quite helpful in planning themed activities.
When I ran a cash-based program, the first thing that I decided on was the theme. We had a 4 week session with one class each week. The theme of the entire program was a Dig into Spring! theme. By deciding to first cover the overall theme of spring, I was able to come up with specific activities designed on the various skills being covered in the camp program.
Decide on the Skills being addressed in the therapy camp
Next, decide on the specific skills you are targeting. With a therapy camp, you likely won’t address specific goals. Rather, all of the participants will go through the activities as a supplement to build strength, sensory participation, or practice functional tasks. Are you going to cover sensory participation? Handwriting? Motor skills? Learning? Executive functioning skills? There are limitless options when it comes to skills being covered in a summer camp program.
Make these skills as specific or general as you like. You’ll also need to consider the age of the child and general child development.
Back to my Dig into Spring! camp…After deciding on the theme, coming up with the skills was next. I knew I wanted play and sensory activities to be predominant. Sensory based play is not an easy home program for some families to set up for children. Between the mess and the materials needed for sensory experiences, it can be hard to set up many activities that are so needed and powerful tools for building other underlying areas of development. I took the overarching skills of sensory participation and added fine motor work, core motor strength, balance, coordination, and handwriting.
The nice thing about planning your own backyard summer camp (or summer camp program at a therapy site), is that you can tailor the activities to meet the needs of the kids you serve. An outpatient setting may want to set up a handwriting camp that gets children involved in fine motor strengthening activities with a mix of handwriting. Another group may include executive functioning tasks for high school aged students. Whether you want to highlight fine motor skills, sensory activities, or executive functioning, the sky is the limit when it comes to a diy summer camp.
In a summer camp for kids, all of the children will participate in the activities at the same level. There won’t be specific goals being covered or adaptations or modifications. Now, if a child has a therapist or a support person that is involved in the activities who is able to modify the specific tasks and perform them as part of a therapy goal session, that is a different topic. For the discussion here, we are just covering the set-up of a therapy supplemental program or play group.
If you are setting up a camp as part of an adjunct to a clinic or a therapeutic summer camp program, there may be additional liabilities, payment or insurance considerations, and goals that need to be established.
Therapy Camp LOGistics
Next, decide on programming. How would you like to run this camp? Is it going to be one activity per day? For a backyard camp, keeping things open-ended at first can be beneficial for the whole family. Decide on one activity to address each day. For a more organized camp such as those being held in a therapy setting, perhaps you have a list of activities to run through each session.
Some tips include:
Have more activities available.
If children work through the activities quickly, you will want to have other ideas available.
Have extra “busy time” camp ideas ready.
For the students that arrive early or leave a little later than other students, you can set them up with extra activities.
Decide how you will set up the various activities.
Will the whole group work through the activities together in a centers type of set up? Will you break the group up into smaller groups? Will kids rotate through the centers a different times? All of this depends on the number of participants in the group as well as the help that you have available.
Will parents remain with children during the camp or will they drop off the students?
Be prepared with background information.
Be sure to get contact information and background information such as allergies, background information, and any other information needed.
Create a check-in/check-out system.
Create a system to allow for safe check-in/check out, especially if the camp set-up is drop-off style. Depending on the nature of the camp and location, this may require some extra thought and preparations.
Set up Summer camp disclaimers.
Be sure to indicate in several places that the activities completed in your summer camp will not be therapeutic in nature. If you are a therapist, the activities will not be therapy! They are developmentally appropriate play-based activities that allow children to explore motor skills, sensory input, and are not a substitute for therapy. You may want to have this disclaimer in writing which parents of camp attendees agree to in writing.
Another important disclaimer to include is write out a form for parents to sign which indicates safety and liability issues. This is a form that you may want to have written up by a lawyer, specific to your state and your particular summer camp programming activities.
Establish social distancing or other safety measures.
Another consideration is regarding current situations in the way of health and safety. This consideration also requires forethought and planning depending on your situation and summer camp.
plan the summer camp activities
Now comes the fun part. Once you have a theme and skills decided on, you can begin to plan out your activities.
Gather your ideas and your programming. Do a search on The OT Toolbox to look for activities for various themes and skill areas. We’ve got a lot of ideas here, so there should be something for every topic and skill.
Finally, start filling in the programming with your activities. Summer camp activities may include a warm up activity, a gross motor activities, fine motor space activities, sensory activities, and more. Perhaps you a have a writing portion to incorporate handwriting in fun and “non-handwriting” way. Ask kids to check in or write their favorite thing you did that day as a way to incorporate writing without asking them to sit and actually practice written work.
One great tool to incorporate into any therapy camp is our Summer Sensory Stations. The printables can be used to support mindfulness, self-regulation, coping skills, motor coordination, and strengthening. But best of all, they are a great transition tool to use in therapy camp activities.
Summer camp ProGram Ideas
Sensory Summer Camp – Set up a backyard summer sensory camp that incorporates messy play experiences and motor skill development through play and interaction with friends.
Sensory Handwriting Summer Camp- Helping kids with handwriting? Use the ideas in this sensory handwriting camp to help with letter formation, sizing, spacing, and pencil grasp using sensory play-based activities.
Typing Camp- If you’re looking for an out-of-the-box idea for a summer camp program, how about a keyboarding club that helps kids improve typing skills, keyboard use, and typing speed?
Summer Cooking Camp– A cooking camp is a fun way to spend the summer cooking up recipes, creating summer memories, and helping with problem solving, creativity, executive functioning skills, and motor development. Try the recipes in our cooking with kids recipe collection (an A-Z Recipes collection)!
Cursive Writing Camp– Use the activities and ideas in this 31 days of cursive to teach cursive writing skills, letter formation.
Fine Motor Summer Camp– Work on fine motor skills through play. Set up activities with various materials each day of the summer camp:
Play Dough Summer Camp- How fun would it be to make play dough and explore textures, while strengthening fine motor skills? Try of the sensory dough recipes of our best homemade play dough recipes.
So, what summer camps are you thinking of?
Set up Your Own Summer Camp
What’s next? Actually taking the steps to create your own Summer side-gig! If you’re ready to take the leap and turn your camp idea into something real, the Summer Camp & Tutoring Side Business Workbook is your perfect next step. Created specifically for OT, PT, and SLP professionals, this printable guide walks you through everything you need to set up and run your own skill-based summer program. It walks you through everything you need to know about this process, from planning and pricing to registration forms, waivers, and activity templates.
Whether you’re thinking about a handwriting bootcamp, sensory playgroup, or life skills club, this workbook helps you put your ideas into action, on your schedule, with your expertise, and without the overwhelm.
This workbook was inspired by my own experience starting a sensory playgroup while juggling work and mom life. I built it on my own terms, brought my kids along, and created fun, meaningful experiences that supported real skill development, and made extra income while doing it.
…and everything you need to confidently launch a camp, playgroup, or tutoring program this summer.
Whether you want to run handwriting bootcamps, sensory skill groups, or one-on-one sessions, you don’t need a full course or new certification. You just need a starting point. This is 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.
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with engaging and skill-building activities is a fun way to support child development while incorporating a festive theme. At The OT Toolbox, we believe in using hands-on activities to promote fine motor skills, sensory exploration, and movement, all while keeping therapy sessions fun and engaging. Incorporating St. Patrick’s Day occupational therapy activities into your lesson plans or therapy sessions can help children develop essential skills through play and creativity. It’s a therapy theme that’s fun and functional!
From shamrock fine motor activities and leprechaun-themed crafts to rainbow gross motor games (and other rainbow activities), or a fun pot-of-gold sensory play, this page is filled with creative ways to target developmental skills in a fun and meaningful way. Whether you’re working on cutting skills with shamrock templates (find them inside The OT Toolbox membership!), strengthening hand muscles with leprechaun bead stringing, or encouraging movement through treasure hunts, these St. Patrick’s Day OT activities offer something for every child to enjoy while supporting their growth and independence.
Because we love focusing on fine motor skills through play, that means we get to have fun and get creative in our occupational therapy sessions with fun crafts, sensory bins, play-based obstacle courses and more!
Looking for St. Patrick’s Day activities to work on skills in therapy sessions that use a St. Patrick’s day theme? Here, you’ll find four leaf clover activities, rainbow activities, St. Patrick’s Day crafts, snacks, and more. Use these ideas to foster child development of functional skills using a fun theme.
St. Patrick’s Day ideas for Therapy
How is it March already?? We’ve got lion-like weather yet again around here, but spring, rainbows, and lamb-weather are on the horizon, Yay for warmer weather!
These St. Patrick’s Day theme activities and ideas are great for planning therapy sessions based on four leaf clovers, shamrocks, leprechauns, and pot of gold fun. It’s time to get in a spring-like mood and a fun little themed play date or preschool party sounds like just the thing Check out the ideas below for green-themed party ideas for the kids.
St. Patrick’s Day Theme in therapy
Having a weekly theme in your therapy sessions makes planning much easier. Each St Patrick’s Day activity can be adjusted to meet different levels and functional goal area depending on the kids that therapists are serving.
Check out all of the St. Patrick’s Day theme activities below. You’ll find resources for teletherapy, fine motor, gross motor, crafts, and more. If St. Patrick’s Day ideas for kindergarten, preschool, or specific age groups are what you’re looking for, you are in luck.
St. Patrick’s Day PDFs
Feeling lucky for some last minute St. Patty’s day treats? These materials are all click and go. You can download the St. Patrick’s Day PDFs, print them off, and start using to develop fine motor skills, visual perception, handwriting, and more.
You’ll find shamrocks, clovers, and rainbow activities that kids will love:
There are more free St. Patrick’s Day activities and downloads below, too. We’ve sorted these out by free slide decks, and activity areas.
St. Patrick’s Day theme therapy slide decks
Try these St. Patrick’s Day therapy activities in the format of a free Google slide deck. Therapists can go through the slides with the clients on their caseload and foster development of goal areas.
St. Patrick’s Day Write and Sign slide deck– Work on handwriting with these writing prompt activities. Then use ASL to sign the words, building fine motor dexterity, coordination, finger isolation, and motor planning.
Shamrock Visual Perception slide deck– This slide deck includes 7 different visual perception activities. Kids can move the pieces on the slide decks to work on areas such as visual discrimination, visual attention, visual scanning, and much more.
Four Leaf Clover Balance Exercises– Go through the slides and follow the exercises as kids are challenged to balance a pillow or beanbag in different ways (a stuffed animal or roll of socks works too!). Encourage coordination, motor planning, core strength, proprioceptive input, and more.
Rainbow Visual Motor Activities slide deck– Working on handwriting, but the underlying issue of copying forms and visual motor integration is an issue? Kids can copy simple-to-complex rainbow forms and work on pencil control, eye-hand coordination, and more.
More St. Patrick’s day Ideas
St. Patrick’s Day Party Snacks for Kids
To really build fine motor skills and executive functioning in kids, have them make these healthy rainbow snacks. There is a lot of skill-building to happen in the kitchen.
St. Patrick’s Day Songs for Kids
Get the party started with some Leprechaun Songs for St. Patrick’s Day from Let’s Play Music. Wouldn’t these be fun songs to sit the kids in a circle for a preschool sing-a-long?
St. Patrick’s Day Printable Pages for Kids
Set up a little table with some print outs to keep the kids busy and having fun with friends. Scatter a box of crayons and a pile of printable sheets on a little picnic table are all you need.
Cutting strips of paper or foam craft sheets are great fine motor work for beginner scissor users. If you are looking for St. Patrick’s Day activities for kindergarten and preschool ages, have kids cut strips of colorful paper like we did in this rainbow window activity.
St. Patrick’s Day Games and Activities for Kids
If sensory play is your thing, a green rice sensory bin would be so much fun…throw a sheet down on the floor (or a baby pool set up indoors would work, too!) and let the kids in on the sensory fun with 3 Rainbow Sensory Bins!
Rainbow Handwriting Kit– This resource pack includes handwriting sheets, write the room cards, color worksheets, visual motor activities, and so much more. The handwriting kit includes:
Write the Room, Color Names: Lowercase Letters
Write the Room, Color Names: Uppercase Letters
Write the Room, Color Names: Cursive Writing
Copy/Draw/Color/Cut Color Worksheets
Colors Roll & Write Page
Color Names Letter Size Puzzle Pages
Flip and Fill A-Z Letter Pages
Colors Pre-Writing Lines Pencil Control Mazes
This handwriting kit now includes a bonus pack of pencil control worksheets, 1-10 fine motor clip cards, visual discrimination maze for directionality, handwriting sheets, and working memory/direction following sheet! Valued at $5, this bonus kit triples the goal areas you can work on in each therapy session or home program.
Use these St. Patrick’s day theme ideas in working on fine motor skills with kids. Amazon links included below.
6 Fine Motor Activities Using Gold Coins– This printable handout on 6 fine motor activities using coins strengthens those fine motor skills using just a handful of coins. We used plastic gold coins in our activity, but you could use pennies as well.
Shamrock Balance Beam– Cut out shamrocks from paper and use them to make a balance beam to incorporate core strength, coordination, vestibular input, and more.
Finger Isolation Clover Fingerprints– Got paint? Use it to make fun fingerprint 4 leaf clovers and work on finger isolation, separation of the sides of the hand, eye-hand coordination, and more. This would be fun with homemade puffy paints, too (just need flour & water).
Bilateral Coordination Clover Activity– Stick a piece of paper to the wall and draw symmetrical clovers to work on bilateral coordination, visual tracking, visual motor integration, and more.
Four Leaf Clover Deep Breathing Exercise & Coloring Page– Take mindful coloring to the next level with this deep breathing exercise. Kids can color and then use the printout as a deep breathing exercise over and over again.
St. Patrick’s Day Gross Motor Activities
Next up are gross motor activities for a St. Patrick’s Day theme in occupational therapy sessions.
My main favorite activity to address balance, coordination, and motor planning in OT sessions is by creating a shamrock balance beam. You can challenge a variety of skills like walking on tip toes, balancing on one foot, stooping and squatting, and more.
Carry the gold (balance small objects while walking)
Shamrock sack race
Crawling through a rainbow tunnel
Tossing golden coins into a target
Frog jumps over shamrocks
Pot-of-gold bowling using green bottles as pins
Treasure hunt with clues requiring gross motor actions
Parachute games with gold coins or green balloons
Leprechaun chase game (tag with a St. Patrick’s Day twist)
St. Patrick’s Day Fine Motor Activities
We can incorporate fine motor development into therapy sessions in a lot of different ways. Things like using fake gold coins is one favorite idea. You can check out our:
Stringing rainbow-colored beads to make a necklace
Cutting out shamrock shapes from paper
Tearing green tissue paper to create a collage
Using clothespins to clip gold coins onto a string
Tracing and decorating shamrocks with glitter glue
Placing stickers on a rainbow outline
Rolling and shaping playdough into leprechaun hats
Transferring small pom-poms with tongs to a pot of gold
Threading pipe cleaners through a colander to make a rainbow
Pinching and placing small sequins onto a leprechaun craft
Folding paper to make origami four-leaf clovers
Punching holes along the edges of a shamrock to lace with yarn
Peeling and sticking gold star stickers onto a chart
Squeezing a glue bottle to make a rainbow craft
Using Q-tips to paint tiny gold coins
Stamping shamrocks with small sponges
Sorting and placing mini rainbow erasers into sections of an ice cube tray
Using a dropper to transfer green-colored water into a container
Scrunching tissue paper to create a textured rainbow craft
St. Patrick Sensory Bins
The nice thing about a sensory bin is that you can target so many goal areas- work on tactile discrimination. Address crossing midline. Work on attention or visual motor skills. Here are some of our favorite St. Patrick’s Day sensory bin ideas:
Kinetic sand with small St. Patrick’s Day-themed molds
Cotton balls and rainbow-colored pom-poms for a cloud and gold treasure hunt
Dry split peas with hidden letters or numbers for a matching game
Green slime with gold glitter and mini plastic coins
Dry oatmeal with rainbow-colored scoops and spoons
Rainbow-colored sensory foam with hidden gold gems
Green playdough with shamrock cookie cutters and small rolling pins
Crinkle paper or tissue paper squares in rainbow colors with tongs for fine motor play
Water with floating green and gold sensory items
Dyed salt with paintbrushes for tracing letters and shamrocks
Cornmeal or flour “gold dust” with hidden treasure items
Cotton balls with peppermint extract for a “lucky cloud” bin
Ice cubes with frozen gold coins for a melting treasure hunt
Cereal rainbow (Froot Loops) with scoops and tongs for sorting
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.
