occupational therapy activities

Child in therapy? Start Here

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Have a child in therapy? This resource for parents of kids in occupational therapy is a great starting point for OT resources parents need.

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…

Have a child in therapy? This resource for parents of kids in occupational therapy is a great starting point for OT resources parents need.

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!

Occupational therapy is the climb quote.

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
  • Leisure activities
  • Sleep
  • Toileting and potty training
  • Safety in the community
  • Feeding and oral motor skills
  • Addressing food texture issues or picky eating
  • Sensory processing
  • Self-regulation
  • Emotional-regulation
  • Social participation
  • 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.

Resources for parents of a child in therapy

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 Resources for parents

Fine Motor Skills– START HERE for 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 Resources for parents

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!

A final note to parents of a child in therapy

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.

150 Things to do This Summer

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Print off this summer activity challenge for kids and keep the kids active and screen free this summer

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!)

Print off this summer bucket list activity challenge for kids and keep the kids active and screen free this summer

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 activities for occupational therapy home programs

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!

use this activity challenge for kids that are bored this summer or to use in ot home programs
summer activities for kids

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.

Use this list along with our printable tools:

Life Skills Kids Can Do at Home This Summer

  1. Make their own breakfast or lunch
  2. Sort laundry by colors
  3. Fold and put away clean clothes
  4. Water plants on a schedule
  5. Make a grocery list with a parent
  6. Pack a bag for a day trip
  7. Sweep or vacuum a room
  8. Take out the trash and recycling
  9. Set a daily chore schedule
  10. Follow a morning routine independently
  11. Load and unload the dishwasher
  12. Clean up after a meal
  13. Plan and prepare a simple snack
  14. Brush and groom a pet
  15. Clean their room weekly
  16. Organize a bookshelf or toy shelf
  17. Write and mail a thank-you note
  18. Track their own screen time or reading minutes
  19. Make a to-do list for the day
  20. Check off completed tasks on a checklist
  21. Follow a visual schedule for the day
  22. Create a simple meal plan for a week
  23. Refill a water bottle throughout the day
  24. Practice telling time with a clock
  25. Make their own bed
  26. Dust furniture in one room
  27. Help with meal prep (cutting, stirring, measuring)
  28. Plan a picnic
  29. Follow a recipe
  30. Set the table for dinner
  31. Sort mail with a parent
  32. Budget and spend allowance money
  33. Create and stick to a summer reading plan
  34. Pack and unpack a travel bag
  35. Choose clothes for the next day
  36. Organize art supplies or craft materials
  37. Make a cleaning checklist
  38. Plan a family game night
  39. Clean out a closet or drawer
  40. Track the weather and dress appropriately
  41. Keep a daily journal
  42. Plan a backyard scavenger hunt
  43. Check and refill household supplies
  44. Make a summer calendar with events and activities
  45. Plan a DIY project or craft
  46. Keep a daily hydration log
  47. Create a quiet-time routine
  48. Use timers to stay on task
  49. Write a packing list for a sleepover
  50. 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!

Summer Occupational therapy bundle

Click here to grab your copy of the Summer OT Bundle!

Free Summer Bucket List

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:

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

    How to Run a Therapy Camp

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    How to set up a therapy summer camp

    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.

    How to create a therapy summer camp

    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.

    therapy summer camp ideas

    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.

    therapy summer camp ideas

    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 themes

    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.

    Now it’s your turn! Check out the Summer Camp Guide Workbook here.

    Inside the workbook, you’ll find:

    • Program planning worksheets
    • Budget and pricing calculator
    • Activity planners
    • Registration and intake forms
    • Legal/safety templates (like waivers)
    • Ideas for promotion, themes, and scheduling
    • …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.

    Grab the workbook here.

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

    Occupational Therapy Month Ideas for 2025

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    Low effort ways to celebrate OT month

    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. 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!

    occupational therapy month ideas

    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.

    1. 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.
    2. 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!
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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 celebrate OT month include wearing a t-shirt for occupational therapy month

    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.

    1. 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.
    2. 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).
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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!
    6. 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 memes for OT month

    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. 

     

     

    Kinesthetic learning activities
     
    DAY 1: Kinesthetic Learning- Try these kinesthetic learning activities.
     
    Vestibular activities for kids
     
    DAY 2: Vestibular Activities- Try these vestibular activities.
     
    Toys and tools to help with attention
     
    DAY 3: Try these toys and tools to help with visual attention.
     
    Laterality and hand dominance
     
    DAY 4: Try these activities to address laterality and hand dominance.
     
    Proprioception activities
     
    DAY 5: Try these activities to develop and address proprioception needs. 
     
    Distal finger control exercises
     
    DAY 6: Try these distal finger control exercises.
     
    Neat pincer grasp activities
     
    DAY 7: Try these Neat Pincer Grasp activities.
     
    Tactile sensory input activities
     
    DAY 8: Try these activities to develop tactile discrimination and the tactile sense.
     
    Bilateral coordination activities
     
    DAY 9: Try these Bilateral Coordination activities.
     
    What is motor planning activities
     
    DAY 10: Try these activities if you are wondering, “What is motor planning?”
     

       olfactory sense scented play

    DAY 11: Try these olfactory sense scented play ideas.

    Eye-hand coordination activities
     
    DAY 12: Try these eye-hand coordination activities.
     
    Visual scanning activity
     
    DAY 13: This is a fun visual scanning activity.
     
    In-hand manipulation activities
     
    DAY 14: Read more about in-hand manipulation activities.
     
    What is finger isolation
     
    DAY 15: Read more about finger isolation.
     
    Precision of grasp activities
     
    DAY 16: Try these precision of grasp activities.
     
    Visual discrimination activity
     
    DAY 17: Try this activity to build visual discrimination.
     
    What is visual memory
     
    DAY 18: Read more about visual memory here.
     
    Visual closure activity
     
    DAY 19: Try this activity to develop visual closure.
     
    Form constancy visual perception activity
     
    DAY 20: Try this technique to develop form constancy.
     
     
    DAY 21: This is a fun way to develop visual figure ground skills.
     
    Visual tracking tips and tools
     
    DAY 22: Try these visual tracking tips and tools.
     
    auditory processing activities
     
    Day 23: Try these auditory processing activities.
     
    Core strengthening with music
     
    Day 24: Work on core strengthening with music.
     
    intrinsic hand strengthening
     
    DAY 25: Use these strategies to build intrinsic hand strength.
     
    Task initiation executive functioning strategies
     
    DAY 26: Try these task initiation executive functioning strategies.
     
    Wrist extension in occupational therapy month
     
    DAY 27: Use these toys for extended wrist stability.
     
    How to help kids learn impulse control
     
    DAY 28: Use these ideas to help kids learn impulse control.
     
    Use animal crackers oral motor exercise
     
    DAY 29: This is a fun way to practice oral motor exercise.
     
    Visual spatial skills
     
    DAY 30: Try these activities to help with visual spatial skills.

    More OT Month Graphics

    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!

    Occupational therapy graphic
    OT month graphic
    OT month image
    OT month graphic
    Occupational therapy month graphic
    occupational therapy month
    Occupational therapy month image
    Occupational therapy month images to share
    Occupational therapy month quote
    Happy OT month
    What is occupational therapy quote

    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!

    April is OT month banner
    Happy OT month banner
    Happy occupational therapy month banner
    Happy occupational therapy month banner for email
    April is occupational therapy month banner
    April is occupational therapy month email signature
    April is OT month signature banner
    OT month email signature banner

    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.

    St. Patrick’s Day Occupational Therapy Activities

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    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!

    Occupational Therapy Occupational Therapy Activities

    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.
     

    Use a St. Patrick's day theme in planning therapy activities with 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:
     
    ☘️Clover Maze
    ☘️Rainbow Template
     
    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 Gross Motor/ Pre-Writing Lines slide deck– Kids can “air write” and copy pre-writing rainbow lines.

    ​Rainbow Emotions Spot It Game slide deck– Work on social emotional skills and visual discrimination and other visual perceptual skills with a matching game.

    ​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!

     
    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.

    Click here to get your copy of the Colors Handwriting Kit.

    St. Patrick's Day crafts for occupational therapy

    St. Patrick’s Day Fine Motor Activities 

    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.

    Other gross motor St. Patrick’s Day ideas are:

    • Draw a giant 4 leaf clover on the wall
    • Leprechaun gold coin relay race
    • Rainbow hopscotch using colored spots
    • Shamrock scavenger hunt with movement challenges
    • Pot-of-gold bean bag toss
    • Lucky charm obstacle course
    • Jumping over “rainbow puddles” (colored floor markers)
    • Gold coin toss into a pot challenge
    • St. Patrick’s Day-themed yoga poses (leprechaun stretch, rainbow arch, shamrock pose)
    • Rolling like a gold coin race
    • Leprechaun hat ring toss with large movements
    • Irish jig dance party for coordination and rhythm
    • 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:

    Here are more St. Patrick’s Day fine motor activities:

    • Make rainbow pipe cleaner bracelets
    • Picking up and sorting gold coins with tweezers
    • 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:

    • Rainbow sensory bins
    • Green-dyed rice with gold coins
    • Rainbow-colored pasta with scoops and cups
    • Shredded green paper with hidden shamrocks
    • Dyed chickpeas in shades of green and gold
    • 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.

    Back to School Activities

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

    Back to school therapy activities for occupational therapy

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

    Back to School Activities

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

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

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

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

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

    Online Icebreaker Activity

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

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

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

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

    Effective online learning

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Back to School Crafts

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

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

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

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

    Make a Space Man spacing tool.
    Make a DIY spacing tool.
    Make a pipe cleaner spacing tool for handwriting.

    First Day of School Printables

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

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

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

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

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

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

    More first day of school activities

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

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

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

    Back to school activities for occupational therapy or the classroom

    Back to School Therapy Plan

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

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

      back to school therapy bundle of occupational therapy resources

      Learning with Dyed Alphabet Pasta

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      alphabet letter pasta

      Grab a box of alphabet noodles for a fun multisensory learning activity that builds skills in many areas. We used letters pasta to create a sensory bin that incorporates fine motor skills and a letter learning activity.

      alphabet letter pasta activity

      Alphabet Noodles

      You might remember eating alphabet noodles as a child in soup. But if you have a box of letter noodles on hand, it’s easy to create a sensory play activity that builds skills.

      This easy dyed pasta activity combines learning with fine motor development.  From the scooping to the neat pincer grasp activity, this is a great way to build many skills!  Younger children can use scoops and spoons to develop coordination needed to scoop and pour while gaining exposure to letters.  What a fun way to build so many areas!

      Alphabet Pasta Activities

      So, in addition to the ideas we shared above, we love using dry alphabet pasta in other activities to support fine motor and visual motor skills. I love that you can incorporate the tactile sensory play in learning and skill development.

      Some of my favorite ideas for alphabet pasta:

      Alphabet Sensory Bin Search: Fill a sensory bin with dry alphabet pasta and small items like pom-poms, beads, or toy animals. Hide letter cards or small objects in the bin, and encourage kids to search for specific letters or objects. This activity helps improve pincer grasp and hand-eye coordination while engaging their sense of touch.

      Letter Pasta Sensory Bottle: Create a “Alphabet Seek-and-Find” Sensory Bottle by filling a clear plastic bottle with dry alphabet pasta. Add a few small, colorful beads or buttons to make it more visually stimulating. You can also include a few small trinkets or themed charms to match a specific letter (e.g., a tiny apple for “A”). Seal the bottle tightly with glue to prevent any spills. Here are other sensory bottle ideas to use, like adding scrabble letter tiles to the sensory bottle as an I spy activity.

      Pasta Art and Letter Matching: Have kids glue dry alphabet pasta onto construction paper to create letter art or spell out simple words. For an extra challenge, provide them with a printed word and have them match the letters using the pasta. This activity develops both fine motor skills and visual-motor integration as they match letters and manipulate the small pieces. It’s a great letter recognition activity!

      alphabet pasta
       
      This was such a fun activity!  I found a bag of alphabet pasta at a local grocery store on sale for a dollar and couldn’t pass it up!  We used a little from the bag and used the rest in wedding soup.  (Little Guy’s most often request and favorite meal!)  Because the only thing that makes wedding soup even more awesome is fun shaped noodles 🙂
       
       

      How to dye alphabet Pasta

       
       
      We dyed the pasta in a baggie…added a few drops of red food coloring and 2 Tbsp of vinegar.  We dyed this batch back in May and the color is still going strong.  The vinegar doesn’t leave an odor when playing with the pasta, but helps the coloring to “stick” to the pasta.
       
      Have the kids shake the bag (or use a lidded plastic container for a fun auditory component!) and get their wiggles out.
       
      alphabet pasta
       
      I put up a few strips of masking tape on our easel and put out the bowl of pasta.  Baby Girl had the job of scooping letters from the bowl onto a plate.  She loved using my measuring spoons to scoop.  Toddlers seem to love scooping any little bits…peas/beans/rice/sand…and it’s such a great fine motor task for them. 
       
      Pinching those little letters was a fun fine motor exercise for working on their tripod grasp and pincer grasp. 
       
      I  positioned the tape strips high up on the easel to encourage an extended wrist.  This wrist position allows for efficient use of the fingers in such a small motor activity.  
       
      Big Sister worked on locating letters as I told her how to spell words.
       
      …Baby Girl couldn’t let her big sister do something and NOT get involved…
       
      We also used the alphabet letter pasta to work on a little reading/spelling activity: I stuck on the -AT letters and asked Big Sister to find the letter we needed to spell different rhyming words.  Fun!
       

      Alphabet letter pasta can be used in many ways! How do you use this sensory activity to learn and play?

      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:

      Letters Fine Motor Kit
      Kit de motricidad fina de verano
      Summer Fine Motor Kit
      Outer Space Fine Motor Kit
      Space Fine Motor Kit
      Spring fine motor kit
      Valentines Day fine motor kit
      winter fine motor kit
      Winter Fine Motor Kit

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

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

      Free Therapy Planner for Back-to-School

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      back to school therapy planner

      Below, you will find a free printable therapy planner calendar that is an awesome resource to add to your therapy planner. Use the planning calendar to dream up and create an action plan for occupational therapy themes during the upcoming school year. Just pop in themes from our weekly therapy themes list and make the planning each week fun and easy.

      back to school therapy planner

      This therapy planner is perfect for school-based OTs, but it can certainly be used in clinics or in homes, too!

      Use this therapy planner to plan out occupational therapy sessions. It's an editable calendar that can be used over and over again.

      Free Therapy Planner

      During the summer months, many therapists start thinking ahead to planning therapy activities for the next school year. I know, I know. Summer just started. Some of us still have a car trunk full of hanging files, worksheets, a therapy ball, and pencil cases full of pencil grips. Is it really time to start thinking about planning for back to school?

      We are right on the brink of a new school year and you’ll soon be gearing up for another year in the clinic or classroom!

      Therapy Planning Calendar

      For the new school year, I have included a fun bonus to this post that you will find below. It is an editable Therapy Calendar for the upcoming school year…so you can change out the themes and make it meet your needs and the needs of those on your therapy caseload.

      Sometimes weekly themes can help you stay motivated AND make your life easier as a therapist while helping to keep children engaged in therapy activities from week to week.

      Enter your email address below to get the free printable therapy planning calendar. Use it as a guide to schedule and plan themed occupational therapy activities throughout the school year. You’ll also get a blank therapy planning calendar so you can fill in special themes that may go along with your school’s calendar or planned activities.

      Have fun planning out activities for this year’s therapy sessions!

      Therapy planner that occupational therapists will love

      Get the Therapy Planning Calendar

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

        31 Days of Learning with Free Materials

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

        diy learning materials

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

         
         

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

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

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

        Creative & Playful Learning.  Be inspired.


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


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

         

         

         
         
         
         
         
        Day 5: Upper Lower Case Letter Seek and Find
         
        Day 6: Handwriting with a Foam Tray
         
         
        Day 7: Teach Fractions in the Kitchen
         
        Day 8: Use Checkers in Math and Pre-Coding
         
        Day 9: How to start cursive handwriting with sensory textures
         
         
        Day 10: Plastic Take-Out Drink Lids: Sorting Sentence Types
         
        Day 11: Build a Clock Bottle Caps
         
        Day 12: Learn and Play with Muffin Tins
         
         
        Day 13: Teach Letters with Push Pins and Recycled Cans
         
        Day 14: 3 Ingredient Kinetic Sand Recipe and Math games
         
        Day 15: Bubble Wrap Math and Visual Scanning Maze

         

         
        Day 16: Learn with Legos
         
        Day 17: Learn with Board Games you Already Own
         
        Day 18: Learning Ideas on Windows and Doors
         
         
        Day 19: Cursive Lines Fine Motor Art
         
        Day 20: Math Dominoes Discovery Bottle
         
        Day 21: Learning with Cooking
         
         
        Day 22: Stamp Art Worksheets
         
        Day 23: Cardboard Tangrams and Visual Memory
         
        Day 24: Recycled Puzzle Rhymes and Synonyms
         
         
         
        Day 25: Play Dough Math Activities
         
        Day 26: Rock Time Telling
         
        Day 27: Library Book Sensory Bin (The Deep Blue Sea)
         
        Day 28: Baking Soda Paints
         
        Day 29: Base Ten Operations with Paper Clips
         
        Day 30: Back to School Rock Story Stones
         
        Day 31: Soap Shaving Bookmarks
         
         
        Distance learning ideas for learning at home with free materials.

        More Learning at Home Ideas

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

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