St. Patrick’s Day Occupational Therapy Activities

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:
 
 
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.

Play Tunnel Activities

If you are an occupational therapist like me, then you know the power of using play tunnels in an occupational therapy obstacle course. The heavy work input provided by crawling through a tunnel is unmatched, especially when we use it as a warm up to fine motor tasks or functional activities.

Let me explain…

How Play Tunnels Help Kids

Play tunnels are one of the best tools for therapy as you can work on so many skills if you just put a little creativity into it. Tunnel activities simply invite kiddo fun and engagement while working on very important skill development across a spectrum of areas. You can use fabric tunnels or nylon, pop-up tunnels depending on the skills you want to address with tunnel play. With a little imagination you can build your own DIY tunnels too!

Tunnel for Occupational Therapy

There is a reason why OTs love using tunnels in occupational therapy sessions!

Keep reading to get some play tunnel ideas using different materials. For home-based therapists, DIY tunnels are a great tool for families to use in the home environment providing an opportunity for a fun and easy to implement home-based program. Some of these tunnel activities for babies and tunnel activities for toddlers can be used to address specific needs through play.

Play tunnel activities using a sensory tunnel
Tunnel activity for sensory input

Play Tunnels and Sensory

During tunnel play, not only do therapists want to work on the obvious gross motor skills such as crawling, bilateral coordination, motor planning, core strength. Then there is the neck/upper extremity strength, lower body strength, and body awareness.

They also like to use tunnels for sensory needs such as vestibular and proprioceptive input. In the simplest of terms, the vestibular sense is known as the movement sense telling us where our body is in space, while the proprioceptive sense is known as the deep pressure sense telling us the direction, speed, and extent of our body movement in space.

These senses are important to help a child develop balance, body awareness, understand the position of their body in space as well as knowing how much speed and pressure their bodies are exerting when completing an activity or moving within their environment.

Adding a play tunnel into sensory diet activities to meet a variety of needs. It’s an easy way to encourage sensory input in the school environment, home, or clinic.

Tunnel activities using pool noodles

So, you may be asking, how can children gather vestibular input from tunnel time activities? You can have children roll within the tunnel, perform various body movements such as forward and backward crawling, balancing on all fours while simply crawling through the tunnel, slither on their backs, or have them crawl in the tunnel placed on top of cushions and pillows.

These activities are great for supporting the development of crawling in babies and toddlers, especially because we end up seeing challenges down the road for kids that skip crawling. Here’s what an OT has to say about types of crawling.

Fabric tunnel for proprioceptive input.

Proprioceptive input can be obtained while the child is bearing weight on the upper and lower extremities during crawling providing input to the joints and muscles. They can push objects through the tunnel such as large therapy balls or large pillows, army crawl through the tunnel, and shaking the tunnel while child is inside can provide valuable proprioceptive input.

By using a play tunnel to address proprioception to improve body awareness, the proprioceptive sense allows us to position our bodies just so in order to enable our hands, eyes, ears, and other parts to perform actions or jobs at any given moment. Proprioception activities help with body awareness. Using a fabric tunnel that is snug against the body can provide good input which can also have a calming effect for some children.

DIY tunnel activity using cardboard boxes
Use these play tunnel activities to improve motor skills and sensory activities.

Play tunnel activities

When using a tunnel, you can work on other skills that address multiple areas for children. Try some of these fun tunnel time activities:

  1. Play Connect Four with pieces on one
    end and the game played on the other end.
  2. Assemble puzzles with pieces on one
    end and then transported through the tunnel to the other end.
  3. Clothespins attached on end to transport
    and place on the other end. You can use clothespins with letters to spell words.
  4. Push a large ball or pillow through
    the tunnel.
  5. Crawl backwards from one end to the
    other.
  6. Slither through the tunnel (rocking
    body left and right) to get from one end to the other.
  7. Scoot through the tunnel using hands
    and feet or even crab walk through the tunnel.
  8. Recall letters, shapes, or words from
    one end and highlight on paper at the other end.
  9. Recall a series of steps to complete
    a task at the other end.
  10. Blow a cotton ball or pom-pom ball through the tunnel. Kids
    love this to see how many they can blow in a timed fashion.
  11. With pennies on one end, have child transport them to the
    other end to insert into a bank. You can even give them the pennies at end of
    the session if you want.
  12. Push a car through the tunnel to drive it and park it at the
    other end.
  13. Build a Lego structure by obtaining blocks at one end of the
    tunnel and transporting to the other end to build.
  14. Intermittently crawl through the tunnel and lie within one
    end to work on a drawing or handwriting activity. This is just a different and
    motivating way to encourage handwriting practice.
  15. Crawl over pillows or cushions placed inside or outside of
    the tunnel.
  16. Use a flashlight and crawl through the tunnel gathering specific
    beads that have been placed inside to string at the other end of the tunnel. You
    could work on spelling words with letter beads or simply just string regular
    beads.
  17. Place Mat Man body pieces at one end and have child obtain
    pieces per verbal directive and then crawl through the tunnel to build at the
    other end.

tunnel activities for preschoolers

Ok, so for the preschool age range, let’s come up with tunnel activities for preschoolers that support development at this stage.

  • Crawl through a tunnel while holding a puzzle piece like a letter from an alphabet puzzle. Then they can place the puzzle piece in the puzzle when they get through the tunnel.
  • Set up an obstacle course with tunnels to crawl through
  • Play “follow the leader” through the tunnel. This is great for direction following and body awareness for preschoolers.
  • Crawl through a tunnel to match objects or sort colors. I like using blocks to sort into baskets.
  • Pretend the tunnel is a cave or secret hideout during imaginative play.

tunnel activity for toddlers

Next up are some of my favorite tunnel activities for toddlers. These also help to support development at the toddler stage.

  • Crawl through a fabric or pop-up tunnel
  • Push a toy car or ball through a tunnel
  • Play peek-a-boo at each end of the tunnel
  • Roll a ball back and forth through the tunnel
  • Crawl to retrieve objects placed inside the tunnel. I like to pair this idea with our ball in a muffin tin activity.
DIY tunnel activity

Next, I want to share some DIY play tunnel ideas because as occupational therapists, we are always coming up with fun play ideas using everyday materials!

DIY Play TUnnel Ideas

So, as mentioned previously, what if you don’t have a tunnel or you want to create one within a home for developing a home-based program? Well, make one! How can you do this? Read on for a few fun ideas.

  1. Create a tunnel by crawling under
    tables or chairs.
  2. Create a tunnel in the hallway with
    use of pool noodles. Bend them over in an arch to fit or simply cut them down
    to size to slide directly between the walls.
  3. Use large foam connecting mats and assemble
    a tunnel.
  4. Use tape or yarn and string to
    alternating walls down a hallway to crawl under.
  5. Use sturdy pieces of foam board
    positioned or connected together to make a tunnel.
  6. Use an elongated cardboard box. Sometimes
    you can get large boxes at an appliance, hardware, or retail store.
  7. Stretch a sheet or blanket over
    furniture and crawl.
  8. Simply place a sheet or blanket on
    the floor and have child crawl under it (a heavier blanket works well).
  9. Place a therapy mat inside a series
    of hula hoops.
  10. Use PVC pipe to build a tunnel. Add sensory items to the PVC
    frame to create a fun sensory element to the crawling experience. One such
    tunnel was built by my wonderful fieldwork student, Huldah Queen, COTA/L in
    2016.  See the picture below.
  11. Sew a fabric tunnel (if you have that skill).
  12. Use pop up clothes hampers connected together after cutting
    out the bottoms.
  13. Simulate tunnel crawling with simple animal walks or moves.

Tunnel activities can facilitate child engagement while providing an optimal skill development setting.  Tunnel time can address gross motor and sensory needs while also incorporating other activities making tunnel time a skill building powerhouse tool. Incorporate fun fine motor and visual motor activities to make tunnel time a “want to do” activity every time!

Regina Allen

Regina Parsons-Allen is a school-based certified occupational therapy assistant. She has a pediatrics practice area of emphasis from the NBCOT. She graduated from the OTA program at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute in Hudson, North Carolina with an A.A.S degree in occupational therapy assistant. She has been practicing occupational therapy in the same school district for 20 years. She loves her children, husband, OT, working with children and teaching Sunday school. She is passionate about engaging, empowering, and enabling children to reach their maximum potential in ALL of their occupations as well assuring them that God loves them!

Apple Tree Fine Motor Activity

Picture of a felt apple tree with small red dots and dice. text reads Apple Tree fine motor activity

This apple activity is a fine motor activity for occupational therapy sessions with kids that builds many skill areas. I love this fine motor apple activity because you can make it work for the needs of each child. There is power to using hole punch activities with kids! Working on hand strength? Use the hole punch to build skills. Working on dexterity? Pick up the small red circles to place them on the felt apple tree. You can even incorporate it into a vertical plane activity or add apple brain breaks to the session. The sky is the limit!

Picture of a felt apple tree with small red dots and dice. text reads Apple Tree fine motor activity

I love this apple tree activity because you can use dice to work on hand mobility, small apple dots that are precision work, and you can incorporate other skills into the activity.

This fine motor apple activity would go really well with our apple sensory bin and our Apple Therapy Kit.

Apple Tree Fine Motor Activity

Pair this apple tree activity with our apple tweezer activity for even more apple themed fine motor fun.

Fine motor strengthening is a hot topic when it comes to back-to-school time.  Kids go back into the classroom and need to get back up to speed on all of the fine motor requirements in the classroom.  What better way to work on fine motor strength than with a Fall apple theme? This apple themed fine motor activity adds a bit of math, too and it’s super easy to create for hands-on play, learning, and fine motor work.
 
Kids will love this fine motor strengthening apple activity this fall.

 

Fine Motor Strengthening Activity

This apple tree activity is a fun way to build the intrinsic muscle strength of the hands as well as gross grasp strength.  It’s an easy activity to throw together, and the steps of the activity help to build strength of the hands, too.
 
Materials needed to make this apple tree activity:
 
Affiliate links are included in this post.
 
 
Kids will love this fine motor strengthening apple activity this fall.
 
To create the apple tree, cut the green felt into a tree-ish shape.  Cutting felt is a complex scissor task, so older kids can help with this part.  If you are able to use stiff felt, cutting through the material is a strengthening exercise in itself. 
 
Next, cut the brown felt into a trunk shape, by simply cutting strait lines. Consider allowing the child to cut the trunk shape as cutting strait lines on a material such as felt is easier, yet the flimsy material makes it difficult to cut.  A stiffer material would work well for this part as well.
 
Use strips of paper to build hand strength
 
Next, cut the red cardstock into small, thin strips of paper.  This is not necessary for the end result of the activity, however there is a fine motor benefit to the extra step.  Kids can hold the thin strips of paper with a pincer grasp using their non-dominant, helper hand.  Using the small strips of paper requires precision. Kids will then be required to slow down while using the hole punch so that they don’t cut the holes over the edge of the strip of the paper.  
 
Need a hole punch that requires less effort for younger kids or those who need to build their gross muscle grip strength?  Try this one.
 

Hole Punch Activity

 
Before we move on, I want to take a moment to talk about this portion of the activity.
 
Cutting paper strips and using a hole punch along the strip is an easy fine motor activity that you can set up with items you probably have on hand….Cut strips of paper. Use different grades and remember that cutting thicker paper means more resistance which is good for strengthening the hands.
 
Use a hole punch to punch holes along the paper strip. This supports eye hand coordination, motor planning, bilateral coordination, grip strength, and more. Here’s more on this activity…and then a fun way to use those small dots for more fine motor fun.
 
Use the brown cardstock to make a small apple barrel shape. This can be used in the math part of this activity.
 
A slower cut with the hole punch allows for the muscles of the hands to exercise with prolonged tension and increases blood flow.  Using the hole punch with slow repetitions builds gross grasp strength.
 
Once the apple tree and apples are created, kids can place them on the tree. The cardstock will not stick permanently to the felt, but they will stay in place for temporary play.  Scatter the red cardstock circles, (those are your apples!) onto the table.  Show your child or student how to pick up the apples and place them onto the apple tree.  Picking up the small cardstock circles is a real workout for the intrinsic muscles of the hand. 
 
To make this activity easier, place the cardstock circles on a piece of felt.
 

Apple Fine Motor Activity

 
Add a bit of math to this activity with a pair of dice.  Show your child how to roll the dice and then count the number of dots on the dice.  They can then add and count the number of apples and place them on the tree.  
 
There are several ways to build on this activity:
 
  • Use the dice to add apples.
  • Subtract by taking away apples from the tree. 
  • Create multiple step math problems by adding and them subtracting the numbers on the dice to put on and then remove apples.
 
Apple fine motor strengthening activity and fall math with hands-on learning.
 

Looking for more apple activities?  Try these:

The Apple Therapy Kit is full of fine motor, visual motor, and sensory motor tools to support fine motor skill development needed for handwriting and other functional tasks.

This therapy kit, along with many other apple themed resources can be found inside The OT Toolbox Membership Club.

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

Building Fine Motor Skills Through Play

fine motor skills in play

Play is a child’s primary occupation.  The occupations of a person are the meaningful and purposeful activities and adults have distinctly different occupations than children.  A child develops functional skills, learns about their abilities, grows in motor, language, interpersonal skills, and learn the value of their capacities, all through play.

fine motor skills in play

Children are drawn to the pleasure they feel through play activities that provide sensory experiences, ones that allow repetition as they master new skills, and enable them to explore or interact socially.  They naturally use play to develop skills and refine deficits. 

Fine Motor Skills in Play

And toys and games are tools of function when it comes to using play to build independence in all tasks.

Play activities and games offer numerous ways to build and improve fine motor skills for use in functional tasks such as handwriting, counting individual fingers, clothing fasteners, shoe tying, and other occupations.  


Today, I’m sharing ways to work on fine motor skills through play.

It is important to note that a child’s fine motor dexterity is dependent on bigger things. In order for a child to use their hands for fine motor tasks, they first must demonstrate strength and control of their core, shoulder, and arm.  If any of these areas are not fully developed in stability or control, then the child will show compensatory strategies as they try to use their hands in play or functional tasks like self-care, handwriting, or cutting with scissors. 


Building fine motor skills through play

 

Use play to develop fine motor skills:

This post contains affiliate links.


Improve Isolation of the fingers through Play-  Isolating the individual fingers is needed for tasks such as typing, pointing, and tasks that require moving individual fingers in isolation from the rest of the hand.  These skills can be difficult for some children and result in poor pencil grasp and handwriting, shoe tying difficulties, and other functional tasks.

Finger Isolation Ideas

Amazon affiliate links are below.

  • Finger games (Where is Thumbkin, Itsy Bitsy Spider)
  • Finger puppets
  • Finger painting
  • Fingerprint art
  • Finger Trap
  • Animal Shadows on a wall
  • Count on individual fingers one at a time
  • Paper Football


Motoric Separation of the Two Sides of the Hands- Separation of the two sides of two sides of the hand is important for tasks like holding a pencil while stabilizing the hand along the table, cutting with scissors, tying shoes, holding multiple items in the palm of  the hand, and managing coins. 

Refinement of fine motor skills in the hand (the radial side) happens when the power half (the ulnar side) is stabilized.  A functional fine motor grasp and manipulation of objects is more accurate when the ring and pinky fingers are flexed (bent) into the palm. 

An alternative to a flexed position of the ring and pinky fingers are when theses two digits are fully extended out and stretched out away from the hand (abducted).  T

his positioning stabilizes the MCP arch and allows for control of the pointer and middle fingers. Separation of the two sides of the hand allow for more precise use of the thumb. Hand separation starts when a baby bears weight through their arm and ulnar side of the hand while carrying a toy in the radial side.  This simple activity developmentally lengthens the muscles of the ulnar side.   

Separation of the Hand Play Ideas:

  • Flip coins
  • Roll play dough into small balls
  • Squeeze a spray bottle with the pointer and middle fingers
  • Pick up small items and “squirrel them away” into the hands: mini marshmallows, cereal, small beads, coins, water beads. (This is also called translation toward the palm.)
  • Release the items (This is also called translation away from the palm.) Place coins into a piggy bank or beads into a cup.
  • Hold a cotton ball in the palm with the ring and middle fingers while coloring, writing, or cutting with scissors.

Hand Dominance-Hand dominance in children is important for refining the skills needed  to perform functional tasks.  

While Toddlers begin to show a hand preference, a true hand dominance doesn’t typically develop until 2 to 3 1/2 years.  While a toddler can show a hand preference, hand usage is experimented with during different activities throughout the Toddler and Preschool years.  There is typically variability in hand preference as toddlers and young preschoolers poke, pick up, throw, color, and play.  

Another consideration is that often times, kids of this age are influenced in which hand they choose by position of toy, location of the adult or playmate, method materials are presented, and sitting position of the child.  

Lateralization refers to the brain’s ability to control the two sides of the body.  Each hemisphere of the brain controls different tasks and functions.  

When a child shows difficulties with laterality, they might switch objects between the two hands in functional tasks.  As a child grows, they are challenged to become more efficient with tools in school.  

True hand dominance may not be completely integrated in the child until around 8 or 9 years of age. Use play activities to build consistency with the child’s preferred hand dominance.  If your child shows a preferred hand, set up the activity to work on scooping with the typically used hand.  If your kiddo uses their right hand most of they time in natural situations  

Hand Dominance Play Ideas:

  • Using tools like a hammer or screwdriver
  • Threading beads
  • Scrubbing and “cleaning” with a towel on walls and windows
  • Driving cars on a floor mat
  • Scooping beans and beads with spoons, shovels, or scoops
  • Catching and tossing bean bags into a target
  • Opening and shutting plastic ziplock bags

Open Thumb Web Space- An open thumb webspace is essential for true 
opposition of the thumb to the precision side of the hand.  A round “O” shape 
allows the thumb to rotate and oppose the pointer finger in pincer grasp activities. When kids write or color with that web space area squashed shut, it’s a sign of problems.  

Then might be compensating for thumb instability, underdeveloped hand arches, and/or poor strength.  Each of these problem areas will lead to difficulties with handwriting, dexterity, manipulation of small items like beads, and pencil grasp. Writing with a closed web space is inefficient and will cause poor and slow handwriting, especially as kids grow and are expected to write at faster speeds. A closed web space while attempting to manage fasteners such as buttons and zippers will lead to fumbling and difficulty.   

Open Thumb Web Space Play Ideas- 

  • Beading (like our idea we shared above!) Other beading ideas include threading plastic beads on a string, placing cereal O’s onto toothpicks, and stringing straws onto yarn.
  • Pick-Up-Sticks 
  • Wind up toys.
  • Barrel of Monkeys game. Encourage your child to pick up the monkeys with an open web space. 
  •  A game like Chinese Checkers encourages an open web space when the child grasps the small pegs with a pincer grasp between their thumb and the pad of their index finger. 
  • You could also try peg games like this HABA Color Peg
  • Push coins into a piggy bank.
  • Tweezers activities are great for an open web space. 
  • If handwriting and poor pencil grasp is an issue, try a pencil grip.
  • Pop beads. 
  • Roll play dough into small balls using the pads of the thumb and index finger. This is a great activity for developing arches of the hands and opening the thumb web space. 
  • Pop bubble wrap.
  • Screw and Unscrew nuts and bolts. 
  • Fold and crease origami. Crease the paper between the thumb and pointer finger.
  • Pinching clothes pins.
  • Lacing cards are great for opening the thumb web space.  Prompt your child to keep their thumb web space open while managing the thread.  We’ve got lots of ideas here.

  Precision of Grasp- Precision skills allow a person to manipulate and release of small objects.  Precision provides efficient grading movements in very small dexterity patterns like threading a string through a needle.  

Difficulty with precise motor movements of the hand may cause fumbling with zippers and buttons and trouble with advancing the pencil on small lines of paper. Precision occurs with development of grasp when child to use the pads of the index finger, middle finger, and thumb to manipulate objects with opposition.   

Precision release is needed for stacking blocks without toppling them over, placing cards on a pile, opening scissors just a small amount, or placing small beads into a bowl.  

Precision is needed for a child to let go of an item in a controlled manner.  

If they are not exercising precision in release, you might see them rolling or tossing an object as they let go.  They will knock over a stack of blocks, or over open the scissors when cutting lines, making their accuracy very choppy.   

Precision in grasp is related to the picking up of items.  A graded lateral grasp is needed to cut with scissors and only squeeze the scissors halfway shut for accurate cutting lines in some situations.  

Around 3-4 years, a preschool aged child typically develops a greater variety of grasping patterns, including precision.  They begin to grade their scissor strokes so that they can cut a line or shape without opening and closing the scissors completely.  Grasps in babies typically begin with a raking motion and work towards a pincer grasp.  Precision in this skill occurs when the child is able to pick up very small items like beads with accuracy and graded movements.  

Precision in rotation is another task that children develop around age 5.  Rotation is a portion of in-hand manipulation and seen when turning a coin on the edges and the child rotates it in a circular motion.  Precision in rotation also occurs when holding a pencil between the fingers and the child rotates it over and over.   

Precision Fine Motor Play Ideas-

Neat Pincer Grasp- Neat Pincer Grasp is a precision grasp using the very tips of the thumb and the pointer finger to pick up and hold very small items.  Sometimes, the fingernails are used in the grasp of items.  

Neat pincer grasp is used to pick up and hold a pin, a needle in sewing activities, or super small beads like Perler Beads.  This can be a tricky grasp for kids with difficulties in fine motor skills or core weakness.  

Neat Pincer Grasp Play Ideas- 

  • Threading string into a needle for embroidary art.
  • Beading with string
  • Quickels or 
  • Sort small items
  • Art or play with tape

Pinch Strength and Control- There are a few different grip postions of the 
hand and fingers that are used in play with children.  Difficulties in using and 
maintaining any certain grasp may interfere with tasks that require using the 
hands. Types of grasp patterns include: 

  • Lateral Pinch Grip (aka Key Pinch Grip)- The thumb opposes the lateral side of the pointer finger.  This grasp is used when holding and and using a key. A sub group of this type of pinch is the Lateral Prehension Grip– The thumb is flexed (bent) and it’s pad opposes the lateral side of the tip of the pointer finger. This grip is used to hold an index card or paper, sometimes.
  • Three jaw Chuck Pinch Grip– The thumb is flexed (bent) and opposes the pads of the pointer finger and middle finger. Holding a small cap like a toothpaste lid uses this grip. This is the grip used in holding a pencil.
  • Tip to Tip Grip– The tip of the thumb touches the tip of the pointer finger.  The thumb and pointer finger form an circle (or open thumb web space). This grasp is also called a pincer grasp.  It is used to pick up small items like cereal or beads.  If very small items are picked up (like a needle), a Neat Pincer Grasp is being used.
  • Lateral Grip– Pinching an item between the pointer and middle fingers use this grip.  You would use this grip in holding a cigarette.  While this is not a functional grasp for kids (obviously), you might see kiddos fiddle with a pencil by holding it between two fingers.

Pinch Strengthening and Control of Grasp Patterns Play Ideas-

  • Line the edges of an index card with clothes pins.  Try using the different pinches described above. 
  • Make clothes pins into superheros and pinch them onto strips of paper. 
  • Paint with Pom Poms (Fantastic Fun and Learning)
  • Write letters on each clothes pin and match them to letters written along the edge of a piece of paper like we did here to spell sight words.
  • Pinch clothes pins onto a ruler. Encourage pretend play like hanging clothes on a line.
  • Use clothes pins to pinch and grab small items like crafting pom poms, small erasers, or crumbled up pieces of tissue paper.
  • Craft with rainbow clothes pins.
  • Paint wooden clothes pins different colors and clip them to matching paper scraps.
  • Create an outdoor scavenger hunt for letters like we did here.
  • Wrap clothes pins in colored string and match them to crafting pom poms.
  • Make a fun animal craft.  These bees were fun to make!
  • Make a butterfly garland.
  • Create a tree using the clothes pins as the trunks, like in these Cherry Blossom trees.

Gross Hand Strength and Grasp- Gross grasp is used when squeezing all of the fingers shut around an object, like when holding the handle of a suitcase.  Gross grasp is important in tasks like handwriting and scissor use.  

To do these activities, you need to squeeze your whole hand shut and maintain endurance to complete the activity.  Development of hand arch and thumb web space is important for these functional skills and gross grasp plays a part.    

Gross Hand Grasp and Strength Play Ideas- 

  • Squeeze spray bottles
  • Squeeze sponges
  • Cut resistive materials with scissors.
  • Use a hole punch
  • Tug of war
  • Hand grippers

Flexion of the Thumb IP Joint- Many times a poor pencil grasp or difficulty with precision in opposition is a result of lacking flexion of the thumb Interphalageal joint.  

A flexed tip of the thumb is required to grasp and manipulate items such as  a pencil, zipper pull, shoe laces, and buttons. If there are muscle weaknesses in the forearm or hand, a hyperextended thumb IP joint will present as a form of providing stability by the thumb.  

Instead of using the opposition muscle of the thumb to grasp the pencil, the child is using the adductor muscle. Rather than manipulating items with the tips of their thumb and index finger, the child is using musculature of their wrist and forearm.


In order to improve this grasp, a child needs to strengthen the opposition muscle, Opponens Pollicis, along with Flexor Pollicis Longus to bend the tip of the thumb or the Interphalnageal Joint (IP Joint) of the thumb. Strengthening the intrinsic muscles along with addressing an open web space will improve IP flexion.  

Thumb IP Joint Flexion Play Ideas-

  • Games that require the thumb to bend
  • Where is Thumbkin hand games
  • Thumbprint Artwork

Thump Opposition- Thumb oppositon occurs when the thumb is rotated at the
carpometacarpal joint.  Opposition of the thumb to the fingertips is essential 
for tasks such as holding a hairbrush, managing buttons, and even grasping a door 
knob.  

Thump opposition coincides with an open web space in functional tasks.

Thumb Opposition Play Ideas- 

  • Pop Beads
  • Pegboard activities
  • Wind up toys
  • Tong Games and activities
  • Stringing beads
  • Connecting chain links
  • Peeling stickers from a sheet
  • Spinning tops
  • Geoboards
  • Squeezing small glue bottles in crafts

Palmer Arches- In the palm of the hand, there are arches that shape the hand’s grasp on objects of all shapes and sizes.  

There are two transverse arches that cross the hand at the  carpals and at the metacarpals.  There is a longitudinal arch for each finger.

These arches allow for skilled movements of the hands and first develop during crawling.  Arch development is essential for manipulating small objects such as a writing utensil.

Palmer Arch Development Play Ideas-

  • Finger and hand games like Itsy Bitsy Spider
  • Cupping water with the hands in water play
  • Shaking dice in the hand
  • Using tools to cut play dough
  • Pouring and scooping sand
  • Tongs games
  • Tweezer games
  • Squeezing spray bottles

In-Hand Manipulation- This skill is essential for managing small items within the hand for accomplishment of tasks. There are three parts to In-hand manipulation…translation, shift, and rotation.  

We shared two fun activities to work on these skills here.  In-hand manipulation typically begins to develop around 18 months, with the greatest skill development occurring between 2 and 2 1/2 years old.  

There are subcategories of in-hand manipulation. 

Finger-to-Palm Translation is the movement of an object from the fingers to the palm i.e. picking up a coin and moving it to the palm.  

Palm-to-Finger Translation: Movement of an object from the palm to the finger tips.  (i.e. moving a coin from the palm to the fingertips to insert into a vending machine.)  

Shift: Slight adjustment of an object on or by the finger pads. (i.e. adjusting a pencil up and down in your hand.)  

Simple Rotation: Turning or rolling an object 90 degrees or less with the fingers moving as a unit. (i.e. unscrewing a toothpaste lid).  

Complex Rotation: Turning an object more than 90 degrees using isolated finger and thumb movements. (i.e. Turning a paper clip)  

Each of the above skills can occur with items “squirreled away in the palm using the pinky finger and ring finger.  This is called “with stabilization”.  If other items are not pocketed away in the palm while in-hand manipulation occurs, it is called “without stabilization”.  Stabilization typically occurs around 2 years of age.  

In-Hand Manipulation Play Ideas:

  • Lite Brite 
  •  Lacing & Tracing Dinosaurs 
  •  Lacing & Tracing Sea Life cards
  • HABA Color Peg
  • Peg Board with 1000 Pegs 
  •  Manipulating coins is such a great way to work on in-hand manipulation.  A coin bank is a fun bank to practice with! 
  •  Spinning tops like Standard Tops
  • Ker Plunk Game
  • Roll play dough into small balls using only the fingertips.
  • Tear newspaper into strips, crumble it, and stuff an art project.
  • Use tweezers to pick up small items.  This works on the intrinsic muscles of the hands.
  • Lacing cards
  • Coin or button matching, sorting, and stacking.  We loved playing with coins for fine motor fun.
  • Pegboards
  • Dropping small items into bottles with a small opening like we did here.
  • Pick up beads from the floor and drop into ice cube trays.
  • Press buttons into a slit cut in the lid of a plastic tub.
  • Pick-up sticks.
  • Games with small chips.
  • Beading.
  • Twisting lids on/off water bottles.

Bilateral Coordination- Bilateral coordination is the functional use of the two hands together in a coordinated manner.  It’s coordinating both hands together and is closely related to hand dominance.

When a child has an established hand dominance, there needs to be a  fluid use of the two hands together.  In development of the child, children use both hands together then progress to using one hand at a time and finally using both hands together.  


Refined bilateral coordination skills allow a child to use both hands in separate tasks fluidly.


Bilateral Coordination Play Ideas-

Wrist and Hand Development- A prerequisite to controlled movements of the hand and fingers are strength and stabilization of the wrist.  Control in the wrist allows for manipulation of small items and grasps with the fingers A functional position for the wrist  in most activities requiring fine motor skills is slight extension and neutral positioning.  


This is an optimal position for handwriting or tasks such as manipulating buttons.  
Other activities like using a toothbrush or managing a utensil during feeding require slight ulnar deviation. Stabilization of the wrist is essential no matter what the task.  


In order to allow precision of fine motor tasks, the wrist should be stabilized in extension with precision tasks performed on a vertical surface, putting the wrist into optimal positioning and facilitating thumb abduction for distal work to the fingers.


Wrist and Hand Development Play Ideas- 

  • Painting on a chalkboard or easel
  • Vertically positioning a Magna Doodle, Etch a Sketch, or pegboard
Building fine motor skills through play
Building fine motor skills through play

    There are so many fine motor skills that can be addressed through play.  Fine motor development is not limited to the ideas, games, toys, and activities listed in this resource.  There are many more toys and games that can work on these fine motor skill areas.

 Functional Skills for Kids



This post is part of the Functional Skills for Kids series by 10 Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists.  You can see previous months posts here.

Stop by to see what the other professionals have to say about Play:  

Gross Motor Skills and the Development of Play in Children | Your Therapy Source

Miss Jaime OT Help! My Child Won’t Play – Adapting Play for Individual Kids | Growing Hands-On Kids How Play Makes Therapy Better | Therapy Fun Zone

How the Environment Shapes the Way Kids Play | The Inspired Treehouse

Why is my child “just playing” when they see an OT?  | Your Kids OT  

Are you looking for more ways to build fine motor skills through play? Let me know what you’re working on!  

Lastly, let’s cover some important things to keep in mind when working on fine motor skills through play.

Age Appropriateness: Choose activities that are suitable for the child’s developmental stage to ensure they are engaging and challenging, but not frustrating. Don’t try to push kids to do more than they are developmentally ready for.

Variety of Movements: Incorporate a range of motions, such as pinching, grasping, squeezing, and twisting, to target different fine motor muscles and skills.

Focus on the Process, Not Perfection: The goal is to have fun, right?

Adapt Activities as Needed: Modify tasks to match the child’s individual needs and abilities, ensuring they are challenging yet achievable.

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.

Learning with Dyed Alphabet Pasta

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:

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!

10 Reasons Why Every Kid Needs to Play With Stickers

benefits of playing with stickers

In this blog post, originally written on November 13, 2015 and updated on July 18, 2024, we are talking all about the benefits of playing with stickers. Occupational therapy providers love stickers as a fine motor tool! Let’s break down the benefits of sticker play with kids…

benefits of playing with stickers

When you were a kid, did you have a sticker collection?   Maybe it was a Trapper Keeper binder with paper, or maybe it was a sticker book with themed pages.  Filling it’s pages were puffy stickers, scratch-and-sniff stickers, fuzzy stickers, and glossy glittery stickers.  


Thinking back to those sticker collection can bring back memories of sticker trades.  All you cared about back then was a complete collection of all the Care Bears or a page full of sticker-y rainbows.


But did you know that peeling all of those stickers has a bigger benefit that a full sticker book page? 

 

Benefits of Playing with Stickers

Occupational therapy providers always have stickers on hand in their therapy toolbox and there’s a reason why…playing with stickers has many benefits!

Playing with stickers can help kids with so many skill areas!  They can even be an Occupational Therapist’s secret weapon. School based occupational therapy providers love them for so many reasons. Pulling a fresh sheet of stickers from the OT’s treatment bag can bring on big smiles from kids of all ages.  And the best news is, that the children don’t even realize they are working on important child developmental areas!



Use stickers in Occupational Therapy and development of so many skills with kids: fine motor, gross motor, visual perceptual, handedness, and more.
 

 

 

The Best Reasons to Play With Stickers

Affiliate links are included in this post.
 
When you see a sheet of stickers, what grabs your attention?  Maybe it’s the brightest sticker on the sheet, or maybe it’s a special character. Whatever it is that brings you sticker joy, they all are great for developmental areas.  
 
10 Reasons Why EVERY Kid Should Play With Stickers:
 
1. Neat Pincer Grasp. Stickers are a fine motor powerhouse.  Peeling the sticky little pictures requires a neat pincer grasp in order to pull up the edge of a sticker from a sticker sheet.  The very tips of the fingers are needed to grip such a small area.  For some kids, grasping just the edge of a single sheet of paper is quite difficult. Working with stickers is a great way to practice neat pincer grasp  for skills like picking up small beads, string, or a sewing needle.                                                                                                                                                        

Extend the skill:  Work on pincer grasp by peeling stickers of different sizes.  Smaller stickers will be more difficult to peel. Place stickers on strips of masking tape and other surfaces and and peel the stickers up. Then, work on grasp by placing the stickers down on different surfaces. Stick the stickers on paper taped to a wall to encourage an efficient wrist position.

RELATED ACTIVITY: STICKER SNOWMAN CRAFT
 
 
2. Bilateral Coordination– It’s an essential skill for so many functional tasks.  Zippering a coat, cutting with scissors, and handwriting are all activities that require bilateral hand coordination.  Peeling stickers requires tow hands as you hold the sheet with one hand and peel with the dominant hand.  Both hands are involved in the work and doing different tasks.  
 
Extend the skill: Use stickers to work on bilateral hand coordination by using very large pieces of paper and very small sheets of paper.  
Show your child how to hold the sticker sheet in various positions. Here’s another Bilateral coordination activity idea.
 
3. Visual Scanning. Visual scanning is required for skills like reading, writing, searching for an item in a crowded room, and visually scanning the environment.  Kids can scan a sticker sheet to peel off the sticker that they want.  
 
Extend the skill:  Position stickers all over a page.  Ask the child to look for a specific sticker that you describe.  They can connect stickers with a crayon, or cut the paper along a line stickers.  Position stickers all over a wall and work on visual scanning on a large scale as they look for specific stickers.  Add in a flashlight and have the child scan for stickers with the light. 

 
4. Spatial Awareness. Difficulties with spatial awareness can make reading writing, and functioning in all daily tasks practically impossible.  Kids may write with sloppy handwriting or have trouble with organizing their body in space.  Use stickers as a visual cue for spatial awareness.  Kids can see the sticker’s bright color and can use it as a visual cue for where to start writing on a page, how big to form letters, where to stop in the hallway of lockers, where to place folders in a desk, where to place coats in the closet.  The use of stickers in this area are limitless!
 
Extend the activity:  Position stickers on the left margin of a paper for kids who need help with writing.  Stickers can provide a cue for letter size, too. Use stickers in a large scale maze by sticking them on chairs, walls, and floors.  Kids can hop or jump over stickers or go around, and touch stickers while working on spatial awareness.
 
5. Sensory Exploration. Explore scents with scratch and sniff stickers.  Discover textures of smooth, puffy, scratchy, and fuzzy stickers.  Kids are very motivated by stickers, too.  A sticker can be used as a reward for a child who touches a messy sensory bin or participates in difficult therapy treatment activities.


Extend the activity: Work on visual motor activity for learning with stickers. Use stickers in a mess-free sensory play activity.

Use stickers in Occupational Therapy and development of so many skills with kids: fine motor, gross motor, visual perceptual, handedness, and more.

6. Handedness. Kids often times have trouble learning which hand is which.  They will switch hands when writing and can put their shoes on the wrong feet.  Use stickers as a visual cue in learning left from right both on their body and off.  One sticker can be stuck to just one shoe to help a child learn to put their shoes on the correct feet.  You can put a sticker on the top of a child’s coat to teach them which way is up.
 
Extend the activity: When practicing scissor skills, place a sticker on the side of the paper the child should hold.  
 
7. Separation of the two sides of the hand.  Using the thumb side of the hand while bending the pinkie side of the hand in stability defines separation of the two sides of the hand.  This is needed for tripod grasp and in-hand manipulation as well as gross grasp and power grip hand strength.  Use stickers to work on this by placing a sticker in the child’s palm.  They can bend the pinkie, ring finger, and middle finger down to cover up the sticker while using the pointer finger and thumb in fine motor tasks.
 
Extend the activity:  Place a small object like a cotton ball in the hand while using the thumb and pointer finger to pick up stickers.  
Stack stickers in a pile by placing them on top of one another.
Use a sticker on the tip of a pencil to show kids where to pinch the pencil when sing a tripod grasp.
 
8. Hand Strength.  How can something as small as a sticker work on hand strength?  Children need strength in the small muscles of their hands in order to have endurance in coloring, using an open web space when holding a pencil, and when managing buttons and snaps on clothing.  Kids can use stickers to build the strength of the intrinsic hand muscles by peeling stickers from resistive surfaces. 
 
Extend the activity:  Place stickers on cloth like couches or carpeting and ask your child to unstick the stickers without ripping them.  They will need to use the intrinsic muscles and defined arches of the hand to pull them up.
 
9. Body Awareness. Toddlers can work on naming their body parts by sticking stickers on feet, and other parts.  Children with difficulty in sequencing might have trouble knowing if a sock or shoe goes on their feet first.  Use stickers to help with organizing and positioning on the body.
 
Extend the activity: Place stickers on feet, hands, arms, and back.  Ask your child to touch certain body parts in a specific order.  Work on getting faster.  Toddlers can practice naming body parts by trying to peel off a sticker stuck to their wrist as you say “wrist”.
 
10. Gross Motor Development.  Crossing midline, jumping, hopping, skipping, and jumping jacks are gross motor tasks that can be difficult or some kids.  Use stickers as a visual cue or obstacle in practicing these areas.
 
Extend the activity: Place stickers on each knee.  Ask your child to touch the right knee’s sticker with their left hand and the left knee’s sticker with their right hand.  
Stick stickers high on walls as they try to jump up to touch them with outstretched hands.

 

MORE reasons to play with stickers:
  • Literacy
  • organization
  • sequencing
  • problem solving
  • self-confidence
  • language development
  • mathematics
  • creativity
  • sense of accomplishment
  • stress reduction
  • goal setting
  • socializing
 
What are your favorite ways to play with stickers?  
 
So, get your child involved with sticker collections to work on all of these developmental areas.  And, you’ll get to relive your childhood with the scratch-and-sniff, fuzzy, hologram, puffy stickers!
 

Best Sticker Gifts for Kids

We also have some ideas for sticker toys and sticker gifts that support development of these skills in kids.

Use stickers in Occupational Therapy and development of so many skills with kids: fine motor, gross motor, visual perceptual, handedness, and more.

 

 
I found some very fun sticker activities out there that I wanted to share.  Play with your child using these sticker activities as you work on 10+ functional areas:
 

Every kid needs a sticker collection book! This My Sticker Album
has illustrated pages for sticker collections. 



Try this Re-Usable Sticker Book to stick and re-stick stickers.
 

Need stickers to add to your collection book? The 1000 Stickers for Girls
and 1000 Stickers for Boys should have you covered! (Although who says a truck sticker is just for boys? Nope! I would get both books for my kiddos!) 



There are stickers for every theme, character, or interest out there. From Dinosaur Stickers, to Cupcake Stickers …there is something for everyone!  (including the Care Bears fans out there!) 


I love these Alphabet stickers for name building, letter identification, and spelling word practice.




What stickers do you need in your sticker collection?

 
Use stickers in Occupational Therapy and development of so many skills with kids: fine motor, gross motor, visual perceptual, handedness, and more.
 
 
 
You will love our recent 31 Days of Occupational Therapy series where we shared free and almost free ways to work on Occupational Therapy goal areas.  This post is a great way to work on functional skills using free or inexpensive items.  Most of us have a couple of stickers around the house.  Some of my favorite activities from the series include: 
 
 
 
 

Day 14 Open Thumb Web Space Activities and Homemade Fuzzy Beads

Day 15 Dinosaur-Sized Sensory Feelings and Proprioceptive Activities 

Day 16 Handwriting Warm-Up exercises

Day 17 Cardboard Tube Visual Tracking

Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.

Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:

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

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

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

Raccoon Craft for Math and Fine Motor

racoon craft

We made this racoon craft many moons ago, when my oldest was in second grade. She’s now a sophomore in high school, and I have to say that those years went by like a flash. This post was originally written in October, 2015 and I’m just updating it now with some tips about how to use the racoon craft to support fine motor development. One thing is for certain; this fine motor math craft still remains as cute as it did all those years ago!

This is a clothespin activity that supports development of many areas of motor skills AND learning regrouping in math!

racoon craft

Racoon Craft

I love that this racoon craft supports fine motor skills. Not only by making the craft, but by playing with the racoon clothes pin, there are some big fine motor benefits. Plus, it’s a fine motor STEM activity that kids seem to love.

There are so many benefits to using the clothes pin as a fine motor tool in math (and in kids crafts)!

For example, when manipulating clothes pins, fine motor contributions include:

Similarly, the fine motor contributions that are needed for threading beads includes:

  • Arch development
  • In-hand manipulation
  • Eye-hand coordination
  • Open thumb web space
  • Tripod grasp/pincer grasp
  • Finger isolation
  • Thumb opposition
  • Wrist extension
  • Dexterity
  • Bilateral coordination

We made a video that shows how manipulating and pinching clothes pins promotes grasp development. Check it out here:

In the video, we show how to use the clothes pins to work on pinch strength and grip strength. You can use your racoon clothespin craft to do these things!

Regrouping Math Activity

Second grade.  They say it’s the old third grade in public schools.  My second grader is our oldest, so I’ve no previous school years to compare the class work or curriculum to.  We are plowing through the first few months of school though.  We are well into a routine with schedules, homework, and have only missed the bus once.  (This is our best year so far in that area!)  

While my second grader might be doing the stuff that third graders used to do, she is a trooper.  She works hard and she loves her teacher and her friends.  I mean, she even comes home from a long day of school and PLAYS school with her siblings.  While they have zero interest in regrouping addition problems, they are cooperative little students.

 
 Raccoon craft with a clothes pin for use in second grade math: this Regrouping Raccoon will help with regrouping double digit addition math problems!
 
 
 

Raccoon Craft

This Raccoon craft made the perfect tool to practice a math skill with my second grader: Regrouping Double Digit Addition Problems.  It was a fun craft to make alongside my daughter and turned out to be a pretty fun second grade craft, too!

Raccoon craft with a clothes pin for use in second grade math: this Regrouping Raccoon will help with regrouping double digit addition math problems!

 

What is Regrouping Double Digit Addition?

So, we actually did a regrouping activity last year when my little future teacher was in first grade.  That activity was about regrouping single digits in addition.  Now, a whole year later, we’re regrouping double digits and feel like big shots.  Ok, not really.  But it IS a whole other column of numbers that we are adding, here! 
 
Now, I’ve said it before.  I am not a teacher by trade.  In fact, I’m an Occupational Therapist.  So I don’t have a huge understanding of teaching techniques or educational standards and the like.  But, I do have the motivation that only a mom has when it comes to making homework fun, and easy.  I am so over pulling teeth to get homework done.  Let’s do a creative and playful activity to build on school-found skills and I’m good.  And really, when we pull in my OT-ness to the play and fun, it’s even better.  Fine motor skills, here we come!

Ok, ok back to what is regrouping question.  

Essentially, regrouping in math is borrowing or carrying a digit to aide in a math operation. In addition, digits from the ones column are added to the tens column to add single or double digits. 

My second grader is adding double digit numbers.  When the ones column of those double digits add up to more than 9, there is another tens to add to the tens column.  

Regrouping in Math Activity

Now, to practice regrouping double digit addition problems, you could do page after page of worksheets.  But if your kiddo is like mine (and any other kid out there), that will not go over well.  We made this sneaky little raccoon clothes pin craft to practice regrouping in math practice.
 
It’s a pretty easy craft that your second grader will love to try.  You’ll need just a few materials: (These are affiliate links.)

Raccoon craft with a clothes pin for use in second grade math: this Regrouping Raccoon will help with regrouping double digit addition math problems!
Raccoon craft with a clothes pin for use in second grade math: this Regrouping Raccoon will help with regrouping double digit addition math problems!
 
To make the racoon craft:
 
  1. Start by cutting a strip of newspaper to fit on the front of the clothes pin.  
  2. You’ll also want to cut a small circle for the raccoon’s head, and a tail-ish shape.  
  3. Glue the newspaper strip to the front of the clothes pin.  
  4. From the black cardstock, cut small strips to make the raccoon’s eye mask, tow triangle ears, and stripes for the tail.  
  5. Glue all of these paper pieces into place.  
  6. Add the googly eyes and draw on a cute little smile.  That raccoon is done and ready to help with regrouping. 


Regrouping Raccoon and Double Digit Addition

We decided that since raccoons are pretty sneaky and sometimes steal garbage from trash cans, that our Regrouping Raccoon would be the perfect buddy for stealing numbers from the ones column and placing them over in the tens column.  We practiced with a problem or two and added up the ones column.  If the total had 10 or more, than that sneaky little raccoon helped us move the ten over to the tens column.  Fun, right?
 
Now, grab a sheet of regrouping addition problems.  We used a homework page, but you could just write out problems on a piece of paper.  
 
As my daughter did the double digit math problems, I had her clip the raccoon onto the edge of the paper if it was a regrouping problem.  For the problems that did not require regrouping, we just left the raccoon in place.  

Raccoon craft with a clothes pin for use in second grade math: this Regrouping Raccoon will help with regrouping double digit addition math problems!
 
We ended up making a few more raccoon pinch clothes pins and had a family of raccoons!
 
Raccoon craft with a clothes pin for use in second grade math: this Regrouping Raccoon will help with regrouping double digit addition math problems!
 
 
 
 
 
More second grade activities you will love:
 
 
 
 
 
 
We have a few other resources that might help as well. These are free tools you can find on The OT Toolbox and all three include free downloads. These would go great with our racoon craft activity!
forest sensory path

Use the forest sensory path with our racoon craft to support self regulation needs.

shadow matching worksheet with forest animals theme

Add our forest animal visual discrimination worksheet to your therapy toolbox to work on visual scanning, visual form constancy, and other visual perceptual skills.

free forest animal worksheets

And, use our forest animal puzzles to work on scissor skills and visual motor skills.

I hope the racoon craft and all of the tips in this activity supports development! Have fun!

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

31 Days of Learning with Free Materials

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

diy learning materials

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

 
 

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

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

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

Creative & Playful Learning.  Be inspired.


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


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

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Distance learning ideas for learning at home with free materials.

More Learning at Home Ideas

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

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

Snowy Farm Sensory Bin

farm sensory bin

Welcome to a winter wonderland on the farm! In today’s blog post, we’re diving into the magical world of sensory play with a snowy farm sensory bin. This delightful activity combines the charm of a farm theme with the sensory joys of winter, creating an engaging and therapeutic experience for children. This is one of our favorite winter sensory bins because you can focus on so many different underlying skills through play.

Farm sensory bin

Whether you’re a parent looking for creative winter activities or a therapist seeking effective tools for skill development, this farm sensory bin is tailored to captivate young minds while addressing various therapeutic areas. Read all about sensory bins in general as a therapy tool to support skill development.

Farm Sensory Bin

We love a great occupational therapy sensory activity because cold winter temps and less daylight hours mean you might not have a chance to get little ones outside as often as you might like. Plus, a farm sensory bin goes great with a Farm theme in preschool or in occupational therapy sessions.

This farm sensory bin has a winter theme, but you could actually set up a farm sensory bin any time of year. In fact, we loved this play dough farm activity that goes along with a farm theme and supports fine motor skills as well as sensory input.

The base of shredded paper sets the stage for a snowy landscape, providing a tactile experience that stimulates sensory exploration and fine motor skills.

This winter-themed sensory bin features a collection of farm toys and mini figures, turning the snowy setting into a farm scene ready for imaginative play.

Farm Animal Sensory Bin

The farm animal sensory bin takes the excitement a step further, introducing miniature figures of beloved farm animals. As children dive into the bin, they engage in hands-on exploration, feeling the textures of the shredded paper, maneuvering the farm toys, and creating their own farm stories.

This sensory-rich experience enhances tactile input, encouraging self-confidence as children express themselves through play.

Farm Theme Sensory Bin Setup

Setting up the farm theme sensory bin is a breeze:

  1. Begin with a large container filled with shredded paper to create a snowy base. You could also use other sensory bin base materials if you don’t have shredded paper on hand.
  2. Add farm toys such as barns, tractors, and mini figures of animals to bring the farm to life.
  3. Encourage creativity by incorporating small props like faux trees or fences. This simple yet effective setup provides a canvas for endless imaginative scenarios.

Before this weekend, we’ve had a super cool spring.  With a handful of days where it snowed.  We are ready for outside play in short sleeves, running in the yard, and grass stained knees.

But, we have been loving this fun play activity too 🙂

We had a boat load of shredded paper from doing taxes recently.  It came in pretty handy for a small world snowy farm scene!

We put some farm animals, the Little People barn, and of course, Little Guy’s construction vehicles.

(how else can the farmer move allll that snow??)

Little Guy went to farm-town with imagination stories and pretend play.

Baby Girl loves to make the animal sounds and had a blast finding them in the shredded paper.

Why This Farm Sensory Bin Helps Development


Beyond simply playing in the sensory bin, this farm sensory bin serves as a therapeutic tool to foster development in various areas.

You can target areas in:

Fine motor skills are particularly important in early childhood development, as they lay the foundation for more complex tasks in the future. 

Tactile discrimination, exploration, and sensory desensitization are effectively addressed with sensory bins as they are playful and present in a non-threatening way. The playful nature of sensory bins allows children to control their tactile experiences, fostering confidence in their interactions with materials and gradually increasing their comfort with different sensations. 

The hands-on nature of the activity promotes fine motor skills as children manipulate the farm toys and engage with the sensory materials. Communication skills blossom as they create farm narratives, fostering language development.

In addition, occupational therapy providers love sensory bins because they can offer a unique and enjoyable way to engage reluctant children who may initially be hesitant about engaging in the sensory elements of tactile defensiveness challenges.

Tactile input and sensory exploration contribute to a holistic sensory experience, supporting overall sensory processing.

 

 
 
 
 
My fun-loving Baby Girl instigated this little incident…
 
she just couldn’t help herself 🙂
 
 
What are we learning through play?

Imagination Play

Pretend Play

Learning Animals

Animal Sounds

Visual Scanning

Sensory Play

 

Farm Sensory Bin Ideas

You can pair this farm sensory bin with other therapy ideas, too. Use some of these tools and resources to support skills like gross motor skills, coordination, brain breaks, and more:

  • These Farm Brain Breaks can add movement and gross motor input to a child’s day and fit in great with a farm animal theme. Print off the cards and use them in the classroom or home.
  • These heavy work cards includes a set of 8 farm themed heavy work activities that can be used as a brain break or added proprioceptive input.
  • Free Farm Scissor Skills Packet
  • This barn craft is fun because kids can make a barn and use it in the farm animal sensory bin.
  • This Farm Fingerprint art activity supports visual closure, visual tracking, and visual scanning activity, too.
  • The Farm Therapy Kit has a bunch or activities to support sensory needs, handwriting, motor skills, dexterity, and more.

Get your copy of the Farm Therapy Kit.

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.