If you are looking for the best gross motor toys to challenge coordination, balance, motor planning through whole-body movement and heavy work play, then you are in luck with these occupational therapy toys. Each one is designed to develop gross motor skills: strength, coordination, balance, posture, and more.
PLUS, head to the bottom of this blog post for Day 2 of our therapy toy giveaway. We’re giving away a gross motor kit with agility cones, tossing loops, bean bags, and hula hoops, perfect for gross motor, balance, coordination, and even heavy sensory play through whole body movements.
We started off the fun with yesterday’s fine motor toy ideas. Today is all about the gross motor play.
First, let’s talk Gross Motor Toys!
You’ll also want to check out our blog post on Gross Motor Activities for Preschoolers because many of the gross motor toy ideas listed in this post would be great for the preschool years (and beyond!).
Amazon affiliate links are included in this blog post. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Gross Motor Toys
Kids need gross motor movement for so many skills. Today, I have gross motor toys to share! Here, you’ll find the best whole body toys and ideas to help kids with balance, core strength, stability, coordination, and endurance.
These gross motor games and toys support a variety of skill areas and functional tasks. Gross motor toys can be used to strengthen balance, coordination, motor planning, position changes, and other areas.
Scroll on to check out some therapist-approved toys that help gross motor skill development!
Gross Motor Toy Ideas
This list of toys for gross motor skills pairs well with our recent list of Fine Motor Toys. Today however, you’ll find toys that develop a few areas that are essential to areas of child development:
Bilateral Coordination– Kids need bilateral coordination in whole body movements to move their body in a coordinated way. These whole body movements can include coordination of the upper and lower body, or both arms, or both feet, and all of the above! Here are bilateral coordination toys to address this specific area.
Motor Planning– Motor planning with the whole body allows children to move in a room without crashing into objects or other people. Gross motor motor planning allows children to climb steps, navigate obstacles, or any movement-based task. Here is more information on motor planning and motor planning toys to address this specific sub-area.
Gross motor coordination– Coordination of gross motor skills is needed for tasks such as kicking or catching a ball, riding a bike, getting dressed, or any task that uses the entire body. Here are hand eye coordination toys to address this particular sub-area.
Proprioception– Integration of proprioceptive input allows children to know where their body is in space. It tells the body how much effort is needed to pick up and move objects. Proprioception allows us to understand the body’s position as it moves in a coordinated manner.
Vestibular input- Integration of vestibular input allows children to navigate the world around them as they move. Going up or down steps or bleachers is an example of this. Moving into different positions during tasks is another example of vestibular integration. Movement through different planes requires integration of vestibular input.
All of these areas work together in functional tasks and all are rooted in gross motor skills.
So often, therapists and teachers purchase items to use in their work using their own money. This giveaway offers a chance for you to win an item that will be useful in helping kids thrive.
And, given that kids are on screens more than ever before with all of the virtual learning and hybrid learning models being incorporated all over the world, therapists are seeing more need for active, physical play.
These are gross motor toys that you will find in therapy clinics. There is a reason why…because they are gross motor powerhouses! So, if you are looking for toy recommendations that build whole body motor skills, this is it!
Amazon affiliate links are included below. You can read more about these items by checking out the links.
Zoom Ball– This classic toy is such a great way to work on many skills. A zoom ball can be used in different positions to challenge balance and vestibular input. Try using the zoom ball games in sitting, standing, kneeling, standing on couch cushions, a slant…again, the options are limitless! Address skills such as:
Bilateral coordination
Core strength
Shoulder stability
Visual convergence
Motor planning
Coordination
Pop and Catch-Use this coordination toy indoors or outdoors to get kids moving. This toy can be played with while the child is standing, sitting, kneeling, or in a half-sit to challenge the core and eye-hand coordination in a variety of planes. Try playing on all fours on the floor for a shoulder girdle stability activity. Another use for this toy is by playing by standing at a table while the child shoots the ball across the table surface as they play like a ping-pong type of game. There are many uses for this pop and catch activity:
Eye-hand coordination
Motor planning
Vestibular input
Core strength
Stability of core
Stability of shoulder girdle
Bucket Stilts– These bucket stilts are perfect for helping kids develop gross motor skills. I love this set because there are 6 colored buckets that make a great gross motor obstacle course tool, too. You could use them as stepping stones to challenge balance and coordination, too. Here are gross motor skills that you can work on using these bucket stilts toys:
Core strength
Vestibular input
Motor planning
Coordination
Balance
Endurance
Stabilizing
Agility Cones– Sports cones are such an open-ended gross motor toy that can be used to develop so many skills: hopping, jumping, skipping, running, climbing, crawling…the options are endless. Use these agility cones in therapy obstacle courses, challenges, drills, and more. I chose these particular cones because they can go very nicely with a Zones of Regulation activity! Use cones to support these areas:
Motor planning
Vestibular input
Coordination
Core strength
Endurance
Carpet Markers– These carpet markers are an occupational therapist’s dream toy! Use the colored marker spots to help kids work on so many movement skills in obstacle courses, visual perceptual skill activities, direction following, sensory movement breaks, positioning guides, and so much more. The arrows are perfect for addressing directionality. Use them to work on crawling, hopping, jumping, stopping on a point. Just some of the areas that these carpet spots support:
Core strength
Shoulder stability
Motor planning
Coordination
Endurance
Proprioception
Parachute– A parachute is another open-ended gross motor toy that the kids just LOVE. This one is small enough for small groups, but builds motor skills in a big way. Use the parachute to help kids develop:
Core stability
Arm strength
Motor planning
Endurance
Bilateral coordination
Proprioceptive input
Toys for Core Strength
Toys that develop core strength get kids moving in a variety of positions. These toys support and challenge the vestibular and proprioceptive systems so they can be calming activities as well. Strength and stability in the core is needed for almost all functional tasks. Challenge kids with these core strengthening toys by getting them moving, on the floor in floor play or strengthening the core muscles through movement and balance coordination. Some ideas for developing and strengthening core strength include:
Toys that challenge movement changes, stepping from high to low and low to high, and movement with vestibular input offer opportunities to challenge and develop balance and coordination skills.
Encourage movement, whole body play, and gross motor coordination with throwing, tossing, and hand-eye coordination or foot-eye coordination skills with these gross motor coordination ideas:
All of the gross motor toys listed above could be used in obstacle courses…and what a great way to encourage so many skills! These are perfect additions to your obstacle course ideas, and challenge balance, coordination, motor planning, and add sensory input. Use these obstacle course toys to vary movement and encourage the specific skills kids need:
Want to add these toys to your home, classroom, or therapy practice? I am SO happy to fill your toolbox so you can help kids thrive and build and develop the skills they need!
More therapy Toys
Check out the other therapy toy recommendations in the list below:
Want a printable copy of our therapist-recommended toys to support gross motor development?
As therapy professionals, we LOVE to recommend therapy toys that build skills! This toy list is done for you so you don’t need to recreate the wheel.
Your therapy caseload will love these GROSS MOTOR toy recommendations. (There’s space on this handout for you to write in your own toy suggestions, to meet the client’s individual needs, too!)
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
Check out the blog comments below to see tips and ideas from readers telling us which gross motor toys they would love to use with the kids they work with and love. Have other gross motor favorites that aren’t listed here? Tell us about them!
This post on baking soda cornstarch dough was originally written January 22, 2014 and updated November 18, 2023.
Many years ago, we made this baking soda dough cornstarch recipe to make baking soda dough snowmen. It was a fun sensory play activity for Christmas, and one of the many Christmas occupational therapy activities that we love to do with kids to support tactile play and sensory touch. However, you could extend the play out to all of the winter months, along with our other Winter fine motor activities.
Today I have something fun to share: baking soda cornstarch dough! We tried a baking soda dough recipe and used it to make snowman in a way to help kids strengthen fine motor skills and hand strength.
If you’ve been a follower of this website for long, you know that we are big fans of play dough, salt dough, clay…any dough is tops in our house! It’s a great way to build fine motor skills with a fun sensory dough activity.
We’ve tried a lot of different recipes for different doughs and have our favorites, definitely. We wanted to make some snowmen one day and tried a new (to us) recipe…Baking Soda Dough!
Baking Soda Cornstarch Clay
Ingredients:
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup water
Instructions to make Baking Soda Cornstarch Clay:
In a medium-sized saucepan, whisk together the baking soda and cornstarch.
Gradually add the water to the dry ingredients, stirring continuously to avoid lumps.
Place the saucepan over medium heat and continue stirring the mixture. As it heats, the mixture will start to thicken.
Keep stirring until the mixture reaches a clay-like consistency. It should pull away from the sides of the pan and form a soft, pliable dough.
Once the desired consistency is reached, remove the saucepan from heat and allow the mixture to cool.
Once the baking soda clay is cool enough to handle, transfer it to a clean surface and knead it for a few minutes to make it smooth and more pliable.
Now, your baking soda clay is ready for sensory play! Children can use it to create shapes, textures, and engage in imaginative play. It’s a great way to promote fine motor skills and sensory exploration.
If you’re using this recipe in an educational or therapeutic setting, you might consider incorporating elements that align with child development principles. For example, you could guide children to create shapes related to their fine motor skill development or use the clay to explore different textures for sensory input.
Snowman bilateral coordination activities– Our baking soda dough snowmen make a great addition to the snowman themed bilateral coordination activities shared in a previous post. Rolling, pinching, and manipulating baking soda dough supports bilateral coordination development.
Snowman Fine Motor Craft– Add the baking soda snowmen to a fine motor theme when it comes to using snowmen in helping kids develop skills.
Baking Soda Dough is the neatest stuff to play with. This soda dough was soft and easy to mold into little snowmen. Rolling the balls of dough with the hands is a powerful way to help kids develop hand strength.
In fact, kids can improve intrinsic hand strength using dough by rolling small pieces with their fingertips. The kids loved playing and creating with our soda dough. It was easy to roll little snowmen bodies and so we made a bunch!
We were inspired to make soda dough before Christmas when we made thumbprint reindeer ornaments for Christmas gifts to grandparents. Jen over at Mama.Papa.Bubba. made these Baking Soda Clay Ornaments and we thought they were beyond adorable! They made perfect little gifts from the kids.
It was an easy recipe to follow and perfect for little hands to mold, roll, and smash!
We made these Soda Dough Snowmen one day when Little Nephew was over to play. The toddlers were big fans of this dough! They had so much fun making snowmen…we ended up making 12!
Pinching, rolling, stacking…this was great fine motor play here! Working the dough uses the small muscles of the hand (the intrinsic muscles) that are so important for small motor activities like button management and endurance in coloring and handwriting.
Once we had our family of snowmen, I put them on a cookie sheet and let them dry for two days. At the end of two days, they were still a little soft, so I then threw them into the oven set at 150 degrees F. I let them bake for about 2 hours and they seemed to be hardened up.
If you make snowmen like ours, keep an eye on them in the oven. It will probably take longer if you bake them from the onset.
Our snowmen were hardened and ready for play and pretending.
Want more ways to boost fine motor skills with a snowman theme or winter theme? The Winter Fine Motor Kit is on sale now!
This print-and-go winter fine motor kit includes no-prep fine motor activities to help kids develop functional grasp, dexterity, strength, and endurance. Use fun, winter-themed, fine motor activities so you can help children develop strong fine motor skills in a digital world.
More than ever, kids need the tools to help them build essential fine motor skills so they develop strong and dexterous hands so they can learn, hold & write with a pencil, and play.
This 100 page no-prep packet includes everything you need to guide fine motor skills in face-to-face AND virtual learning. Includes winter themed activities for hand strength, pinch and grip, dexterity, eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, endurance, finger isolation, and more.
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
Have you heard of rainbow writing? How about chalk rainbow writing? There are many fine motor and visual motor skills that are used when using rainbow writing as a handwriting practice strategy! Let’s break down what rainbow writing is and how this chalk writing activity is a skill-builder for letter formation. Also check out our handwriting library for more ideas.
Tracing letters with chalk is a handwriting practice strategy that helps to build muscle memory when learning letter formations. You can rainbow write on paper or with different utensils such as crayons, colored pencils, markers, or chalk!
Tracing Letters with Chalk
Tracing letters with chalk is a colorful way to practice letter formation. The strategy builds skills in visual motor and hand eye coordination in order to trace over the lines of a letter.
When you use chalk tracing to practice a letter or a word, the child traces over the letter with each color of the rainbow.
They will end up with 6 or 7 trials in writing over the letter.
Some things to consider with tracing with chalk
Tracing over letters with chalk, crayons, or colored pencils is a powerful strategy when practicing letter formation and the line awareness needed for letter size and line placement.
Read through this resource on tracing sheets to see the pros and cons of tracing with kids.
Some things you’ll want to consider about chalk tracing writing activities:
Be sure to watch how the student starts the letters. It can be easy to start a poor muscle memory for writing the letters if they start at the wrong starting point or form the letters incorrectly. This creates an incorrect motor plan in the handwriting process.
Make sure the letters don’t progressively get worse as the student traces over the letters when rainbow writing.
Some kids tend to make the rainbow letters with colors next to each other like a rainbow rather than tracing on top of each color. Ask the student to make a mixed up rainbow by tracing right on top of each color.
Rainbow Writing with chalk
We did rainbow writing with chalk one day. This was a great way to work on letter formation while outside because there was the added benefit of playing on the ground.
Using chalk to practice letters supports development by adding proprioceptive input through the core, strengthens the shoulder girdle for adding more stability for writing, as well as adding strength and stability to the wrist. It’s also a great way to focus on wrist range of motion exercises in a fun way.
We have a big ol’ bucket of chalk that we play with almost everyday. Our sidewalk and driveway have been know to be very colorful at times! We took the chalk to our sidewalk squares one day this week and practiced a little letter formation.
Our sidewalk squares were the perfect area to practice forming letters accurately. I used simple verbal cues to describe the formation of each letter (big line down, little curve around, little line) and we started in the corner of each square as we made the letters.
I made the letter first and Big Sister and Little Guy watched. Then we went to work making our letters very colorful!
Tracing the letters over and over again was a great way to practice accurate formation. Big Sister got into this activity. Little Guy only wanted to make a few letters that are in his name.
When the child is tracing the letters over and over again, they become more efficient at planning out and executing the movements needed to make a letter accurately. This activity is great for a new writer because they are given a confined space to practice a letter, and visual cues (and verbal prompts from mom).
Use the activities and ideas in The Handwriting Book for more ways to work on writing skills.
The Handwriting Book is a comprehensive resource created by experienced pediatric OTs and PTs.
The Handwriting Book covers everything you need to know about handwriting, guided by development and focused on function. This digital resource is is the ultimate resource for tips, strategies, suggestions, and information to support handwriting development in kids.
The Handwriting Book breaks down the functional skill of handwriting into developmental areas. These include developmental progression of pre-writing strokes, fine motor skills, gross motor development, sensory considerations, and visual perceptual skills. Each section includes strategies and tips to improve these underlying areas.
Strategies to address letter and number formation and reversals
Ideas for combining handwriting and play
Activities to practice handwriting skills at home
Tips and strategies for the reluctant writer
Tips to improve pencil grip
Tips for sizing, spacing, and alignment with overall improved legibility
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.
For young (and old) children, a great calming classroom tool that supports learning, social participation, and school tasks is the calm down corner. A calming corner in the classroom can be a great sensory strategy to support emotional regulation needs in students. It’s a place to calm or re-organize in a personal bubble, meeting regulation needs so learning can happen. Let’s go over fun calm down corner ideas to support various regulation needs in the classroom.
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Calm Down Corner
A classroom calming area can include a variety of movement and sensory based activities or tools.
A place to sit: A visual space for a child to sit in their calming area, that is large enough for one child only. This could be a bean bag chair, a cushion or a pillow. These soft spots will help make the cozy corner comfortable so children feel they can stay as long as they would like. There are so many options when it comes to Flexible Seating tools – bean bag chair, movement seat, deflated beach ball seat, couch, soft chair, floor mats, large pillows
Soft surfaces – yoga mat, gymnastics mat, or soft rug
Timer – visual timers with countdown options are great
Preferred sensory items such as tactile toys, chewing items, plushies, fidgets, etc.
Books: Looking through picture books of all kinds, helps to give children something to do, while keeping their minds calm. Most of the time that children are interested in using a cozy corner, is when they are feeling overwhelmed.These Zones of Regulation booksthat talk about different feelings and support regulation and processing through feelings such as sad, scared, angry and more. These empathy and friendship books are another tool to consider. Place the books in a basket or a shelf for easy access.
Emotional Supports: Visual and tactile supports help people of all ages, but it is essential to have a visual space in the classroom for preschoolers to retreat to when they need time to calm down. Soothing Sammymakes creating this area simple and makes it a positive experience for children. This adorable golden retriever has his calm down house which can be placed in the cozy corner, with items that help children calm down using their sensory system. As they calm down, they can use the visuals included in the kit to explain to other children and adults how they are feeling and what they need support with.
Stuffed Animals or Baby Dolls: When feeling lonely, sad, scared or overwhelmed, having access to baby dolls or adorable stuffed animals makes the space less lonely. Additions such as baby doll blankets, bottles and other caretaking tools, allow children to comfort others as they work on comforting themselves.
Personal space: Adding a privacy cover or even simply a boundary to the cozy corner space helps children not to be distracted by other aspects of the environment. Placing fabric, cloth or other child-safe covers over the cozy space allows children to feel like they are in charge of their own space. Some child care centers place the cozy areas in small tents, (Amazon affiliate links) canopies (affiliate link) or wooden privacy cube like this one. (affiliate link)
A feelings check in could be a great addition to this space. The child could enter the calm down area and identify how they are feeling and then use strategies to support those needs.
This list is just the beginning! A calm down corner can include any item from the list above or classroom sensory diet strategies, based on the needs of the individual student.
Calm down corners can be quiet soothing areas to decompress for certain learners, while others need a more active calm down area in classrooms.
How to Add movement to a calm down corner
There are many different ways that children can calm down. Movement is one of the most beneficial and complicated ways to manage feelings and emotions.
There are two different types of movement patterns that support the sensory system.
Both of these types of movement activities increase awareness of where a body is in space, calms the central nervous system and regulates emotions in an amazing way. Movement is complicated as it can be alerting and calming. Picking the right activity for the desired outcome is tricky, but effective.
Help your learner understand what they need for self regulation, rather than bouncing all over the calm down corner.
How is movement calming?
Have you noticed that children seem to pay attention longer after moving around for a while? This isn’t just because they are tired after completing an active task. Children and adults are able to attend for longer periods of time when movement breaks are embedded into their daily schedules due to the sensory benefits it provides.
For adults that have desk jobs, it is widely known that every 20 minutes, they should stand up. This not only helps blood flow, but also awakens the body. When children are engaged in circle time, implementing movement based activities within circle (like freeze dancing, jumping and marching) is beneficial to improving attention.
Movement has many benefits, including helping calm down when feeling overwhelmed with emotions.
When the sensory system becomes overstimulated due to internal feelings and frustrations, some people are quick to seek out movement activities to calm down. Adults may go for a walk or run, chew gum, lift weights or kick a ball. This strategy directly affects proprioceptive input.
There are many ways the body processes movement. This impacts the central nervous system in different ways.
Proprioceptive inputs is one of the ways the body processes movement. It tells the brain where the body is in space. Proprioception is guided by skin, muscle, and joint receptors in the body, to connect to the brain through the nervous system. In this way, a person knows where their body is in space, and what the body is doing, without needing to watch the body parts move. A great example of proprioception, is being able to walk down the stairs without looking at ones legs or feet
Heavy work, or tasks that involve heavy resistance, offers input to the muscles, joints, and connective tissue, and is essential to regulating the sensory system
In this article on neuroplasticity, evidence suggests the sensorimotor cortex that governs proprioception is not fixed, and can be changed through external manipulation.
Vestibular movement, like proprioception, also helps alert us where our body is in space. This system operates through the inner ear, passing information to the brainstem, affecting many areas of the body. If a person starts jumping, rocking to music, or dancing to calm the body, it activates the vestibular system. This article on vestibular activities does a great job explaining this system.
more about the vestibular system
Receptors in the inner ear, found in two structures (the otolith organs and the semicircular canals), respond to linear/angular/rotational movement, gravity, head tilt, and quick movement changes.
The receptors in the ear, provide information to the central nervous system about the body’s position in space. Information is used to:
control posture, eye, and head movements
correct the eyes with head and body movements
muscle tone and postural adjustments
perceive motion and spatial orientation, and integrates somatosensory information
Through the vestibular and proprioceptive systems, the body processes information about where it is space, interprets movement patterns, and recognizes touch and joint pressure. These senses greatly impact the ability to calm down by triggering pressure points through movement (such as rocking or swinging).
When a child (or adult) becomes upset or overwhelmed, it is helpful to utilize the vestibular and proprioceptive systems as intervention tools. This helps a person calm and self regulate, in order to process their feelings and problem solve.
Because children often need sensory strategies to self regulate, having a designated calm down area set up in the home/classroom makes redirecting children to the appropriate calming activities much easier.
The Soothing Sammy program is a great way to encourage children to take part in creating their own calm down corner through a story about a dog, Sammy, a golden retriever. As children help build Sammy’s calm down area to use when overwhelmed, they are gently taught that it is okay to have a variety of feelings. As children look through the book, they learn how to use objects in their calm down corner when needed, including drinking water, wiping their face with a cloth, jumping on a small mat (proprioceptive and vestibular input) and much more.
There are so many items that we can add to a calm down corner and every calm down corner will be different based on individual children’s needs. In the Soothing Sammy curriculum, there are recipes for lavender bubbles, slime, tactile fidgets, paint, and others.
Proprioception Calm Down Corner Ideas
Here are some great proprioceptive strategies to include in a calm down corner:
Calming Corner Printables- Print off the sensory stations listed below. These support heavy work needs (and vestibular input)
Jumping mat or small trampoline. When children jump, they put pressure on their joints
Weighted blanket. Weighted blankets provide deep pressure over the entire body, making this activity one of the an effective whole-body proprioceptive strategies to help children calm down
Watering plants. Lifting a watering can, can impact joints all over the body. As children stoop down to pick up the watering can, moving it over plants of different heights, they are getting great input
Weighted ball. Lifting and rolling over a weighted ball increases proprioceptive input in the hands, arms, shoulders, and core.
Play Dough. Squishing, squeezing and pulling apart playdough or clay, increases proprioceptive input in hands and small joints.
Some of these activities can be alerting or calming, therefore some trial and error may be needed.
Vestibular Calm Down Corner Ideas
Movement with changes in positioning can be calming as well. Think slow, rocking movements. Here are some Vestibular strategies to include in a calm down area:
Farm Brain Breaks – These simple, yet fun activities, provide visual ways to complete vestibular activities
Calming Corner Printables- Movement like yoga poses or those offering brain breaks can be just the calming input needed.
Swinging – Help your child move and sway in different directions with an indoor or outdoor swing. A Sensory Swing for modulationis an amazing way to provide an option to swing in a home or preschool setting
Trampoline – Provide a small trampoline for your child to jump on. (Amazon affiliate link:) This toddler trampoline with handle is perfect for indoors spaces
Dancing – Any type of movement to music, including freeze dancing or shaking instruments (such as a tambourine, bells, maracas) or using scarves, are wonderful additions to a calm down corner
Yoga Poses – There are several themed yoga poses perfect for children. Add a yoga book or cards like these Unicorn Yoga Posesto any calm down area
calming corner printables
One tool to add to a calming corner or calming space is a printable that offers a visual designed to promote calming and organizing self-regulation. These calming corner printables are easy to print off and start using right away.
Over the years, we’ve created seasonal sensory paths, or sensory stations that support regulation needs. We’ve received wonderful words of thanks and feedback letting us know how loved these sensory stations have been.
Check out each of these seasonal calming corner printable packets. Pick and choose the ones that support your needs in the classroom, therapy clinic, or home:
Additionally, other calming corner printables might include deep breathing posters. We have many free deep breathing exercises on the website, including:
Finally, a brain beak printable like our popular alphabet exercises makes a great wall poster for a calming corner of the classroom.
Keep in mInd about setting up a calming corner in classroom
Calm down areas should incorporate all the senses, as every mood, trigger, situation and response is different. Equally important is the co-regulation aspect, which relates to responding to the mood and behavior of those around us, or the peers that may be present in a classroom or home setting.
By utilizing a variety of calming tools in a calming corner, or calm down space within the classroom, children will be able to identify what they need, the moment they need it, while still engaging in active learning.
It can be daunting and complicated providing for the needs of all of your different learners, however, by incorporating vestibular and proprioceptive materials in a calm down corner, children are able to use these powerful movement strategies when they need them the most, all while taking a multisensory approach to academics.
Sensory Corner
We’ve covered ways to set up a calming area, but what if you really want to feature the cozy aspect of a sensory space in a classroom or home? A sensory corner is very much the same concept, with different terminology. The key to a calm down space is incorporating sensory components within these areas.
Research shows that having a designated space for children to have alone time in, during their school day, is a way to support emotional development and independence, while also teaching children that it is okay for their friends to take a break.
When combining visual, tactile and other sensory components into the design of a cozy area, children will independently seek it out when they need a break from their peers.
in the classroom is a cozy or quiet space for one child to spend time independently when they feel like they need a break from the regular commotion of a preschool day. This area can be used to take a sensory break, to calm down when they are feeling upset or overwhelmed, or to just take a break.
This area should be accessible for all children at any time of the school day. This area is best used when it is at the child’s level, is situated in an area of the classroom that is far away from the busier/louder areas of the classroom, and includes sensory supports to encourage calming and peaceful experiences.
Whatever you call your safe space, and however you set it up, what matters most is your intention.
Why Use a Sensory Corner?
A calming corner or a sensory corner may be used for many various reasons.
There are hundreds of reasons why children might need to take a break from other children in the classroom. They may feel sad, overstimulated or just need time to recharge.
This may include:
Feeling overstimulated in the classroom
Overwhelming feelings
Needing to recharge or refocus
Having a bad day
Changes in routines
Feeling “out of sorts”
Worried about a home situation
Worried about a friend situation or social situation
Worried about a test or project in the classroom
Sadness about home situations
Missing family or pets
Not sure what to expect or what is expected of them
Remember that the goal of the sensory corner is to offer a safe space, or to give children a place to calm down, feel safe, and regroup when they are overcome with big emotions at school.
One thing to consider is that a calm down area of the classroom can be effective at the start of the school year due to transitions in the classroom when a new classroom may mean a lot of unexpected sensory input. This is a great addition to back-to-school sensory activities that support students of all abilities.
Where to put a cozy area:
When looking at an indoor preschool classroom set up, there are many centers that are utilized by children throughout the day. The key is to avoid adding visual noise, or visual clutter when adding a cozy area to the classroom.
Some of the busiest areas include the circle time/gross motor area, the block area and the art areas. These areas tend to attract groups of children at once and aren’t the best spaces to put next to a calming area.
The library, dramatic play and animal/science areas, tend to be more quiet spaces in the classroom. Each of these spaces will support a calmer environment to build a calm down area. When deciding what wall or area to place the calm down spot, keep in mind the following environmental components:
Is there a window nearby that will give off too much light?
Are there large gross motor/sensory spots that are noisy?
How many pictures are on the wall, and are they soothing?
What are the colors of the walls by the calming area, and are they overstimulating?
Is the space adequate for one child, or will more children try to encroach on their alone time?
Can this space be easily visible by a teacher doing active supervision?
Is this space near high traffic areas, like the entry door or bathroom?
Many spaces may feel like the perfect spot for a calm down space inside the classroom. You know your kids the best and where they spend most of their time. As the school year progresses, there may be times where you want to move your calm down area to a better spot, and that’s okay!
Outdoor Sensory corner Ideas
Don’t forget about the outside as an option for a calm down space! We know the many benefits of outdoors as a calming area, so simply going outside is a great option for calming the mind and body while organizing (or regulating) the sensory motor systems. The outdoors is one way to add free sensory motor options to the classroom.
Kids need quiet spaces while they are playing outdoors also. When setting up an outdoor learning environment, make sure to incorporate some independent areas in a shady area of the playground. These spaces could be near the garden, near a book reading area, under a nice shade tree or near a swing. You can even add an outdoor sensory swing as a calming option.
When setting up an outdoor area as a sensory corner for classroom breaks, consider what science says: Research on outdoor sensory play tells us that playing outdoors supports development, but there are emotional benefits as well as benefits to learning.
Some components to think about when setting up your outdoor calm down area include:
Is it sunny or shady?
Is it near an area where children will be running quickly?
Is it near a highly trafficked area, like a parking lot, walkway or door?
Quiet cozy areas should be available for children at all times. It isn’t a punishment corner, rather a space that children can “take a break” when they need it.
Here are 5 simple ways to incorporate cozy spaces outdoors so children have the opportunity to play on their own when needed.
1.Place to Sit: The first step to creating a safe space is for children to have a space to be on their own. You can create this in a similar way with an area rug or cushion like the indoors, or you can create something with more of a visual “splash” like these calming spaces in children’s swimming pools.
2. Gardens: Nature is a great accessory to a cozy nook area outside. Consider creating a cozy nook with a variety of plants. Adding trellis’s and arches where different vegetables and flowers and grow over a child’s safe space, incorporates natural colors and healthy foods into the safe space that children will spend their time. Sensory gardening is also a great option for a sensory break from the classroom that fosters learning!
3. Swings: Attaching a child safe swing to a tree provides a sensory rich safe space where children have the opportunity to have quiet time and self soothe. There are so many sensory swing options including a hammock swing and a platform swing.
4. Individual Art Space: Child initiated process art in nature can be a calming and essential experience that supports children when they are overwhelmed or overstimulated. A simple way to create this individualized space is by attaching an easel to a fence and offering different mediums to use with the easel (markers, paint, chalk.) Some of these creative painting ideas are fun to try in a sensory calm down space.
5. Sensory Table: A small sensory table or a sensory bucket is a wonderful way to encourage individual calming time while outside. You can add a variety of different materials to the sensory tub, or offer options of 5 or six sensory buckets. This could include bubbles and wands, sand, goop or some more of these sensory bin ideas. Another idea is to set up a nature table. You could even use a picnic table with a sand writing tray on top where users draw in the sand on the table surface.
Best Practice for Calm Down Corners
No matter what you call them: calm down corners, cozy corners, or sensory corners…and no matter where they are located: indoors or outdoors, in the home, or in the classroom, these sensory spaces are a valuable tool for promoting self-regulation and emotional well-being.
They provide a dedicated space for students to practice calming techniques and engage in activities that help them manage their emotions. Calming corners may include tools such as breathing exercises, visual aids with coping strategies, mindfulness activities, and calming sensory items like stress balls or visual timers…or any item that offers a sense of peace.
The key is to create an environment that is quiet, comfortable, and free from distractions, allowing students to recharge and regain focus when needed!
If you are setting up a calm down corner for your classroom as you gear up for a new school year, be sure to check out our resource on back-to-school sensory activities as an addition to your classroom calming area.
Jeana Kinne is a veteran preschool teacher and director. She has over 20 years of experience in the Early Childhood Education field. Her Bachelors Degree is in Child Development and her Masters Degree is in Early Childhood Education. She has spent over 10 years as a coach, working with Parents and Preschool Teachers, and another 10 years working with infants and toddlers with special needs. She is also the author of the “Sammy the Golden Dog” series, teaching children important skills through play.
In this post, you will find calming bedtime relaxation stretches for kids and families, based on the popular children’s book, Time for Bed. These activities are perfect for helping kids calm down before bed. We know the power of sleep hygiene in child development, but let’s consider the powerful impact of stretches before bed have on children.
Relaxation Stretches for Kids Sleep
An important thing to cover when it comes to helping children fall asleep and stay asleep at night is the concept of pre-bedtime yoga. When kids participate in bedtime stretches as part of their bedtime routine, it’s a sensory diet that supports sleep.
Use animal theme yoga poses to support relaxation at bedtime.
Related is our resource on the role occupational therapy professionals can play in sleep for the whole family, when it comes to supporting a baby or newborn not sleeping.
Relaxation Stretches for Kids Sleep
An important thing to cover when it comes to helping children fall asleep and stay asleep at night is the concept of pre-bedtime yoga. When kids participate in bedtime stretches as part of their bedtime routine, it’s a sensory diet that supports sleep.
I love to bring this concept together for kids by first talking about how everyone needs sleep. Kids, adults, and even pets and animals. Sleep supports growth, learning, and allows our brains to rest. You can even use a few of our hibernation activities to take this concept further with kids, depending on the interest level.
Children can get a little wound up before bed. All it takes is one rouge energy burst and you’ve got giggling kids bouncing from every surface imaginable.
Couch cushions? check. They are jumping up and down.
Running from room to room? Check. There’s two of them chasing one another back and forth will the occasional knee slide across the hardwoods.
Practicing the living room tumbling skills? Yep and check. There’s one more doing somersaults across the room.
Why must they gang up on me with their endless energy during those exhausting pre-bedtime hours?
Having a set of bedtime relaxation stretches in the nightly routine can support sensory needs and promote a sense of calm before bedtime, just when children are wound up and excitable.
benefits of stretching before bed
We know that sleep is a necessary occupation for all of us, but for children sleep patterns and healthy sleep cycles support so many aspects of development.
Cognition
Learning
Behavior
Nutrition
Emotional development
Social development
When children don’t get enough hours of sleep, or if they don’t get quality sleep on a consistent basis, there are several things that can occur:
Poor focus
Trouble concentrating
Attention and behavior problems
Poor academic performance in school
Excess weight or increased food intake
Problems paying attention
Health problems: obesity, type 2 diabetes, poor mental health, and injuries
Decreased physical activity
Poor mental health
Unhealthy risky behaviors related to decision-making
Risk-taking behaviors, bullying,school violence-related behaviors, and physical fighting
Higher risk of unintentional injury
There are several studies describing the benefits of stretching before bed. Kids can benefit from a pre-bedtime stretching sessions to integrate sensory processing systems and the calming benefits of slow movement, heavy work as a regulation tool. This calms the body and helps with relaxation before bed.
Stretching before bed supports sleep quality. One review of multiple studies found that mindfulness meditation practices that incorporate gentle stretching, such as yoga and tai chi, generally improve sleep quality.
Another study found that older adults reported improved sleep quality after performing low level physical and cognitive activity. The researchers found that gentle stretching resulted in better sleep than when the participants performed more strenuous exercises, such as aerobics.
Bedtime stretches help kids stay asleep. A study into resistance exercise training and stretching found that exercises could improve symptoms of insomnia. In the study, the participants performed stretching in 60-minute sessions three times per week for a period of 4 months. The results showed improved sleep quality when stretching in the evening.
Better sleep supports learning and executive functioning skills. Other studies tell us that better sleep hygiene in children support development of executive functioning skills.
yoga poses for stress relief
Today, I’m sharing a great way to calm kids down before bed so that quality sleep is possible. These yoga poses for stress relief and bedtime relaxation promote organizing heavy work through the proprioceptive sensory system and gentle movement through the vestibular sensory system.
Another contributing factor is the interoceptive system which connects our internal systems such as digestion, heart rate, circadian rhythms, and muscle tension. All of these factors play a vital role in impacting sleep, with both the ability to fall asleep, and the ability to stay asleep throughout the night. This study shares more on the interoceptive system’s role in sleep.
These organizing and calming yoga poses stretch the muscles and joints to offer feedback to regulate an overactive system.
If you’ve ever participated in a yoga session, you know the benefits of certain yoga poses in reducing stress and anxiety.
It’s important to make the connection between stress responses, anxiety, over-active thoughts, and a hyper-response to stimulation and emotional responses. The difficulty in identifying and describing emotions in self (a huge part of social emotional learning and development) is referred to as Alexithymia.
Specifically, alexithymia is defined as difficulty identifying and describing emotions in self. We know that noticing and understanding internal body signals (aka interoception) is crucial to a bodily systems, so it makes sense that if interoception is affected, using or showing emotions, and identifying emotions in self will be affected.
Interoception influences emotions by it’s control and underlying influence on internal processes of the body: toileting, hunger, thirst, and sleep!
When interoception impacts sleep, it then further impacts emotions:
stress
getting angry or frustrated easily
anxiety
fear
worry
overly emotional responses
sadness
over-excitability
hyperactive responses
All of these emotional responses are normal and good feelings to experience. However, when sleep is reduced, they can move into an area of impacting other functional tasks or everyday occupations.
You’ll also find information and resources in this article on the limbic system including the stress response. You can see how all of these concepts fit together to impact daily functioning.
How to use yoga poses for stress relief with children
Using yoga to support relaxation at bedtime is not a new concept. Yoga naturally supports relaxation through the heavy work input of the proprioceptive sense.
However, yoga also adds the benefit of deep breathing exercises to calm and center the body as an organization tool.
When it comes to bedtime, adding anything to the nightly routine can mean a delayed bedtime, so making the relaxation stretches part of the routine that is already in place is important. If you read a book together each night, incorporate stretches into that. If brushing teeth and going to the bathroom are the only tasks that happen each night, use the time just after those jobs to do a few stretches.
Adding bedtime stretches for the purpose of relaxation doesn’t need to be difficult. The most important thing here is to make it work for your situation and home. down the somersaults and hardwood floor stunts into relaxing bedtime.
Here are some tips to support relaxation at bedtime:
Use bedtime relaxation stretches in a nightly routine. A visual schedule can be helpful with some kids.
Dim the lights and turn on soothing music
Read a book before bed
Drink a warm drink as a calming food/sensory tool.
Set the mood for sleep with a calming bedroom or sleep space: snuggly blankets, cozy pillows, or cool temperature, depending on the individual’s preferences.
Use the relaxation stretches listed below.
One way that helps to get kids relaxed before bed is reading a great book. When kids can listen to an engaging story that is read aloud, their bodies can’t help but slow down.
Bedtime Relaxation Stretches for Kids
These bedtime relaxation stretches are a combination of relaxing yoga moves and heavy work that helps to ground the body through proprioceptive input to the body’s sensory receptors in the muscles.
Performing these relaxing stretches can help transition kids to a calmed state that allows for a better sleep.
Below are forms of yoga poses for children.
We decided to use one of our favorite going to bed books, (Amazon affiliate link) Mem Fox’s Time for Bed.
In the book, we hear a rhyming verse about each animal’s transition to sleep. It’s such a beautiful book to snuggle up with kids during night time routines. In fact, Time for Bed can easily become one of those books that you read over and over again.
We loved looking at the watercolor pictures in Time for Bed and picturing each animal as it got ready for sleep.
To go along with the book, we tried some of these bedtime relaxation stretches.
Grab your copy of the free printable below by entering your email address into the form, or going to The OT Toolbox Member’s Club and heading to the Mindfulness Toolbox.
To do these exercises, simply cut out the printable on the lines, and create a small stack of stretches. Kids can do one or more of these relaxation stretches to calm down before settling in with the Time for Bed book. (affiliate link)
Simply pull out a couple of the stretches and join your child on the floor to perform each stretch. The stretches are designed based on the animals in the book.
When doing the stretches, hold the stretch for 2-3 minutes while maintaining deep breathing.
Print off these relaxation stretches for a bedtime calm down session for kids.
As we all know, kids will be kids. If your child is getting too wound up from the stretches (because sometimes the sleepy sillies take over and make concentrating on stretches and relaxing deep breaths nearly impossible!) simply put the stretches away and try them another day.
Relaxation stretch for kids, incorporating yoga poses for stress, anxiety, or to calm down before bed.
Your child will love doing these bedtime relaxation stretches with you and the whole family!
Little Goose Stretch– Lie on the floor on your back, with your feet raised up on the wall. Keep your knees straight. Spread your arms out on the floor like a goose. Bend and point your toes slowly.
Little Cat Stretch– Snuggle in tight! Sit criss cross applesauce on the floor. Bend forward at the hips and place your head on the ground. Stretch your arms out on the floor over your head.
Little Calf Stretch– Grasp both hands together behind your back. Bend forward at the hips and raise your arms up behind you.
Little Foal Stretch– Lie on your back and pull your knees in with your arms. Hold the position and whisper about your day.
Little Fish Stretch– Take a deep breath. Hold your breath in your cheeks and puff out those cheeks. Slowly let out your breath with pursed lips.
Little Sheep Stretch– Stand facing a wall and place your feet shoulder width apart. Place your hands flat on the wall, shoulder width apart. Push against the wall by bending and straightening your elbows.
Little Bird Stretch– Close your eyes. Think about your day and take deep breaths. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Add a “wing” component by raising your arms up high as you breathe in and lowering them as you slowly breathe out.
Little Snake Stretch– Lie on your back on the floor. Keep your legs straight and cross them at the ankles. Place your arms over your head on the floor. Cross them at the wrists.
Little Pup Stretch– Get into a downward dog yoga position.
Little Deer Stretch– Sit on the floor with your legs straight. Spread them far apart and bend at the hips to touch one foot. Hold it and then stretch to touch the other foot.
Try this tonight! Do a few stretches and then snuggle up while reading Time for Bed! (affiliate link)
MORE relaxing bedtime books for kids
These relaxing bedtime books for kids are other ideas to use to support calming sensory input in a relaxation bedtime routine:
Free Printable set of relaxation stretches for bedtime
Use the Time For Bed book and relaxation stretches we used above in a bedtime routine of your own. Get a printable PDF of these stretches by entering your email address into the form below. Or, members in The OT Toolbox membership club can grab this PDF by logging in and heading to Brain Break Tools.
One more thing! If you are into creative ways to extend and learn based on books, you will LOVE this resource! 50 activities based on books that address friendship, acceptance, emotions…This ebook is amazing for covering all things emotional development through play!
These Fall ten frames are a fun math leaf activity. All you need is a few leaves from the yard and a hole punch to work on math skills, and the sensory benefits of heavy work through the hands. It’s a fun way to teach math through play with sensory math! Add this hole punch activity to your therapy line up this Fall!
Fall Ten Frames
This time of year, we are on leaf overload. Just playing in the yard, we have piles and piles of leaves in of all the Fall colors. I love getting outside with my kids and playing in the piles of leaves each year. It is such a sensory and just plain old fun way to experience the season of Fall.
We used some of those colorful leaves in a fun Math Ten Frame activity that combined fine motor strengthening for a powerful fine motor punch.
This post contains affiliate links.
How to make Fall Ten Frames
Gather your materials:
Leaves
Black marker
Hole punch
Die or dice
That’s it! Next, get started on creating the leaf ten frames.
First step: Go out and gather those leaves! Nature hunts rock, and the crunchy, cool weather of Fall makes memories.
Gather pretty leaves along your way and bring them on home.
Note: You will want leaves that are not crunchy. Those dried up leaves are perfect for a different sensory activity- working on auditory processing skills with leaves!
For this activity, you’ll want to gather colorful, freshly fallen leaves or leaves still on the tree will work best for this activity.
Next: Grab a Black Marker (affiliate link) and draw a ten frame on the leaf. You’ll need a Hole Punch (affiliate link) for the math, and a die.
Using Ten Frames with Older Kids
This fall math activity can be used with older kids, too on a variety of math skills.
Roll the die and have your kiddo count the dots. They can then use the Hole Punch (affiliate link) to mark off the correct number of dots on the ten frame.
By rolling the die, kids can practice their ability to subsidize.
Subsitizing refers to the math skill of knowing the number of dots on the dice by just glancing is a skill of subsidizing in math. and will help kids as they get older with math. Subsitizing helps a child advance to more advanced addition and subtraction, and allows for number sense in math.
Older kids can benefit from this activity, too. I still use ten frames with my second grader. They are a powerful way to introduce groups and multiplication concepts.
Usually, I have my second grader roll the die twice or tree times and add the total before filling in the ten frame. Ten frames also are a way to hone base ten concepts.
How can you get a number to a base ten by “borrowing” from another number. A math strategy like this is a good way to work on regrouping in addition.
You can grade this activity for older kids by using two dice. Have them add the dots of both dice and punch holes from two leaves.
Practice adding both numbers together. Ask them how to combine the numbers from both dice to form a full ten frame.
Ask them to figure out how many holes are left over from the total.
Punch Holes in Leaves
Using a Hole Punch (affiliate link) provides huge proprioceptive input to little hands, which is such a good way to “wake up” hands before a writing activity. This input through the hands offers heavy work input that can “wake up” the hands. The great thing about proprioception tasks like this one is that heavy work can also be used to “calm down” the nervous system.
Similarly, we used scissors to cut real leaves along lines and develop fine motor skills, scissor skills, and eye-hand coordination, which also offered sensory motor feedback through the hands.
Combine math, handwriting, and literacy by counting out numbers on the leaves, writing numbers on paper, and creating sentences based on the numbers. You can also tally number of the different colored leaves and write down the results on paper.
You might have seen a recent post about gross grasp and why kids need to work on this area for development.
A hole punch is a fabulous way to work on gross grasp and other fine motor strengthening, like thumb stability and motion needed for scissor use.
Plus when you have all of the holes punched out from the leaves, you can use pincer grasp to pick up and sort the leaf circles. This is a great precision grasp and release activity to develop dexterity in fine motor skills.
Use this activity all Fall long for math, proprioception, and fine motor strengthening! And enjoy those crunchy Fall colors before they are gone!
Looking for more hands-on, playful math activities? These are some of our favorites:
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:
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.
Let’s talk body awareness activities using proprioception, or heavy work to bring awareness to where the body is, how the body moves, and awareness of self. Proprioception is one of the senses that is involved with everything we do. This sensory system plays a major role in body awareness. Below you’ll find body awareness occupational therapy activities to support this motor concept.
Be sure to check out a related resource, our self awareness games blog post for activities to support overall awareness of self.
Take a quick moment to stop and consider the position you are in right now. Are you lounging back on a couch? Sitting at a desk? Bouncing on a city bus as you glance at your mobile device? Are you perched in an office chair with your legs folded under you? Are you hanging out at the playground and glancing at your phone while your kids run in circles?
What is Body Awareness?
The definition of body awareness is this… Body awareness refers to being aware of the body’s position in space at rest and during movement. This concept can be broken down into having an awareness of body parts by name, movement, discrimination of sides of the body, and movement throughout space.
Being aware of our body position is something that happens automatically and naturally. That body awareness occurs naturally. 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.
The proprioceptive sense sends information about our body’s position to the brain so that we inherently know that our foot is tapping the ground as we wait on the bus or that our leg is curled under the other on the couch even while we do other actions or tasks.
This awareness allows us to walk around objects in our path, to move a spoon to our mouth without looking at it, and to stand far enough away from others while waiting in a line at the grocery store. It enables a student to write without pressing too hard or too lightly on their pencil when writing, and it helps us to brush our hair with just the right amount of pressure.
Proprioception is essential for everything we do!
Sometimes, the proprioceptive system does not do it’s job.
When the proprioceptive system isn’t functioning properly, body awareness and motor planning can be a problem.
When a child needs to pay attention to where their body is in space at all times, they can not attend to other important information like what is happening in their world around them. He or she can not automatically adjust to environmental changes. The child then needs to visually compensate in order to adjust his or her body. This can result in a child being clumsy, fearful, are even scared in certain situations.
Examples of Body awareness
Below are two situations that describe a child with proprioception challenges. In both, imagine a child who struggles to know where their body is in space.
Body awareness navigating bleachers- Imagine you are sitting on a set of bleachers in a crowd of wiggly, moving, and LOUD students. There is a lot going on around you, whether you are at a sporting event or in a gymnasium.
But, you also notice the bleachers don’t have a bottom to the steps; that is, you can see directly down to the ground below you. Kids are standing up, sitting down, jumping, roughhousing, and you are SCARED.
Your body doesn’t know how to position itself in a safe manner. You don’t know what action will come next and you don’t know where to look. You don’t know where your feet are or if your hands are supporting you.
Climbing up and down the bleachers is downright terrifying! For the child with proprioceptive struggles, just sitting on a set of bleachers can be challenging and overwhelming.
Body awareness sitting at a classroom desk- Now think about the child who is sitting at their desk and is required to write a journal entry. For the child with proprioceptive challenges, this can be a task with many “self-checks”.
They need to look at their feet to make sure they are under their desk so they don’t get in trouble for almost tripping someone between the desk aisles. They need to make sure they are sitting upright in their chair and that their back is touching the chair’s backrest.
They need to hold the paper and the pencil like they were taught. They need to align the paper and the words and then think about how hard to press on the paper, how to make the lines for individual letters, and how to string together letters to make words.
What a workout it is just to get settled in and started on a writing task! By now they might have lost several minutes of the writing time and they still don’t know what they are even writing about!
Both of these situations happen on an every day basis.
For the child with proprioception difficulties, the ability to be aware of their body in space and plan out motor actions is very much a struggle. These kids might appear fidgety, unsure, overwhelmed, clumsy, awkward, uncoordinated, or lazy.
When children or adults struggle with awareness of body positioning or movement patterns during activities, functional tasks can be a struggle. Every day tasks are difficult or impaired.
Occupational therapists work with individuals of all ages on functional tasks that occur in all aspects of daily living. Movement is part of the daily task completion, so it is likely that if body awareness is an issue, there are functional impairments at play.
Occupational therapy professionals will focus body awareness goals on the functional task that is impaired.
OT goals for body awareness can be specifically focused on improving body awareness during those functional tasks. Activities that address those goals can include heavy work, attention to task, motor planning, fine or gross motor skills, sensory input in the way of organizing proprioceptive input or vestibular input, visual cues and prompts. There are many ways this skill area can be addressed and these goals will be individualized for the child or adult.
Additionally, OT goals for body awareness may focus on motor planning. Proprioception is very closely aligned with body awareness and motor planning.
Need more information on proprioception and the other sensory systems and how they impact independence? Grab this free sensory processing disorder information booklet and free email series on sensory processing.
In this blog post, we are specifically discussing how to use proprioception activities to help with body awareness.
The proprioceptive system is alerted through heavy work activities that involve heavy pressure, firm sensations, large, forceful motor movements, and pushing or pulling activities. These actions can be calming and organizing.
Try these proprioception activities to help with body awareness at home, in the classroom, or in play.
Proprioception activities at home
Carry full laundry baskets to the laundry area
Empty wet clothes into the dryer
Change sheets
Pull weeds
Pull garbage cans to and from the curve
Carry in grocery bags
Carry donations to the car
Wash windows
Scrub carpets
Shovel snow
Rake leaves
Mop floors
Vacuum
Rearrange furniture
Proprioception activities in the classroom
Carry piles of books
Rearrange furniture
Help gym teacher move mats
Carry bin of lunchboxes to/from the lunch room
Wall push-ups
Chair push-ups
Clap erasers
Stack books in the library
Place chairs on desks at the end of the day, pull them down again in the morning
Looking for more ways to add proprioception activities into play and therapy? Try the ideas below. Just click on the images to read more.
In the Sensory Lifestyle Handbook, we cover motor planning and body awareness concepts as they are deeply related to sensory processing. Much like the body awareness activities listed in this blog post, the book discusses how to integrate functional tasks within the day that offer organizing and regulating input through functional activities.
Not only are these activities regulation tools, they are also activities that support development of body position in space and awareness of the body’s movements.
The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook walks you through sensory processing information, each step of creating a meaningful and motivating sensory diet, that is guided by the individual’s personal interests and preferences.
The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook is not just about creating a sensory diet to meet sensory processing needs. This handbook is your key to creating an active and thriving lifestyle based on a deep understanding of sensory processing.
Body Scheme and Body Awareness
Another way that you may have heard body awareness phrased is “body scheme”. This is just another way to explain the awareness one has of their body and the various parts of the body. Body scheme allows us to be aware of the spatial relationships of where the body is in space in a given activity.
Body scheme involves proprioceptive awareness so that we can move and interact in the world around us.
We can define body scheme as the awareness of body parts and the position of the body and it’s parts in relation to themselves and to the objects in the environment.
When there are deficits in body scheme, we may see certain difficulties:
challenges with apraxia, or difficulty with purposeful movement in relation to sensory input, movement, and coordination.
The individual might not recognize body parts or the relationship between them. This is especially observed in neuromuscular disturbances such as a CVA (stroke)
Movements may be considered unsafe. We might see difficulties with intentional movement and problems navigating busy hallways, stadium steps, bleachers, etc.
There are typically related deficits related to body scheme or body awareness difficulties. These may include:
Body awareness challenges like moving and utilizing the body without looking at or thinking about how the body needs to move. This awareness of the body in space results in functional and efficient movements with coordination.
Challenges with body scheme may be a cause of brain damage or brain injury such as a neuromuscular impairment. However, difficulties with body scheme may be a result of other deficits as well, including visual-spatial deficits, sensory processing challenges, verbal, or conceptual considerations.
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
This sensory blanket activity is a simple home sensory diet activity that offers heavy work input using only a blanket. Did you know you can use a blanket as a calming sensory tool? One way that I love to help regulate and calm down over-responsive sensory systems is through heavy work activities.
Calming Proprioception Activity with a Blanket
Using a blanket as a sensory tool is one of the easiest ways to offer heavy work , or proprioceptive input, through the whole body as a calming strategy.
There are a few reasons why using a blanket works to calm the sensory systems.
Rolling a child up in a blanket is a great way to provide deep input to a child’s whole body. This is calming and organizing.
Additionally, the warm temperature helps to calm the body.
A benefit to this sensory strategy is that every home has a blanket of some type.
Use this proprioceptive activity to offer calming input to help self-regulate emotions and sensory needs by rolling up in a blanket, either on the floor or with additional heavy work input. Check out all of our proprioception activities here.
How to use a blanket for calming sensory input:
Grab a blankets and spread it out on the floor.
Ask the child to lay down on the blanket, near one edge.
Roll your child up like a burrito. Keep rolling until the whole blanket is used. Wrap the blanket tightly.
Add additional proprioceptive input for calming and regulating by piling pillows on top of your child after they’ve been wrapped up in the blanket. Press evenly and gently, but firmly, with both hands to provide deep pressure input.
Tortilla Blanket Sensory Activity
Have you seen the (Amazon affiliate link) tortilla blankets? These are a great, fuzzy blanket to use in this sensory blanket activity! Kids can be the burrito as they are wrapped up in the tortilla blanket. Plus, the warmth from this fleece blanket is extra cozy and calming!
Use the tortilla blanket to make a kid-sized burrito that adds calming sensory input!
Another sensory activity using blankets is to use the blanket roll as a balance beam or to lay on (without the child inside).
For more heavy work activities using materials already found in the home, check out these low-prep heavy work exercises!
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
If you’ve worked with kids teaching handwriting or fixing handwriting issues, they you probably have come across a common handwriting problem area…Pencil pressure when writing. Handwriting pressure can play a huge role in legibility, whether pressing too hard when writing or writing too lightly.
Pencil Pressure in Handwriting
Some kids press too hard on the pencil. They may press so hard on the pencil that the pencil tears the paper when they write. When they try to erase, there are smudges that never really go away.
Other students use too little force when writing. Or, you might see pencil pressure that is so light that you can’t discern letters from one another.
Either way, pencil pressure plays a big part in handwriting legibility.
Here are tips for pressing too hard when writing…and tips for helping kids write darker. Scroll down for everything you need to know about writing with that “just write” pencil pressure…Typo intended 🙂
Pencil Pressure with Writing
Learning to write is a complex task. Choosing a hand to hold the pencil with, pencil grasp, managing the paper with the assisting hand, sitting up straight.
And then there is the physical task of marking letters: letter formation, line awareness, letter size… this is multi-level functioning for a child!
Yet another aspect to consider is the pressure one exerts on the paper when writing. Press too lightly and the words are barely able to be seen. Press too hard, and the letters are very dark, the pencil point breaks, lines are smudged, and when mistakes are erased, they don’t really erase all the way, the paper tears, and frustration ensues!
Sometimes, when it comes to pencil pressure, simply helping kids become aware that they are writing too lightly or writing with too much pressure can make a big difference. Here is one simple activity to work on pencil pressure. All you need is a sheet of foam crafting paper.
Pencil pressure is dependent on proprioception, one of the sensory systems. With October being Sensory Processing Awareness month, this is the perfect time to talk sensory and handwriting!
As an occupational therapist in the school setting, I’ve come across many school-aged children showing difficulty with pencil pressure. There are reasons for these dark pencil marks and some tips and tools for helping with this handwriting difficulty.
This post contains affiliate links.
Proprioception and Handwriting
The proprioceptive system receives input from the muscles and joints about body position, weight, pressure, stretch, movement and changes in position in space. Our bodies are able to grade and coordinate movements based on the way muscles move, stretch, and contract.
Proprioception allows us to apply more or less pressure and force in a task. Instinctively, we know that lifting a feather requires very little pressure and effort, while moving a large backpack requires more work.
We are able to coordinate our movements effectively to manage our day’s activities with the proprioceptive system. The brain also must coordinate input about gravity, movement, and balance involving the vestibular system.
When we write, the pencil is held with the index finger, middle finger, and thumb, and supported by the ring and pinkie finger as the hand moves across a page.
A functioning proprioceptive system allows us to move the small muscles of the hand to move the pencil in fluid movements and with “just right” pressure.
We are able to mark lines on the paper, erase mistakes, move the paper with our supporting arm, turn pages in a notebook fluidly, and keep the paper in one piece.
Heavy Pencil Pressure
When students press too hard on the pencil, handwriting suffers. Sometimes, children hold their pencil very tightly. Other times, they are seeking sensory feedback. You’ll see some common signs of heavy pencil pressure:
They press so hard on the paper, that lines are very dark when writing.
The pencil point breaks.
When erasing, the pencil marks don’t completely erase, and the paper is torn.
The non-dominant, assisting hand moves the paper so roughly that the paper crumbles.
When turning pages in a notebook, the pages tear or crumble.
Movements are not fluid or efficient.
Handwriting takes so much effort, that the child becomes fatigued, frustrated, and sore.
It may take so much effort to write a single word, that handwriting is slow and difficult.
All of these signs of heavy pencil pressure are red flags for pencil pressure issues. They are not functional handwriting.
Below, we’ll cover ways to reduce pencil pressure?
Writing Pressure: Too Light
The other side of the coin is pencil pressure that is too light.
Writing with too little pencil pressure is another form of non-functional handwriting. Some signs of too little pencil pressure include:
Kids may write so lightly that you can’t read the overall writing sample.
You can’t discern between certain letters.
The writing pressure is just so light that the child’s hand or sleeve smudges the pencil lines and the writing sample is totally not functional or legible.
The student starts out writing at a legible pencil pressure, but with hand fatigue, the writing gets lighter and lighter.
All of these signs of too light pencil pressure and too much force when writing can be addressed with some simple tips. Working on proprioceptive input and hand strengthening can help with too light pencil pressure. Try some of the writing tips listed below.
Pencil pressure and Messy handwriting
Messy handwriting can be contributed to many factors. Decreased hand strength, Visual motor difficulty, motor planning issues, visual memory difficulties, or impaired proprioception.
Difficulty with grading the movements required in drawing or making letters in a coordinated way may present as messy, smudged, illegible handwriting.
Writing Tips for Pencil Pressure
Bringing the writer aware of what’s occurring is one way to support pencil pressure issues. Proprioceptive activities allow the muscles to “wake up” with heavy pressure.
Moving against resistance by pushing or pulling gives the muscles and joints an opportunity to modulate pressure.
Resistive activities before and during a handwriting task can be beneficial for children who press hard on the pencil.
Pencil Pressure Activities:
Some of these pencil pressure activities are writing strategies to help kids become more aware of the amount of pressure they are using when writing.
Others are tools for helping the hands with sensory needs. Still others are tools for strengthening the hands. Try some or a mixture of the following ideas to addressing handwriting needs.
Stress balls or fidget toys can help to strengthen pinch and grip strength.
Use carbon paper or transfer paper to help kids become more aware of the amount of pressure they are exerting through the pencil when writing. Here is some easy ways to use a Dollar Store find to use carbon paper to work on handwriting. (affiliate link)
resistive bands (affiliate link)- Use these as an arm warm-up to “wake up” the muscles of the whole upper body. They are great for positioning warm ups too.
theraputty (affiliate link) with graded amount of resistance (speak to a license occupational therapist about the amount of resistance needed for your child. An individual evaluation and recommendations will be needed for your child’s specific strengths/needs). Use these theraputty exercises for ideas to get started.
hole puncher (affiliate link) exercises before a writing task
Gross grasp activities- These activities can be a big help in adjusting the grasp on the pencil, helping the hands with sensory input and strengthening the hands to help with endurance when writing.
Write with a mechanical pencil (affiliate link)- The lead will break if too much pressure is applied. Children can learn to monitor the amount of pressure used and it will provide feedback on modulation of pressure. A pencil with .7mm lead is better to start with for heavy writers. Read more about using a mechanical pencil for kids who write too dark or too light.
Some children will benefit from using a liquid gel pen for fluid handwriting marks. The gel ink will provide feedback when gobs of ink are dispensed when writing too hard.
Still others will benefit from a gel pen, marker, or using a dry erase marker on a dry erase board. This can be beneficial as a tool for teaching about pencil pressure or as an accommodation for those writing too lightly.
Pencil Weights (affiliate link) or Weighted Pencils (affiliate link)- Weighted pencils can be helpful in providing sensory feedback through the hands.
Practice writing on a dry erase board with dry erase markers to work on consistent pencil pressure- Pressing too hard will make the marker lines wider and press down on the tip of the marker. Can the learner keep a consistent line with their writing or drawing?
Use a grease pencil- These pencils are commonly used to marking wood or used in construction. The lead of the pencil is very soft and can be a great alternative for those that press too hard on pencils.
Cheap eyeliner pencil- One cheap alternative to a grease pencil is using an inexpensive eye liner pencil from the dollar store. Get the kind that you sharpen with a turn sharpener (almost like a hand held pencil sharpener). Kids can use that pencil to draw lines and match the amount of pressure they are using. This is a good activity for those that press too hard when writing, too.
Practice Ghost Writing: Encourage the child to write very lightly on paper and then erase the words without leaving any marks. The adult can try to read the words after they’ve been erased. If the words are not able to be read, the writer wins the game.
Hand exercises are a great way to “wake up” the hands before a handwriting task. Encourage the child to squeeze their hand into a fist as tight as he can. Then relax and stretch the hand and fingers. Repeat the exercise several times. Practice holding the pencil with the same type of tight and relaxed exercises Practice writing on tissue paper. A very light hand is needed to prevent tears. Discuss the amount of pressure needed for writing on the tissue paper.
This will provide the child with awareness and words for the way they are holding the pencil.
Wrap a bit of play dough or putty around the pencil as a grip. Encourage the child to hold the pencil with a grasp that does not press deeply into the dough. Encourage using a “just right” pressure.
Provide terms for they way they write. Encourage “just right” writing and not “too hard” or “too soft” marks.
Use a lead pencil to color in a small picture, using light gray, medium gray, and dark gray. Talk about how using different amounts of pressure changes the shade of gray.
Instead of writing on a notebook, pull a single sheet from the pages and place on a hard table or desk surface. The firm surface will limit the amount of pressure. You can also slip a clipboard between pages of a notebook to provide that hard surface, if sheets must remain in a notebook.
Need more tips and tools for addressing handwriting needs? Be sure to check out all of our handwriting activities here on The OT Toolbox.
More Handwriting Tips
For a comprehensive resource on handwriting, check out The Handwriting Book. This e-book was written by pediatric occupational therapists and physical therapists who focus on function and take a developmental look at handwriting.
In The Handwriting Book, you’ll find practical suggestions to meet all needs that arise with messy or sloppy handwriting. The developmental-based approach to teaching handwriting focuses on strategies to support common issues with written work.
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.
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