Hello Families! The next activity I am posting is the many uses of Play-doh! Play-doh can be used to practice many OT skills including bilateral coordination, visual motor, fine motor, hand strengthening, and sensory development! See the below list of activity ideas to use at home to practice OT skills!
- Hand Strengthening: Have your child squeeze and release the play-doh in one hand (alternate hands), have your child hold the playdoh in their palm and squeeze each finger on its own into the palm of their hand (example: Bring thumb into palm against play-doh and release). Have your child complete multiples times of each finger!
- Fine Motor/Bilateral coordination: Have your child roll out the playdoh to look like a snake! Draw vertical lines on the snake and have your child cut along the vertical lines (Please watch your child closely with scissors!)
- Sensory Development/Fine Motor: Hide objects inside the play-doh and have your child pick out each object using their thumb and index finger (Example: Hide small beads or small legos in the playdoh).
- Visual Motor/Fine Motor/Bilateral Coordination: Draw large letters on a piece of paper (uppercase or lowercase), have your child roll out small pieces of playdoh and place over the lines of each letter. This is a great way for your child to practice letter formation!