Have a great and safe summer!

Good Morning Families! I hope everyone has had a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather we have had! As school is winding down this week, I wanted to post a few additional resources that you may print and use for practice with your child this summer. I have enjoyed seeing students virtually and communicating with families throughout the school closure. I will continue to check my email throughout the summer should you have any questions or would like resources for your child. If you are able, try to have your child practice fine motor skills including handwriting, cutting, and copying/forming … Continue reading Have a great and safe summer!

Spring and Summer Worksheets!

Happy Monday families! I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing weekend! I am going to link several PDF downloads of worksheets and packets that you may use over the next few weeks, and through the summer months. Feel free to download and have your child complete as many activities as you would like! If you do not have a printer, you can use these worksheets as a guide and you can even make your own! The important take away is to continue to practice your child’s fine motor, bilateral coordination, visual motor, and visual perceptual skills! Any activity that … Continue reading Spring and Summer Worksheets!

Spring Tracing!

The next activity I will post is a downloadable PDF spring tracing file that you can print and have your child complete at home. The attached sheet has various lines that the student should start at one side of the paper and try to keep their pencil following the line until the opposite side of the paper. The straight lines will be easier for the child to follow compared to the circular curved lines. Encourage your child to complete this slowly as that will help with accuracy of tracing! Tracing lines is a great way to work on visual and … Continue reading Spring Tracing!

Play-Doh!

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 … Continue reading Play-Doh!

Tracing and Cutting Skills!

The next activity that we will be working on is our tracing and cutting skills. Tracing and cutting skills help us with our visual skills, visual motor skills and bilateral coordination! Below is an attached printable resource you can print to use at home to practice these skills. First, have your child trace on the dotted lines. Next, have them use scissors to cut along the dotted line/line that they traced. Encourage your child to trace and cut slowly and accurately! If the shapes included are too simple, feel free to draw a shape that is more complex for your … Continue reading Tracing and Cutting Skills!

Brain Breaks!

Good Morning Families! Another tool that I have found useful is to include Brain Breaks during your child’s day, especially when completing schoolwork at tabletop. For some children, it’s difficult to sit and sustain attention on task for several minutes. Breaking up the schoolwork with some movement will help with attention! I have listed below ideas to include for movement/brain breaks, but you can be creative! You do not need to use any equipment for these! Animal walks: Kangaroo jumps, frog hops, bear walks, crab walks Jumping jacks, push ups Wall Pushes Carry around household items: Laundry basket, heavy books, … Continue reading Brain Breaks!

Sensory Sidewalk!

Hello Families! Hope everyone is staying well. The next activity I am going to discuss is creating sensory sidewalks. The only equipment you will need is some chalk and an area to designate for the pathway. A sensory sidewalk is a great way to encourage bilateral coordination and gross motor skills, plus, it is a lot of fun! Sensory sidewalks can be designed with as many steps as you would like, and as far as you would like the sidewalk to go! In my neighborhood, I was able to extend the sidewalk across three houses and was a fun sidewalk … Continue reading Sensory Sidewalk!

Helpful Pages and Links

Good Morning Families! Just a reminder, there are pages and links I have added to the bottom of my blog. If you scroll down to the bottom of my blog you will find links to specific pages as well as links I have included for information and additional activities on specific topics including fine motor, gross motor, sensory, and information regarding coping. If you would like additional topics or information, please email me and I will pass along information/activities to you! Hope you all are staying safe and well during this challenging time. My email is: meadora@dearbornschools.org

Alphabet Gross Motor Exercises!

Hello Families! I hope everyone is staying safe, healthy, and have enjoyed their spring breaks! The next activity I am posting is an activity you can do inside/outside and with little to no equipment! See below link for a description of each exercise if you do not understand the terms below each letter: https://www.theottoolbox.com/alphabet-exercises-for-kids/?ck_subscriber_id=387582939 Feel free to guide your children through every letter, letters of their name, or as many as they are able to complete! As always, feel free to reach out to me via email if you have questions! Meadora@dearbornschools.org Take care and stay safe!

April is OT Month!

Happy Occupational Therapy Month! April is OT month. Please see the below activity calendar for ideas to complete at home through the month of April! The following website has the below calendar included as well as other occupational therapy activities for spring! https://www.theottoolbox.com/spring-occupational-therapy-activities/