Fine Motor Activities Using Items From Around The House
Here is a link to an OT’s website. http://mamaot.com/fine-motor-activities-using-household-items/ On this page she lists several fine motor activities that you can try with your student. Many of the materials are things you may already have in the house.
Posted in Bilateral Coordination, Helpful Links, Motor Planning, Sensory, Visual Motor, Visual Perceptual by Emily Dandron, OTRL with comments disabled.
Fine Motor Activity: Pulling Leaves from A Stem
Puling small leaves from the stem of a plant is a great fine motor activity. Students will work on their finger coordination skills, strengthening the muscles of the hand, and using their thumb and pointer finger to create a pincer grasp. Encourage your student to make a “finish pile.”
Encourage your student to use her or his non-dominant hand to hold the stem while s/he uses the dominant hand to pull the leaves.
Use the leaves to create shape outlines, or draw a shape, letter, or number in chalk and have your student place the leaves along the lines to work on visual perceptual skills.
Posted in Bilateral Coordination, Visual Perceptual by Emily Dandron, OTRL with comments disabled.
Fine Motor Activity: Peeling “Helicopter Leaves” to Get the Seed out
Add another layer to this fun outdoor activity! Not only can you work on fine motor coordination skills while you peel the leaves, but you can also address visual perceptual skills by having your student line the seeds up to make different shapes. Another option is to draw shapes or letters with chalk and have your student place the seeds directly over the lines.
My nieces like to pretend to cook with the seeds. They combine the seeds with other objects they can find in nature to make ‘stone soup’ and ‘dandelion salad.’ Get creative and encourage your student to use her/his imagination!
Posted in Bilateral Coordination, Motor Planning, Visual Perceptual by Emily Dandron, OTRL with comments disabled.
Try out Ms. Erin’s Adapted Book Page Turners
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19qCnIhSfssd1s5hpasPp04s_atSZSOoBQ60zbybaoz8/edit?usp=sharing
Posted in Bilateral Coordination, Helpful Links, Motor Planning by Emily Dandron, OTRL with comments disabled.
Try the Downward Dog Yoga Pose!
This yoga pose is great for stretching, mindful breathing, improving balance skills, building (arm, shoulder, trunk) muscles, and providing vestibular input.
Give it a try: https://www.yourtherapysource.com/files/Yoga_Cards_Freebie.pdf
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at dandroe@dearbornschools.org
Posted in Bilateral Coordination, Helpful Links, Mindfulness, Motor Planning, Sensory and tagged Yoga by Emily Dandron, OTRL with comments disabled.
Trace and Color Shapes!
Help your student to trace and color these shapes to practice fine motor, visual motor, and visual perceptual skills.
Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i_9rPK-FdfeT8fc6F2unGcW_t4qCJazh/view
- Have your student sit with her/his feet flat on the floor if you are working at a tabletop
- Remind your student to sit upright
- Remind your student to use her/his helper hand to stabilize the paper
- Encourage your student to keep the crayon touching the paper as s/he traces the shapes (don’t pick up the crayon at the end of each line)
- Encourage your student to color within the lines
Posted in Bilateral Coordination, Handwriting, Helpful Links, Visual Motor, Visual Perceptual by Emily Dandron, OTRL with comments disabled.
Let’s Try Coloring & Writing on a Vertical Surface!
Writing and coloring on vertical surfaces works on so many skills at once!
- Helps to strengthen and stabilize the joints and muscles in the shoulder and arm
- Bilateral coordination skills (using both arms at once) to stabilize paper on a wall
- Encourages wrist extension which will help to develop a functional pencil grasp
- Core Strength and Posture
- Visual attention to task
- Hand-eye coordination
- Crossing midline (reaching across the center of our bodies)
- Visual perceptual skills: spatial awareness
- To learn more visit https://azopt.net/vertical-surface/
Some Activity Ideas:
- Writing & Coloring on a mirror with dry-erase markers (have your student erase their creations too by wiping with a damp paper towel)
- Tape paper to the wall and color with small crayons
- Place a paper with a pre-writing shape on the fridge and have your student place magnets directly over the lines of the shape
- Do you have an eager helper in your household? Have your student “wash the walls” with a damp washcloth or help you wash windows (You MUST supervise if your student is using cleaning products.)
- Drawing on a white board with dry-erase markers
- Write in shaving cream or whipped cream on a mirror
- Paint/draw/color/write on an easel
Posted in Bilateral Coordination, Handwriting, Helpful Links, Motor Planning, Sensory, Visual Motor by Emily Dandron, OTRL with comments disabled.
OT Activities with Kitchen Tools
These activities work on several underlying skills at one time using objects you may already have in the house. If you have any questions about these activities, please email me at dandroe@dearbornschools.org
Posted in Bilateral Coordination, Motor Planning, Sensory, Visual Motor by Emily Dandron, OTRL with comments disabled.
Tic-Tac-Toe!
Is your student working on their pre-writing shapes? Tic-Tac-Toe is a great way to practice writing Crosses and Circles!
- For Crosses, remember to practice starting at the top when making the vertical line, and moving left to right when making the horizontal line.
- For Circles, remember to practice starting and stopping at the same spot.
- Remind students to use their helper hand to keep the paper still while they write.
- Use a small writing utensil (broken crayon, small chalk piece) to build fine motor strength
Posted in Bilateral Coordination, Handwriting, Visual Motor by Emily Dandron, OTRL with comments disabled.
Moon and Stars Craft
Here is a link to a fun Moon and Stars Window Hanging Craft for Ramadan: https://nurturestore.co.uk/paper-plate-moon-ramadan-craft
You will need scissors, a paper plate, tissue paper, glue, and paint/markers/crayons. Adults will likely have to cut out the crescent and star shapes, but younger hands should be able to help with all of the other steps!
- Tearing tissue paper is a great way for students to practice using both of their hands, and it is a great hand strengthening activity as well.
- Cutting the tissue paper is another great option to work on scissor skills.
- Helping to hold and squeeze a glue bottle or paint bottle is a great way to strengthen hands and practice using both hands.
- Coloring or painting the paper plate is a great way to practice using our “helper hand” to stabilize the plate while we paint or color with the dominant hand. This will also work on fine motor skills needed to grasp and manipulate a marker, crayon, or paint brush.
Posted in Bilateral Coordination, Handwriting, Helpful Links, Visual Motor by Emily Dandron, OTRL with comments disabled.