Hands and knees activities works on increasing trunk and upper extremity stability and strength. Have your child complete the activity before beginning a fine motor task or to take a break.

Make an obstacle course using objects and furniture at home. Have your child complete this activity before sitting down to complete school work or to take a movement break.  The obstacle will provide sensory input and help increase focus and attention. Show your child how to do the obstacle course before asking them to do it. Or provide physical support if they have trouble completing it. Supervise the child for safety.

Animal crawls is another great activity that provides sensory input and helps increase upper extremity strength and stability. Show your child how to do the animal crawl.

Different types of crawls

Bear walk

Crab walk 

Caterpillar walk 

Army crawl 

Guided drawing is a great activity to work on spacial awareness, visual motor skills, visual attention, and following directions. Here are videos for your child to try out. You can also draw along side with your child if they are having difficulty following the video. After drawing, color the picture, and cut it out.

Make this simple butterfly card for your mom or someone that you care about to practice folding, cutting , writing, and drawing shapes. If your child has difficulty with spelling, have them copy a sentence or draw a picture inside the card instead. Skills addressed are: bilateral coordination, visual motor, visual perceptual, object manipulation, and grasping skills. Click on the link below for step by step visual instructions.

Directions https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ocGpqUAbTzPC0v35GRWPL8XpXRqUGrEl76MHjIyrN9s/edit?usp=sharing

Play dough is a great tool to increase fine motor, visual motor, bilateral coordination, manipulation, and grasping skills. It also provides sensory input as the child touches the play dough. You can also complete these activities using home made dough if you don’t have play dough. Show you child how to complete the activities or exercises before asking them to do it. Provide physical assistance if they need help.

Activities to do with playdough. Use store bought or make some at home. 

Hand strengthening exercises, use playdough instead of TheraPutty. 

Click on the video below to watch a playdough activity to try at home. If your child is practicing drawing shapes or writing, have them draw shapes or write letters and numbers to squish with playdough balls. Your child can also work on shape/letter/number identification during the activity. For example, ask your child “Where is letter A? Squish letter A”. This will also help increase their visual attending and scanning skills.

Clothing fasteners can be tricky for children who have difficulties grasping, using both hands together in a coordinated way, and following step by step instructions.

Practice unbuttoning and unzipping first. Once they are able to unfasten, practice fastening buttons and zipper. Practice using loose fitted clothing. If your child has trouble latching a zipper, latch it for him/her and pull the zipper up a little. Then have your child pull up the zipper the remainder of the way. Practice tying shoes by placing a shoe on the table or floor in front of the child. You can help your child using verbal, physical, and visual help. Don’t rush the child and give them positive feedback as they practice.

Pause the video below and have your child practice buttoning, zipping, and shoe tying.

Click on the link to view activities to work on functional skills at home. Having your child practice everyday tasks (functional tasks) will help your child become more independent at home and at school. Completing functional tasks also helps to build their fine motor skills! https://www.yourtherapysource.com/blog1/2017/08/16/functional-fine-motor-activities/

Click on the video below to watch activities to try at home using a paper towel or toilet paper roll. Please supervise your child during all cutting activities and remind them to watch their fingers while cutting. The skills addressed are: cutting, grasping, hand strengthening, bilateral coordination, eye hand coordination, and dexterity skills. https://youtu.be/kMleXJ9IWlA

Click on the video below to learn about fine motor activities your child can try at home. Skills addressed: grasping, hand strengthening, bilateral coordination, eye hand coordination, object manipulation, and dexterity skills. Practicing opening containers at home will help your child become more independent at school during lunch time and help them manipulate classroom materials. https://youtu.be/HRP8VH74m2M