Outdoor parks are the perfect place to build gross motor skills, fine motor skills, visual skills, sensory processing skills, and even social skills! Kids who crave proprioceptive input and need lots of “heavy work” can work their bilateral coordination, hand strength, and core muscles as they climb ladders and

cargo nets and play on the monkey bars. Or they can get lots of good vestibular input as they slide, swing, and spin.

Try different summer recipes with your kids and involve them in the process.

Being involved in the food preparation process is not only fun for kids, it can actually be therapeutic for those who are picky eaters

Encourage independence with self-help skills!

Are you no longer rushing out the door to get your kid(s) to school?

Great!

Now is the perfect time to take a little longer in the mornings and encourage your child to do more of their self-help tasks on their own.

• Putting on shoes or sandals
• Tying their shoes, buttoning, snapping
• Dressing and Undressing
• Brushing their hair
• Brushing teeth
• Making their own bowl of cereal, sandwich, etc.
• Age appropriate household chores

Cook up some homemade play dough and spend some time playing playdough with your child. This is my favorite recipe… https://www.the36thavenue.com/kool-aid-playdough-recipe/

Experiment with making different types of slime, including sand slime. Make some rainbow spaghetti. Create soft cloud dough using only two ingredients.

Learn how to make your own bubble solution and make GIANT bubbles.

Mile High Bubbles
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup dish soap
1/4 cup corn syrup

Try making different types of homemade paints. Experiment with glowing sensory play. Contain your messy play in a sensory table, large bin, or on a large towel or dollar store shower curtain. There are so many recipes for these things online!

Encourage lots of cutting with scissors this summer!

https://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/development/physical/teaching-preschoolers-to-use-scissors/

Have a

Wonderful

Summer!