OT Activities and Ideas for Home
Compiled by Tina Burtard OTR and Barbara Lijewski, OTR
Tasks to Improve Fine/Visual Motor Skills
String beads, uncooked noodles, popcorn, or buttons to make necklaces
Stack a tower of blocks or replicate a block structure
Any game that involves moving or manipulating small pieces (e.g, a peg board game like battle
ship or light bright)
Pick up and place small objects (e.g, putting coins in a piggy bank, planting seeds, feeding themselves cheerios)
Shell peanuts or peel a banana at snack time
Complete mazes, word searches, eye spy
Line up domino pieces and knock them down
Tasks to Improve Self-Help Skills:
Dress dolls
Practice, practice, practice!
Encourage child to dress themselves and open packages/containers on their own as often as
possible. When they ask for help encourage them to again try to do it on his/her own. If they still
can’t get it do hand over hand, so they experience motoring through the task. Or complete the first
step to get them started and have them finish
Show them how to open buttons/snaps, zippers by demonstrating on your own clothes first
Encourage your child to use silverware when appropriate versus using their fingers to self feed
Tasks to Improve Cutting:
Demonstrate the proper hand position, “fingers on the bottom, thumb on the top!” is the way we
describe it at school
Have student cut fun media such as: straws, ribbon, sponge, playdoh
Cut pictures out of newspapers or magazines or cut out coupons
Bold the cutting line with a bright colored marker and then encourage them to stay on the line
when cutting
Tasks to Improve Writing:
Show the child how to hold their pencil. Encourage them to “pinch their pencil” versus holding
it with a fisted grasp
Continue to review letters with your child. We can not expect him/her to write a letter or word
that they can not consistently identify
Demonstrate to the child how to hold the pencil and write the letter
1 Describe how to form the letter by using words like “big line down, big curve” (if describing the letter D)
Encourage the child to start the letter at the top
Start with tracing, then encourage the child to copy the letter or word
Make writing fun by spreading out shaving cream, pudding, whipped cream, sand, or applesauce on a table top or try and
use your index finger to draw letters
Form letters with toothpicks, mini marshmallows, cheerios, or playdoh (also
improves fine motor skills!)
Write on a vertical surface (promotes proper wrist placement, upper arm
strengthening, and gives the body more input). Ideas: Put a piece of paper at eye
level and tape it to the wall, use an easel, or make letters with foam soap or
shaving cream on a mirror
Write in the air with large hand movements. Use a flashlight or scarf.
Use a chalk board, dry erase board, magna doodle or other toy to make writing fun
Trace letters on a partner’s back and try to guess what it was
Offer a letter/alphabet strip on the child’s desk or in the area they do homework for easy reference
Tasks to Reduce Tactile Defensiveness and to Offer a Multi-Sensory Approach to Learning
Use messy media as often as possible (examples below)
Art projects that use finger paints, glue, clay, shaving cream, cotton balls, feathers, etc.
Play in a sand box
Water play
Take turns blowing bubbles with your child (works on oral motor skills). Whoever is not blowing bubbles should try to pop
the bubbles with their hands (works on eye hand coordination and decreases tactile defensiveness)
Color outside with side walk chalk (also helps to build pre-writing skills)
Play with clay or playdoh (also good to strengthen hands)
Walk on bubble wrap, grass, sand with bare feet
5/2014 questions? contact Lisa Barczyk, PT, Coordinator OT-­‐PT Services at 438-­‐3415 or [email protected] 2