5 Fun Occupational Therapy Activities to Do at Home With Your Kids
April is Occupational Therapy Month! There's no better time than now to incorporate some fun and meaningful occupational therapy (OT) activities into your daily routine at home. But first, what exactly is occupational therapy?
Occupational therapy helps children develop essential skills to thrive in daily life, such as fine motor skills, sensory processing, coordination, emotional regulation, and social interaction. Children can build confidence, independence, and important developmental milestones by participating in engaging activities tailored to their needs.
Here are 5 fun and simple OT activities you can do at home:
1. Sensory Play with Homemade Slime
Making and playing with slime is a great way for kids to explore textures, colors, and improve their hand strength and fine motor coordination.
Quick slime recipe:
4 oz. white school glue
1/2 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp contact lens solution (containing boric acid)
Optional: food coloring or glitter
Mix the glue and baking soda thoroughly, add food coloring or glitter if desired, and then stir in the contact lens solution until slime forms. Knead the slime until smooth. Let your kids squeeze, stretch, and shape their sensory creation!
2. Obstacle Course Adventures
Create a playful obstacle course using cushions, chairs, tunnels, and blankets. This helps your child improve their gross motor skills, coordination, and spatial awareness as they crawl, climb, jump, and balance their way through the course.
Ms. Jane explains how she uses obstacle courses to assess a child
3. Fine Motor Skills with Beads and Pasta
Grab some dry pasta or colorful beads and pipe cleaners or shoelaces. Threading beads or pasta onto strings is an excellent activity for developing fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and concentration.
4. Pop the Bubbles
Draw large circles (bubbles) on a piece of paper and have your child "pop" each bubble using a large circular marker or dot stamper. This playful activity is perfect for strengthening hand-eye coordination, grip strength, and visual motor skills.
Watch how fun and easy this bubble-popping activity can be!
5. Yoga and Animal Poses
Encourage your child to copy fun animal yoga poses like downward dog, frog jumps, or butterfly stretches. Yoga promotes flexibility, balance, body awareness, and emotional regulation in a fun, calming way.
Occupational therapy activities don’t have to be complicated or costly - incorporate these simple exercises into your routine, and watch your child grow, learn, and have fun!
Ready to Support Your Child’s Growth?
Brave Wings Therapy is dedicated to helping children in North NJ reach their fullest potential. If you have questions about occupational therapy or would like to schedule an evaluation, we're here to help.
