1-3 Occupational Therapy Home Instruction Resources
Home Instruction Resources
Occupational Therapy Grades 1 - 3
MOTOR: Heavy Work Activities for Children at Home!
When children move their bodies and “work” their muscles it helps them with body awareness, calming, strengthening and focus! Try some of these ideas when you are home with your children. Kids love to do what their parents do, model the activity and play along!
- Push/Pull a laundry basket filled with books, pillows, or toys. Roll up some socks into a ball and throw them into the basket!
- Have them stuff a pillowcase full of toys or towels; have them “roll” it around the room
- Play in a bin or water or in the bath, put in non-breakable cups and large spoons. Have them pour water from cup to cup, or mix with the spoon. This is fun if you add dish liquid or shampoo to the water to make bubbles!
- Wipe a table or window clean with a wet cloth or towel, have them dry it!
- Push or pull a wheeled suitcase filled with books!
- Eat crunchy foods (heavy work for your jaw)!
- Set up an obstacle course with couch cushions and pillows. Have them crawl, walk, jump around the obstacles! Put a pillow on the ground run around it, try to jump over it!
- Crawl through tunnels made of towels or sheets draped over chairs!
- Lie on tummy and look at books!
- Push against a wall with your hands/back/legs!
- Give your child a big bear hug!! <3
SELF CARE for Children at Home!
Please have your child try to practice some of these dressing, grooming, and daily life skills:
- Remove and put on their shoes (its ok to help them to tie them)
- Put their dirty laundry in the laundry basket (or area)
- Wash their hands with soapy water (sing the ABCs or Happy Birthday so they wash long enough!)
- Practice drying the front and back of their hands!
- Have them help with clearing the table after a meal or snack
- Have them help you put away the clean silverware by sorting them from the dishwasher or drain board to the silverware draw.
- Wipe the table and dry it
- Have them set the table, model what the place setting should look like and have them imitate you!
- Hang their jacket up when they get home
- Wring out the water from a sponge or wash cloth when they take a bath
- Have the children help you clean up and put away their toys, sing “Clean up clean up everybody everywhere!”
- Have them brush their teeth (with your help)
- Have them help you pick out their clothes
SENSORY: Calming and wake-up activities
Each child is different, but we encourage that you try some of these activities with your child.
Calming:
- Get in an upside down position
- Read a book while you are rocking in a chair or in an adults lap
- Give a firm bear hug
- Hold your open hand in front of your mouth, take a deep breath, pretend to “blow out the candles” and bend each finger down as you blow
- Listen to soft music
- Dim the lights
- Drinking from a straw, sippy cup, or sports bottle
Alerting/Wake-up Activities:
- Jumping
- Dance to music
- Singing songs and clapping
- Running
- Rolling on the floor
- Eating crunchy foods
- Play Simon Says!
- Play “Freeze” by dancing and turning off the music to “Freeze”!
VISUAL MOTOR: Handwriting and Visual activities
Enclosed are several visual motor and writing activities. It is fine to help your child complete these if they cannot do this by themselves. If your child can write their name or some letters feel free to have them write it on their paper.
Activities included:
- Dot-to-Dot pages
- Maze page
- Letter tracing and copying pages
Look for letters in your house! Find them on cereal boxes, in magazines, in books, on TV!
Sing your ABCs and have a dance party!
Throw or roll a ball back and forth and count to 10!