Tag Archives: sensory play

OT Activities from the team in Bucks!

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The team in Bucks County created this amazing video of great activities you can do with stuff from around the house that is fun helps develop fine motor skills. In addition to the video is a list of great bath activities!

Hi everyone!

Here is a list of bath activities that you can do with your kids, to help them have some fun things to do while they are home.

Enjoy!

-Stacy G., OT

1. You can let your child use a net to “fish for” toys in the tub. If you don’t have a net, you can substitute a colander. This can work on eye-hand coordination

 

2. Colanders can also be used as “rainfall” for sensory

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3. PAINTING!

“Painting” in the tub/shower: Your child can do finger painting or can use a variety of tools such as paintbrushes, sponges, cotton balls, etc. which can work on fine motor coordination. You can give your child the opportunity to engage in a variety of different sensory experiences, which can increase their sensory awareness, through painting with shaving cream (to which you can add food dye) or even making your own bath paint. For an even easier prep/clean up, you can let them “paint” with a paintbrush/sponge/cotton ball, just using water onto the tub/shower wall, or onto construction paper.

A. “Paint” the tub or shower walls by dipping a paintbrush into water

B. Paint the shower using shaving cream with food dye added to it

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C. Cotton ball painting

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D. Make bathtub paint

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4. Transferring water from one container to another: You can use a variety of different tools to work on transferring water from one container to another, such as cups, spoons, pipettes, bowls, etc. This can work on grasping and pouring skills, which can help to improve overall upper extremity coordination.

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5. Animal wash station/Car wash station: You can have your child squirt water from a spray bottle onto a toy animal/toy car, to work on their grip strength and you can also let them scrub animals/a toy car with a toothbrush to strengthen their hand muscles and work on their coordination.

Animal Wash Station

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Car Wash Station

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6. Bath time for doll: Giving your child the opportunity to give their doll a “bath” can help teach your child self-care skills as well as learning of body parts.

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7. Making paper boats and floating them in the water: You can use the directions provided to create the paper boats. You can let your child help you make the boat, by giving them the opportunity to complete 1 simple step in the task at a time, as you model it for them (ex: “fold this part like this”). This can increase their ability to follow directions as well as their imitation skills.

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Here are directions for making a paper boat:

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8. Make Play-Doh soap!

This can be particularly motivating for children, especially those who don’t enjoy taking baths. Allowing a child to squeeze and pinch the play-doh soap can also work on hand strength and the development of more mature grasp patterns, such as key pinch grip, as well as pincer grasp.

The link below has the recipe for Play-Doh soap: https://sugarspiceandglitter.com/bath-time-play-dough/

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9. Baby Bath squirt toys: These types of toys can work on hand strength and the development of grasping patterns as well.

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10. You can make a Water Wall in various ways: You can use funnels, water bottles, or pool noodles. You can use other items too! Playing with a water wall can work on increasing pouring skills and will help to refine upper extremity coordination skills.

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11. You can also use laundry baskets for water fun!
You can turn a laundry basket into a “boat” inside or outside the tub! (Of course, always supervise with each of these activities)

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References

Cinnamon-Scented Ornaments

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by Alyssa Brief MS, OTR/L & Rachel Rosenblum MS OTR/L

Occupational Therapy activities can multiple therapeutic benefits…in addition to being fun! Below is wonderful activity that is sure to be a hit!

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Materials:

  1. 3/4 cup Applesauce
  2. 2 bottles of ground cinnamon (2.37 oz each)
  3. Parchment paper
  4. Ribbon or yarn
  5. Cookie cutters
  6. Toothpick

Directions:

Mix applesauce and cinnamon into a mixing bowl, stirring or kneading until material reaches dough consistency. Scoop out a handful of dough and place onto parchment paper on flat surface. Place another sheet of parchment paper over dough and flatten until dough is about 1/4″ thick. Peel top sheet off of dough and stamp cookie cutter into dough, peeling away the excess dough around the border. Use a toothpick to make a hole in dough towards top of ornament. Depending on thickness of dough, ornament will need at least 24 hours to dry into hardened ornament. Once dry, thread ribbon through the hole and tie a double knot at desired length.

Sensory benefits of activity: Using the spice of cinnamon stimulates the olfactory sense, or sense of smell. Kneading and flattening the dough provides tactile input through the sense of touch. It also provides opportunity to explore and discuss the texture if it feels sticky, smooth, wet, mushy, etc. Interacting with the dough provides a sensory-rich play experience.

Motor benefits of activity: Pouring in the ingredients works on using graded movements, or knowing how much force is needed to complete a task, to avoid spilling. Kneading and flattening the dough promotes fine motor hand and finger strengthening. Mixing the dough and stamping cookie cutters provide opportunities to use a variety of grasp patterns during functional tool use. Stabilizing the mixing bowl with one hand while stirring with the other encourages bilateral coordination, or using both hands to complete a task.

Cognitive benefits of activity: This activity requires completing steps in a certain order, or a sequence, in order to be complete. This can promote understanding of how a task can be completed start to finish, and can reinforce the concept of “first ___, then ____” while having fun!

Self-Care benefits of activity: A hand-washing routine can be incorporated in this activity such as before and after to work on this skill. Also the clean-up process provides an opportunity to practice cleaning up after oneself such as wiping the table or making a trip to the garbage.

Hope you enjoy!

Sensory with a purpose

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by Melissa Caiazzo

Everyone loves sensory play! It is full of cool textures, sights, sounds, and smells. It can help children self-regulate, fulfill different sensory needs, explore, and interact with their peers. All children can benefit from sensory play and for children with special needs, it is crucial to have sensory play integrated into the day. However, sensory play isn’t just fun, it serves another important purpose- to help children learn. Children learn about their world through their senses and quality sensory experiences can help children develop an understanding of the world around them. When we as adults create sensory experiences for children, they should have a purpose. Use fun materials that feel cool like Play Dough, Moon Sand, and shaving cream but also give children a prompt or a challenge when playing with these materials. Fill a bin with rice and cups for scooping, but also challenge children to explore what it means to be full, empty, heavy, and light. Instead of creating materials for children to play in all of the time, use real-world materials to provide a sensory experience and help children learn new skills (like planting seeds in dirt). Sensory bins can be themed to help students explore different topics and make connections to stories and songs, and sensory bins can help students learn pre-academic skills such as letter and number recognition, counting, colors, and shapes. We as adults just have to make sure that when we provide these sensory experiences for children, they are rich with opportunities for children to discover new things and develop new skills.

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In this sensory bin, children explore size, weight, and color using dirt, pots, and toy bugs!

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In this autumn sensory bin, children practiced colors, counting, and finding out how many leaves and pumpkins they could fit into a basket.

Melissa Caiazzo has been teaching Special Education for 4 years, working in high school, elementary school, and preschool. She also spent 4 years as a head counselor in a camp for children and teenagers with special needs. She has been with Easter Seals for about two and a half years both as a substitute teacher and classroom teacher and has had the opportunity to work with all kinds of kids with different disabilities. Her favorite part of her job is watching each young child grow and develop in his/her own way. Melissa is also a musician and you can catch her singing and dancing with her students (and teacher assistant!) on a regular basis.