- Use homemade or store bought playdough. Roll it with rolling pins, use cookie cutters and/or scissors to make things.
- Press Legos or individual fingers into it to make designs or form letters.
- Roll the playdough between your hands to make snakes. See how long you can make it before it breaks. Can you use the snake to form a number? Then roll that many small balls of playdough using just your thumb, index and middle fingers. Squish the balls using your thumb and index finger.
- Use playdough snakes to make letters or words.
- Roll the playdough between your hands to make a large ball (do not roll on the table) then flatten the ball between your hands to make a pancake - again do not use the table!
- Go for a family walk. Have your child find an object then have them either stand on top, beside, in front or behind it. If walking with multiple children or people in your family, work on different positions in the line (who is first, who is last, place yourself 3rd, etc.). Incorporate different types of walks, such as walking sideways, backwards, on toes or on heels, and galloping, skipping, and hopping.
- For children with keyboarding goals, we strongly encourage you to continue to practice keyboarding using your typing.com account (email us if your child does not remember his/her username or password). If your child does not receive OT services or does not have a keyboarding goal, they can practice using their school Typing Agent account or you could create a free account at typing.com. Since keyboarding is required for many tasks throughout life, all children in grades 2 and up would benefit from practice. Short, frequent practice is best so we recommend practicing 5-15 minutes at least 4 times/week. Daily practice is even better!
- Since most families are currently spending more time together than usual, now is the perfect time to work on self-help skills if your child does not know how to button, zip, and/or tie shoes. On our ADL page we've posted several ways to teach shoe tying. Our favorite is a unique method that has been successful for children who have had difficulty learning via traditional methods. Check it out by clicking this video link!