Occupational Therapy Activities for Kids

Occupational therapy uses meaningful activities to teach skills we use in our daily routine. These include sleep, play, leisure, work, and self-care such as bathing, feeding and dressing. Because a child's main occupation is play, games are used to teach these skills. The text outlines simple activities for a parent to use at home with children aged 1 to 6 years old based on 4 different skills: sensory processing, motor skills, social-emotional, and cognitive/visual processing. This book puts the power in your hands. These are one-on-one activities for kids with ADHD, ASD, CP, SPD, Downs, etc. that are easy to do, though some will require specific equipment (mini-trampoline, Hoberman sphere, water table, etc.). You can work through all chapters or skip to the those that apply to a specific skill. Each chapter has 20-30 activities to try at home. You can use these activities with any child really. Try doing perhaps two activities per day. Some of these include: chew and chill, a no-sew crash mat, ball fishing, pin the tail on the bunny, listening to their breath, looking into a mirror to learn what emotions look like, creating a visual schedule, and even an obstacle course! ~Sara