There are so many great ways to practice fine motor and sensory skills with your kiddos at home! Why not practice learning important skills at the same time? Try these OT-approved activities in your garden or with the laundry! These skills can also translate to whichever task you want your child to learn. Tell us how you make chores as occupational therapy fun on our Facebook page!
In the Garden
Do you have planting or weeding to do? Have your kiddos help out! The sensory experience of playing in the dirt and touching the plants is great! Plus, they can work on their strength to pull the weeds while helping you out. And what a great opportunity to talk about the life cycle of plants and involve them in the care of the garden!
Have older kids or those who need some heavy work activities to help them regulate? Have them push and pull a wheelbarrow or wagon with your weeds or have them help you to move the garbage bags. Need something dug up? Pretend you’re digging for buried treasure and have them help you. You could also have a digging competition! Compete to see who can dig the fastest, or who can dig the biggest hole. You can even compete to pull the most weeds!
Doing the Laundry
You are never too young to help out around the house! Chores can be modified to fit most ages and abilities and they are so beneficial! Not only do they teach kiddos responsibility and the importance of helping out around the house, but they also work on skill development. For older kids, you can work on bilateral coordination and visual skills with folding. Younger kids can help take things out of the basket and help with color identification and sorting.
Here you can see two year old Evie’s excitement in taking an item out and telling mom whose it is. She is working on identifying the type of clothing, like “mommy’s shirt”!