Pediatric Occupational Therapy Tips

Activity for Following Directions

2026-03-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

This is a wonderful activity to work on following directions with a child! It is also a great way for a child to learn their colors and shapes. Because the child has to peel and place the stickers with accuracy, it is also a great nice activity for fine motor skills.

All you need is a blank sheet of paper, some colored markers, and dot stickers in a variety of colors. Draw a variety of shapes in different colors. Now all you have to do is give the child instructions such as, "Put the pink sticker on the pink circle, or put the purple sticker on the purple square."

The Benefits of Play Dough Play!

2026-02-23T06:36:00.000-08:00

Rolling, squishing, pinching, and manipulating Play Dough has so many benefits for toddlers, preschoolers, and young children. In this post, I’m going to focus on two of those benefits: strengthening and bilateral skills.

Developing arm and hand strength is important for growing children, because they are needed for functional skills, such as self-help and fine motor activities. Grip strength and dexterity are needed for buttoning, writing, zipping, and other manipulation tasks. Bilateral skills are necessary for using both sides of the body together in a coordinated manner. This is also called bilateral integration, and it is an important for many activities that your child will carry out in home and at school. If a child has difficulty with bilateral coordination skills, they may end up using one hand alone rather than both hands together, which leads to challenges with certain activities, such as tying shoes, using a knife and fork, cutting with scissors, and buttoning.

Play dough provide many opportunities to for a child to strengthen their arms and hands and improve bilateral integration. For example, while they are rolling, squeezing, flattening and shaping the dough, they are developing muscles in their little hands and learning to use them together in a coordinated manner!

Making a Difference at th Rachel Kay Stevens Therapy Center!

2025-12-13T07:40:00.000-08:00

The Rachel Kay Stevens Therapy Center (RKSTC) at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is a student-run pro bono clinic that provides occupational therapy services to children from birth up to 18 years. Under the supervision of faculty and a licensed occupational therapist, the clinic operates with student leadership and involvement. Therapy services are delivered by students under the direct supervision of a licensed OT. Offerings include consultation, evaluation, individual treatment, and parent/family education.

The mission of the center is to educate future practitioners, and to empower families through the provision of educational and healthcare services.

To make a donation to support the clinic, click HERE.

Pom Pom Color Matching Fine Motor Toddler Activity

2025-11-04T06:04:00.000-08:00

This DIY pom pom activity is easy to make and will keep your toddler entertained while learning lots of different skills.

Materials Needed
- Pom poms in various colors
- Toilet paper or paper towel rolls
- Construction paper in a variety of colors
- Scotch tape
- A small box
- Sharpie

If using paper towel rolls cut each paper towel roll in half or use toilet paper rolls. Wrap each roll/tube in a different color of construction paper that matches a pom pom color. You can number the tubes if you want to work on counting skills. Tape the rolls to the back of the box side-by-side. It's time to play! Your child can work on color matching, naming, and counting. This is a great activity to work on grasp and release skills, and as your child's skills advance, they can even add a spoon and work on scooping!

Easy DIY Felt Board!

2025-09-29T14:10:00.000-07:00

This DIY felt board can be used in a variety of ways! I love to use it when teaching a child the different shapes. You can begin by asking the child to point to the shape that you call out by name. It’s also fun to practice matching the shapes.

Another fun activity is have the child identify big shapes and small shapes, as seen with the triangles in the photo below.

The best part about it is that the board and shapes can be made in 15 minutes or less!

Supplies Needed:
-Felt in a variety of colors
-A rectangular piece of cardboard (Approximately 11” x 14”)
-A large enough piece of craft felt to cover the cardboard
-Hot glue & hot glue gun
-Scissors

Cover the cardboard with the large piece of felt and glue it in place. Cut out a variety of shapes in different colors and sizes. Now have fun!!!

Obstacle Course Ideas!

2025-08-30T05:10:00.000-07:00

An obstacle course is a great activity to work on improving a child’s body awareness, motor planning, strengthening, sensory processing, and ability to follow instructions. When creating an obstacle course for a child, it can be very motivating to follow a theme that is of interest to the child. For example, possible themes are dinosaurs, jungle animals, or outer space.

An example course might require the child to hop on one foot to a pile of pillows where the child finds a hidden item. Use an animal walk (i.e. bear walk) to go to another destination to complete a fine motor activity. Lastly, walk on a balance beam to the finish line. Here are some additional skills that can be addressed with obstacle courses.

· Following multi-step directions

· Midline crossing activities

· Work on core strength

· Running

· Climbing

· Fine motor tasks

· Balance

Fun Color Matching Fine Motor Activity

2025-07-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

This is color matching DIY activity is simple to make, and it's a great for working on fine motor and bilateral skills which are important for writing, typing, and cutting with scissors.

It’s also a great activity for teaching a child how to recognize and match colors. All that you need are several different colors of construction paper or poster board cut into circles and paper clips of corresponding colors. Instruct the child to place the paper clips on the circle that is the "same" color. It may be helpful to demonstrate at first, but it won't take long for them to catch on!

The project above was completed by one of our Master's of Occupational Therapy students at

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center and posted with permission.

Clothespin Counting Activity

2025-05-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

This DIY clothespin activity strengthens the hands and fingers, which improves fine motor skills and helps with handwriting and other manipulative tasks. You can vary the activity to work on matching colors, recognizing numbers, and counting!

You Will Need:
A paper plate or poster board cut into a circle
Different colors of Sharpie markers
Different colors of stickers
Clothespins

To Make the Activity:
Place colored stickers on the clothespins and the paint stirrer. Use a Sharpie to write/draw shapes, numbers, math symbols and letters on the clothespins and paper plate.

Activity Instructions:
Work on matching and placing the corresponding clothespins to the sticker colors and numbers. Instruct the child can alternate hands when placing and squeezing the clothespins.
If the child can't differentiate colors/numbers, etc. you can help them identify which one to match. Position the circle to encourage crossing the midline.

Fun Color Sorting & Matching Activity

2025-04-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

I just love this color sorting activity! It’s great for teaching a child to recognize and match colors, and it can also improve skills such as reaching, grasping, transferring from one hand to another, and eye hand coordination.

The cups are also stackable which is fun for toddlers! The set is available on Amazon!

Calming Sensory Space...AKA the Safari Room!

2025-03-01T13:48:00.000-08:00

I created this calming sensory space for my grandchildren, and they LOVE it! They call it the Safari Room. It is a small space under our staircase that I previously used for storage.

I painted a safari mural with lots of animals and added several stuffed animals. The shelves were already there, and that worked out perfectly, because we now use them as a bookshelf. I found the cute leaf rug and safari table and chairs on Amazon, and I made the pillows myself.

This is the perfect space to read and book, chill out, or take a nap!

Entertaining DIY Activity for Infants & Toddlers

2025-01-25T15:14:00.000-08:00

This DIY actvity is an inexpensive way to entertain your infant or toddler while they work on their visual motor and bilateral skills! It's a nice way to work on grasping, placing, and releasing in a controlled manner. All you need are popsicle sticks and a clean to-go coffee cup and lid.

After a bit of practice, this little one progressed to holding the cup with one hand and placing the popsicle sticks with the other hand. Well done!

Busy Board for Baby: Another Great Developmental Toy!

2024-11-29T15:14:00.000-08:00

This Kitchen Busy Board is a fun interactive toy that will definitely entertain your little one! It plays music, lights up, and has lots for opportunities for your baby to improve their fine motor skills. You can also teach your child the concepts of open, close, in, and out while the two of you play with the busy board.

Playing with the Busy Board will also promote your baby's problem solving skills! This would make the perfect birthday or Christmas gift for your little one, so check it out!

Developmental Baby Toys: Easy Grip Ball Activity...Another Favorite!

2024-11-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to tell you about a fun activity to carry out with your baby using an Grasp Classic Ball and some cloth or organza tissue squares. All you have to do is stuff the cloth squares inside of the ball, and show your baby how to pull them out. This activity will help teach your little one about the concepts of "in" and "out." It is also a great activity to help them use both hands together and to work on their pincer grasp. You can also name the colors of the cloth squares as they pull each one out of the ball. Eventually, your baby will gain the skills to stuff the squares back inside the ball, but that may take a little while. If you don't have any cloth or organza tissue squares, you can just purchase some colorful cocktail napkins, and they will serve the same purpose. Your child will love this activity and it will fully entertain them!

Developmental Baby Toys: Another of My Favorite Things!

2024-10-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

Here is another developmental baby toy that I highly recommend. This musical baby pop-up toy is fairly inexpensive, and it promotes a variety of skills, including problem solving, understanding cause-and-effect, and eye-hand coordination.

I also love that it lights up and plays music! Playing with this pop-up toy is a great way to teach your baby the concepts of "open" and "close." You can talk about colors with you little one by pointing and telling them to push the "red" button.

This particular pop-up toy include a variety of animals, so parents can teach their babies about those animals and the sounds they make. This musical baby pop-up toy is available on Amazon, so go check it out now! It would make a wonderful gift for any baby.

Developmental Baby Toys: A Few of My Favorite Things!

2024-10-12T13:03:00.001-07:00

In this post and several future posts, I'm going to share a few of my favorite baby toys that are great for promoting your child's development! The toys that I will be featuring are wonderful for the development of a variety of skills, including cognitive, and fine and gross motor skills.

This Country Critters Wooden Activity Play Cube will keep your baby busy! Each side includes a different activity center with wooden balls, a shape sorter, and much, much, more. My favorite thing about it is that is is sturdy enough for a baby to pull up on and cruise around the edges.

The activity cube is recommended for ages 12 months to 6 years and will entertain your baby for hours. It is available here on Amazon.

Fun with a Variety of Sensory Activities!

2024-08-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

Check out these easy recipes for a variety of fun sensory activities. The dough or sand can be used to create a sensory bin. Just add additional items for tactile exploration such as pom poms, marbles, different types of pasta noodles, and a scoop!

Sensory Bottle: Use an empty water bottle with the label removed. Add water, vegetable oil, glitter, and food coloring. You can also drop an Alka-Seltzer tablet in to create bubbles!

Cloud Dough: Mix together 1/3 cup of lotion, 2/3 cup of cornstarch, and a couple of drops of food coloring.

Salt Dough: Mix together1 cup of all-purpose flour, ½ cup salt, ½ cup of cold water, and a drop or two of food coloring.

Moon Sand: Mix 1 cup of flour, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and several drops of food coloring.

Note: Provide direct supervision for children who might put the sand or objects in their mouth.

This project was completed by a Master of Occupational Therapy student at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center and posted with permission.

Create a Kinetic Sand Sensory Bin!!!

2024-07-22T12:12:00.000-07:00

A kinetic sand sensory bin is great for sensory exploration and learning. It is a wonderful way to stimulate multiple senses at once, and children can also learn how to tolerate new and different textures when playing and exploring in the sensory bin.

Supplies Needed:
A medium to large plastic bin
Kinetic sand
Large buttons
Pom-poms
Large marbles
Blocks
LEGO pieces
Plastic animals or insects
Plastic letters, shapes, and/or numbers

Tools such as tongs, large tweezers, a plastic spoon, or a small plastic shovel can be used to dig, stir, scoop, and pull pieces out. or the child can just explore with their hands. If the child resists touching the kinetic sand, start by having them explore using one of the tools listed above.

Sensory bin play is also a great way to work one naming colors, shapes, animals, letters, numbers and concepts such as up, down, inside, beside, soft, and hard.

So please consider putting together a sensory bin that is age appropriate for your child!

Note: Provide direct supervision for children who might put the sand or objects in their mouth.

This project was completed by a Master of Occupational Therapy student at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center and posted with permission.

Free Match the Shapes Worksheets!

2024-06-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of shape matching worksheets that can be used to learn the properties of different shapes. This activity is fun for children who are working on recognizing, naming, and remembering shapes! Your child can color the matching shapes the same color. This is a great way to practice coloring within the lines. They can also simply draw a line to connect the matching shapes.

Activities to Encourage the use of Pressure When Writing

2024-04-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes children don’t use enough pressure when coloring or writing. This may be because of weakness in the hand muscles or because they don’t have a good “feel” for. The writing utensil in their hand. Here are some suggestions to help a child use more pressure when writing.

Squeezing a stress ball is good for strengthening the muscles in the fingers and hands.
Carbon tracing paper can be purchased at a dollar store or on Amazon. Having your child use carbon paper when writing will help them become more aware of how much pressure they are putting on the pencil or crayon.
Squeezing and manipulating Play Dough is a good hand strengthening activity. You can also hide small plastic beads in the Play Dough and challenge your child to find them.
Try having adding some weight to the pencil or crayon. This will provide additional sensory feedback and may result in the use of increased pressure.
Have your child practice writing using dry erase markers on a dry erase board.
Place a piece of paper over a piece of sandpaper or a mesh sheet that is used for needlepoint. This will provide sensory feedback when your child writes or colors and help them use more pressure when writing.
Vibrating pens also provide sensory feedback when writing and drawing
Using a hole punch to make different designs on paper is great for strengthening the hands.

Feed the Car: A fun In-Hand Manipulation Activity!

2024-04-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

"Feed the Car" is a fun and easy DIY in-hand manipulation activity and game for children. Playing this game is a great way to work on counting, pincer grasp, in-hand manipulation skills, bilateral skills, and crossing midline

Materials Needed:

Toilet paper rolls
Pompoms, beads
Tweezers/Clothes pin
Construction paper
Printed/laminated cars

Wrap the toilet paper rolls in construction paper and glue or tape in place. Print some fun animated car images, cut them out, and laminate them. Cut out an area that will serve as the "mouth" on each car, and and glue the image to each toilet paper roll. Be sure that the "mouth" lines up with the top hole of the toilet paper roll so that the beads or pom poms will drop into the roll when they are place in the "mouth" of the car. Have fun!!!

How to Play:

Have the child roll the dice and pick up the number of small items (pom poms & beads) that the dice lands on. Next have the child hold the small objects in one hand & bring them out to the fingertips and place a small objects in the cars mouth one at a time. This activity could be adapted by having the child use the tweezers to pick up the items & "feed" the car.

This project was completed by a Master of Occupational Therapy student at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center and posted with permission.

Please Vote for the Tummy Time Trainer!!!

2024-02-14T17:12:00.000-08:00

Click HERE to vote for the Tummy Time Trainer!!!

Does your baby struggle with tummy time! Unfortunately, many infants dislike being positioned on the stomach for play, but it is critical that they are exposed to tummy time starting from the first days of life. Why? Because tummy time promotes head control, and strengthens the trunk, shoulder, arm, and hand muscles, and all of these are important for the development of important milestones such as rolling over, crawling, and pulling up.

Because I see so many babies who resist tummy time, I created the Tummy Time Trainer, which has recently been patented. The Tummy Time Trainer transforms tummy time into an enjoyable experience for both infants and parents. Here are the benefits of the Tummy Time Trainer:

·      Created by a pediatric occupational therapist (me!)
·      Customized design
·      Tailored support
·      Provides a nice lift to the chest
·      Strengthens infant’s neck, back, shoulder, and hand muscles
·      Helps develop head control
·      Special contours allow baby to bear weight on elbows and hands

The angle of the wedge positions baby so that the weight is shifted toward the hips which makes holding the head upright easier.

The Tummy Time Trainer is not on the market yet, but it has been entered a contest called “What’s the Big Idea?” Please take a minute to vote for it by clicking HERE, entering your email address, clicking on the circle next to Tummy Time, and then clicking submit. Please vote once a day from today through this Saturday, February 18th…and please share. :)

To watch a brief video about the Tummy Time Trainer, click HERE.

Creative Ideas for Tummy Time Fun!!!

2024-02-14T08:52:00.000-08:00

When implementing tummy time with your baby, it's a good idea to get creative! Creativity can be helpful because many infants resist being positioned on the stomach for play. That is because they often aren't familiar with the position, so it is difficult for them. Yet, tummy time is extremely important because it promotes head control, and strengthens the trunk, shoulder, arm, and hand muscles.

Here are some tips for helping your infant better tolerate tummy time!

1. Start early! You can initiate tummy time during the first days of your infant's life. When you are in a reclined position, place your baby on your chest so that the two of you can see eye to eye! Yes, this counts as tummy time.

2. Take it slow. You may have to start with sessions that are only 15 to 30 seconds long. That's okay! Your infant's tolerance will gradually improve and as that happens, you can stretch time of each session.

3. Mix it up. Tummy time does not have to take place on the floor. You can position your baby on the tummy across your lap when you are seated, when you are holding them, or even on a therapy ball.

4. Always provide direct supervision during tummy time. If your infant starts to fuss or cry, don't hesitate to change their position. It's not a good idea to force tummy time, as this might cause your baby to resist the position even more.

5. Get creative! As you can see in the photo above, you can incorporate entertaining activities, siblings, and even pets into your infant's tummy time sessions! Do you have any creative suggestions for tummy time? I would love to hear them. Feel free to share your ideas below.

Make your own Dino Rescue game!

2024-01-08T08:38:00.000-08:00

You can create a dinosaur board game just like this!

Materials:
Cardboard
Construction paper
Clothespins
Large die
Small plastic dinosaurs
Images were downloaded from free online resources
Glue

Create the game cards by including different activities. Examples are: “Stretch tall like a brachiosaurus; Bad weather ahead! Go back 3 spaces; Add a piece to the puzzle; Stretch like a stegosaurus. Do 5 cat/cow poses.”

The object of the game is to make it all the way around the board before the volcano puzzle is complete. This is a wonderful activity that works on taking turns, visual perceptual skills (completing the puzzle), fine motor skills (squeezing and placing the clothespins), learning colors, counting, and much more!

The game’s directions are as follows:

1. The youngest player goes first.
2. All dinosaurs begin at the starting square.
3. Roll the dice to see how many spots to move.
4. Draw a card corresponding to the color you land on.
5. Follow the card’s instructions.
6. Reach the island of safety by making it all the way around the board.
7. Reach the island of safety before the volcano puzzle is complete!

UTHSC MOT student, Allison Hyatt

Class of 2025

This project was completed by a Master of Occupational Therapy student at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center and posted with permission.

DIY Dry Erase Slant Board!

2023-12-30T13:10:00.000-08:00

Check out this DIY reusable slant board that does not require paper to write on! The slant board is made from cardboard, and the writing surface is wrapped with a sheet protector so that it can be written on with dry erase markers, and therefore erased and reused.

Using a slant board for coloring or writing tasks puts the wrist in a slightly extended position which helps a child move their wrist in a fluid motion when forming letters and promotes a more refined pencil grasp. Additionally, a slant board positions the writing surface in the line of vision which promotes an upright posture. Slant boards are also great for reading!

This project was completed by a Master of Occupational Therapy student at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center and posted with permission.

Therapy on a Shoestring Budget: Homemade Therapy Putty

2023-11-28T12:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a recipe for homemade therapy putty that every pediatric occupational therapist needs!

Ingredients  

4-ounce bottle of Elmer's glue 1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon borax 1/4 cup of hot water
3-4 drops of food coloring

Directions
Pour 4-ounce bottle of glue into bowl

Measure 1/4 cup of cornstarch and pour into same bowl
Add 3-4 drops of food coloring to bowl

Stir until everything is mixed
Measure & pour 1/4 teaspoon of borax into a separate bowl
Measure & pour 1/4 cup of hot water into bowl with borax

Mix the hot water & borax together until everything is dissolved
Once borax is dissolved, pour into bowl with glue/cornstarch
Knead the combination until putty becomes firm
Add beads or other small objects of your choice

Seal in an air tight container

Have fun with the putty!

Guest post by UTHSC MOT students: Aliyah Hanks, MOT/S & Akosua Odei, MOT/S