Abbey Wash MOT, OTR/L, occupational therapist at the Midtown office of Child and Family Development, is getting ready for the holiday season now. Here’s a list of some of her favorite fine motor activities, mostly with a very low price tag!
- Play with play dough: “Play-dough Fun Factory‚Äù
- Lacing activities: lace a shoe, make a bracelet, or string cereal for a necklace
- Tearing paper to make pictures: instead of coloring a picture, tear small pieces of colored paper and glue them on
- Watering mom or dad’s garden with a spray bottle
- Play with sidewalk chalk, then use a spray bottle as your eraser
- Building with Legos, Bristle Blocks, or standard blocks
- Cooking activities: knead bread, use a rolling pin, cut with cookie cutters, mix the dough
- Painting: use your fingers or a brush. For increased support, write on a vertical surface. (Writing on a vertical surface provides more support for the upper extremity.)
- Laundry: hanging clothes on hangers is great fine motor and coordination practice
- Board games with tweezers:
- Toy Story 3 Alien Rescue Claw Game By Mattel
- Beware of Dog by University Games
- Bed Bugs by Patch
- Operation by Milton Bradley
- Wok and Roll by iPlay
- Tennis ball mouth: instructions on how to make and play with one can be found here
Read about gifts related to occupational therapy work here.
Our team consists of 9 licensed occupational therapists, rather than assistants or aides. We are in-network with many insurance plans, including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield NC, Cigna, Medcost, North Carolina Medicaid, Primary Physician Care and United Health Care. Our clients also may pay privately and access out-of-network benefits.
