Holding a pencil or crayon using the thumb and first two fingers. This is the most efficient way to write because it lets the fingers do the moving while the hand stays comfortable.
Ask the child to hold the stamp with his/her thumb, index finger, and middle finger.
You may want to set the stamp pad on the opposite side to the hand holding the stamp so that it encourages the child to reach over his/her midline.
To promote the development of visual motor skills have the child stamp between two vertical lines, horizontal lines, or around a circle.
To encourage wrist extension and stabilization place the stamping paper on an inclined surface.
Put a small amount of paint on a sheet of construction paper.
Let the child hold an ice cube using the thumb, index finger, and middle finger only.
Have the child move the ice cube over the paint and spread it on the paper.
You may also use powder paint for this activity.
You can use the Colored Ice Cubes activity to make the ice cubes for this activity.
Use a large, empty, and clean jar for this activity.
Provide the child with pipe cleaners and/or straws and instruct him to insert the items through the holes on the jar’s lid.
You can ask the child to sort the items by color or size before placing them in the jar.
If using a jar that has holes and a small opening on the lid, you can use additional items to place through the opening, such as pom-poms, buttons, large beads, coins, etc.
The child can use tongs or tweezers to catch the items before dropping them through the large opening.
If you cannot find a spice jar, you can use a regular container and poke holes in the lid, using a hole-puncher or cut holes with scissors.
Draw two (2) vertical lines about three (3) feet apart.
Instruct the child to stand in between the vertical lines. Suggestion: use a small piece of tape to mark an area on the floor that the child has to stay in (see pictures for an example).
Provide the child with a variety of chalk color or dry erase markers.
Instruct the child to draw a curved line from one vertical line to the other while maintaining position standing on the floor.
Note: if the child is rotating or pivoting his pelvis or trunk area, hold the child gently around the waist to inhibit the movement and reinforce crossing midline.
You can also have the child draw diagonal lines from one vertical line to the other making an ‘X’ shape.
Pull open the TP roll all the way.
Provide the child with paint and a brush and instruct him to paint it. You can also choose markers or crayons to color the snake.
Once dry, you can have the child use Q-tips to paint the snake, or crumble little pieces of tissue paper, and/or use stickers.
Depending on the child developmental skills, either cut a snake’s tongue out of red construction paper or have him cut it himself.
Finally, the child can glue the tongue and the wiggly eyes on one end of the TP roll. If you don’t have wiggly eyes in hand, you can use small buttons.
