Leslie Colins..... Here's the list Occupational Therapy activities to choose from

    Get neighborhood kids or relatives together for a cook out and have an old fashioned games day outdoors this summer. They'll have fun making an obstacle course together which will help you plan some fun activities for the future while they all work on their gross motor skills. If a water balloon fight is fun, try it. If not, make a carnival game: let them knock down obstacles with the balloons or aim at trees with a painted target. Have them write their names or draw designs with a water pistol.

No water pistol ? Place a cleaned squeeze top of a dish liquid bottle like Ajax or Dawn onto a soda bottle. The bigger the bottle, the harder the squeeze and skill will be.

Activities for a Sensory Diet - 1 from group 1 and 2 from group 2 daily

Choose one from this group # 1

Swing at least 15 - 20 minutes. Encourage different positions

( on tummy , side or back ) if using a net swing or a hammock swing.

Sweep the sidewalk, driveway, or basement floor.

Play basketball for 20 minutes. Practice dribbling.

Hippity hop ball - 10 minutes. Learn to bounce forward and sideways.

Jump rope.

Swim.

Play soccer.

Hit and bat a balloon over the head.

Water the garden or lawn using a 1 gallon milk jug or 1 liter soda bottle.

Design an obstacle course the child must follow in sequence.

Bowling by rolling a ball at empty milk jugs or pop bottles.

Paint on the sidewalk with a large paint brush. Combine long strokes going up and down and those going across and diagonally.

Play catch. Set up a sequence of bounces the child must follow before tossing the ball back to you.

Wheelbarrow walk a distance of 20 feet.

Build a snowman or a snow fort. Make angels in the snow. Throw snowballs.

Learn to snowshoe. Practice sidestepping and going around cones.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Choose 2 from this group # 2 to do daily:

Paint or color by number.

Do mazes with the finger before doing them with a pencil.

Make paper clip chains.

String beads making the child follow an established pattern.

Play card games.

Play board games. ( Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Trouble, Operation)

Play dominoes or Chinese checkers.

Hide pennies in a ball of theraputty. The child must find then push and pinch the pennies out to increase fine finger strength and coordination.

Play Don't Break The Ice or matching games.

Sort coins by color, shape, size, and then by amount.

Make designs then use a hole puncher and lace yarn through the holes.

Build with legos. Follow a set sequence by size, shape, or color.

Cut out circles, triangles and squares. Try other cut and paste activities.

Do puzzles with large pieces.

( 25 piece at first then move to 50 piece puzzles)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you want to make things challenging, have the child play bean bag catch while swinging. The bean bag can be caught then tossed from the swing into a basket or box.

More challenging - make a puzzle part of an obstacle course by requiring that the child select and carry 5 pieces of puzzle during the course and place them into the frame before going through the course once more.  The course should have hopping, skipping, and crawling maneuvers to it.

Most of all, make it fun and less like work!