Ultimate Guide to Occupational Therapy Resources For Kids

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April is Occupational Therapy Awareness month! To celebrate this inspiring field I am part of, I thought it would be fun to share this ultimate guide to Occupational Therapy resources for kids. There is something here for everyone: parents, teachers, and therapists.

The Ultimate Guide for Occupational Therapy Resources for Kids.

What is Occupational Therapy?

This is the most common question those in the Occupational Therapy (OT) profession hear. What is OT? In general, Occupational Therapy is a holistic approach to helping individuals achieve independence in their everyday life. We can work with premies and infants all the way to the elderly.

Our scope of practice really covers all parts of life for all ages, which is why I love this profession so much. Since this post is geared towards children, I will just briefly describe what OTs typically do in the pediatric population.

OTs (Occupational Therapists, Masters or Doctorate degree) and COTAs (Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants, Associates degree) often work in early intervention (birth to 3), children's hospitals, pediatric outpatient clinics, or school-based settings. We work on a variety of skills from dressing, feeding, and everyday life skills, to fine motor, visual motor, and sensory processing concerns with children.

We also work with a variety of diagnoses such as Autism spectrum, developmental delay, cognitive delays, sensory processing disorder, spina bifida, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, childhood cancers, etc.

Occupational Therapy Resources by Topic

There are so many great Occupational Therapy activities out there that benefit all children, not just those with special needs. I will be breaking up the activities into common areas that OT often works with.

All of the green links below are clickable and lead you to the topic to read more about or learn how to do that specific activity. I have double-checked all of the links to make sure they lead to the correct posts, but if you do happen to find an error, please let me know.

Also please note, that the resources in this post are meant for educational purposes. Please seek out the help of your physician and/or a local Occupational Therapy professional for specific advice regarding your child's development and needs. All children are different and need to be evaluated by a professional and receive individualized care.

Developmental Milestones

Developmental Milestones for Fine Motor Skills Ages 0-6 *includes a free Printable

Visual-Motor Integration Developmental Milestones – The OT Toolbox

Developmental Milestones and Activities for Kids – The Inspired Treehouse

Developmental Milestones for Getting Dressed – The OT Toolbox

Is Tummy Time Important? – Therapy Blogger Blog Hop

Child Development: Tricks of the Trade – The Inspired Treehouse

Fine Motor Skills 

Fine Motor Activities for Kids – a list of all the fine motor activities I have shared here on the blog

Fine Motor Activities for Ages 0-3 – subscriber freebie printable

Fine Motor Activities for Ages 3-6 – subscriber freebie printable

Scissor Practice Packet – subscriber freebie printable

Fine Motor Play – The OT Toolbox

Tools in Fine Motor Development Skills – The OT Toolbox

10 Creative Fine Motor Activities – The Inspired Treehouse

Shoe Tying Tips and Tricks – Therapy Fun Zone

Basics of Fine Motor Skills for Kids.

Sensory Processing 

Is it Behavior? Or is it Sensory? – a 5 post series

Is it REALLY Sensory? – Follow up on the behavior vs. sensory series

A-Z's of Sensory Play for Kids – 26 activity ideas from moms, therapists, teachers

How to Create a Sensory Room At Home

Reasons Why Your Sensory Child Chews 

Is My Child's Chewing an Oral Fixation?

5 Tips to Avoid Sensory Meltdowns Over the Holidays

Dealing with Sensitive Kids and Fireworks

Sensory Activities for Children – All the sensory posts I have shared here on GHOK

Is Sensory Overused? – Therapy Fun Zone

5 Things OTs Want You to Know About Sensory Processing – The Inspired Treehouse

Sensory Integration: Red Flags and When to Get Help – The Inspired Treehouse

Turning My Picky Eater Around – Your Kid's Table

Handwriting Skills 

Pencil Grasp Development in Kids

Pincer Grasp Activity for Toddlers

6 Pre-writing Activities for Preschoolers 

12 Fun Ways to Practice Handwriting with Preschoolers

Teaching Handwriting for Preschoolers

Teaching Handwriting for Kindergarteners

Teaching Handwriting for Elementary

5 Tips for Pencil Grasp Development with Preschoolers – Learning 2 Walk

Fine Motor Activities for Improving Pencil Grasp – The OT Toolbox

Pressing Too Hard When Writing Tips – The OT Toolbox

Developing Efficient Pencil Grasp Tips – The Inspired Treehouse

Pencil Grip 101 – The Anonymous OT

When to Fix a Pencil Grasp – The Anonymous OT

The Handwriting Book - The Ultimate Guide to Handwriting for therapists, teachers, and parents.

Other Occupational Therapy Activities

I didn't want to leave out some of the great OT-related activities by other bloggers who aren't therapists.

OT At Home Activity Jar – And Next Comes L

DIY Bean Bags – Happy Brown House

Must Haves for Kids with Sensory Needs – The Chaos And the Clutter

The Benefits of Messy Sensory Play – Teach Me Mommy

Money-Saving Sensory Solutions – The Chaos And the Clutter

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Occupational Therapy Blogs to Follow

I am blessed to be in a circle of other pediatric Occupational Therapy bloggers. These amazing therapists not only work at their own clinics or schools, they also take time to share their knowledge with all of you online. Be sure to check each one out and add them to your bookmarks tab. They are always posting amazing content.

More Occupational Therapy Reading Resources

Here are some great boards on Pinterest you can follow to keep up with even MORE Occupational Therapy related topics and activities.

Follow Heather | Growing Hands-On Kids Occupational Therapy Tips on Pinterest.
Follow Kristen (Epic Childhood)'s board OT PT SLP Ideas on Pinterest.

Pediatric/School Based OT/PT Blog Posts

Follow PediaStaff's board Pediatric/School Based OT/PT Blog Posts on Pinterest.
Follow Tonya at Therapy Fun Zone's board Therapy blogger network on Pinterest.

Heather Greutman, COTA

Heather Greutman is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant with experience in school-based OT services for preschool through high school. She uses her background to share child development tips, tools, and strategies for parents, educators, and therapists. She is the author of many ebooks including The Basics of Fine Motor Skills, and Basics of Pre-Writing Skills, and co-author of Sensory Processing Explained: A Handbook for Parents and Educators.

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8 Comments

  1. What a great post!!! Thanks for including my board!

  2. This is the perfect post! Thank you so much for sharing. My son is special needs, and he is going to be starting kindergarten in the fall. When he starts school, he will also be starting occupational therapy. I want him to succeed, so I want to be able to help him at home too. These games look like so much fun, and he would also benefit from them.

  3. Just wanted to say thank you for putting a link to my blog from yours. I will share the link to yours too! 🙂

  4. I have a young daughter who really struggles with her motor skills, so all of the resources are extremely helpful! What I’ll use the most is probably your list of blogs of therapists. It would be nice to have that extra information and guidance from professionals outside of the doctor’s office. Thanks so much for sharing!

  5. I appreciate your efforts in collecting the information. The material will be very useful for everyone. Really helpful info! Thank You

  6. My daughter came home telling me she heard about occupational therapy at school, and I wanted to learn more about it. It is good to know that the scope of practice covers all parts of life for all ages. I am especially glad to know that it is geared toward children. We will have to look at this as an option for our kids if needs be, thanks.

CONTENT DISCLAIMER: Heather Greutman is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant.
All information on the Website is for informational purposes only and is not a replacement for medical advice from a physician or your pediatrician. Please consult with a medical professional if you suspect any medical or developmental issues with your child. The information on the Websites does not replace the relationship between therapist and client in a one-on-one treatment session with an individualized treatment plan based on their professional evaluation. The information provided on the Website is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied.

Do not rely on the information on the Website as an alternative to advice from your medical professional or healthcare provider. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment as a result of any information provided on the Website. All medical information on the Website is for informational purposes only.

All activities outlined on the Website are designed for completion with adult supervision. Please use your own judgment with your child and do not provide objects that could pose a choking hazard to young children. Never leave a child unattended during these activities. Please be aware of and follow all age recommendations on all products used in these activities. Growing Hands-On Kids is not liable for any injury when replicating any of the activities found on this blog.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITY The Website was developed strictly for informational purposes. You understand and agree that you are fully responsible for your use of the information provided on the Website. Growing Hands-On Kids makes no representations, warranties, or guarantees. You understand that results may vary from person to person. Growing Hands-On Kids assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions that may appear on the Website.