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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.
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
Developmental Milestones Tips and Resources – Mama OT
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 – Sugar Aunts
Tools in Fine Motor Development Skills – Sugar Aunts
10 Creative Fine Motor Activities – The Inspired Treehouse
5 Things to Keep in Mind While Working with Fine Motor Skills – Mama OT
Shoe Tying Tips and Tricks – Therapy Fun Zone
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
Sensory Processing Disorder: Commonly Asked Questions – Mama OT
Turning My Picky Eater Around – Your Kids 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
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
35 Sensory Aids and Ideas – Kids Activities Blog
Sensory Hacks to Calm an Angry Child – Lemon Lime Adventures
Money Saving Sensory Solutions – The Chaos And the Clutter
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.
- Therapy Fun Zone
- The OT Toolbox
- The Anonymous OT
- OT Mommy Needs Her Coffee
- Occupational Therapy – Functional Strategies to Make Every Day Count
- Your Therapy Source
- Handwriting with Katherine
- Your Kids OT
- Miss Awesomeness
- Your Kids Table
- The Inspired Treehouse
- OT Cafe
- Smartie Pants Mom
- Mama OT
- Pediatric Occupational Therapy Tips
- Kids Play Space
- OT Mom Learning Activities
- Jen's OT For Kids
- Tools to Grow
- OT Potential
- The Pocket Occupational Therapist
- Group by Group
- Mac and Toys
- CanDo Kiddo
- The OT Butterfly
- Miss Jamie OT
- The Recycling Occupational Therapist
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.
Pediatric/School Based OT/PT Blog Posts
Kristen S. says
What a great post!!! Thanks for including my board!
Heather Greutman says
You’re welcome Kristen, and thanks! 🙂
Addie Ross says
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.
Heather Greutman says
So glad the post was helpful for you Addie!
Eleanor Cawley says
Just wanted to say thank you for putting a link to my blog from yours. I will share the link to yours too! 🙂
Maggie Allen says
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!
Samantha says
I appreciate your efforts in collecting the information. The material will be very useful for everyone. Really helpful info! Thank You
Lauren Jones says
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.