OT Corner: Homegrown OT
By Amy Wagenfeld, Ph.D, OTR/L
Originally printed in July, 2005

This month I would like to share a few of my favorite homemade, OT-type 
play activities with you.  Please feel free share some of your ideas with 
us as well.


Hammer and Golf Tee Game

Materials needed: a piece of Styrofoam 16”x16”x 4” (the thickness is the 
most important consideration), lots of brightly colored wooden golf tees 
(and storage container), toy hammer.

To do: Let your children have a great time pounding in and removing golf 
tees from the Styrofoam.  You can work on color recognition, making patterns, 
and designs.  This is one of my all-time favorite OT things to do, as it 
enhances gross and fine motor skills, bilateral hand skills, as well as 
visual perception, and sensory skills… and it is fun.


Sand and Water Fun Kit

Materials needed: clean and empty dish soap bottles with lids, dollar store 
or yard sale quality colanders, old plastic salt shakers that have both 
screw top and pull off lids, clean and empty plastic containers (especially 
the ones that have the fluted sides), serving spoons and ladles, and a great 
big waterproof tote to store these treasures.

To do: Create all sorts of wonderful sand sculptures and water creations 
using this recycled kit.  Working with sand and water is a great sensory 
activity, and perhaps most importantly, is a blast.


Tweezers Time

Materials needed: oversized tweezers or tongs (i.e. pickle pickers, toaster 
tongs, strawberry hullers, tweezers from games such as Bed Bugs™ and Operation™), 
dried beans or un-popped popcorn, cotton balls, pegs, pom poms, etc.

To do: Encourage your children to hold the tweezers like you would hold a pencil, 
and practice picking up all kinds of things with the tweezers.  You may even 
expand into using chopsticks for meal time fun.  This is a great activity to 
enhance fine motor skills, as well as to prepare children to hold writing tools.


Laundry Detergent Lid Fun

Materials needed: lids from laundry detergent and fabric softener bottles, 
small things like buttons, pom poms, etc.

To do: Holding the lid from the bottom (cupping the lid in one hand), pick up 
and place small things into the lid.  This activity is great for developing 
hand arches and general fine motor skills.  You can even gather a crowd of 
children together, form a circle, with each child holding a lid, and play a 
hot potato pass around game!


Bubble Wrap Blast

Materials needed: bubble wrap, tape, paint, and brushes

To do: There are many uses for bubble wrap besides protecting breakables.  
Have your children pop the bubbles using thumb and first finger, cut out 
small or large shapes, paint the bubble side, and turn it over and make 
prints, tape it to the floor and roll or jump on it.  This is great for 
fine and gross, and sensory motor skills work.

As I mentioned above, please share some of your ideas, and I will share 
more with you in the upcoming months.