Some of us might wonder why children need pediatric occupational therapy. This is often offered to help certain children with special needs. For example, it can foster the way to improve their social relationships either at home or in school. Additionally, this therapy will specifically help them improve their fine, visual and sensory motor skills.
During pediatric occupational therapy, a variety of enjoyable activities can help develop the skills these children need in life so that they can grow into independent individuals. Want to know the different types of activities they can get involved in when it comes to pediatric occupational therapy? Here is a list of activities that are often conducted:
Decorate a plastic box
One of the interesting and fun ways to undergo pediatric occupational therapy is through decorating a plastic box. The act of decorating can involve anything from putting beads around the box and forming it into a design that they like or simply drawing a figure outside the box. Using beads to decorate such boxes will help develop a child’s pincer grasp and at the same time improve his or her fine motor control. It will also assist the child when working on his or her tactile perception.
Forming something out of popsicle sticks
Popsicle sticks are very versatile arts and crafts objects that can be formed into anything that you want. Kids can make a house out of these sticks. They can also create a wind sock just by putting in several materials together with these craft sticks. It will also be a good idea to use the light brown sticks then allow your kids to design them using their markers. This activity will definitely help them control their fine motor skills as well as develop them in their visual motor skills. It will also be a good way for them to learn bilateral hand use.
Create animals out of paper rolls
Do you know that paper rolls can facilitate fun activities during a pediatric occupational therapy session? Your kids can use them to create animals that they want to place inside their own craft stick houses. Commonly, kids will love the idea of putting some cotton balls into the tissue roll to form a sheep or any other animal to their liking. Putting some colors into the end product will give the design varied results too. This is best not just for tactile perception and visual motor skills development but also when it comes to overcoming hand dexterity issues.
Finger puppets
Another therapeutic activity to help with a child’s motor development is making finger puppets. You can simply get some pieces of construction paper that your kids can easily design to fit his cute, little fingers. This can enable the development of better eye and hand coordination.
With all these great activities conducted during pediatric occupational therapy sessions, your kids no longer need to fear about the idea of visiting a therapist. Just make sure your child gets a variation of such activities so he or she will enjoy these sessions even more.
