Fun and Games

Addition Hopping

Materials: Sidewalk chalk, dice

  1. Have your child draw circles on the ground, putting the numbers 1-12 in them.

  2. Have your child roll the dice. Then have them add the dice and hop to that number.

Your child can use hopping or jumping. A hop is on one foot, while a jump is with both feet together, and the feet take off and land at the same time.

Easter Egg Rescue

Have you got some Easter eggs around? Try this fun game with them!


Supplies:

  1. Plastic eggs

  2. Large bin or box

  3. Masking tape or string

  4. Various items to fill eggs (coins, paper, rice, toys, etc)

  5. Kitchen utensils (tongs, serving spoons, spatulas)

Fill eggs with different items so that they weigh different amounts. Place the eggs in a large bin. Use tape or string to create obstacles. Have your child use large kitchen utensils to retrieve the eggs. This can be done sitting at a table, standing on a pillow (to challenge balance), or laying on the floor on the stomach (to work the back muscles). Think of it like the game of Operation for Easter!

Find the Gnome!

You've got to pay attention! Find where the spring gnome is hiding in this fun workout video.

Partner Drawing

Okay, this one is super fun. Thanks to our OT, Mrs. Lyle and her daughter Marley for making a video to demonstrate it. Here's how you play:

  1. Tape a piece of paper to the wall. The top of the paper should be eye-level height for your child in standing

  2. Have your child stand at the paper, holding it with their non-dominant hand. Their writing hand should be straight up and down without a bend to their wrist.

  3. Place a piece of paper on your child's back.

  4. You draw on the paper (lines, shapes, letters, drawings, etc) and the child has to draw on the paper what they think you are drawing.

  5. Send me pictures of your paper and your child's! See how funny they come out.

Spell and Move!

Here's a fun activity to get you moving and spelling. Start with your name or your popcorn words. Exercise your way through your weekly spelling list!

Egg and Spoon Race

If anyone finds themselves with plastic eggs this weekend, why not have some egg and spoon races? Though the following link has products from Oriental Trading, the plastic eggs and large kitchen spoons will work well. Send us pictures of your egg and spoon races!

Gross Motor Pre-Writing Exercise (Using Cars)

I found this YouTube Video of a great activity that incorporates gross motor and pre-writing skills.

If you have older children, instead of using colors, try these adaptations:

  • Make the end spot a letter and have your child bring other letters to make a word. For example, the end green one could be "C" and your child has to bring down an "A" and a "T" to make CAT.

  • Make the end spot a word family and your child has to pick from letters to make words. For example, the end blue could be "AT" and your child has to bring down a "C" to make CAT, and then an "H" to make HAT, and so on. Use your child's school work to determine this.

  • Make the end spot a number that your child has to build a number sentence to create. For example, if the end red is 7, your child can bring down a 3, +, and 4 to create the number sentence. Use this for all math facts and operations.

For the motor work, here's what we want your child to focus on:

  • Stay right on the line. Don't move the vehicle off.

  • Use the right amount of pressure. If you think your child is pressing too hard, use a cardboard box that will crush under them (like a mostly empty tissue box). This will help your child gauge if they are using too much or too little pressure.

  • Use the following positions to "walk" the line: crawling on all fours, bear crawling (hands and feet on floor with knees straight and hind end up in the air), commando crawling (on belly using arms and legs to pull the body forward).

Ring Toss

Here's a fun way to work on upper back and arm strength, thanks to Chanda at Pink Oatmeal.

Don't have an exercise ball or peanut? No problem. Stack up your couch cushions (one or two at most) and have your child lay over them like the peanut in the above video.

No rings and cones? Make them using paper plates, cardboard paper towel rolls, and tape. Have your child color and cut to work on their fine motor skills too!

Simon Says

Goal: Increase body awareness

Here are a few variations of the game Simon Says. Two people are needed to play this game. One is Simon and steps or places a hand on a color and the other person has to copy it. Then add in a few color spots to create a pattern. The color spots should be on the same side for each person, so make sure the person copying is using the same hand or foot the Simon used. For example, Simon placed a right hand on yellow, the copier should also be placing a right hand on yellow without crossing their body.

You can do the colored paper version for inside or the chalk version for outside. Thanks to Chanda at Pink Oatmeal for sharing her videos!

If you can't get outside, here are some Simon Says activities for inside.

Animal Walking

Goal: Body Awareness, Core Strength, Shoulder Strength, Balance

Feel free to get creative and add in other animals or incorporate this into other activities! Try by writing these different animal walks down on a piece of paper and have your child pull an animal walk out of a hat, having them do a scavenger hunt for each piece of paper and when they find one, have them perform the walk, or incorporate it into an obstacle course!