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Preschool Activities

The OT Toolbox

Activities You Can Do At-Home:

Toddler Activities

• Relay around the table: Use a preferred puzzle, toy with different pieces, wind up toys to place at one end of the table with the base (or marker such as tape) at the other. Have your child pick up one piece at a time and relay it around the table to base and start putting it together (or using the wind up toy). Once the piece is in place (or done moving) have the child leave it there and go back to get the next piece! You may have to help demonstrate, but then they should be able to keep themselves occupied for some time.

• Peas Sensory Bag: Use the vegetables you already have, put them in a bag and tape it to a surface (table or floor to encourage laying on their tummy for core control as they prop themselves up on their elbows). Green Pea Sensory Bag

• Balloon Stamping: Fill a balloon up so that it is the size of a small ball like a tennis ball. Have them dip the balloon in paint and stamp onto a piece of paper. Balloon Stamping

• Weaving Ribbons: You can use a cookie cooling rack and weave ribbons or cloth through it to have the child pull and un-weave the ribbons. Having a way to secure it so the child is working on their back also encourages greater arm and core strengthening as they reach up.

• Crawling & Tunnels: Roll a ball through paper tunnels while crawling on the floor.

• Animal Tape Rescue: Tape animals and other preferred toys with a strip of painters or masking tape that the child has to peel off in order to save the animal! You can tape to a table, floor, baking pan, inside baking tins, etc.

• Paper Towel Roll Drop: Paint empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls. Tape them vertically or on a tilt to the wall and place a bin or bucket under them. Have the child drop balls or toys through the tube and watch them fall. They can sort by color or shape for added learning experience.

• Sorting Toys: Fill a laundry basket with stuffed animals, various shapes or colors, and have the child take one at time to categorize. Lay out a colored piece of paper and they can match to it! It's okay if they are just transferring from one bin to another as well if they are too young to match perfectly.

• Moving Water Sensory Play: Fill a bin with water and add toys to it. Add ice cubes, soap, floating toys to it. If you have a squirt bottle you can fill it with water and have them spray the toys to make them come alive and move around in the water!

• Make Music or Find: Using a muffin tin, shoe box, or tissue box, place rubber bands around for the child to stroke and make music. For greater safety, you can add ribbon around that they have to go around to retrieve preferred toys that are hidden inside.

Extra Ideas

• Clean up the germs: Tape a square to the floor and use small stuffed animals or crinkle up tin foil (if they are old enough) to act as the germs, to lay around the floor outside of the tape square. Have the child use a broom, pool noodle, their feet or anything else other than their hands to move the germ to the isolated space/ tape square.

• Spray bottle fun: Give the child a spray bottle to spray watered down paint into a tub. Spray water over chalk on a fence or sidewalk.

• Play Tug of War: This is a good heavy work activity that provides proprioceptive input through the student’s body and is a fun and engaging activity for the whole family.

• Wheelbarrow Walking/ Racing

• Play Catch: Toss bean bags or a large ball back and forth, if its a bouncy ball you can also give a big bounce to pass for increased heavy work and sensory input. The student can also bounce a ball against a wall outside if no one else is available for play. You can tape markers for them to target while bouncing the ball on the ground first to increase sensory input, and challenge hand eye and visual perceptual skills.

• Create calming bag: Use a large ziplock bag, place a piece of paper with 5 cones drawn on it inside the bag. Then place some pompoms inside or paint some cotton balls. Then have the student make different ice cream cones. They can make patterns, match all of the colors, etc. Pompom Ice Cream Sensory Bag

• Inside obstacle course (safe, yet fun): The goal is to bend, lift, crawl, balance, and anything else that allows changes in body position. For example pick 3 or 4 options from the list below to combine for an obstacle challenge:

  • • Lay out couch pillows and have the student balance along them while moving slowly enough to not fall off

      • Roll up a yoga mat and tape to the floor to create a balance beam

      • Have the student crawl under something such as a broom or blanket thrown over arm chairs

      • Do a bear crawl, crab walk, or frog hops the length of the living room

      • Walk backwards or sideways the next obstacle

      • Gently toss small bean bags or a balled up pair of socks into a small basket for hand-eye coordination and balance (Upgrade: have the student stand on one leg or on a pillow)

      • Lay out egg cartons to walk across slowly and carefully

      • Include a relay by collecting a puzzle piece from one end of the room and bring it to another spot

      • Lay on your stomach on a pillow and use your arms and legs to slide to the next obstacle (can combine with previous bullet point)

      • 5-10 wall pushups

      • March in place 10 times

      • Squeeze a soccer ball as hard as you can between your hands at chest level

      • Roll a ball through paper tunnels while crawling on the floor.

• Create a chalk obstacle course/challenge outside: Similar to the inside obstacle course only with chalk!

Miss Kendra's Corner

• Animal Rescue Movement

• Arch Strength, Letters, & Crossing

• Elementary Letter Writing

• FM Paint Lines to Shapes

• FM Playdoh Letters & Shape Trace

• Pre-K Rainbow Stripes

• Sensory Breathing

• Sensory Movement & More

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