Technology can be and is amazing! But when I think about our kiddos, their virtual learning with their academics, and the use of technology during occupational therapy, my mind starts wondering… are we providing enough hands-on activities to develop the muscles in their hands?? So, I wanted to share some fall occupational therapy Telehealth activities that DON’T require the child to use technology!
These activities can be both synchronous and asynchronous! In fact, I’ll share my VERY rough asynchronous video I sent to some of my students last spring when we had to rush and adjust to virtual learning with little to no warning! Whew! Something I know we will never forget! My goal then (and now) is to come up with activities that require little preparation with items that can be found around the house. Easy Peasy is the name of the game!
Supplies needed for Fall Occupational Therapy Telehealth Activities:
As you see from the picture above, all you need is:
- paper
- a few leaves
- a few rocks
- 4 small sticks
- brown crayon and a marker
- glue
Just think of the fun and the skills the child is working on just gathering these few things! Of course the child should always be supervised and watched for safety!
Warm-Up Activity:
Our First Fall Teletherapy Activity for OT:
- Use the small sticks and paper to make prewriting strokes, shapes, and straight line letters.
- The child can watch you make them first and then copy OR you can verbally tell them and see if they can use their visual memory to form the figure!
Next Activity is Making a PUZZLE!
- Have the child trace around the sticks, rocks, and leaves on their paper making a puzzle!
- Can they stabilize the paper and trace around the item?
- How fast can they put the pieces on the puzzle?
Now We Can add a Fine Motor Activity to our Fall Occupational Therapy Telehealth Activities!
- Trace around a leaf
- Place glue inside the leaf
- Tear the leaf into small pieces and place them in the glue!
Letter Recognition, Sight Word Practice, and Handwriting are a few of the skills we talk about next!
Have the child write letters or have an adult write letters or sight words (whatever the child is working on) on the paper
- Verbally call out a letter or sight word. The child then picks up a rock and places it on the correct answer as fast as he/she can!
- To make it a little more challenging, the child can be on all 4’s or in side sitting while completing this activity.
Our Last Fall Occupational Therapy Telehealth Activity is making a leaf print!
- Place one of the leaves under the piece of paper
- Have the child color (crayon on it’s side) over the leaf
- Watch the leaf appear!
There you go! I hope these ideas help with some Fall occupational Telehealth activity Ideas that you can do WITH your kiddo or provide asynchronous with pictures or videos!
Speaking of asynchronous videos….remember that really ROUGH video I talked about at the beginning?? Well, here it is and it gives you an idea of how to incorporate all these activities together.
Still looking for MORE Fall Activities to work on fine motor skills, cutting skills, and handwriting skills? Here are some fun fall printable packets!
Needing MORE ideas, want access to a growing freebie library, and want a way to save on products? Don’t forget to sign up for our Newsletter here!
For more information on Occupational Therapy and Telehealth, please refer to the American Occupational Therapy Association.
Happy Fall!! ~Shelly
**Remember all activities should be supervised and monitored by an adult for safety and these activities should not take the place of medical or therapeutic intervention**