10 Fun & Easy OT Activities You Can Do at Home

Occupational therapy isn’t just for the clinic! There are so many ways to support your child’s development right at home using simple, everyday materials. The best part? Kids learn best through play! Whether you're working on fine motor, gross motor, sensory processing, or coordination skills, these fun and engaging activities will help build independence, confidence, and essential life skills—all while having a great time!

Let’s dive into 10 OT-approved activities that are easy to set up and packed with skill-building fun.

1. Pom-Pom Sorting with Tweezers

✔ Skills Targeted: Fine motor control, hand strength, pincer grasp

✔ What You Need: Pom-poms (or small objects), tweezers or tongs, small cups or bowls

Let your child use tweezers to pick up and sort pom-poms by color into different bowls. This strengthens finger muscles needed for handwriting, buttoning, and cutting.

👉 Make it harder: Use mini tongs or chopsticks for an extra challenge!

2. DIY Obstacle Course

✔ Skills Targeted: Gross motor skills, balance, coordination, motor planning

✔ What You Need: Pillows, chairs, tape, stuffed animals

Create an obstacle course using household items! Have your child crawl under chairs, jump over pillows, balance on a taped line, or hop from one “island” (stuffed animal) to another. This builds strength, coordination, and confidence.

👉 Make it harder: Add a timed challenge or have them complete it backward!

3. Sensory Play with Shaving Cream

✔ Skills Targeted: Sensory exploration, tactile processing, pre-writing skills

✔ What You Need: Shaving cream, a tray or tabletop

Spread shaving cream on a table and let kids draw shapes, letters, or designs with their fingers! This helps kids who are sensitive to messy textures and also strengthens pre-writing skills.

👉 Make it easier: Start with gloves or a paintbrush for hesitant kids.

4. Sticker Peeling & Matching

✔ Skills Targeted: Fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, finger strength

✔ What You Need: Stickers, a piece of paper or notebook

Have kids peel and stick stickers onto paper or match them to a designated spot. This builds the pincer grasp needed for writing, zipping, and using utensils.

👉 Make it harder: Use tiny stickers for extra fine motor control practice.

5. Animal Walks

✔ Skills Targeted: Gross motor, core strength, bilateral coordination

✔ What You Need: Open space to move!

Encourage kids to walk like different animals:

🦀 Crab Walk – Sit on the floor, hands and feet on the ground, belly up!

🐻 Bear Walk – Walk on hands and feet with straight legs.

🐸 Frog Jumps – Squat down and leap forward like a frog.

These strengthen core muscles, coordination, and endurance—all essential for sitting upright and focusing in school!

👉 Make it harder: Set up a relay race or obstacle course using animal walks!

6. Kitchen Helper Tasks

✔ Skills Targeted: Fine motor, bilateral coordination, executive functioning

✔ What You Need: A simple snack to prepare

Let your child help with meal prep—spreading peanut butter, peeling a banana, pouring ingredients, or stirring a bowl. These daily life tasks strengthen hand muscles, coordination, and problem-solving skills.

👉 Make it harder: Let them cut soft foods with a safe knife (e.g., a plastic butter knife for bananas).

7. Laundry Sorting & Folding

✔ Skills Targeted: Visual perception, bilateral coordination, executive functioning

✔ What You Need: Clean laundry!

Have kids sort clothes by color, match socks, or fold towels. This helps with visual scanning, problem-solving, and fine motor coordination—skills needed for reading, dressing, and staying organized!

👉 Make it harder: Time them to see how fast they can match all the socks!

8. Tape Resist Art

✔ Skills Targeted: Visual motor skills, fine motor control, creativity

✔ What You Need: Painter’s tape, paper, paint or crayons

Place painter’s tape on paper in different shapes. Let kids paint over it, then peel off the tape to reveal fun designs! Peeling the tape strengthens finger dexterity, while painting helps with hand-eye coordination and creativity.

👉 Make it harder: Have them cut their own tape pieces before sticking them down.

9. Play Dough Strength Games

✔ Skills Targeted: Hand strength, pincer grasp, fine motor control

✔ What You Need: Play dough, small beads, toothpicks

Have kids roll, squeeze, and shape play dough to strengthen their hand muscles. You can also hide small beads inside the dough and have them pinch to find them—great for building finger strength for writing!

👉 Make it harder: Let them cut the play dough using safety scissors.

10. Bubble Pop Chase

✔ Skills Targeted: Hand-eye coordination, visual tracking, gross motor skills

✔ What You Need: Bubbles!

Blow bubbles and have kids pop them using only their pointer finger, then using both hands together, and finally, using their feet! This strengthens hand-eye coordination, balance, and reaction speed.

👉 Make it harder: Have them clap the bubbles or pop them in a specific order!

The Power of Play in OT

All of these activities are fun, but they also serve a purpose—they help children build essential OT skills in a natural, engaging way. The best part? You don’t need expensive toys or complicated setups—just a little creativity and a lot of play!

Do you have a favorite OT activity you do at home? Drop a comment below—I’d love to hear your ideas! 😊🎉

Miss Haley