A few weeks ago, I published a video and post about my favorite Dollar Tree products for therapy. After posting that video, a friend of mine challenged me to come up with some great activities to do without spending any money. So, in this week’s video that’s exactly what we are going to do.
Here are 5 common household items that can be used for dozens of great activities during therapy. Let’s dive in:
Paper Plates
Paper plates are an incredibly versatile item. I used them for:
- Making animals or masks to go along with a holiday or book theme. I have made Polar Bears with my kids after reading, Polar Bear, Polar Bear by Eric Carle.
- Making instruments: Pour some rice, beans, or popcorn kernels on a plate. Add a second plate on top and staple them together. This little craft makes lots of noise and really encourages kids to move those arms.
- Practicing coordination activities by throwing it like a frisbee.
- An Obstacle Course: Paper plates can become stations for jumping jacks, squats, or burpees. They can also be color coded for kids to stomp on, walk around, or jump over.
- Balance: Placing a paper plate on your child’s head and asking him to walk around is a great way to improve balance.
Cotton Balls
Cotton balls are one of my favorites. I use them for:
- Finger strengthening: When I made the paper plate polar bears with my kiddos, I had them pinch the cotton and pull the pieces apart to make whispy pieces. This activity is great for finger strengthening and fine motor control.
- Squatting: Placing cotton balls on the ground and asking kids to pick them up is a great way to work on lower extremity strengthening. Kids can pick them up with fingers, kitchen tongues, or a spatula to make it more fun. If you really want to increase the difficulty, place the container they are putting the cotton balls into on a higher surface so they have to stand on their toes to reach it.
- Balance and Coordination: Place the cotton ball on a large spoon and have an Egg Race. This is a much cleaner way to place this game.
- Overhead Reach: Place a piece of masking or painters tape sticky side out on a door or wall that is above your child’s height. Allow your child to reach up on their toes and stick a cotton ball to the tape.
Plastic Cups
Plastic cups are a great item to use for lots of different activities. I use them for:
- Stacking: Towers can be created by stacking cups on each other or end to end for more of a challenge.
- Obstacle Course: Placing cups upside down create obstacle course stations, items to jump over, creating lanes for walking between, or creating an area to walk in and out of in an S pattern.
- Balance/Coordination: One of my favorite games is to turn cups upside down and place a small ball, bean bag, or cotton ball on top of them. Ask the child to only kick the ball off of the top without knocking the cup over.
- Scooping/Pouring: Use cups to scoop rice, beans, or water between containers.
- Bowling: Turn cups upside down and they become bowling pins. This winter I drew snowman faces on a few white cups so my students and I could play snowman bowling. It was a lot of fun.
Plastic Containers
Plastic containers of all sizes and shapes can be really useful for therapy activities. Containers don’t need to be purchased, you can use one you have or recycle one that you purchase at the grocery. Large yogurt containers, take-out soup containers, or whip cream containers are all great options. I use them for:
- Fine motor control: By cutting a small slit in the top of a container you can create a piggy bank. Have kids pick up small coins and place them in the container through the opening. The larger the opening is, the easier it is to place the coins in.
- Strengthening: Fill a small container with rice or beans to create a weight. Just be sure the container can be easily/safely held in a child’s hand.
- Unilateral Stance: A large container can be placed under a child’s foot to begin teaching them how to balance on one foot. This method allows kids to get the feeling of balancing and weight-shifting in a safe and supported position.
- Instruments: Place a small amount of rice, beans, or popcorn inside the container and you have yourself an instrument.
- Daily Living Skills: Use the containers to practice opening and closing them. This is a very important skill to acquire to become independent with activities like cooking and cleaning.
Paper
Everyone has a piece of paper, even if it’s junk mail. Activities that work well with paper are:
- Fine motor control: Tear paper into small pieces and/or crumble them up into small balls. Or, draw a shape on a piece of construction paper like a circle, square, or snowflake. Allow kids to glue small piece of paper on top of the shape to create a beautiful art project.
- Ball: Crumble up a piece of paper to create a make-shift ball. It will work in a pinch.
- Targets: Place paper on the wall to create targets for throwing. A single target is great for beginners. To make it more challenging, color large circles on the paper and tape them to the wall. Call out colors in sequence and have your child throw a ball at them. This activity works on executive function, sequencing, and motor control.
What are your favorite activities to do with things around the house? Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear about them and how you use them in therapy/play?
Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have an amazing week!
-Heather
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