It has been about a month since I have posted an OT Tip. With the holidays last month there was just way too much to do to try and get a post together. So hopefully I can be better about it this year. We left off talked about age appropriate skills for fine motor activities from ages 0-6.
This week we will be finishing this topic with ages 4-6. Let's review by age level.
4 Years Old
* puts a key in a lock and opens it
* can use scissors to follow and cut both straight and curved lines
* can manage buttons, zippers, and snaps completely
* can draw and copy a cross (one vertical and one horizontal intersecting lines)
* can hold fork using his fingers
* can feed himself soup with little or no spilling
* folds paper in half, making sure the edges meet
Remember that these skills are a ongoing learning process through age 4. By the time your child reaches age 5, these skills should be learned and mostly mastered. Each child is different. If you have valid concerns please seek advice from your pediatrician.
So now some skills activity ideas! I love working with this age group at work. Preschool age is so much fun and amazing how many things they can begin to learn.
The first activity I want to highlight is actually a company called Handwriting Without Tears. I went to their training course for preschool back in October. I highly recommend their preschool program . Preschool is considered age 3-5. They have a special section on the site just for parents, so check it out! I have used parts of the preschool program with a couple of my kids and have seen great results! HWT is big on teaching children how to write at age appropriate levels, so that is why I like it so much! Don't worry, they will walk you through the whole thing with their teacher's guide. Not only is this great for preschoolers, they also have programs all the way to grade 5!
A great way to practice buttons, zippers or snaps is to have them dress their dolls or stuffed animals. You can make it very in-expensive by making the clothing yourself and adding the buttons or buying some clothes if you want. Remember to start to large size buttons and have them practice at a table. Once they master large buttons, move to medium and then small size. Once they have mastered the animals and dolls, move them to a vest or their own clothing. Here is a button vest that I use at work, from The Therapy Shoppe.
Cutting and folding paper can be incorporated into a craft project quite easily. Tlsbooks has a lot of good cutting papers and craft ideas (book marks, cards, paper lanterns etc...) that incorporate lots of this. Letting your preschooler use and get use to scissors is the biggest thing you can do. While cutting make sure that your child is holding the scissors in a thumbs up position as well as holding the paper with the other hand with their thumb facing up.
When they are practicing lines and shapes, make sure they do not use the large jumbo size crayons. The large crayons force their fingers farther apart than they should be in order to promote good grasp. Using regular size crayons and breaking them in half forces them to have less fingers on the crayon and use the correct tripod grasp. Remember that at age 4 they are still developing a good grasp pattern as well as decided which hand they are going to use (right or left). Encourage them to use the same hand that they seem to prefer throughout the entire activity. A lot of my kids like to switch when their hand starts to get tired. To ensure their hands get strong, practice practice practice! :)
(tripod grasp)
Age 5
*can get dressed completely by himself, and usually tie shoelaces
*cuts square, triangle, circle, and simple pictures with scissors
*uses a knife to spread food items (jelly, peanut butter, mayo etc.), uses a dull knife to cut soft foods
*able to draw and copy a diagonal line
*uses a "tripod grasp" on writing utensils (thumb & tips of 1st two fingers) and uses fingers only (because small muscles of hand have developed) to write/draw/color
*can build a five block "bridge"
*sufficient bilateral hand coordination to cut out complex pictures, accurately following the outline *able to copy a sequence of letters or numbers correctly
Age 6
*able to complete complex puzzles
I went ahead and put age 6 in here because there is only one real area that they improve in fine motor skills which is completing complex puzzles. Kids love puzzles, and you can get kid size puzzles at Walmart or Target in the children's section near board games.
If you choose to use Handwriting Without Tears, be sure to check out their kindergarten activities and work books. Kindergarten can start by 5 years old if you child is ready. Please refer to their site and click on the pull down tabs to determine where your child is at.
Being able to do the bridge design with blocks is harder than it seems. The key is that they are able to balance one block on top of two other blocks, without the one on top falling through. So a 5 block design, would be 3 on the bottom, with two balancing on top.
A lot of the ideas that I gave for age 4 will still apply to this age. Another home-school program that my friend Sarah is using with her two kids is called Hands on Homeschooling. She is really liking their program which focuses on playing with purpose. They have programs and ideas for ages 2 to 5.
For dressing and shoe typing helps, check out The Therapy Shoppe. They have the button vests, shoe tying, potty training, and feeding resources that can be very helpful!
I hope these were some great tips for you! If you have a child specific question, feel free to e-mail me with your questions.
Disclaimer: I am a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. The advise in these tips is not a replacement for medical advise from a physician or your pediatrician. Please consult their advice if you suspect any medical or developmental issues with your child.
My buddy helping me spell check my blog post. :) So if anything is misspelling it's his fault. ;)
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