The OT's Bag

Nuts and bolts can encourage fine motor and in-hand manipulation skills. This activity is a great way to allow a child to fidget and still be engaged in an academically related task (can you tell that one of my jobs is in a school?). 

Materials:

1. Large box of nuts and bolts (after I bought them at a local hardware store I realized the Restore store also sells them much cheaper and for a good cause)

2. permanent marker

Instructions:

This could not be any easier to make. Use a permanent marker to write one letter on each nut, but make sure to write it on every side. I made several of each letter, especially the high frequency ones.

Directions for Use:

The child scans the array of nuts to find the desired letter and screws it onto the bolt. Pretty simple right?

Skills the Activity Promotes:

1. in-hand manipulation

2. fine motor skills

3. letter identification

4. spelling

5. visual-motor skills

6. visual scanning

7. figure ground

How to Grade the Activity:

1. vary the size of the nuts/bolts

2. look for single letters and work up to spelling whole words

3. vary the amount of nuts available for the child to scan

4. ask the child to switch hands

5. use tongs/tweezers to pick up the nuts and place in palm of hand before putting on the bolt

This activity couldn't be more simple to make, but addresses several complex motor skills. I have been able to observe subtle difficulties with bilateral coordination and crossing midline in older children with this bottle, which were not obvious in other daily activities. See below for instructions and ways to grade the maze.

Materials:

1. large, clear bottle (this was an iced tea bottle)

2. permanent marker

3. 2 magnets

Instructions:

Draw a path on the bottle with the marker. Make sure to clearly mark the start and end of the path. Every inch or so add a letter (or number). Place one magnet inside the bottle and keep one outside for the child to hold.

Directions for Use:

The child holds the magnet (hopefully with a tripod grasp) and makes sure it sticks to the magnet in the inside of the bottle. Ask the child to slide the magnet to start. Give directions such as, "find the letter S" or "spell the word friend". The child has to slide the magnet or it will lose contact with the one on the inside. Encourage the child to avoid switching hands with the magnet (one hand holds the magnet the other rotates the bottle).

Skills the Activity Promotes:

1. visual tracking

2. bilateral coordination

3. crossing midline

4. praxis 

5. tripod grasp

How to Grade the Activity:

1. Make the path wider or thinner

2. Adjust the amount of curves or angles in the path

3. Change the size of the outside magnet