Occupational Therapy in Charlotte

As school gets back into full swing, working on handwriting and pre-writing shapes often comes home in the form of worksheets, or kids are tired of the traditional method of pencil and paper. This is a fun activity that can be used for shapes, numbers, and letters. It is ideal for any child working on handwriting, fine motor skills, or tactile defensiveness such as children with autism or sensory processing disorders. It would also be appropriate for children with dyslexia, ADD, hyperactivity, learning disabilities, or developmental delays.

Feely Shapes: Fun with Spaghetti!  

What you will need: 
- package of spaghetti
- pot with water
- placemats

Activities: Cook the spaghetti and then rinse it with cold water until its cool enough for little hands to touch. Provide a placemat for easier clean up and encourage your child to make shapes, numbers or letters out of this fun new texture.

The following shapes are appropriate expectations: 
2-3 years old: imitate a vertical line, horizontal line, and circle; copy a horizontal line
3-4: copy a horizontal line and circle
4-5: cross, diagonals, square, X
5+: triangle, make a person, create a picture, uppercase letters, & lowercase letters

Adding different types of pasta will increase the tactile input & creative potential during this activity. If children are afraid to touch the pasta, they should be encouraged, but could use eating utencils to lessen the sensory challenge.

This fun activity is shared from the book, "The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder" by Carol Kranowitz, M.A. which is full of great sensory activities for kids!