Occupational therapy can be extremely helpful for middle school students to help and encourage participation in school-related activities, as well as emotional skill development and general life skills. The following meaningful activities can address students’ underlying cognitive, physical, and sensory needs to help them build confidence, encourage participation, and be successful.
Students are all different, and they may all need different levels of intervention, but these proactive evidence-based strategies are an excellent resource to promote health in children, which in turn leads to health in adulthood.
1. Do Origami
Origami is a wonderful way to practice fine motor skills, while also working on copying skills. By following this simple tutorial, your students will be able to practice their fine motor skills and all the small muscles in their fingers, which will help them with all their handwriting tasks.
Learn More: YouTube
2. Play Board Games
Occupational therapists have been using board games for years to help their patients’ sensory processing, fine motor development, visual perception, and also social participation. Board games are a fun way to help students with needs without making it feel like work. The success they feel when participating and winning in board games will also boost their confidence. The great thing about these board games is, that they can be played by anyone, so the teachers and school personnel can incorporate it into their daily routines.
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3. Build Puzzles
Puzzles are a great way for elementary school children up until high school children, to practice fine motor skills, coordination, organizational skills, and also cognitive strategies. Puzzles can range from simple pictures to difficult crosswords.
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4. Play With Pegboards
Pegboards are a great way to practice hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Pegboards can be used at home or in a school setting and can be integrated into math and science lessons.
Learn More: The OT Toolbox
5. The Purple Alphabet
This youtube channel has many ideas and sensory strategies to help your students practice small motor tasks, activity ideas to improve tactile and sensory perception, as well as a choice within activities.
Learn More: The Purple Alphabet
6. Handwriting Without Tears
This curriculum-backed program will help children with handwriting difficulties and help them create good handwriting habits to support their learning. This program can be used for grades K-5 but can help middle and high school students too.
Learn More: Learning Without Tears
7. Occupational Therapy Printables
This website offers 50 free printables that can help your students with their various needs. These printables can be used throughout the whole school district by classroom teachers, occupational therapists, and other school professionals.
Learn More: USA Edu Blog
8. Strategies For Maintaining Focus
Focusing on tasks in school is very important, but it sometimes seems impossible for some students. Here is a list of occupational therapy strategies for students and teachers to help students maintain focus and attention. These guidelines can help set up your students for success and teach them some emotional regulation skills as well.
Learn More: Teach Starter
9. Technology as a Tool
With all the great assistive technology we have at our disposal, it would be a shame not to use it for school-based occupational therapy. There are many videos, guides, and tools to be found online. This typing tool will help your students master the basic typing skills needed to be successful, as well as promote their fine motor skills.
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10. Visual Motor Skills
Perceptual and visual motor skills are integral for student development. This website is chockful of resources to incorporate into the learning environment. These activities are easy to implement and integrate into class or at home.
Learn More: The OT Toolbox
11. Whole Body Exercise
These cards will give your students beneficial movement breaks during the school day. You can print them on card stock and make them part of your everyday activities. These whole body exercises are beneficial to strengthen their gross muscles, like their core, which will help them focus better and have greater control.
Learn More: Therapy Fun Zone
12. Core Strengthening Exercises
A strong core is very important for your middle school student’s success. Researchers and occupational therapy practitioners believe that strong core muscles can help children to focus better and for longer. A strong core also leads to good handwriting practices.
Learn More: Meraki Lane
13. Improving Pencil Grip
Sometimes we have to use everything except a pencil to improve our pencil grip. This list of fun ways to practice pencil grip will help your students learn and practice in a fun, engaging way. These tips and tricks can be used for all ages in everyday activities, in different ways, giving students a choice within activities.
Learn More: The OT Toolbox
14. A Month’s Worth of Activities
This resource has a whole month full of activities for occupational therapy month. These activities are cheap to make and are designed to help your students develop physically, and also teach children mindfulness strategies.
Learn More: The OT Toolbox
15. Free School Occupational Therapy Resources
This website is chockful of school Occupational Therapy resources that can be used by school-based Occupational Therapy as guidelines for children to measure their performance, serve as a guide for their occupational performance, and proactive evidence-based strategies.
Learn More: Tools To Grow OT
16. Therapy Street for Kids
This website was created by an occupational therapy practitioner to help teach children mindfulness strategies and cognitive strategies on different levels of intervention to promote growth and health in children. With many different skill areas to choose from, you’ll be sure to receive intervention at the individual level, as well as in group settings.
Learn More: Pedia Staff
17. OT Strategies to Help Your Students Get Organized
These 12 occupational therapy strategies will help your students become, and stay organized. Many school-based occupational therapists see a lot of students having difficulty organizing themselves and their desks.
Learn More: Outcomes Therapy
18. 10 Occupational Therapy Activities To Do At Home
These 10 activities can help parents be part of their child’s occupational journey by creating meaningful activities and mindfulness-based interventions to enjoy at home.
Learn More: Harkla
19. Therapy Games
This book of therapy games will help put your student in control, give them talking points and questions to answer, as well as practical, doable activities that will help them manage their emotions and realize their potential.
Learn More: Amazon
20. Occupational Therapy Activities for Visual Perception
It can sometimes be challenging to get teenagers to do OT activities, but these activities will help your middle school and high school students with their perceptual skills in a fun, and engaging way.
Learn More: The Virtual Pediatric OT
21. Creative And Fun Occupational Therapy Activities
These fun videos and resources will help you plan meaningful lessons, activities, and experiences to help your middle school students progress and grow.
Learn More: Therapro
22. Occupational Therapy Planner
This planner bundle can help school personnel, school districts, and occupational therapy practitioners keep track of their students, plan ahead, and make sure they address different levels of intervention according to each student’s needs.
Learn More: Etsy
23. OT Reference Pocket Guide
This handy pocket guide is an excellent resource to help keep track of response interventions and correct occupational therapy practice, as recommended by the American Journal of Occupational Therapy. This guide is small enough to carry around in your pocket daily and check whenever you need to make a quick reference.
Learn More: Amazon
24. OT Boom Cards
This website will give you access to an occupational therapy-inspired deck of boom cards. These resources can help make therapy fun and engaging for your students as they use interactive storyboards, and learn social skills, life skills, relational skills, and emotional skill development.
Learn More: Boom Learning
25. Daily Therapy Log Sheets
These log sheets will save you time and energy at the end of the day by helping you keep track of exercises, performance, and progress. These ready-made log sheets have exercises and checklists to help Middle and High school students stay on top of their OT, and help school personnel keep track.
Learn More: Etsy
26. Gross Motor Exercises For The Classroom
This website has examples of vestibular exercises, bilateral classroom exercises, and brain breaks you can use in your classroom to help your students with their co-regulation skills, midline crossing, bilateral coordination, as well as relational skills.
Learn More: OT Mom Learning Activities
27. OT Using a Deck of Cards
This resource incorporates gross motor activities and a deck of cards! These fun activities are specially created to promote social relationships, and beneficial movement breaks during class time. Movement and teamwork promote health in children which can encourage participation in school-related activities.
Learn More: The Inspired Tree House
28. Parent Occupational Therapy Checklist
This website will help parents understand what occupational therapy is, how it can help their child, and a checklist to help parents recognize the signs. This parent checklist will allow parents to be involved in their child’s development and promote family programs to enhance their progress.
Learn More: Your Therapy Source
29. Handwriting Help
This blog post was designed by an occupational therapy practitioner to help children with handwriting difficulties. It includes exercises to help students with their pencil grip, letter formation, and spacing. It also lists some resources you can purchase to help your child with their handwriting.
Learn More: Miss Jaime OT
30. Emotional Regulation Skills
One of the most important parts of occupational therapy goes unseen. This resource will help your students learn emotional regulation strategies to help them cope with the emotional side of occupational therapy.
Learn More: The Sensory Toolbox
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