Here is an activity that our OT’s have been using with the kids. The OT’s like it because it works on specific skills and the kids like it because its water play and they think they are making a mess!
Materials: turkey baster, bucket, eye dropper, water
Activity: squeeze baster/eye dropper in bucket of water to make bubbles (or streams of water or drops of water).
Benefits:
- hand strength
- bilateral coordination – for smaller kids it may require two hands to squeeze the turkey baster and/or they need to stabilize the bucket they are using with one hand so that it doesn’t spill over and make a mess!
- grasp patterns – use 2-3 fingers to grasp eye dropper and squeeze which can work on pincer grasp for two fingers and with three fingers it uses the same fingers as tripod grasp
- grading of movement – if you fill the turkey baster with water and have them try to squeeze it into a smaller container with water, if they squeeze too hard it will spill the water whereas if they grade their squeeze they can keep the water in the container
- visual motor – having kids aim baster/eye dropper into a small bucket or at target
- sensory – hands may not get wet from touching the turkey baster or eye dropper but the kids will most likely put their hands in the water bucket… ( a clean mess)
- sequencing – placing eye dropper under water, squeeze eye dropper to collect water in dropper, take dropper out of water and squirt
What other things have you done with water and droppers/turkey basters?
