This post was written by Sarah Girard OTR/L
Cutting can be a frustrating task for some of our kids. It requires motor planning, fine motor strength, bilateral hand use, and visual motor skills. I’ve found it more attention grabbing with kids if I’m switching up materials that we are using to cut with. Cutting straws has been very entertaining for some of my little guys. When you cut a straw piece, it launches either up in the air or in a random direction away from the child. When it launches towards you as a therapist or a parent , it is usually followed by a series of giggles and a request to do it again. Once the entire straw is cut, I’ve been turning it into a beading activity. They can string them onto pipe cleaners, shoe laces, etc. the beading piece of this activity works on eye-hand coordination, modulation and bilateral hand use. In the end they have a product of all their hard work to take home.