While your kids have a long break or they're attending *another* holiday gathering, they might be getting antsy, or relying on you (or a tablet) for entertainment. Give you and your littles a brain break with these fun activities that focus on gross and fine motor skills and promote language development!
Gross Motor Bingo
This is a fun activity that the whole family can enjoy!
Choose someone to call out exercises and play any variation of Bingo (standard, blackout, four corners, etc). Make sure you have plenty of open space for everyone playing.
Recommended supplies: jingle bells, pillows, laundry basket, Christmas Spirit!
Download 4 unique cards below!
Christmas Pre-Writing Activities
There are many steps a child goes through before they're able to write... the milestones we have here are not a hard age for mastery, but a guideline to keep kiddos on track!
We have created fun Christmas and winter themed pre-writing activities to help encourage these skills. Download the doc below and let your kiddo trace with their finger or a writing instrument to understand the movement of different lines!
Q-tip painting!
This activity was a huge hit at our annual Christmas party! Using washable paint and q-tips, kiddos decorated Christmas lights!
Using a q-tip encourages a pincer grasp and increases difficulty because it it so narrow. This can also cut down on messes and help practice patience because they have so little paint on the q-tip at a time.
Christmas Scavenger Hunt
We have scavenger hunts throughout the year at our clinic! Print copies of our scavenger hunt- 1 to cut and hide around the house and 1 for each person playing!
Scavenger hunts help with so many crucial skills!
Visual Scanning
Visual Memory/ Matching
Christmas Vocabulary and Articulation
Pincer Grasp and pre-writing (when marking off squares)
Motor Planning and Coordination (depending on the mode of transport to find the next item.. our therapists love to use animal walks and scooter boards!)
Christmas Carols
Speaking of Christmas Vocabulary and Articulation... Christmas Carols can be a good break from Baby Shark! And they provide repetition and encourage imitation, which are the perfect way for kiddos to acquire new skills!
Developing Christmas vocabulary can help with targeting specific sounds, but also provides the confidence and independence to be an active participant in conversations during the holidays!
Christmas Breathing
We might not always have space or materials for a much needed sensory break during the holidays.. here are some fun Christmas breathing exercises you can do anytime, anywhere with your littles to help with mindfulness, breath control, and emotional regulation.
Deep breaths help lower your heart rate, naturally calming you down, and giving you a change to assess your emotions and physical state.
Additional Christmas Resources:
We love utilizing these fun resources during sessions! These are a fun break from standard activities that still encourage kiddos to reach their goals! This is a great way to work together as a family or keep the kiddos busy. Activities like this target gross motor movement, body awareness, coordination, balance, and more!!
Cosmic Kids Christmas Yoga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMeKIAEpWxw
Elf Christmas Workout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R82EBGYm9fw
Going on a Santa Hunt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84ULNR3Dw0M
Jack Hartman Gingerbread Man Freeze Dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9kec_lZDMw
Have a wonderful and active Christmas!
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