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Are you a busy occupational therapist in a school setting, juggling the diverse needs of students aged 5-21? If you find yourself pressed for planning time, you’re not alone. Over my two decades of experience, I’ve collected a treasure trove of ideas for self-regulation, social-emotional learning, visual perception, gross motor, fine motor, and more. Now, I’m thrilled to share these resources with you.
Since 2016, I’ve been crafting engaging, differentiated activities available on Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) and Boom Learning to elevate your OT therapy sessions. More recently I have also been selling on Your Therapy Source. My focus is on students getting more accomplished when learning feels less like work. I firmly believe in incorporating a weekly theme to address foundational skills crucial for success in school.
In my planning process, I provide a range of options for gross motor, sensory, fine motor, visual perception, writing/keyboarding, crafts, and games within each weekly theme. Recognizing the uniqueness of each student, not every activity is used with everyone. This approach ensures the variety needed to meet the goals of the 50-75 students I see each week.
Operating under a 10/10/10 rule, with adjustments based on student needs, my 30-minute sessions follow a structured approach. I kick off with 5-10 minutes of sensory/motor engagement, encompassing gross motor breaks, sensory bins, fine motor exercises, visual perceptual tasks, and activities promoting self-regulation and emotional regulation.
The next 10-15 minutes are dedicated to focused work on current goals. Whether it’s crafts, drawing, or specialized activities, I tailor sessions to address fine motor goals, handwriting and typing objectives through activities like scrambled sentences and games. For students with emotional regulation goals, self-regulation activities take center stage.
I finish the session with a 5-10-minute game. Some are directly related to the theme and others are my favorite grab-on-the-run games. Some of my favorite therapy bag games are Blink, Spot It, Tenzi, Cobra Paw, and Left Center Right. They are also great to have in a classroom for indoor recess. Check out this post for more ideas. 10 Must-have Games for Your Therapy Bag or Classroom.
Storage: I use 2-gallon bags to store all the resources, manipulatives, and craft supplies for each theme. I store these bags in 5-gallon plastic tubs and have created labels to keep me organized. Over the years new ideas are added and old ones updated or removed.
Check out my free resource library for a set of free bin labels that match my themes, or the set in my store that has an editable version.
Join me on this journey of efficient planning and impactful sessions, where every minute is maximized to benefit your students. Let’s create an enriching learning environment that goes beyond traditional therapy methods. Check out my best-selling resources to decrease your planning time and increase engagement in your sessions.
Here are a few bundles with themes to use all year long. Not ready to buy the full bundles? Check out the lists of included resources and grab a few themes to get started.
Check out my store for the monthly theme bundles and future blog posts on weekly themes ideas to incorporate into your classroom or use to meet your students’ therapy goals.
Click to Follow my TpT Store and receive emails from TpT when I post new resources. All new resources will be 50% for the first 48 hours after upload.
About the Author
I am a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) and have been working in a public school system for more than 25 years. My resources can be found on TPT, BOOM Learning, Made by Teachers, Classful, and Your Therapy Source. I appreciate your interest wherever you wish to shop.
My mission is to help you find creative ideas to incorporate fine motor, visual perception, gross motor, and social-emotional learning into your lessons.
I hope you consider signing up for my Free Resource Library with your Email. I send out emails about once a week and share resources, tips, and planning ideas for your classroom or occupational therapy needs. Hopefully, these help your students work on building their skills in a fun and engaging way.
