Welcome to 2015! With the New Year comes six to eight weeks of Virginia winter weather. Very cold days, rainy cold days, and even worse for most parents… the dreaded snow day. Here is your Virginia winter weather tool kit for inside activities to help with movement, heavy work, and self-regulation to make those snow days successful and FUN!
Snow is a great opportunity for heavy work to help with self-regulation.
- Help shoveling snow
- Brushing the snow with a broom or even a small dusting brush
- Rolling like a log in the snow
- Crawling or crab walking through the snow (you can even try to kick a ball around while still trying to walk like a crab. #snowdaychallenge
- Wheelbarrow walking
- Pulling a friend on a sled while holding onto a rope across a flat snow surface
- Jumping up and down
- Snow angels
- Building a snowman- push the snow into a big of a pile as you can!
- Snowball toss at a target such as a hula hoop on a tree branch
Snow can be a sensory play activity too!
- Find a stick and practice writing letters or words in the snow.
- Bring snow inside in a plastic bin and practice writing letters and shapes
- Add some snow to a deep pan with colored water containers- use paintbrushes to change the color of the snow.
- Grab some cars and drive them through the snow in your plastic bin! Try making an animal habitat with plastic animals.
- How many snowballs can you make and then stack?
Some snow days don’t allow for outside activities. Try these inside activities:
- Build a tent with sheets and pillows
- Use paper plates to “ice skate” on the floor
- Use a sheet to pull one another like a sled (Great for heavy work)
- Use a pillowcase filled with stuffed animals or laundry to push/pull across the floor or up the stairs.
- Wad up balls of paper and have a snow ball fight
- Push/pull a basket filled with a friend or a few heavy books
- Cook a yummy snack- stirring, pouring, rolling, scooping are excellent fine motor activities
- Make a craft! You don’t need a kit. Use anything you can find- bottle tops, pipe cleaners, plastic bottles, twist ties, buttons. Let them be creative.
- Make a kid sandwich between two pillows for deep pressure.
- Make a kid burrito- Roll them up in a blanket for deep pressure.
It is important to try to maintain your child’s typical daily schedule as much as possible. Meals should be eaten as close to the time from school. Make sure to include some down time during the day and an opportunity for movement like recess.
Ashley Amey Alrich-Altman is a private, pediatric occupational therapist at Treehouse Pediatric Therapy in Midlothian, Virginia. Ashley has a Master’s degrees in Occupational Therapy and a certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorders from VCU. Treehouse Pediatric Therapy provides occupational therapy, speech language therapy, and feeding therapy in the greater Richmond area.
http://www.treehousepedstherapy.com
www.facebook.com/treehousepediatrictherapy