Who says doing laundry can't be fun? There are so many different activities you can do with some laundry, whether it is a group or individual session. Here are a few!
Laundry Obstacle: You need larger clothing that will fit over your child's and obstacle course equipment. Practice dressing while participating in sensory motor obstacle. After setting up the obstacle course, place articles of clothing at each spot. To start your child has to put on a button down shirt, once the shirt is on and buttoned, jump five times forward. Now stop and put on and button pants, then walk across the balance beam. Now pull on a pair of socks and crawl through a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel put on a pair of shoes!
Motor planning, dressing, bilateral coordination and fine motor manipulation all in one course!!
Too many steps? Instead of an obstacle course have a dressing relay race. Standing in one spot with a pile of clothes, who can get dressed first? Of course, make sure clothes are large enough that they fit over what your children wear to school.
Match and Fold Relay: Bring your clean socks to group! Place a pile of socks in the middle of your children, now have two at a time find a matching pair and roll them together. When they finished have the next child take a turn. Move along the line until all of the socks are gone or all the children have had a turn.
Instead of rolling the socks, hang up a clothesline, find the match and squeeze a clothespin to hang the pair on the clothing line.
Letter Laundry: You can either write the alphabet on pieces of paper, or use the bulletin board letter cut outs. You can string or clothespin the letters to the clothesline. Here are a few different ways to play!
- Make a second copy of the letters and place them around the room, your child has to find a letter and clothespin it to the hanging letter
-Have different pictures around the room, now your child has to take the picture and clothespin it to the matching starting letters
- Instead of letters, you can use numbers, shapes, or words!
Compiled by Lisa Walker OTR
