20+ Low-prep March book activities to promote motor skills
Find simple fine motor, gross motor, and sensory-motor activities to pair with some fun books for toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged kids. Perfect for several themes in March including St. Patrick’s Day, Read Across America Day, and Spring. Save prep time while working on a variety of developmental skills. Perfect for teletherapy, virtual learning, face-to-face therapy sessions, or while homeschooling.
Using children’s books during therapy sessions or play activities is a fun way to make books interactive and fun!
It also lends itself nicely to the parent coaching model as we encourage our families to read with their children and give them ideas on how to target a variety of skills including the development of expressive and receptive language, motor skills, pre-academic skills, and sensory systems.
How to use books during OT Teletherapy sessions
There are a couple of different ways I have used books during my teletherapy sessions:
Sharing a YouTube read-aloud book via screen share. Most times, I choose a version that shows the text so I can let the video play and we can read it together.
Use a physical copy of the book and use my document camera to display the pages.
Ask the family ahead of time if they have the book or if they can loan a copy from their local library.
For more information on what types of motor skills books can promote and how to select the perfect books for your kiddos, check out this post on Developing Motor Skills using books.
March book extension activities for toddlers and preschoolers
Hop on Pop by Dr. Suess
A great book for Read Across America (aka Dr. Suess week)! A great rhyming book that also teaches directional concepts of on, off, up, down, tall, short.
Follow up this book by practicing these concepts during an obstacle course or during play with a child’s favorite objects.
I also like to use open ended toys like cars, dolls, or blocks for teaching these directionality concepts.
Planting a Rainbow by Lois Elhert
A colorful book to use for teaching about flowers and colors. The illustrations are bold and bright, perfect for little curious minds.
Build vocabulary by reading each flowers name on every page, or just use it to name colors with younger children.
A great one to pair with some yoga poses (tree, flower, butterfly)
or make a colorful craft by cutting shapes or tearing paper to create your very own flowers.
You are a Lion by Taeeun Yoo
March comes in like a lion!
A great book for toddlers and preschoolers that directs them to strike poses like a lion, butterfly, dog, snake, frog, and cat.
The last page finishes lying flat on the floor and breathing. The perfect mindfulness, motor planning and calm down activity!
Another fun thing to try is practicing all the animal sounds and a little game of guess the animal sound.
Butterfly Colors and Counting by Jerry Pallotta; Illustrated by Shennen Bersani
A simple, colorful book to work on colors and counting up to 10.
You could pair this book with a scavenger hunt to focus on color and/or numbers or a simple coloring activity.
For older students, you could practice writing the colors and/or numbers. I like to practice writing using a multi-sensory approach for preschool age students. Use playdoh, a tray of salt, or fingerpaint the letters and numbers.
Ten Lucky Leprechauns by by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook
A fun repetitive rhyming book that counts up to ten.
Work on some fine motor skills after the book by counting up to ten coins (or small food items for those who are still mouthing).
Practice pinching the small items with thumb and index finger and have a race to see how fast you can put them in a container/cup.
or practice stacking the coins on top of each other.
March Book extension activities for school-aged children
A great book to work on auditory memory and sequencing.
Practice writing numbers and writing down each item the lady swallows.
Or try these free printables from autismhelper.com to work on cutting skills and handwriting for older students.
Would you rather? St. Patrick’s Day Edition by Riddleland
Would you rather questions are a great way to work on some writing.
I’ll often pair these questions with use of graphic organizers to work on some executive functioning skills too!
In like a lion out like a lamb by Marion Dane Bauer
A great book to talk about the seasons changing as well as relate it to social-emotional learning.
A great opportunity to talk about the characteristics of a lion vs. a lamb and have a discussion about feelings and practice some self-regulation strategies.
Looking for more done-for-you ideas?
If you’re interested in saving time and curious how I pair simple gross motor, fine motor, and sensory-motor activities with books, check out the Growing Little Brains shop to purchase my March book activities bundle.
The book activities come complete with a one-page parent handout to share with families or educators so they can carry out the activities all month long. The perfect solution for teletherapy, home exercise programs, or additional home learning ideas.
These activities are great for working with younger students (ages 2-6). There are 3 different books chosen for the bundle and instructions on how to set up a simple gross motor, fine motor, and sensory-motor activity that coordinates with that book.
The activities require little to no additional materials so they are perfect for those working via teletherapy with students at home or in the classroom.
The 3 books selected for March include: Little Blue Truck’s Springtime by Alice Schertle; The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle; and How to Catch a Leprechaun by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton.
Purchase the March book activities here!
Looking for more teletherapy ideas? Check out these blog posts!
20+ Fun February Teletherapy Activities