25+ Teletherapy Ideas for April
Planning for OT Pediatric Teletherapy sessions can take a lot more time than planning for in-person sessions. This list of activities will reduce your planning time while providing ideas for fine motor, visual motor, visual perceptual, gross motor, sensory motor and handwriting activities. Some great teletherapy ideas for speech therapists, physical therapists and teachers who are working virtually too!
Updated post 4/3/23:
This post was created 3 years ago and I never imagined it would still be as relevant now.
In some ways, the past 3 years have gone fast and in some ways, it has stood still.
Below you’ll find a list of ideas and links to save you tons of time planning your April teletherapy sessions.
I’ve also added a few more ideas to last year’s list to include activities that have become the most popular with my students.
Some themes to plan around this month could include April Fool’s Day, Earth Day, Easter, and Spring. You’ll find a little bit of everything below to target your student’s goals.
Original Post 4/20:
Happy OT month!
I can’t say I ever remember having an OT month like this in my 20-year career.
As Occupational Therapists we are truly being put to the test to step out of our comfort zones, and be flexible and creative as many of us are now trying our hands at telehealth.
I’ve been fortunate to have the last two years to ease into the world of telehealth as a school-based therapist.
At first, I didn’t know how I would work with students without having “hands-on” materials but over time it has become more natural and I have found ways to have sessions that are just as effective as in-person sessions.
However, the one area that still takes a lot of time is the planning!
When you work in telehealth, you need to have lots of links and backup plans for your sessions because it’s not as easy to just grab something in your therapy room and go with it!
One way that helps me save time is to plan activities around a theme. It helps me to organize and search for the activities I want to use.
I love seeing all the sharing that Occupational, Speech, and Physical Therapists are doing around the internet to help each other through these crazy times.
To be honest though, I waiver between going down the rabbit hole and scrolling endless Facebook groups for hours to find activities or shutting off the computer and feeling completely overwhelmed with all the information and resources.
Does that sound familiar?
So this weekend, I sat down and put together the activity links that I will use this month during some of my OT Teletherapy sessions for the month of April.
How to use these activities for Teletherapy sessions
Make sure to browse through each link before your sessions. Some of the activities will require additional materials (mainly the crafts) .
I usually save the link to my bookmark bar so that they are ready to go before the session.
Contact your student’s caregivers to make sure they have any additional materials needed before the session.
I have a platform where I can share my screen and I can give control over the mouse to my student. If you don’t have that option you can just ask your student to verbalize their answers and you can type it for them or it’s a great opportunity for them to write on paper.
Share this post with any families that you think might like to have additional OT activities this month. I have one district that will not be delivering synchronous special education services so some of these activities will be the ideas I send to those families to work on their OT skills during this distance learning time.
Spring and Easter Teletherapy friendly crafts
A simple craft using a paper plate, some glue and cotton balls.
A fun sensory activity….with just potatoes and paint!
Pair this activity with a book reading for even more fun!
A simple craft. Just beads and pipe cleaners needed.
Yummy and a fun sensory activity!
Teletherapy Ideas for handwriting
Mad Libs are great for older students that need more practice with constructing sentences and learning parts of speech with a fun twist! Sometimes I’ll have my students practice handwriting but it also makes for good typing practice too!
More writing prompts plus printable Paper
Teletherapy Ideas to work on Visual Perceptual Skills
Hidden pictures, word searches and memory games are some of my go-to’s to work on visual perceptual and writing skills. If you’d like more ideas of how I use these activities, check out this post!
Hungry Caterpillar word search
Teletherapy activities to work on gross motor skills
Boogie Down Bunny Movement Game
Teletherapy activities to work on Fine Motor/Visual Motor skills
These videos from Art for Kids Hub have been a lifesaver for many a teletherapy sessions. If you’d rather not use videos during your sessions, type in guided drawings and you’ll find many images on google that you could screen share during your sessions.
Origami butterfly Hopefully, having this list saves you time and stress with this month’s planning. Please share with anyone who is working in the virtual world.
Go ahead and Pin this post for easy reference during your teletherapy sessions all month long.
And make sure to join the Growing Little Brains Facebook page or Instagram to stay up to date on new inspiration and resources for your practice.
Check out more like this post!
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