School Ideas

Want a fun and engaging theme for gross motor and fine motor skills work that your kids will love? Try the pirate, princess and mermaid theme (maybe mermaid princess?)! This theme can be used any time of the year, but I prefer it as a summer or end of the school year theme. It can

Earth Day is celebrated April 22nd every year. I remember receiving a little pine tree in school on Earth Day that I could take home and plant. I drove by the house I grew up in about a year ago, and my little pine tree wasn’t so little anymore! As a physical therapist, I love

Bilateral coordination means using both sides of the body together in a controlled manner. An example of bilateral coordination in everyday life would be stabilizing the paper with one hand while writing with the opposite hand. If a child struggles with bilateral coordination, it may cause everyday tasks such as writing, tying shoes, riding a

As the new school year approaches, so do new challenges for teachers, therapists and parents.  With all the different models for keeping kids and staff safe, new ideas have to be put in place to make learning and motor skills successful!  This includes social distancing measures when in person school is in session.  This also

What kid doesn’t love an amusement park?  The games, the rides, and the food!  Nothing beats the day at an amusement park.  Turning this into a theme for gross motor and fine motor is easy too.  Adding this theme to your classroom, therapy session or home based learning can be done using the ideas below.

In my past work as a school based physical therapist, the programming I did was for the school day.  My daily plans often times followed different themes and seasons based on the time of the school year.   We are now at at time where many teachers (of all types), school based physical therapists and occupational

Have you heard the term crossing the midline?  What exactly does this mean?  Imagine a line down the center of your body. Crossing midline means that you can reach across the middle of your body (the imaginary line) to perform a task with your arms or legs.  This is a skills that starts to become

Building lower body strength in kids doesn’t have to be boring! Even traditional lower body exercises for kids can be made fun by adding a little twist. Today I’m sharing with you some of my favorite lower body strengthening exercises for kids.

Winter is here!  That means winter themes are fun to incorporate into fine motor skills work.  I love the idea of working on fine motor through manipulatives and play as much as possible. Check out some of the fun winter fine motor activities below!

Building upper body strength in kids can be made fun with several different exercises! Today I’m sharing with you some of my favorite exercises that work on upper body strength and weight bearing for kids!

As a mom with a background in pediatric physical therapy I’ve found a simple ball is one of the most flexible pieces I can have on hand in both therapy and play.  There are so many different ball activities for kids that you can come up with for a variety of skill levels and goals. 

It’s been a while since I posted!  I’ve been moving.  The last time I moved, I could fit everything I owned in a car.  It’s a lot different moving a family of 5 this time.  That being said, I really wanted to get out this ideas on using color dots for fun exercises for kids! 

With November nearly here, it’s time to start thinking about November gross motor and fine motor activities planning! In true Pink Oatmeal fashion, the November motor planning ideas are all about themes.  The themes for the month include Thanksgiving, Football, Dinosaur and Transportation.  If you want even more theme ideas be sure to check out

Making gross motor, fine motor, and physical activity fun is what Pink Oatmeal is all about.  This week it is all about monster activities for kids!  There are several great ways that a monster theme can be incorporated into gross motor, fine motor and physical activity.  This is a fun theme to do anytime of