The holidays bring a welcome pause from structured routines, and they also present the perfect opportunity to support your child’s development through meaningful, play-based experiences. When school takes a break, everyday therapy goals still matter. With the right blend of joy and intention, families can help children stay engaged, regulated, and growing through activities that feel fun rather than “therapeutic.”
At Tip of the Tongue Rehab, our pediatric specialists understand how powerful holiday play can be. Whether children receive physical therapy, occupational therapy, or a combination of services, festive activities offer natural ways to strengthen motor skills, build sensory confidence, and encourage independence, all woven seamlessly into family traditions. When children explore, create, move, and imagine, they’re developing skills that support lifelong learning and functional success.
These therapist-guided activities to improve motor skills weave physical, sensory, and occupational play into everyday moments, helping children continue building skills while enjoying the season’s excitement.
Holiday-Themed Activities to Build Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor development plays a central role in handwriting, dressing, feeding, and self-care. Simple craft-based holiday activities naturally strengthen the small muscles of the hands while encouraging creativity.
1. Festive Craft Projects
Crafting is a core OT tool because it supports pincer grasp, hand strength, wrist control, and bilateral coordination. Creating ornaments, decorating gift tags, or designing holiday cards requires children to cut, glue, peel, and arrange. These fine motor skills are emphasized in OT programs and can be strengthened through simple at-home activities.
For added precision practice:
- Use stickers to make mosaic-style holiday images.
- Encourage your child to trace shapes for stars, snowflakes, or trees.
- Provide glitter glue or squeeze bottles to exercise hand muscles.
These activities mirror the therapeutic craft strategies often highlighted in our OT programs at Tip of the Tongue Rehab.
2. Baking and Cookie Decorating
Baking brings together sequencing, measuring, stirring, grasp strength, and timing, all essential for executive functioning and fine motor control. From squeezing icing tubes to pressing cookie cutters, your child practices coordinated hand use and motor planning while participating in a valued family tradition. This aligns with the developmental principles used in pediatric OT sessions.
3. Play-Dough Snowmen and Holiday Sculptures
Play-dough strengthens fingers and hand arches through rolling, stacking, and shaping. Creating snowmen or festive figures encourages grasp variability, bilateral coordination, and imaginative expression.
4. “Gift Wrapping” Practice
Wrapping presents may look simple, but it incorporates:
- Folding,
- Tearing tape,
- Pulling ribbon,
- Managing paper edges.
- Using scissors.
Each step helps refine bilateral hand use and dexterity, skills addressed in both OT and PT programs, depending on the child’s goals.
5. Holiday-Themed Sensory Bins
A sensory bin filled with bells, pom-poms, beads, pinecones, or textured ornaments encourages sorting, grasping, tactile tolerance, and sensory exploration. Sensory bins provide calming input and support self-regulation, core elements of our sensory-informed pediatric care model at Tip of the Tongue Rehab.
Festive Gross Motor and Physical Activities for the Holidays
Gross motor play supports balance, core strength, coordination, and endurance. During the holiday break, incorporating activities to improve motor skills helps children stay regulated and connected to their bodies, an important component of pediatric PT, especially for kids with developmental delays or motor challenges.
1. Indoor Holiday Obstacle Course
Obstacle courses promote motor planning, sequencing, and balance, key developmental skills supported through balance and coordination activities. Try arranging:
- Pillows as “snow mounds,”
- Tunnels as “chimneys,”
- Hoops as “reindeer rings.”
Ask your child to climb, crawl, jump, balance, and “deliver presents” at each station.
This approach complements everyday movement-based strategies, including helpful gross motor activities.
2. Snowball Toss (Indoors or Outdoors)
Use soft balls, balled socks, or cotton “snowballs” to develop:
- Throwing accuracy,
- Hand-eye coordination,
- Upper-body strength.
3. Winter Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt blends cognitive engagement with physical activity. Whether walking outdoors or exploring around the home, searching for themed items improves body awareness, endurance, and directional understanding.
4. Holiday Dance Party or Musical Freeze Games
Dancing strengthens coordination, rhythm, and cardiovascular health. Freeze dance encourages auditory processing, impulse control, and whole-body movement, all skills beneficial for children who work on motor planning and regulation.
5. Family Walks to See Holiday Lights
Evening walks blend sensory exploration with strengthening activities, giving children exposure to lights, sounds, scents, and textures while supporting balance and endurance. These experiences reinforce the functional goals we address in our clinic through individualized pediatric physical therapy sessions.
How to Integrate Therapy Goals Into Your Holiday Routine
Routine disruption can be difficult for some children, especially those who depend on structure or consistent sensory input. These strategies help families stay connected to therapy goals while preserving the joy of the season.
1. Adapt Activities to Each Child’s Abilities
Every child deserves to feel successful. Adapt the steps, simplify instructions, or offer extra support as needed. This individualized approach mirrors the personalized care families receive at Tip of the Tongue Rehab.
2. Use Visual Schedules or Checklists
Visuals help organize tasks and reduce overwhelm. Tools such as picture sequences, timers, and step-by-step lists can reinforce executive functioning skills and support children in planning and completing holiday activities.
3. Offer Sensory-Friendly Options
Children who are sensitive to noise, crowds, or bright lights may benefit from:
- A quiet corner with soft lighting
- Noise-cancelling headphones
- Weighted lap pads
- Predictable transitions
Supporting sensory needs helps prevent overload and improves participation in family traditions.
4. Celebrate Small Achievements
The holiday season is a wonderful time to reinforce self-confidence and progress. Even small victories, holding a pencil correctly, completing a scavenger hunt, staying regulated during a family gathering, deserve recognition.
5. Stay Connected With Your Therapy Team
Your child’s therapists can recommend individualized holiday activities based on current goals, whether they focus on balance, handwriting, sensory tolerance, or coordination. Open communication ensures that the skills built during the school year continue to grow during the break.
Create a Holiday Season That Supports Growth, Confidence & Joy
Play-based therapy doesn’t pause when the calendar shifts. The holidays are a rich opportunity to help your child strengthen motor skills, explore sensory experiences, build independence, and enjoy meaningful connections, all through festive activities that fit naturally into your family traditions.
At Tip of the Tongue Rehab, we believe in empowering children through purposeful play rooted in evidence-based pediatric therapy. If your child needs additional support with motor coordination, sensory regulation, handwriting, balance, or developmental skills, our interdisciplinary team is ready to help you navigate the season confidently.
Create a holiday season that supports growth, joy, and movement with purpose.
Contact Tip of the Tongue Rehab today to schedule an appointment and give your child the tools they need to thrive.
