In our therapy room, we rely on a variety of tools to work on our students’ occupational therapy goals while supporting their academic and social-emotional needs. In a typical 30-minute session, a student might warm up with strength-based activities and mindfulness exercises, such as yoga and breathing. We then work on motor planning, visual skills and gross motor skills through multiple-step activities or obstacle courses. For example, we would have the student jump on the trampoline, crash into the bean bags, walk on the balance beam or stepping stones, crawl through the tunnel, and end with either sorting the bean bags by color or writing on the whiteboard. The obstacle course requires them to remember a series of steps, which supports executive functioning skills. Finally, we move to the table to participate in fine-motor and graphomotor-focused activities, like handwriting. 

—Nagella Al-Balushi, occupational therapist at PS 340 in the Bronx

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