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Hi! I'm Heather | Growing Hands-On Kids

Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant and Content Creator

I share child development tips, tools, and strategies using my background as an Occupational Therapy Assistant in the school system. Topics include gross motor, fine motor, visual motor, pre-writing and handwriting, and sensory processing activities for parents, educators, and other therapists.

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Featured Post

Easy Caterpillar Playdough Tray for Fine Motor Skills

Hello Reader, Looking for an easy activity that's fun and helps build fine motor skills? This Easy Caterpillar Playdough Tray is quick to set up and gives kids plenty of opportunities to roll, pinch, squeeze, create, and imagine all through play. It's perfect for home, the classroom, or therapy sessions. 🐛 Grab the supplies and see how easy it is to set up:👉 [Read the blog post here] In other exciting news, I'm heading back to the classroom this fall! I begin my new school-based occupational...

19 days ago • 1 min read

Hello Reader, Wow, I feel like it has been ages since I've typed out an email to you all, let alone written a new blog post. But there has been a good reason for that. I am back to working in the clinic part-time now! While not working with kids yet, I am working in a skilled nursing facility until I can find something kid-related. I needed to get back to working in person again, and it has been a whirlwind for sure. But a good change that my mental health desperately needed. So if things are...

4 months ago • 1 min read

Hello Reader, Have you been searching for heavy work activities that actually work in a classroom or school environment? You’re not alone—finding sensory-friendly strategies that fit into a busy day and small spaces can be a challenge. That’s why I’ve created 12 Heavy Work Activities for School, a practical list of ideas designed to give students the proprioceptive input they need without requiring fancy equipment or a lot of room. Here’s what you’ll find: Activities perfect for classrooms,...

12 months ago • 1 min read

Growing Hands-On Kids New blog post from this week! Hello Reader, Looking for a fun and creative way to keep your kids entertained this winter? Check out my latest blog post on creating a Melted Snowman Sensory Bin! With some simple supplies, you can spark your child’s imagination while they explore textures, build snowmen, and have endless sensory fun. It’s quick to set up, easy to clean, and guaranteed to bring smiles. 🎉 ☃️ Read the Full Post Here Stay tuned, I'm working on a fun...

over 1 year ago • 1 min read

Growing Hands-On Kids This week's 8 free activity downloads! Hello Reader, It's time for the last email of free activity downloads and ideas that I've been sharing along with other educators and therapists. I hope these free activity ideas and downloads have been helpful for you for the last two months. Check out some fun activities like Would you rather questions for students, editable name desk plates, dentist letter matching, if you give a mouse a cookie activity, cookie dough play dough...

about 2 years ago • 1 min read

Growing Hands-On Kids This week's freebies from educators and therapists! Hello Reader, I'm back with this week's 8 freebies from other educators and therapists. We only have one more week of these freebies. I hope you've been enjoying them this summer. Check out some fun activities like visual help with waiting, alphabet printables, stranger danger social skills story, daily visual schedule, breathing techniques, sensory motor walk, feelings pictionary, and more! FREEBIE #1 FREEBIE #2...

about 2 years ago • 1 min read

Growing Hands-On Kids This week's 8 freebies from educators and therapists! Hello Reader, I'm back with this week's 8 free downloads from educators and other therapists. Check out some fun activities like free tattling vs telling activities, beach-themed coloring pages, hand-strength red flags for kids, calm-down strategies, ocean scavenger activities, and more! This week's 8 free downloads Click on each link below to check out the free download on each creator's website. FREEBIE #1 FREEBIE...

about 2 years ago • 1 min read

Growing Hands-On Kids This week's 8 free printable from educators and therapists. Hello Reader, I can't believe we are halfway through the year and into July! Today I'm sharing this week's 8 free printables from other educators and therapists. Some fun activities include free editable name mats, a fine motor activity calendar, teaching emotions activities, building core stability through play, a scavenger hunt, and more. Click each link below to go to each creator's site and grab their free...

about 2 years ago • 1 min read

Growing Hands-On Kids This week's 8 freebie downloads! Hello Reader, I'm back with this week's 8 free downloads from a group of teachers and therapists. This week's downloads include gross motor minute-to-win-it games, beach scavenger hunt, what's missing visual-motor activities, name play dough mats, and more! To get your free downloads, click on each link below and scroll to the form in each post to grab your freebies. They will be sent directly to your email address. FREE DOWNLOAD #1 FREE...

about 2 years ago • 1 min read

Growing Hands-On Kids Sharing this week's 8 free printables! Hello Reader, I hope you have been enjoying this free printable series this month. I'm excited to share that I have another week of free printables and I'll be sharing these each week through July! This week there are two writing packets, social-emotional learning activities, minute-to-win-it fine motor activities, information on pumping a swing independently, plus more. To get your free printables, visit each of the links below....

about 2 years ago • 1 min read