Blog - Kids Place Therapy Services

Support Your Kids Growth This Spring With Crossing Midline Activities

Ever wonder how you can support your child’s growth outside of what you already do? Something to help elevate their development is engaging them in activities that allow for both sides of their brain to communicate by crossing midline!

What is Crossing Midline?

Midline is an imaginary line that runs up and down through the center of our body, dividing it into right and left sides. Crossing midline means moving our eyes, hands or feet across that line. This skill allows for both sides of our brain to communicate effectively for everyday activities.

This spring we want your children to feel supported as they finish up the school year and a great way to do that is to incorporate activities that encourage them to cross midline! These activities can be completed inside or outside!

Home Activities to Encourage Crossing Midline Visually & Physically

Infinity

Draw a large infinity sign with chalk on the driveway, sidewalk or a fence
Have your child trace it with one hand without moving their feet
Have them use a toy car to ‘drive’ on it the same way they would use their finger
Encourage them to follow their movement with their eyes
You can do this inside by drawing the symbol on a big piece of paper taped to the wall, whiteboard or on a chalkboard

Rainbow Row

Have your child sit criss cross applesauce on the driveway or on the sidewalk and have them show you how far they can reach to each side with their hands
Use colorful chalk to draw dots in a vertical row for them to successfully reach
Each color on the left should match a color on the right
Have the child draw a line to connect the matching colors, visually tracking while keeping their head still
If inside, draw dots on the left and right margins of a paper using colored markers or stickers

Hand Twister

Using colorful chalk, on a fence, driveway or sidewalk, draw colored dots and call out positions that require crossing midline of arms or feet
- Example: “Left hand, yellow!”
They should touch the yellow dot on their right side with their left hand.
Activity can also be done by drawing letters, words, numbers, shapes, on each side
To do this inside, complete the activity on a page by drawing colored dots

Pass a Ball to a Friend While Sitting Back-to-Back

Have two children (or you and your child) sit back to back and pass a ball to each other
Change directions in which you are passing and have the child use two hands when passing

Arm Scissors

Have your child hold their arms out to the sides in a “T” position
While keeping their arms straight demonstrate crossing your arms in front of your body then return your arms to the starting position for them to copy
Have your child complete and encourage them to alternate which arm crosses on top (right over left, then left over right).
Have them count aloud as they scissor their arms
Complete this as fast or as slow as desired

Cross Crawls

Bring your elbow to the opposite side knee
Repeat with the other side, complete 10x each side
Can be done while seated if necessary

Hand Clapping Games

Teach your child Miss Merry Mack! Or have them clap their hands together then reach their opposite arm across to high five yours as they spell their name, your name, spring words, sight words, or anything of interest to them
Completing while seated may allow you to see compensatory tendencies such as putting one hand down at their side or excessive rotation of their upper body

Additional Resources

https://www.theottoolbox.com/crossing-midline-march-gross-motor https://developlearngrow.com/midline-crossing-activities/

https://otperspective.com/40-crossing-midline-activities-you-can-do-at-home/

March 30, 2026/by jessenpr

Indoor Activities to Keep Your Child Occupied

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Thanks to the chilly weather, so many of us haven’t been getting the movement that our bodies need. Staying inside the house for too long can cause many children to become agitated, have decreased concentration during school, and to sleep poorly. Screen time increases while time spent doing activities that facilitate learning decreases.

It is important to make sure your children receive the movement they need. There are many indoor activities that encourage problem-solving, even when it’s cold outside.

Here are some activities you can do at home with your children to stimulate their minds:

Obstacle Courses. Have your children crawl over cushions, complete animal crawls, and jump from one end of the room to another.

Simon Says. Incorporate motor movements such as jumping jacks, marching, rolling, and side stepping in a fun game.

Red Light, Green Light. Have your children run and walk across the hallway of your house at different speeds while having to listen for a color to be called.

Cook Together. Make a simple meal with your child, (i.e. a sandwich, pancakes, grilled cheese, or a fruit salad). Encourage your children to find the ingredients of these meals in your kitchen and think about the steps involved in making these meals.

Scavenger Hunt. Hide objects around your house and have your children look for them. This activity encourages your children to problem solve, pay attention to obstacles in the way, and use coping strategies during challenging situations.

For other activities that encourage important skills check out our other blog about learning through play.

February 1, 2026/by jessenpr

The Transition from Winter Break Back to School

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Winter break is a blast for kids! After all the fun and festivities, school seems so boring in comparison. However, transitioning back to school after being home can be so difficult!

Here are a number of strategies occupational therapists might use to make this transition easier:

Start your child back on their school sleep schedule. Start waking and putting to bed your children at the times you would on a school night/morning up to a week in advance.
Practice morning routine. Start practicing the morning routine and then go out! Go to the library or the park!
Help plan lunches. Have your child help you plan their lunches. Maybe make a special dessert with your child to put in their lunch.
Table time. Work with your child to do a fun seated activity. Maybe do a winter craft.
Keep a routine. Plan out a schedule with your kids of different activities to do and places to go.
Decrease screen time. Start to decrease screen time back to your allotted amount during the school week.

Fun Baking Ideas:

Fun Seated Activities:

January 12, 2026/by jessenpr

How to Make Trick-Or-Treating Accessible for Children with Communication Differences

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Halloween is a fun-filled night with costumes, decorations, candy, family, and friends. But for children with communication differences, trick-or-treating can bring extra challenges. Greeting adults at their door, answering questions, and stating “Happy Halloween” might feel stressful and overwhelming. With a little creativity and preparation, we can make Halloween positive and inclusive for every child!

Ideas on how to tailor a variety of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices to fit your child’s needs during trick-or-treating:

High-tech speech output device. Add a page to your child’s device specifically for Halloween and trick-or-treating. Include phrases such as “trick or treat!,” “Happy Halloween!”, “I am an *insert costume*,” and other functional phrases and greetings. Does your neighborhood require jokes for candy? Include a couple joke options for your child to pick from!
Recordable answer buzzers. Purchase a buzzer and record yourself saying “Happy Halloween” or “trick-or-treat”. When your child goes up to a neighbor’s door, they can hit the buzzer and wish them a Happy Halloween! You can use one buzzer or multiple, depending on your child’s preference and ability.
Communication cards. Create cards that are fun and decorative for your child to hand to neighbors as a greeting!
Communication board. Add visuals for common phrases, emotions, costumes, and greetings related to Halloween. This can be attached to a lanyard or to a candy bag for easy access.
Social script. Add quick phrases to a sheet of paper for your child to read off of.

No matter which form of AAC is best for your child, here are a few important things to remember:

Practice. Practicing with their AAC at home before trick-or-treating will help ease some of the stress that comes with doing something new.
Accessible. Keep their AAC within arms reach. For verbal communicators, communication is always right at our fingertips (or in this case, our lips). We want these alternative forms of communication just as accessible for our children with communication differences.
Pace. Follow their lead. Communication can be overwhelming, so if your child is ready to go home early, that is ok! Listen to them and look for visual cues that they are all done.
Celebrate! Communication is hard, celebrate every interaction your child makes.

Trick-or-treating is about more than just candy. It is about relationships, belonging, and fun. With the right support, children with communication differences can fully join in, in their unique way. By accepting and utilizing low-tech, mid-tech, and high-tech AAC, families can make Halloween accessible and a night to remember!

Other blogs:

National Eat Better, Eat Together Month

October 6, 2025/by jessenpr

Early Childhood: Learning Through Play vs. Narrow Academic Drills

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In early childhood, learning milestones are often reduced to colors, shapes, numbers and letters. When we fixate on these concepts through repetition and practice, or narrow academic drills, it can make learning feel like a checklist to complete. Learning through play matters.

Too often, the most crucial skills for long-term cognitive development are overlooked—skills like problem-solving, persistence, self-regulation, creativity, language, and the ability to link ideas across different experiences. Colors, numbers, shapes, and letters are important, too, but they become truly meaningful when children discover them in the context of their daily lives.

Play matters. It helps kids build their brain, strengthen their bodies, teaches social-emotional skills, and encourages curiosity. It allows them to explore their interests and use their imaginations. It boosts brain function and reduces stress. The goal is to let them have the opportunity to develop deeper capacities that allow learning to stick.

Here are a few examples:

Instead of teaching colors through flashcards, your child learns by noticing a feature on their toys during free play (i.e. the car they are playing with has a blue stripe).
Going for a walk outside can teach them colors, textures, shapes, and help build their language skills.
Using their imaginations to play “store” or “restaurant” can help build social skills and reinforce their understanding of numbers.
Building with blocks fosters creativity and problem solving (i.e. their tower fell and now they need to figure out how to make it stronger).

Kids learn best when they are active participants in their education. Play gives them the opportunity to do just that and explore the world around them.

Recent blogs:

https://kidsplacetherapy.com/august-is-family-fun-month-building-skills-confidence-and-connection-through-play/

https://kidsplacetherapy.com/strength-based-development/

September 18, 2025/by jessenpr