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For school-based occupational therapists, the transition into summer often raises an important question: How can we help students maintain skills when structured school routines come to an end?
While summer vacation provides valuable opportunities for rest and exploration, it can also create opportunities to practice skills that impact student performance when the new school year begins. Through strategic caregiver education and play-based recommendations, occupational therapists can help bridge that gap while keeping activities enjoyable and meaningful.
School-based occupational therapy services are designed to support educational access and participation. Although direct school services may pause during summer break for many students, occupational therapists remain uniquely positioned to support continued development through family education.
Summer activities can reinforce skills related to:
By focusing on occupation-based activities, therapists can encourage skill generalization across home and community environments.
Play is one of the most effective ways children develop foundational skills. Purposeful play naturally incorporates motor, sensory, cognitive, and social-emotional demands while increasing motivation and engagement.
Research consistently demonstrates that children learn best when activities are meaningful, enjoyable, and embedded within authentic contexts.
For occupational therapists, summer provides an ideal environment for promoting developmental skills through naturally occurring occupations.
Large-scale drawing and painting activities encourage:
Collecting and sorting natural materials promotes:
Building structures with blocks, craft materials, or household items supports:
Kitchen activities address:
Sensory processing and self-regulation remain critical components of student participation. During the summer, therapists can encourage families to incorporate sensory experiences that align with students’ individual needs.
Examples include:
These activities provide proprioceptive input that may support regulation and body awareness.
Movement opportunities help develop coordination, balance, endurance, and motor planning.
These experiences can enhance sensory discrimination while promoting engagement and curiosity.
Summer also offers countless opportunities to target executive functioning skills outside the classroom.
Occupational therapists can encourage families to involve students in:
These experiences support organization, task initiation, flexibility, and problem-solving, all skills that directly impact classroom success.
As clinicians, we can equip families with practical strategies that seamlessly integrate into everyday life.
When families understand that skill development can happen during play, they are often more likely to incorporate therapeutic activities into their daily routines.
Summer learning doesn’t have to involve worksheets, structured drills, or lengthy practice sessions. Through purposeful play, students can continue developing fine motor skills, sensory processing abilities, executive functioning, and independence while enjoying meaningful childhood experiences.
For occupational therapists, summer is an opportunity to extend the impact of school-based occupational therapy beyond classroom walls and empower families to support student growth through everyday occupations!