Getting dressed in the morning. Putting shoes on before leaving the house. Helping set the table. Packing toys away after playing. These everyday moments might not look like “therapy activities”, but they give children lots of opportunities to practise skills they use throughout their day.
Functional activities are simply activities that have a purpose in everyday life. In Occupational Therapy, functional activities are often the everyday tasks a child wants or needs to participate in. For children, this can include looking after themselves, helping with simple household routines, getting ready for kinder or school, playing and moving their bodies.
Children won’t all develop independence in these areas at the same time or in the same way. The goal isn’t to rush a child into doing everything for themselves. Instead, families can look for small, achievable opportunities for their child to participate.
- Why Are Functional Activities Important for Children?
- Building Self-Care and Independence
- Building Motor Skills Through Everyday Activities
- Fine Motor Skills — Development of the Small Muscles of the Hands and Fingers
- Gross Motor Skills
- Everyday Routines Are Full of Learning Opportunities
- Making Routines Easier to Follow
- What About Bedtime and Sleep Routines?
- Functional Activities Can Build Confidence Too
- Functional Activities for Preschoolers at Home
- When Might an Occupational Therapist Help? — Where Pediatric Therapy Fits In
- Supporting Everyday Skills at Home
Why Are Functional Activities Important for Children?
Children learn many everyday skills by having opportunities to practise them within their usual routines.
Think about getting ready in the morning. A child might need to remember what comes next, balance while pulling on their pants, use their hands to manage buttons or zips and find their shoes before leaving the house. There are lots of different skills working together within one seemingly simple activity.
Practising these skills at home also means they happen in a familiar environment and have a real purpose. Instead of practising pouring simply as an exercise, for example, a child might pour water into their own cup at dinner.
Children don’t need to complete an entire activity independently for the practice to be meaningful. Sometimes participating in just one part of a routine is a great place to start.
Building Self-Care and Independence
Self-care activities are the everyday things children gradually learn to participate in, such as getting dressed, brushing their teeth, washing their hands, managing their belongings and helping with mealtime routines.
A child might not yet be ready to get dressed completely independently, but perhaps they can pull their socks up after an adult puts them over their toes. They might choose their clothes for the day, put toothpaste on their toothbrush or carry their plate to the bench after dinner.
Breaking a routine into smaller parts can give children a chance to practise one manageable step at a time.
Play can also be a useful way to practise these skills without the pressure of needing to get out the door on time. Our Functional Play Activity for Kids shares games and activities for practising dressing, hygiene and everyday routines through play.
Building Motor Skills Through Everyday Activities
Motor skills are the movements we use to complete everyday activities. They are often described as fine motor skills and gross motor skills, and both can play a role in a child’s everyday participation.
Rather than always practising these skills separately, everyday activities can give children opportunities to use them for a purpose.
Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills involve the small muscles of the hands and fingers. Children use these skills throughout their day for activities such as drawing, using cutlery, opening containers, doing up buttons and zips, and handling small objects. These skills are important because they support children’s participation in many self-care, play and learning activities.
At home, children might practise these skills while:
- helping peg clothes onto the washing line
- opening their lunchbox
- stirring ingredients while cooking
- matching and folding socks
- using tongs to serve food
- opening and closing containers.
Gross Motor Skills
Gross motor skills involve larger movements of the body and contribute to activities such as walking, running, climbing, balancing and getting dressed.
Strength, balance and coordination can all contribute to how children move and participate in everyday activities.
Children naturally practise these skills through active play. Hopping, climbing at the playground, kicking a ball, riding a bike or helping carry suitable items around the house can all provide opportunities to move and use their bodies in different ways.
Again, these activities don’t need to become formal exercises. For many children, movement is simply part of playing and participating in family life.
Everyday Routines Are Full of Learning Opportunities
You don’t necessarily need to find extra time in the day for functional activities.
Many are already happening.
A child might help:
- put dirty clothes into the laundry basket
- match socks from the washing
- pack toys into their containers
- put their drink bottle into their bag
- set placemats at the table
- carry their plate to the kitchen
- water plants
- put groceries away
- stir or pour while preparing food.
The amount of help a child needs will vary. An adult might demonstrate the activity, complete part of it alongside them or provide a reminder about what comes next.
As the task becomes more familiar, that support can change.
Making Routines Easier to Follow
Some children find it easier to participate when they know what is happening and what comes next.
Keeping parts of the day predictable can help children become familiar with routines such as getting ready in the morning, packing up after play or preparing for bed.
For some children, a simple visual showing the steps can also be useful. For example, a morning routine might show getting dressed, eating breakfast, brushing teeth and putting on shoes.
The aim isn’t for every routine to happen perfectly or independently. Visuals and predictable routines are simply tools that may make it easier for some children to understand what is expected and participate.
What About Bedtime and Sleep Routines?
Sleep is another part of children’s everyday routines.
Getting ready for bed can involve several functional skills: changing into pyjamas, brushing teeth, putting clothes away, organising comfort items and following the family’s usual bedtime routine.
Rather than thinking of bedtime only in terms of sleep, it can also be an opportunity for children to gradually participate in the steps that happen around it.
What this looks like will differ between families, and children may need different levels of support.
Functional Activities Can Build Confidence Too
Learning to do something for yourself can feel satisfying.
Sometimes the achievement is small — pulling up a zip, finding the matching shoe or pouring water into a cup without spilling quite as much as last time.
Having opportunities to practise these everyday tasks can help children become more familiar with them and gradually take a more active role in their routines.
There will also be days when a child needs more help with something they have done independently before. Tiredness, time pressure, the environment or simply having a difficult day can all change how much support a child needs.
Independence doesn’t have to mean doing everything alone.
Functional Activities for Preschoolers at Home
For preschool-aged children, everyday household activities can often be turned into opportunities to participate without needing special equipment.
You might invite your child to sort the washing into family members’ piles, find matching socks or choose what they need to take when you’re leaving the house.
In the kitchen, they might stir ingredients, pour from a small jug or help place safe items on the table.
Outside, they could help water plants, carry lightweight gardening tools or pack outdoor toys away when they’re finished.
The activity itself doesn’t need to be complicated. What’s important is finding a part of the task your child can meaningfully participate in and providing the level of help they need.
When Might an Occupational Therapist Help?
Sometimes everyday activities remain particularly difficult for a child even with practice and support.
An Occupational Therapist can look at why an activity is difficult rather than simply focusing on whether the child can or can’t complete it.
For example, getting dressed can involve fine motor skills, balance, body awareness, sequencing, attention and sensory preferences. The clothing itself, the environment and the amount of time available can also make a difference.
An Occupational Therapist may work with the child and family to break activities into manageable parts, practise particular skills, adapt the environment or find different ways for the child to participate.
Our Occupational Therapy for Children: A Parent Guide explains more about what pediatric occupational therapy involves and the everyday activities an OT may support.
Supporting Everyday Skills at Home
Functional activities don’t need to look like therapy.
They can happen while getting ready in the morning, packing up toys, preparing dinner or heading out the door.
Look for small opportunities for your child to join in, give them time to practise and provide help when they need it. What independence looks like will be different for every child — and it can change from one day to the next.
At Happy Chatter, our Occupational Therapists work with children and families to support participation in the everyday activities that matter to them.