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Fine Motor Fun with Playdoh!
Joanna Pasheluk
Joanna Pasheluk, MS, OTR/L, is a registered and licensed occupational therapist who brings specialized pediatric expertise and infectious enthusiasm to every therapy session at Chicago Pediatric Therapy & Wellness Center. Since joining the team in 2017, Joanna has helped hundreds of children develop the foundational skills they need to participate fully in daily life—from self-care routines to classroom activities to playground interactions. Joanna's educational foundation began at the College of Charleston, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Spanish in 2010. This background in communication studies laid important groundwork for her future work helping children express needs, follow directions, and engage socially. She went on to complete her Master of Occupational Therapy at the University of Illinois Chicago in 2015, where she developed expertise in pediatric development, sensory processing, and therapeutic interventions. In her clinical practice, Joanna specializes in several key areas: sensory integration therapy for children who struggle to process sensory information, fine motor skills development including handwriting, cutting, and manipulation tasks, self-care skill building such as dressing, feeding, and hygiene, and social interaction skills that help children connect with peers and adults. Her treatment philosophy centers on play-based interventions—she believes the best therapy doesn't feel like work. Instead, Joanna designs activities that children find genuinely engaging while secretly targeting therapeutic goals. Beyond direct patient care, Joanna serves as co-leader of Chicago Pediatric Therapy & Wellness Center's multidisciplinary team. In this role, she facilitates collaboration between occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, and behavior analysts, ensuring each child benefits from coordinated expertise. She champions evidence-based practices and continuous learning within the team. Joanna's family-centered approach means parents aren't observers—they're partners. She actively involves caregivers in treatment planning and provides coaching so skills transfer beyond the clinic walls into real-world settings where children live and learn.
Read Less →Stuck inside and looking for some creative ways to play with playdoh with your child? Are you looking for some fun things to do that will both keep your child’s attention as well as challenge their fine motor skills? Playdoh provides so many opportunities to develop fine motor skills, expand pretend play skills and support skill acquisition. Here’s a list of activities and ideas for toddlers through school-age kiddos.
Utensil Use
- – Roll playdoh into long strip or ‘snake’. Use playdoh scissors or regular kid scissors to snip the strip into lots of pieces.
- – Roll playdoh into small balls and practicing scooping with a spoon or piercing with a fork.
- – Use rolling pin to roll playdoh out flat on the table. Use the rolling pin with one hand on either end!
Pincer Grasp
- – Use your thumb and index finger to pinch off small pieces of playdoh. When you’re all done, squish all the pieces back together into a big ball!
- – Hide and Seek: Pick up small beads or marbles and push them into the playdoh. Make sure they are hidden in the playdoh and then have someone look for and pull all the beads/marbles out of the playdoh.
Playdoh Letters and Numbers
- – Roll the playdoh out into long strips or ‘snakes’ with your fingers. Form them into letters and numbers!
- – For preschool age: practice saying the sound of each letter and then trace it with your finger.
- – For elementary school age: write words with your playdoh letters and then copy them onto paper with a pencil.
Playdoh Mats
- – There are a bunch of great websites out there for playdoh mats. You can print them off and laminate them or put them in a plastic sleeve. No printer? No problem. Simply copy the drawing onto a piece of paper and off you go!
- – Dinner plate: use tips of fingers to roll playdoh into meatballs and roll thin pieces of spaghetti. Pretend the playdoh is chicken and practice using a plastic fork and knife to cut it into pieces.
- – Faces: use tips of fingers to roll playdoh into eyes, mouth, nose and hair. You can include jewelry, hair, or even make a body. Check out these printable faces.
- – Cake: make icing, roll out letters to spell ‘Happy Birthday’, decorate with beads, marbles or pom-poms.
Playdoh Drawing
- – Flatten playdoh onto the table. You can use a toothpick to draw a picture in the playdoh. Practice drawing shapes, letters, or numbers. You can draw your own picture and have your partner guess what the picture is or copy the picture.
Playdoh Shapes with Tooth Picks
- – Roll small pieces of playdoh using thumb, index and middle fingertips. Connect the small balls of playdoh with tooth picks in order to make a variety of shapes.
Feel ready to get creative at the table with your child? Take these ideas and run with them! If you have further concerns regarding your child’s fine motor development, please call our pediatric occupational therapists at 773-687-9241! Have fun!
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