Occupational Therapy Motor Planning Examples, Goals, and Activities

Wondering about motor planning goals? Occupational therapy and occupational therapists (OTs) provide support in occupational therapy motor planning, so you may be seeking occupational therapy motor planning activities and examples. 

This article will explore occupational therapy motor planning, including motor planning disorder symptoms, motor planning goals, occupational therapy motor planning activities for adults, and motor planning games for children.

What is motor planning?

In occupational therapy, motor planning is a person’s ability to ideate, plan, remember, and then execute steps to create a specific motorical movement. 

The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) categorizes motor planning as performance skills which are, in part, goal-directed actions.

Simply put, motor planning is how we move.

To effectively motor plan, a person needs good neural connections in the brain and solid sensory integration skills. If either or both are affected, this may cause difficulties with motor planning, also known as apraxia or dyspraxia. 

The body receives feedback about how it performs the movement and can then make adjustments, or adapt, if the movement does not produce the desired outcome. 

The terminology that helps define occupational therapy motor planning is essential when describing a client’s difficulties. 

Terms are often interchanged, but they can mean different things. 

The correct terminology is vital in order to accurately describe a client’s areas of need, as well as for documentation and insurance reimbursement. 

Here are some of the most common occupational therapy motor planning terms:

• Praxis: Planning and sequencing.
• Apraxia: When a person loses the ability to do something, despite having the desire and physical capacity to perform the action. Apraxia is caused when damage or disease occurs in the brain, resulting in the brain no longer being able to send the correct instructions to the body.

• Ataxia: Poor or impaired muscle control due to damage in the brain, resulting in difficulty with coordinated movements. 

• Dyspraxia: Difficulty with coordinated movements. Often it is connected to developmental coordination disorder (DCD) in children. 
• Developmental coordination disorder (DCD): A neurodevelopmental disorder in children, which is a mental diagnosis included in the DSM-5. Children with difficulty performing everyday movements, such as walking, handwriting, or self-care activities may have DCD.

A person can be apraxic or dyspraxic verbally, orally, or motorically (fine and gross). 

Motor planning difficulties can be addressed by an occupational therapist (OT), physical therapist (PT), or speech-language pathologist (SLP), depending on need. 

Difficulty with motor planning may affect different areas of one’s body, prompting services from one or several of these specialties. 

What difficulty with motor planning looks like

Difficulty with motor planning can manifest itself in many different ways. 

Some examples are:

• Difficulty following directions or difficulty following multistep directions in the correct order. 
• Bumping into things or frequently tripping. 
• Difficulty with fine motor tasks such as handwriting, tying shoes, or using buttons or zippers. 
• Gross motor skills such as running, skipping, hopping on one foot, or catching a ball. 
• Difficulty using a knife, fork, or spoon.
• Difficulty chewing, swallowing, or speaking.
• Delays in motor milestones for children, such as walking, feeding themselves, or holding a pencil. 
• In adults, difficulty with hygiene, getting dressed (self-care), cooking, cleaning, or mobility issues (walking, running, or balance). 

OTs usually focus on motor planning around fine motor skills such as getting dressed, maintaining hygiene, and using utensils (pencil, fork, spoon, etc.). 

There is often an overlap between the functions of OTs, PTs, and SLPs because difficulty with motor planning usually does not affect only one area of the body. 

For example, a child needing to brush their teeth requires many motor planning steps: from walking into the bathroom, climbing up on a stool, turning on the water, getting their toothbrush, squeezing the toothpaste, brushing their teeth, and then rinsing their mouth. 

An activity such as brushing teeth can require multidisciplinary care—depending on the area(s) of difficulty.

Occupational therapy motor planning goals

Once a client has been evaluated, OTs should work with them to establish goals. Including the client in goal development—regardless of their age—is critical when creating OT goals to improve motor planning. 

Asking questions about what clients would like to accomplish often helps to generate ideas for functional outcomes.

Including clients in the process has proven to boost follow-through and outcomes. 

When creating goals, it’s essential to think about the skills needed to reach the desired outcome. 

As always, goals should focus on function within daily routines or activities. 

Additionally, all goals and interventions should be purposeful. 

While specific goals must be tailored to the individual, goals can be centered around areas such as activities of daily living, academic activities, mobility, and feeding. 

Motor planning goals can be great for integrative collaboration with other disciplines, such as physical therapy and speech therapy.

When generating motor planning goals, it is important to keep in mind the energy expenditure required to accomplish each task. Clients with motor planning difficulties can expect to expend more energy trying to complete tasks—making it more difficult to complete tasks and routines others may exercise with ease. 

It is an occupational therapist’s job to assess and break down tasks to make sure clients conserve energy throughout treatment.

Self-reflection can also be a useful tool in creating or adjusting goals. 

For instance, self-reflection can be used to detect patterns, determine if a goal has been accomplished, and provide useful feedback to the client on their performance. 

And, eventually, self-reflection can help support a client’s continued progress after they have been discharged from services. 

Motor planning activities for adults

Here are some motor planning activities for adult clients:

• Grooming activities (washing or brushing hair, brushing teeth, bathing)
• Getting dressed (buttons, snaps, zippers, tying shoes)
• Yoga
• Manipulatives (buttons, paper clips, coins)
• Playing cards
• Improving hand strength (resistance bands, thera-putty)
• Feeding activities
• Meal prep
• Handwriting or keyboarding
• Managing small items around the house (medications, door locks, opening bottles or containers, money management)
• Leisure activities (crafts, playing instruments, video games)
• Balancing activities

Motor planning games for kids

There are many fun ways to practice occupational therapy motor planning with children, some of which overlap with the activities suggested for adults in the list above. 

Here are some motor planning games to consider:

• Yoga
• Simon Says
• Animal walks (such as bear walking, slithering like a snake, or crab walking)
• Obstacle courses
• Mazes
• Dot to dots
• Drawing (try step-by-step drawings)
• Painting
• Playing with Play-Doh
• Coloring
• Puzzles
• Peg boards
• Practicing getting dressed

While motor planning goals, occupational therapy activities, and the occupational therapy examples may be similar for adults and children, the most important thing to keep in mind when working with clients is that treatment must always consider the specificities of each client’s case. 

The key to motor planning is to keep practicing. Continued practice allows for many opportunities to build skills, including sequencing, strength-building, and memory.

When practicing these occupational therapy motor planning skills with a client, it’s crucial for practitioners to continually analyze and modify the client’s performance in order to support their outcomes. 

Through analyzing and providing feedback on the client’s performance, you can help them better break down the skill, expend less energy, and meet their goals.

Practice management software for occupational therapists (OTs)

Used by more than  200,000  practitioners nationwide, SimplePractice is practice management software for occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, behavioral health therapists, physical therapists, and other practitioners in the health and wellness industry.

Try SimplePractice free for 30 days. No credit card needed.