DOTS Occupational Therapy for Children

DOTS Occupational Therapy for Children Paediatric OT service based in the Western and Northern suburbs of Melbourne. Call today to discuss The D.O.T.S. D.O.T.S. In addition to this D.O.T.S.

therapists have a wide range of experience working with children under the age of 16 with a range of diagnosis'. provides individual and group sessions at a range of locations. also provides home and community visits as needed. DOTS can provide assistance with:

* Sensory Processing
* Fine and Gross motor skills
* Handwriting
* Social skills
* Play development
* Feeding - Fussy eaters
* Language and speech development

30/04/2026

The Large Nail Board Puzzle is a favourite in our OT sessions!

It helps kids build:
➡️ Visual motor integration – copy and recreate the image
➡️ Fine motor strength & precision – placing the pieces takes control and coordination
➡️ Bilateral coordination – both hands work together to complete the task
➡️ Planning & problem-solving – figuring out where each piece fits
➡️ Patience & persistence – encouraging kids to keep going, even when it's tricky!

A hands-on way to build important foundational skills while having fun 💪🧠

28/04/2026

3 items you probably have lying around your house - put them together and you've got a quick and easy fine motor activity.

Grade it up or down:
⭐ Use pegs or tweezers to make it harder, pincer fingers to make it easier
⭐ Add flour to explore different tactile sensations
⭐ Copy a pattern to practice sequencing and pattern recognition

This has been a crowd favourite at D.O.T.S. this month, give it a try at home!

23/04/2026

Scooping with a spoon is actually a lot harder than it looks. There's so much going on for little bodies to figure out. Wrist rotation, shoulder stability, knowing how to grade the pressure, understanding where the bowl ends and the spoon begins. When one piece isn't quite there yet, the whole thing can fall apart.

So rather than practising at the dinner table when everyone's tired and hungry, we can build those foundations through play, where there's no pressure and plenty of opportunity to just try things.

So here's a fun way to practise scooping skills at home. It looks simple, but it's quietly working on all the right things. 💛

21/04/2026

How I prep for back to back sessions as a D.O.T.S OT 🌈

Something small that makes a HUGE difference - I plan my next session at the end of my notes, right after I’ve seen the client. Everything’s still fresh, I’ve got a clear direction for where therapy needs to go, and I’m not standing in the resource room trying to think back to the previous session to remember what I wanted to do (which I’ve done plenty of).

The other shift that’s been making a difference lately is moving away from rigid structured schedules toward visual schedules that build in real choice, especially for kids with demand avoidance. Giving them some ownership over how the session goes has changed the way they engage with therapy tasks completely.
Not every day runs smoothly. But these two things help.

14/04/2026

Osmo Pizza Co. is one of our favourite multi-sensory activities - one of the many interactive iPad games that we love to use!
Here we are working on our problem solving, visual motor integration, motor coordination, and cognitive skills - essential for many activities of daily living that we participate in every day! I wonder what your favourite pizza order is? 🍕

-sensorylearning

30/03/2026

🐰🍫 LOVE surprises…we love the hidden OT that come with Easter 🤭

We couldn’t wait to share… the Easter Bunny has come early to the clinic 💛

But beyond the chocolate, Easter can be such a beautiful time to slow down, connect, and enjoy some time together 🤍

And for our little people… it’s full of sneaky OT wins too ✨

🐣 peeling foil off eggs = fine motor skills

🐣 opening wrappers = hand strength + coordination

🐣 egg hunts = visual scanning + problem solving

🐣 sharing treats = connection + social moments, it could also mean turn taking and waiting.

Simple, everyday magic that builds skills without anyone even realising 💫

28/03/2026

The kids of an OT get some weekend sensory gym time 🎉 And just like our clients, getting them OUT was the hardest part 😂

Unstructured play in a sensory rich environment is so much more than just fun. It allows the nervous system to self regulate seeking out exactly what it needs, whether that’s the alerting input of jumping and spinning, or the calming, organising feeling of deep pressure and slow swinging.

This is the magic of a sensory gym. No instructions. No agenda. Just a nervous system doing what it knows how to do when we give it the space to. We do know this can also lead to hyper activity too and we can bring this down with a little shaping of activities.

SensoryPlay PaediatricOT NervousSystemRegulation SPD OTkids werribee

Ever wondered why some everyday tasks feel so hard for children?It’s not always about motivation or behaviour…It’s often...
26/03/2026

Ever wondered why some everyday tasks feel so hard for children?

It’s not always about motivation or behaviour…
It’s often about the foundations underneath the skill.

Skills like getting dressed, eating, or following routines rely on:
✨ Sensory processing
✨ Body awareness
✨ Coordination
✨ Motor planning
✨ Regulation

When these foundational skills are still developing, everyday tasks can feel overwhelming, frustrating, or effortful.

That’s where OT comes in 👇
We don’t just work on the task itself, we build the underlying skills that make those tasks possible.

Because when the foundations are strong…
✨ Independence grows
✨ Confidence builds
✨ Daily life feels easier

💬 If this resonates, feel free to reach out or save this post for later

23/03/2026

We know that increasing safe foods in your child's diet can be tricky. Increasing comfort around new foods is one way we can begin to step towards eating.

Before a child can eat a new food, they often need to move through what we call the Steps to Eating. We build familiarity slowly, in a way that feels safe for them.

It looks like this:
👀 Tolerates it in the room
👃 Smells it
🖐️ Touches it
👄 Brings it to their mouth
👅 Licks or tastes it
😊 Eats it

Each of these steps is a win.

So what can you try at home?
🌟 🌟 Serve new foods alongside safe favourites (no pressure to try)
🌟 Let your child play with food (squishing, sorting, painting with it all counts as exposure)
🌟 Eat together as much as you can (watching others eat is powerful modelling)
🌟 Keep the table stress-free (pressure and anxiety make selective eating worse, not better)
🌟 Celebrate proximity, not just eating ("you touched it, that's amazing!" matters)

The more a child is exposed to a food, the safer it begins to feel. And safe foods become foods they can eat. 🧡

If you're worried about your child's eating, we'd love to help — feel free to reach out!

Address

115 Droop Street
Footscray, VIC
3011

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when DOTS Occupational Therapy for Children posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to DOTS Occupational Therapy for Children:

Shortcuts

Share

Category