5 Minute Friday - Pom Poms!

October 14, 2025 in posts

Pom poms (or cotton balls!) are soft, colorful, and full of developmental potential. These tiny tools can support sensory, fine motor, and visual skills — and every activity takes less than 5 minutes to set up!

Pom Poms for Babies

Sensory exploration: Gently rub pom poms along your baby’s arms, hands, legs, and especially feet. This helps them process touch sensations and build tolerance for different textures.

Feeding foundations: Lightly brushing the cheeks and corners of the mouth can help integrate the rooting reflex — an important step for developing feeding skills.

Pom Pom Rescue: Place pom poms in a muffin tin and let your baby grab them out. This supports early grasp development and problem solving. To make it harder, cover a few sections with tape!

Pom Poms for Toddlers

Tongs & sorting: Use tongs to pick up and sort pom poms by color or size. Great for emerging grasp patterns, early scissor skills, and cognitive growth.

Blow race: Blow pom poms across a table or floor using a straw (or just your breath!) to strengthen oral motor and visual tracking skills.

Pom Pom Rescue 2.0: Hide pom poms under tape, inside containers, or behind small barriers — toddlers love the challenge!

Mini erasers: Use pom poms to erase chalk or dry erase boards. You can even stick one on the end of a marker to promote in-hand manipulation and tripod grasp.

Citrus squeezer play: Place pom poms inside a handheld citrus squeezer and have your toddler squeeze to pick them up or drop them into a cup. This builds fine motor strength, bilateral coordination, and hand endurance in a playful way!

Pom Poms for Bigger Kids

Pencil helper: Tuck a small pom pom under the ring and pinky fingers to encourage a proper tripod grasp while writing.

Feed the tennis ball: Cut a “mouth” in a tennis ball and have your child squeeze it open with one hand while feeding pom poms inside with the other. This builds bilateral coordination, fine motor strength, and motor planning.

Creative fun: Use pom poms for crafting, color matching, or art projects — all great ways to boost tactile, visual-motor, and fine motor skills while having fun.

Quick, colorful, and full of developmental magic — pom poms are proof that sometimes the simplest toys make the biggest impact!

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About the Author

Maria O’Farrell, MS, OTR/L, is a passionate pediatric occupational therapist dedicated to helping children thrive through compassionate, play-based therapy. She provides individualized support in home and school environments, empowering both children and their families to learn and grow.