---
title: Childhood Occupations
description: We often get asked ‘What is Occupational Therapy,’ especially when we are talking about it in reference to a child.  As a result we thought we would publish a breakdown based on the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework to help give people a better understanding. As Occupational Therapy refers to how one occupies their time, it […]
---

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# Childhood Occupations

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We often get asked ‘What is Occupational Therapy,’ especially when we are talking about it in reference to a child.  As a result we thought we would publish a breakdown based on the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework to help give people a better understanding.

 As Occupational Therapy refers to how one occupies their time, it is a profession that believes in daily participation in occupational routines. As defined by the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, a child participates in the following occupations including: *Activities of Daily Living, Rest and Sleep, Education, Play and Social Participation*. Each occupation is taken into consideration during your child’s treatment and as such obtaining an understanding of these areas will contribute to the families ability to work in collaboration with the OT and develop the ability to transfer skills into the child’s daily routine to foster independence. The following descriptions are taken from the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework.

**Activities of Daily Living:** Activities that are oriented toward taking care of one’s own body. These activities are, “fundamental to living in a social world; they enable basic survival and well being.” They include:

- **Bathing/Showering:** obtaining/using supplies, maintaining positioning, transferring to and from bathing position
- **Bowel/Bladder Management & Toilet Hygiene:** intentional control, obtaining/using supplies, clothing management, transferring on/off the toilet
- **Dressing:** selecting appropriate clothing, obtaining clothing from a storage area, dressing/undressing in a sequential pattern
- **Eating:** the ability to keep and manipulate food or fluid in the mouth/swallow
- **Feeding:** the process of setting up, arranging and bringing food/fluid to the mouth
- **Functional Mobility:** moving from one position in space to another during performance of everyday activities such as those listed in this post
- **Personal Hygiene/Grooming:** obtaining and using supplies to brush hair, groom nails, wash hands, clean mouth etc

**Rest and Sleep:** Including activities related to obtaining restorative rest and sleep that supports healthy active engagement in other areas of occupation.

- **Rest:** quiet and effortless actions that interrupt physical and mental activity including identifying need to relax to restore energy, calm and renew interest in engagement
- **Sleep:** a series of activities resulting in going to sleep, staying asleep
- **Sleep preparation:** engaging in routines that prepare the self for comfortable rest including grooming, reading, setting an alarm etc.

** Education:** Includes activities needed for learning and participating in the environment.

- **Formal educational participation:** including categories of academic classes, nonacademic (e.g. recess), extracurricular (e.g. sports)
- **Informal personal education participation:** participating in classes, programs, and activities that provide instruction/training in identified areas of interest

**Play:** A spontaneous or organized activity that provides enjoyment, entertainment, amusement or diversion.

- **Play Exploration:** identifying appropriate play activities, which can include exploration play, practice play, pretend play, games with rules, constructive play and symbolic play
- **Play Participation:** participating in play maintaining a balance of play with other areas of occupation; and obtaining using and maintaining toys, equipment, and supplies appropriately

**Social Participation:** Organized patterns of behavior that are characteristic and expected of an individual or given position within a social system.

- **Community:** engaging in activities that result in successful interaction at the community level (i.e. neighborhood, organization, work, school)
- **Family:** engaging in successful interactions in specific required and/or desired family roles
- **Peer, Friend:** engaging at different levels of intimacy

 

Reference: Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain & Process 2nd Edition. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy. Novemeber/December 2008, 62:6, pg. 631-633.

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