Little Hands Do Big Things: 15 Strategies to Develop Fine Motor Strength
Fine motor skills refer to one’s ability to use the small muscles of the hands and fingers to manipulate small to tiny items. When children have fine motor delays, skills in tool use, visual-motor tasks, self-care, and play are put at risk. Developing good fine motor skills in terms of both strength precision is essential for success in and out of the classroom.
Strength is an integral component of fine motor skills that is required for initiating and maintaining grasp patterns. When children are weak in this area, their ability to initiate and maintain grasp during activities such as writing and cutting is compromised. Developing adequate strength will be prevented if we allow them to compensate for their weakness instead of pushing them to develop hand strength habits! Here are a handful of hand strength activities (no pun intended):
Open and close clothespins to pick up pom-poms or any small items
Carry a tray or book on fingertips so the palm doesn’t touch tray/book
Wring out water from sponges or washcloths
Make marshmallow taffy- have child pinch and pull apart the marshmallow
Make rubber band balls- start with a wadded up piece of paper then keep stretching and looping rubber bands around it until you form a bouncy ball
Stir or Knead batter or anything with a thick consistency
Make a pizza from scratch (with supervision, of course)
Play Tug-o-War using a sheet or towel
Try playing with a Geoboard
Crumple paper or tear it
Use hole punchers
Squeeze eye dropper or turkey basters to fill up and squeeze out the water (bath time fun) or squeeze to blow air to have a cotton ball race
Pop plastic bubbles from packing material
Play with Theraputty, Playdoh, or clay
Water plants using a spray bottle
