Once my son was able to get good active wrist extension after his broken arm, I began to think of ways to work on strengthening his wrist extension. He is at an age that he will do repetitive exercises, but I still wanted a game that would give motivation for getting the wrist extended to a certain degree.
I used a one pound wrist weight to give a good strengthening component, and tied a little Neodymium Magnetic Push Pin
onto the outside, positioned to pick up objects. I spread out my little metal balls into a plate, had my son position his arm over a box, and then had him hold the weight in his hand. In the position he was placed, he had to flex his wrist to get the magnet to come into contact with the balls, and then extend his wrist to lift the balls up. He then had to remove the balls from the magnet with his other hand.
My son gets exercise daily while using his hand in his daily activity, but this exercise gives a little extra focused strengthening. Along with the wrist, this activity strengthens his hand because he has to hold onto the weight while moving his wrist.
Materials:
- Wrist weight (or other light weight)
- Magnet
- Metal objects (balls, paper clips, etc.)
Skills:
- Hand and wrist strength
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