Mature and refined grasp patterns, as well as in hand manipulation, require use of the small finger muscles, and they use the two sides of the hands separately. It can be challenging learning how to coordinate the pinky finger side of the hand separately from the index finger side of the hand. Similar movements are[Read More]
hand strengthening
Clean Mud
Playing in mud is a great sensory and tactile activity, but it can be very messy. This “clean mud” activity gives a similar sensation to regular mud, but you come away from the activity cleaner than when you started. You need a plastic tub or bucket with a couple of inches of water. You add[Read More]
More Kinetic Sand Fun
I posted about Kinetic Sand last year after I saw it at the AOTA conference and fell in love with how fun it was (you can read that post here). I did not have any of my own at that time, and it was not available in many stores yet. Since then, I now have[Read More]
New Vinyl Munchy Ball for Fine Motor
I am excited that the vinyl Munchy Balls are in the shop and they have great resistance to work on fine motor skills and hand strengthening. The great thing about them being vinyl balls is that they are washable, which is important when working in a clinic setting. When I got the first Munchy Balls[Read More]
Guess Who Clothespin Game
This is a guest post by Donna Abramson, OTR Opening and closing clothespins is a wonderful way for children to develop strength in the muscles of their hand, particularly the webspace – which helps them to hold the pencil with a correct tripod grip. Using clothespins also helps children to separate the radial and ulnar[Read More]