Hand-Strengthening Activities
Weak hands can be kryptonite to overall development. Hand strength is crucial for children as it plays a significant role in their ability to manipulate objects while performing everyday activities. For example, hand strength is needed for effective and sustained writing, drawing, and cutting skills for school, self care tasks such as buttoning, scooping, and opening containers, and play skills like building, climbing, and throwing.
Fine motor skills also have an impact on cognitive development, self-esteem, and overall independence. Manipulating objects and engaging in hands-on activities can help to develop spatial awareness and problem-solving abilities needed for cognition. Being successful at task performance and managing personal care and school-related responsibilities boosts confidence, self-esteem, and fosters autonomy and independence.
Encouraging fun activities that build hand strength helps children develop skills needed for now as well as lays the foundation for adulthood occupations and recreational activities. But what can kids do to strengthen their hands? And how can strengthening exercises be made fun and engaging? For answers to these questions, look no further. Below are fun hand strengthening activities brought to you by Enablr Therapy therapists!
Sponges and Spray Bottles
Squeezing water out of a sponge or squeezing the handle of a spray bottle is an effective way to strengthen hands. Put sponges and water bottles in the tub for bathtime fun. Have your child help with simple chores like spraying and wiping down tables, chairs, or counters with water or a mild soap mixture.
Play Dough
Squeezing, pinching, forming, and cutting playdough or clay is a great way to increase hand strength and coordination. For a homemade, gluten-free playdough, check out the recipe from Parents.com.
Baking bread or making pizza dough is a wonderful “real-life” activity that can also build hand strength.
Legos or Snap Together Building Blocks
Snapping building blocks require kids to use their pincer grasp to manipulate the blocks, increasing both strength and fine motor coordination. In addition, as kids build, they integrate their visual and motor skills together. There are endless projects that can be made. For ideas on how to build with Legos, check out this link from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls. It gives a ton of ideas from making spinning tops, building animals, to creating marble runs that can spur on your child’s creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. Be sure to supervise young children due to the small pieces being a possible choking hazard.
Bubble Wrap
Many kids really enjoy popping the individual bubbles on a sheet of bubble wrap. Be sure that your child pinches using the pads of their finger and thumb (not the side of the thumb) to strengthen their pinch.
Crafts
Stringing beads, squeezing glue, tearing paper, and fingerpainting are just a few examples of types of hand activity that is used when crafting. Cutting is another. Cutting different types of materials such as paper, card stock, paper, straws, ribbon, felt and fabric offer different amounts of resistance to make hands stronger. Allow your child to cut and create collages or other craft activities, supervising them for safety as needed. For more information on how scissor skills develop, see Enablr Therapy’s Scissor Use blog. Crafting doesn’t build just hand strength but works on dexterity, problem solving, and creativity.
In addition to focusing on activities that use the hands, activities that use the entire upper extremity (arm) or full body movement like climbing, crawling, and playing ball can also improve hand strength as well as overall arm and body strength. Encourage your child to be active and get outside to play. Keeping “exercise” fun and play-based will help your child engage in those activities more frequently, building their strength more effectively.
