Hand strength activities

Hand strength allows kids to perform many everyday tasks, including using cutlery, opening containers, doing buttons, brushing their hair, playing with Lego and writing.⠀

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Some kids may have poor hand strength due to joint hypermobility or low muscle tone (which they are born with), or simply due to a lack of use of the muscles in their hands (not enough play time).⠀

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Here are some of my favourite go-to hand strengthening activities:⠀

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• “Pacman" (cut open a tennis ball, squeeze and feed!)⠀

• Squeezing pegs⠀

• Squeezing stress balls⠀

• Picking up small items with tongs or tweezers⠀

• Hammering activities⠀

• Theraputty or playdough⠀

• Construction games like Lego⠀

• Squeezing a spray bottle⠀

• Baking (stirring, rolling, kneading)

• Digging/gardening⠀

• Opening and closing jars⠀

• Tearing and scrunching paper⠀

• Cutting construction paper⠀

• Crab walking⠀

• Bear walking⠀ ⠀

• Monkey bars

• Weight-bearing yoga poses⠀

• Climbing⠀

• Crawling⠀

• Wheelbarrow walking

• Tug-o-war⠀

You can find a handout with pictures of these activities for quick reference here: pcot.com.au/resources