Pincer Grip Activitieswestcoastldc.wa.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Fine...3. Knead into a ball. 4. Make a well in the ball of dough and add a few drops of food colouring, knead

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These resources have been made available by the Department of Education Western Australia in response to COVID-19 on 4/6/2020 for your educational purposes. Do not distribute these resources for any other purpose.

Pincer Grip Activities

What is the pincer grip? It's the coordination of the index finger and thumb, and it’s important because it’s needed for holding a pencil. These activities build the muscles of the hand and finger on which the pincer grip relies.

• Thread beads, pasta, cheerios or fruit loops onto string or pipecleaners:

• Sort buttons or other small objects into groups (eg sequins, toothpicks, pompoms, buttons, dry pasta).

• Put coins into a moneybox. • Put small items into a plastic bottle: • Thread pipe cleaners into a colander

• Put small items into ice trays or egg cartons. Count how many there are:

• Practise opening and closing buttons, using zips on clothing. • Dot painting with q-tips:

West Coast LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

CHANGING FUTURES

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• Tennis ball monster (cut a line in a tennis ball and squeeze with one hand while using pincer grip on the other hand to feed the monster marbles, pom poms or any other small items)

• Any activities using PEGS, including hanging up the laundry. You could also use pegs to sort pom poms.

• Write some numbers on plates, and ask your child to put the correct number of pegs on.

• Peel off and stick stickers. • Encourage using pincer fingers when playing with playdoh – eg using the pincer fingers to

create spikes on a dinosaur (show your child how you want them to do this, and which fingers to use).

• Use pipettes or eye droppers for water play. Children can transfer water between containers, or you can add food colouring to water for them to use to decorate paper towel:

• Use sticky tape. • Playing card games eg Uno, Snap. • Connect 4 game • Draw with chalk outside. • Hide marbles or beads in the playdough. Let your child pinch and pull the dough with

tweezers until they find them.

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Everyday Activities that Build Grip Strength Encouraging your child to be independent is very important, and these activities also help to build your child’s grip strength! Encourage your child to do these activities with his/her thumb and index finger.

• Do up buttons on pyjamas and other clothing. • Do up zips on pencil cases, bags or clothes. • Hang up laundry using pegs. • Peel an orange or mandarin. • Squeeze toothpaste onto a toothbrush. • Open yoghurt containers, biscuit, chip or lolly packets.

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Hand Strengthening and Fine Motor Activities A lot of the things you already have around the house can be used for hand strengthening and to build fine motor skills.

• Use kitchen tongs to transfer items.

• Make crafts by crumpling bits of tissue paper. • Tear paper and use it to make collages.

• Punch holes in paper using a hole punch.

• Cut anything with scissors. You could cut

paper, leaves, playdoh.

• Any construction toys that can be pulled apart and pushed together are beneficial for fine motor development – eg lego, zoobs, knex.

• Newspaper scrunch – scrunch up sheets of newspaper into tight balls. Once a few balls have been made throw them into a bin or at a target.

• Play tug of war using a dressing gown cord or twist a towel to make a rope. • Use water spray bottles. You could ask your child to water the plants in the

garden using only a spray bottle.

Everyday Activities that Strengthen Hands

• Squeeze Sponges – ask your child to help with cleaning, the action of squeezing water out of a sponge strengthens their hand muscles. A great excuse to wash the car!

• During bath-time squeeze water out of a face washer or play with water toys that require squeezing.

• Ask children to help you carry shopping bags from the car. • Peel and cut up fruit or vegetables. Start with easier to cut foods such as bananas or

cucumbers and buildup to harder foods such as carrots or potatoes. • Cooking / baking – mixing, sifting, kneading or use a rolling pin or cutters. • Getting dressed / undressed without help. • Make toast or sandwiches – open jars of vegemite, peanut butter or jam and use a knife

for spreading and cutting. • Use a knife and fork to cut up food at mealtimes. Start with easier to cut foods such as

potatoes or sausages and gradually build up to harder foods such as a steak. • Squeeze juice from an orange or lemon to make orange juice / lemonade.

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The Power of Playdoh Easy Playdoh Recipe Ingredients

• 1/2 cup salt • 1 cup plain flour • 2 tbs cream of tartar • 1 cup boiled water • 1 tbs oil • 1 tsp liquid food colouring

Method

1. Put dry ingredients in a bowl. 2. Add hot water gradually, stir mixture until it makes a pliable dough. 3. Knead into a ball. 4. Make a well in the ball of dough and add a few drops of food colouring, knead in the

colouring while wearing disposable gloves. 5. Keep in an airtight container or zip lock bag in the fridge.

Playdoh Ideas

• Cut up straws and use them to decorate playdoh and make holes:

• Poke spaghetti, sewers or matchsticks into playdoh and make monsters:

• Make spaghetti towers: poke spaghetti (or skewers) into a

ball of playdoh and then thread pasta / fruit loops / cheerios onto it:

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• Cut playdoh with scissors.

• Searching for Treasure – hide small items in a big ball of playdoh. Ask your child to find them. For an extra challenge, they can do it blindfolded.

• Practise cutting playdoh with blunt knives, old credit cards.

• Teach your child how to make a birds nest. (1) Take a ball of playdough, insert the thumb in the centre of a ball, and use the index and middle fingers to pinch the outside of the pot. (2) Roll small balls of playdoh to put in as eggs:

• Teach your child how to make a caterpillar by rolling small balls of playdoh:

• Make ten small balls from playdough and then squash the balls between your thumb and

index finger. (Pretend the playdough is a bug or egg.) Repeat with the thumb and middle finger, and then with the thumb, index and middle fingers all together.

• Push plastic animals, dinosaurs or bugs into playdoh to make prints:

• Use playdoh balls and toothpicks to build shapes / structures: • Teach your child to use their hands to roll long lines of playdoh. Turn it into roads to drive

cars through:

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• Collect twigs / sticks outside and use them to make creatures. • Collect leaves outside and do leaf prints in playdoh.

• Let your child use patty pans or a muffin tray to make “cupcakes” out of playdoh. They can decorate these with cut up straws, toothpicks, beads, gems etc:

YouTube songs to use with playdoh: Dough Disco- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K-CQrjI0uY Playdoh Fingergym: The Ants Go Marching - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocFu_ZFgQi4 Playdoh Fingergym: Fishing Song- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJJTwglsftk Happy and You Know it Playdoh Song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrBsNhwxzgc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K-CQrjI0uY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocFu_ZFgQi4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJJTwglsftk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrBsNhwxzgc

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Gross Motor / Fitness Activities Pretend to be different types of animals.

Walk like a crab: Balance on each leg:

Walk like a bear: Crawl like a snake:

Kick like a donkey:

Jump like a frog: Practise wheelbarrow walking:

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Core Strengthening Activities Tip: Make these activities part of your daily routine. In some of our classes, we do these exercises every morning after crunch and sip! At the beginning of Pre-Primary, very few students can hold the positions for the recommended timeframes. There is significant improvement by the end of the year. 1. Make a bridge. To encourage your child, you can drive a toy car under the bridge. Easy bridge position Harder bridge position 2. Hold the “Superman” position. Lying on belly with arms and legs extended and lifted off of the floor (Note: a child will bend his knees/elbows to compensate. If necessary, provide touch cues to the legs to get him to straighten them out). A 4 year old should be able to hold the superman position for 18 seconds. A 5 year old, for 31-60 seconds! 3. Hold the Popcorn Position Lying on back with arms crossed over chest, legs bent and head lifted off of the floor. A 4 year old should be able to hold this position for 10 seconds. A 5 year old should be able to hold this position for 25 seconds. A 6 year old should be able to hold this position for 46 seconds!

Documents

Pincer Grip Activitieswestcoastldc.wa.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Fine...3. Knead into a ball. 4. Make a well in the ball of dough and add a few drops of food colouring, knead