Developing Hand Strength for Scissor Skills, Handwriting and More!

Ever have an arm wrestle?  or pulled in a "tug of war"?  or have you tried indoor rock climbing?

These activities all require a significant amount of upper body, hand and finger strength. We might not all win arm wrestles ... but we all require adequate strength in our arms, hands and fingers to perform daily activities. 

Children need adequate hand and finger strength to carry out their daily "jobs" such as writing, using scissors, doing up buttons and using a knife and fork.  When muscles in the hands are strong, children can hold tools for longer and use them more efficiently.

If a child has weak hand muscles they may tire quickly (giving up) or swap hands (to give the other hand a turn). In using scissors, they may have difficulty opening and closing their hand adequately to cut the page or drive their scissors forward.  In using a knife and fork, children with weak hand muscles may not be able to apply adequate pressure to stabilize or cut the food properly. In handwriting, children with weak hand muscles may have difficulty applying pressure to their pencils or they may not be able to write as much as others.

Some children may have poor hand and finger strength due to low muscle tone, developmental delay or a neurological condition.   There are sometimes no known cause for a child's hand weakness, however medical advice should be sought if you are concerned.

Activities which help with the development of strength involve some weight bearing or resistance.  They involve pushing or pulling and may also be considered "heavy work" when looking at a sensory diet.  Read more about sensory diets here. 

You could try the following activities to encourage the development of strength!

Upper Body Strength and Stability(hands, arms and shoulders).

1. Wheelbarrow walks
2. Animal walks (crab, bear, etc)
3. Crawling through tunnels, over cushions, under thin mattresses, etc (read more about the benefits of crawling here)
4. Hanging and swinging from monkey bars (or trees limbs)
5. Working on a vertical surface (eg. painting, drawing, washing windows, using easels/whiteboards) or even lying on the floor to work on the underside of a table (place some paper on the surface first).
6. Hanging and swinging on trapeze rings or bars
7. Overhead flying fox or zip line
8. Climbing upwards on a slide
9. Walking a ball "up a wall" with one's hands without dropping it
10. Push-ups (can be modified on knees)
11. Plank (can be modified on knees or over a small therapy ball)
12. Scooter board activities lying prone over the board
13. Therapy ball activities lying prone over the ball
14. Throwing and catching a basketball (or similar)
15. Pulling on a rope
16. Chair push-ups (from a seated position, lifting whole body up from a chair with arms straight)
17. Pulling a wagon of toys
18. Lifting school chairs onto a table
19. Woodwork activities such as hammering or sawing
20. Carrying buckets of water or sand

 Hand and Finger (Pinch) Grip Strength

1. Squish, squeeze, poke and manipulate play dough or putty (Read more play dough ideas here.)
2. Play with rubber bands (use geoboards, make them in a rubber band ball, wrap them around a tennis ball can, etc)
3. Pulling apart construction toys (such as Duplo bricks, LEGO bricks or pop beads)
4. Squeeze  "popper toys"
5. Squeeze stress balls or other fidget toys
6. Use tongs to squeeze and grasp small objects (such as pom poms or blocks)
7. Scrunch newspaper or other paper into balls and throw them
8. Tear and rip paper into small shreds
9. Sharpen pencils with a hand held pencil sharpener (Read why I don't want teachers to sharpen pencils for their kids here.)
10. Squeeze a hand-held hole puncher or craft punch
11. Squeeze a sponge to soak up water and squeeze out the water again (ie. washing outdoor toys or furniture)
12. Squeeze bath toys
    
13. Squeeze juice from an orange (or other fruit)
14. Squeeze a water spray bottle  to water plants or spray paint
15. Help to grate vegetables (ie. carrots, zucchini)
16. Help to use a sifter that has a squeezable handle (Read more about the benefits of having kids in the kitchen here.)
17. Pushing hands directly with another child or adult
18. Squeezing clothes pin (pegs) in games or to hang out laundry
19. Playing with wind-up toys
20. Using eye-droppers to transfer water

For even more suggestions for building hand strength read more pincer grip ideas here! Read about heavy work for little fingers HERE!

These hand strengthening activities are a great way to get hands ready for handwriting, scissor skills and more!

Does your child struggle with the strength needed to carry out daily "jobs"?  Are they constantly "swapping hands"? What is your favourite way to help develop hand strength?

Cindy  Chuan is a registered Occupational Therapist practising in Sydney Australia.  She has two young children who are a constant source of inspiration and learning.  Cindy loves working creatively to help children to reach their potential, finding opportunities in everyday living and making learning fun.

Cindy is the author of the Occupational Therapy blog Your Kids OT.

Disclosure: Affiliate links are included in this article to promote products that I recommend. This means that if you follow through with a purchase from these links, Your Kids OT will receive a percentage of the sale.   Reviews and endorsements of products will only be made based on my expertise and personal opinion; and deemed worthy of such endorsement. The opinions shared in sponsored content will always be my own and not that of the advertising company or brand.

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