Your Kids OT
  • HOME
    • Telehealth OT
    • Wheel Decide
    • YKOT You-Tube Library
    • Direct Therapy Services
  • Blog
    • Articles >
      • Activities of Daily Living
      • Technology for OT
      • Bilateral Coordination
      • Cognition and Concepts
      • Executive Functioning
      • Fine Motor Skills
      • Gross Motor Skills
      • Handwriting and Writing
      • Homemade >
        • Arts and Craft
        • Kids in the Kitchen
        • Christmas
      • Play
      • Sensory Modulation Skills
      • Social Emotional Learning and Regulation
      • Visual Perceptual Skills
  • Shop
  • About
    • Contact >
      • Contact
      • eNewsletter Subscription
  • HOME
    • Telehealth OT
    • Wheel Decide
    • YKOT You-Tube Library
    • Direct Therapy Services
  • Blog
    • Articles >
      • Activities of Daily Living
      • Technology for OT
      • Bilateral Coordination
      • Cognition and Concepts
      • Executive Functioning
      • Fine Motor Skills
      • Gross Motor Skills
      • Handwriting and Writing
      • Homemade >
        • Arts and Craft
        • Kids in the Kitchen
        • Christmas
      • Play
      • Sensory Modulation Skills
      • Social Emotional Learning and Regulation
      • Visual Perceptual Skills
  • Shop
  • About
    • Contact >
      • Contact
      • eNewsletter Subscription

Developing Hand Strength for Scissor Skills, Handwriting and More!

22/4/2017

 
Picture
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
Picture
 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!

Picture
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?


Picture
Picture
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.

You may also like:
Picture
Picture
Picture

Your Kids OT © 2025, All Rights Reserved
ABN: 84803478584

AHPRA OT REGISTRATION # OCC 0001765196
www.yourkidsot.com


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Hi, I'm Cindy and I am an Occupational Therapist. I enjoy working creatively with children to see them reach their potential. Read more about me here.

    Picture
    Picture
    SEARCH THIS SITE

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All
    Acessibility Notes
    Alphabet
    Ask An OT
    Bilateral-coordination
    Bilateral-coordination
    Christmas
    Concepts And Cognition
    Easter
    Evidence Based Practice
    Fine Motor
    Freebie
    Functional Skills For Kids
    Giveaway
    Gross Motor
    Guest Blogger
    Handwriting And Writing
    Homemade
    Interoception
    Kids In The Kitchen
    Lego-challengee27c5a2753
    Meme
    Organisation
    Other
    Ot Profession
    OT Resources
    Pencil Grasp
    Play
    Printable
    Regulation
    Reviews
    Rewards And Motivation
    School
    Scissor Skills
    Self Help Skills
    Sensory
    Social Skills
    Visual-perception
    Visual-perception
    Website Spotlight
    Welcome
    World Ot Day
    YKOT Shop
    Your Kids Therapy Ideas

    Popular Posts

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Visit Your Kids OT's profile on Pinterest.

Join the YKOT e-newsletter!

Subscribe to get our latest content by email and receive

the SHAPE ROADS PRINTABLE NOW!

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription and receive your free printable!

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Join our Mailing List!

Subscribe to get our latest content by email and receive

the SHAPE ROADS PRINTABLE NOW as a thankyou!

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription and receive your free printable!

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit
Disclaimer: The information on this site is general in nature and should be used for educational  and entertainment purposes. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions.  This blog does not replace formal therapeutic professional advice given by a health professional or medical practitioner.  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. Content, advertising space or posts will be clearly identified if paid, affiliated or sponsored.  Affiliate links may  be found throughout this website in advertising. This means that if you follow through with a purchase from these links, Your Kids OT will receive a percentage of the sale. Your Kids OT undertakes to meet the requirements of the "Social Media Policy" as published by Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).  Further information about this policy can be found here.

Find me


Follow me

Visit Your Kids OT's profile on Pinterest.
Picture

About me

Author

Hi, I'm Cindy and I am an Occupational Therapist. I enjoy working creatively with children to see them reach their potential. Read more about me here.

Picture
Copyright © 2025 Your Kid OT