Push Pin Poke Drawing! Fun Fine Motor Activity!

Push pins!

You may have some handy for your bulletin board but have you used them to draw?

OTs love to use "push pins" as a tool for fine motor skill development, especially for encouraging a pincer grasp!  Read on to the find out all the great therapeutic benefits of this activity.

But first, what do you need to do?!

1. Get your templates at the Your Kids OT shop! Print them off.
2. Put a piece of paper over a cork mat. 
3. Place the chosen template page over both the paper and cork mat.
4. Use a push pin to poke small holes onto the template page. Use the non-dominant hand to support the pages so that it doesn't move.
Encourage your child to pinch the push pin so that they are not squeezing too hard. They need to apply just enough pressure to poke a small hole (not too hard otherwise the push pin stays in the cork mat). 
5. When all the holes for the picture have been "poked", hold the paper up to see the picture.  Kids love to see their created picture and many of my OT kids have place their pictures on their bedroom windows as art!

Therapeutic benefits!
There are so many skills that can be achieved with "push pin poke drawing"!

• Pincer grasp - A pinch between the thumb and index finger. The third finger may rest behind the push pin.
• Tripod grasp - Use of the thumb, index and third finger used together is called a tripod grasp.
• Open web space - Children can achieve a nice circular shape between the thumb and index finger with an open web space.
• Separation of the two sides of the hand - The fourth and fifth fingers are tucked under whilst the other fingers are used to hold and push the pin.
• Bilateral coordination - The non-dominant hand is used to stabilize the page.  If the page moves, the picture won't work so well.
• Grading pressure - Pressure applied to the page is very difficult to "teach". It involves the child being aware of the movement of their hand and using adequate force (usually for handwriting).  This activity encourages an awareness of pressure. If they apply too much pressure then the push pin gets stuck, too little pressure and they can't form a hole.
• Hand strength - This activity requires the work of the finger muscles in the thumb, index and third fingers.  It can become tiring over time, especially if your child is holding onto the push pin too hard or has weak hand muscles.  Most children will persevere to finish one or more pictures so that they can complete it, using those important finger muscles.
• Motor planning and visual spatial awareness - This activity requires some planning to start and finish the picture.  Ideally, the child moves sequentially from one dot to the next so that the whole picture is completed.  It also requires the child to "know" where their hand is in relation to the dots and "how" it is moving in space.
• Eye-hand coordination - Children need to coordinate what they see with what they do.  They need to look out for each dot and poke them one at a time.

All these skills are needed for complex hand tasks such as writing, drawing and cutting.  They are important "pre-writing" skills and can help with the development of an efficient functional pencil grasp as well as helping with the fluent control of the pencil needed for writing.   Did you read my recent article about my favourite fine motor toys needed for pencil grasp and handwriting? 

This activity is suitable for a wide range of ages.  I have used this with preschool-age children (about 4 years of age) and primary school-age children.  They have all loved it!

Supervision of the "push pin" is advisable so it may not work in a whole-class environment.  You could try toothpicks or bamboo skewers instead!

This activity is so much FUN! Don't take my word for it, you will have to try it out! 

Don't forget to get your templates from the Your Kids OT shop!  Also available from Teachers Pay Teachers.

Have you tried "push pin poke drawing?!

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 

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