Hand Strengthening Activities

What can I do to help my child improve hand strength?

Your therapist will tell you which activities your child should do.  Be sure to supervise young children when doing these activities.

Have your child:

  • Play tug-of-war with a towel or small rope.
  • Pull a wagon with a friend or heavy toys in it. 
  • Hide objects in Playdoh® or Silly Putty. Knead it, squish it and roll it out.
  • Play with a squirt bottle in the bath.
  • Squeeze water from sponges.
  • Stack shoe boxes or plastic containers filled with heavy material like bags of dried noodles or beans.  
  • Snip different thicknesses of paper with a scissors.
  • Snip Playdoh or putty with scissors.
  • Help carry groceries. Have your child carry the bag close to their body/stomach.
  • Pop bubble wrap. 
  • Climb on monkey bars or playground equipment.
  • Color or write on vertical surface like a chalkboard or standing easel. 
  • Use small, broken crayons to color and write.
  • Turn over rows of pennies as fast as possible.
  • Use clothes pins to hang up clothes or art work on a piece of yarn or rope.
  • Use different size tongs or tweezers to pick up small items.