Search Results on Pincer Grip Activities

Ojas & Tejas were to do a lot of pincer grip activities to help them build their pencil hold. So like any other self respecting Internet user, yours truly diligently surfed the net (meaning the below post is a copy paste from various internet stuff) and came up with the following suggested activities. The italics are my thoughts for each suggested activity.

1. Use large tongs to transfer pompoms to a bowl, use sugar cube tongs to transfer beads between bowls, and then tweezers to transfer small flat shapes to a bowl.

I can truly picture my kids poking each other with teh various tongs I give- they will love the tweezers I am sure.

2. Use a large & a small syringe to transfer liquid between containers

Mmmh and have them mess the entire home with their penchant for playing with the dreaded liquid

3. Pouring liquids through funnel/ strainer

Lovely- another water activity

4. Sort beans of various sizes into separate heaps

When in doubt...ask. I just asked them- will you play with beans? They answered- no!

5. Spoon beans into bowls

See 4 above

6. Use a small spoon and place one marble in each section of an ice cube tray

And what do I do when they ask me for ice the moment they happen to notice I am carting an ice cube tray in their direction?

7. Painting. Try to alternate between large, stubby brushes and smaller, finer brushes. The smaller the brush is, the more control they need over their hands. Also try getting them to do some painting with cotton swabs. This affords some really fine work and allows them to develop their pincer grip; needed for learning how to write

First the Mom needs to develop her brush hlding skills- let me start with the eye liner brush
8. Peg Puzzles.

Already graduated that stage. Now what!

9. Playdough. Children will get some great fine motor skill exercise out of Playdough especially if you add some extra equipment such as rollers and cookie cutters.

Gulp. Not yet very hot on play-do. Only Mamma loves it. And who uses those delicate instruments- apna haath jagannath

10. Cutting. Bring out the scissors and some old magazines and let them get to work. Cutting requires a lot of coordination. For younger children who are just getting used to manipulating scissors, you can buy them without any metal. They are sharp enough to cut through paper but not much else.

Now that's an idea- we are already learning to cut our way through chips packets.

11. Threading. Buy some beads to thread or use some colored pasta and string. This activity requires a lot of control and a steady hand. Perfect practice for fine motor development.

Hmmm. I can picture the cries of frustration. (from Mamma)

12. Blocks. Start out with larger blocks and move your way towards the smaller variety. The smaller the blocks, the more control they need to develop. But be careful not to introduce blocks that are small too quickly – they will only get frustrated and give up.

Okay. On the knees, get set, and go and fish them out from everywhere in the house.