hand strengthening Archives - Therapy Fun Zone https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/category/ot/hand-strengthening-ot/ Where Play is FUNctional Sun, 26 Oct 2025 20:35:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/cropped-tfz-icon-copy-copy-32x32.png hand strengthening Archives - Therapy Fun Zone https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/category/ot/hand-strengthening-ot/ 32 32 cutting out bats https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/cutting-out-bats/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/cutting-out-bats/#respond Sun, 26 Oct 2025 20:14:18 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=22724 This post may contain affiliate links.A couple of weeks ago, I spontaneously needed to run a preschool group center and had to come up with an activity to have at my table, so I quickly drew a spider that the kids could cut out an glue onto a spider web. I did it with my...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/cutting-out-bats/feed/ 0 Munchy Ball Motivation https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/munchy-ball-motivation/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/munchy-ball-motivation/#respond Sun, 24 Aug 2025 16:04:28 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=22701 This post may contain affiliate links.It happened again this week. I was assessing a student who was not interested in engaging with the items I was giving them. Would not even look at the pencil, markers, paper, blocks, pennies with coin slot, or any of my initial activities. The moment I brought out the Munchy...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/munchy-ball-motivation/feed/ 0 scanning manipulatives https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/scanning-manipulatives-2/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/scanning-manipulatives-2/#respond Sat, 14 Sep 2024 16:27:39 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=22676 This post may contain affiliate links.When I am working with a small group of kids, a great way to get them to slow down and listen to follow instructions is to have them scan the manipulatives for a specific one. I will pour out my little bag of manipulatives and make them wait before picking...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/scanning-manipulatives-2/feed/ 0 Munchy Ball with Garden Food https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/munchy-ball-with-garden-food/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/munchy-ball-with-garden-food/#respond Sun, 02 Jun 2024 00:54:12 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=21942 This post may contain affiliate links.I have a little bit of a manipulative hoarding problem. I just love a cute manipulative that will motivate kids to work on their hand coordination and strength. I have seen all of these cute little resin garden manipulatives and I put together a few that seem like they would...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/munchy-ball-with-garden-food/feed/ 0 Wriggleworms garden https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/wriggleworms-garden/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/wriggleworms-garden/#respond Sun, 10 Dec 2023 21:11:45 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=21725 This post may contain affiliate links.I found this cute game on Amazon and completely fell in love with it. The little worms are a rubbery texture and are different lengths. It is fairly easy to pull the worms out of their holes in the garden, but requires a bit more fine motor precision to get...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/wriggleworms-garden/feed/ 0 Back to school activities https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/back-to-school-activities/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/back-to-school-activities/#respond Sun, 27 Aug 2023 19:40:56 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=19818 This post may contain affiliate links.It is time to head back to school and I have been working on getting files organized and figuring out the best way to do notes and activities. I am starting out simple this year and have used the paper tearing crayon to have kids color the crayon, write their...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/back-to-school-activities/feed/ 0 Bimanual hand skills with munchy ball https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/bimanual-hand-skills-with-munchy-ball/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/bimanual-hand-skills-with-munchy-ball/#respond Mon, 20 Feb 2023 20:28:49 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=19748 This post may contain affiliate links.Munchy Ball is the kids I work with and my favorite way to work on using two hands together. It is fun and simple, but can be made more complex by making a game of it. It is also easy to grade by giving help. Check out all of the...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/bimanual-hand-skills-with-munchy-ball/feed/ 0 Using Pennies and Coins in Therapy https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/using-pennies-and-coins-in-therapy/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/using-pennies-and-coins-in-therapy/#respond Sun, 01 Jan 2023 21:50:53 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=19701 This post may contain affiliate links.When doing online therapy for a year during the pandemic, it really made me scale down my supplies because the student and I both had to have the same supplies to use. I used a lot of household items that were easy for both the family and I to have...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/using-pennies-and-coins-in-therapy/feed/ 0 Prickly Animals for Fine Motor https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/prickly-animals-for-fine-motor/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/prickly-animals-for-fine-motor/#comments Sun, 18 Aug 2019 15:04:55 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=14128 This post may contain affiliate links.I wanted to work on in-hand manipulation along with pushing objects into playdoh to really target those fine motor skills. I made some little prickly animals that I can put playdoh or kinetic sand into in order to make a resistive activity for poking. I made a porcupine, hedgehog, puffer...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/prickly-animals-for-fine-motor/feed/ 2 Using a squeeze bulb for fine motor gardening https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/using-a-squeeze-bulb-for-fine-motor-gardening/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/using-a-squeeze-bulb-for-fine-motor-gardening/#respond Tue, 09 Jul 2019 21:03:05 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=13168 This post may contain affiliate links.The whole act of gardening is good for both the body and soul. Getting your hands dirty in the soil and digging is great for working your hands and for sensory calming. Pulling out vegetables and pulling out weeds can work the arms and trunk, but you can also work...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/using-a-squeeze-bulb-for-fine-motor-gardening/feed/ 0 What is up with the ASD finger wrap pencil grasp? https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/what-is-up-with-the-asd-finger-wrap-pencil-grasp/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/what-is-up-with-the-asd-finger-wrap-pencil-grasp/#comments Mon, 24 Jun 2019 03:42:13 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=12774 This post may contain affiliate links.Have you noticed that a lot of students with autism hold their pencil with 4 fingers wrapped up the barrel of the pencil, and their thumb is pressed straight into the pencil. This grasp is not just specific to students with Autism, as the kids who use it generally have...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/what-is-up-with-the-asd-finger-wrap-pencil-grasp/feed/ 3 Clay Writing Board https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/clay-writing-board/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/clay-writing-board/#respond Wed, 17 Apr 2019 20:25:27 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=12461 This post may contain affiliate links. Have you ever wanted to add resistance for strengthening the writing muscles of the hands? Writing in clay is a perfect way to do this. This week we made letters out of clay/playdoh, and had the kids write letters on a clay tracing board. I used a little chalkboard...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/clay-writing-board/feed/ 0 Fruit Munching Fine Motor Activies https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/fruit-munching-fine-motor-activies/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/fruit-munching-fine-motor-activies/#comments Mon, 18 Mar 2019 02:27:44 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=12273 This post may contain affiliate links.The kids have been having fun feeding Munchy Ball mini fruit, and I have come up with several games for the kids to play in order to work on specific skills. I had made dice that have one of the fruit types on each side of the die so that...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/fruit-munching-fine-motor-activies/feed/ 2 A smaller munchy ball pet https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/a-smaller-munchy-ball-pet/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/a-smaller-munchy-ball-pet/#respond Wed, 26 Dec 2018 17:20:26 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=12186 This post may contain affiliate links.For some little hands, the Munchy Ball is a little too big, and a bit hard to squeeze but it works on so many great skills.  I have searched for smaller balls to use, but have not had any success in finding ones that would work. When working with one...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/a-smaller-munchy-ball-pet/feed/ 0 Big mouth creature for feeding pom poms to https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/big-mouth-creature-for-feeding-pom-poms-to/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/big-mouth-creature-for-feeding-pom-poms-to/#comments Wed, 17 Oct 2018 15:00:00 +0000 http://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=4042 This post may contain affiliate links.You can put manipulatives into any container, but when you make the container into a creature that is hungry, it makes it so much more fun to do the work. I saw this cute little creature on Pinterest, but it originally came from a blog called The Preschool Experiment.  He...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/big-mouth-creature-for-feeding-pom-poms-to/feed/ 2 My Favorite hand strengthening and writing combinations https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/my-favorite-hand-strengthening-and-writing-combinations/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/my-favorite-hand-strengthening-and-writing-combinations/#respond Sat, 19 May 2018 15:58:15 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=11889 This post may contain affiliate links.With short treatment times in school therapy, and lots to accomplish during that time, I will make good use of my time by combining a strengthening activity with a writing activity. You could think up many variations and pairings of hand strengthening and writing. My favorite includes letter beads, theraputty...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/my-favorite-hand-strengthening-and-writing-combinations/feed/ 0 Hand strengthening with everyday objects https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/hand-strengthening-with-everyday-objects/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/hand-strengthening-with-everyday-objects/#respond Thu, 29 Mar 2018 00:18:17 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=11865 This post may contain affiliate links.Hand strength is kind of a big deal, and most people just take it for granted, but when your hands are too weak to do simple everyday tasks, then you definitely want to do some strengthening. There are many tools that are made specifically for hand strengthening, such as therapy...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/hand-strengthening-with-everyday-objects/feed/ 0 Save the Dinosaurs fine motor game https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/save-dinosaurs-fine-motor-game/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/save-dinosaurs-fine-motor-game/#respond Mon, 13 Nov 2017 05:08:55 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=11683 This post may contain affiliate links.When I see kids for therapy, I like to make it a fun and motivating time to work on underlying skills and practice class skills (such as writing) in an interesting way. If we make it fun and interesting, then the kids are more likely to participate to the best...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/save-dinosaurs-fine-motor-game/feed/ 0 Hanging on a Trapeze Swing https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/hanging-trapeze-swing/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/hanging-trapeze-swing/#respond Mon, 09 Oct 2017 01:51:58 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=11560 This post may contain affiliate links.The trapeze swing is basically bar with two chains or ropes going up on each side to a center point to form a triangle, then a single rope going up to the swing mount. The benefit of this configuration is that the trapeze can swing around in a circle or...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/hanging-trapeze-swing/feed/ 0 Making Letters With Playdoh https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/making-letters-playdoh/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/making-letters-playdoh/#respond Mon, 02 Oct 2017 04:49:05 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=11534 This post may contain affiliate links.I have a couple little guys that always try to make the tail of the lower case g come down from the middle of the g. We practice it, we talk about it, and they are doing it right, then next time I see them, they are back to doing...

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