Increasing Hand Strength in your Child

*Fill balloons with material (flour, rice, cornstarch or beans) and tie to make a small ball. They will be "squishy" so your child can "squeeze" them.

*Use hole punches, staplers, and compasses to provide resistance for hand strengthening.

*Have your child (with your supervision) carry heavy cases with thick handles (purses, small suitcases, brief cases, etc.)

*Have your child help put away groceries.

*Crumple 1/2 sheet of newspaper in one hand and playing basketball with a waste basket.

*Use empty plastic squeeze bottles (ketchup, syrup, etc) for water fun in the tub or outside.

*Squishy bath toys that spray water in the tub.

*Water gun/ spray bottle activities (spray outdoor plants, spray targets or designs on paper made with water soluable markers, etc.)

*Use bubble packing wrap to pinch and pop the bubbles.

*Pull apart toys to provide resistence. ie: Legos, Snap Blocks, Bristle Blocks, Pop Beads, etc.

*Use ink stamps to make art projects, designs, cards, notes, etc.

*Use pushpins with corkboard to disply artwork or make designs.

*Push ar pull toys, games with large push buttons.

@PlayDoh Activities:

Use rolling pins to flatten playdough

Roll into snakes and pinch with fingers

Hide small objects (coins, beads, etc) in a ball of dough and have your child find them and pull them out.

Make pea sized balls using only index finger and thumb

Use toothpicks or golf tees to make designs or pens for small farm/zoo animals in the flattened dough

Cutting dough with a plastic knife, scissors, or pizza cutter (supervised)

Handwriting Posture and Grip

Between the ages of four and four and a half and six, most children develop a mature pencil grasp (called a dynamic tripod grasp). Once this has occurred and your child shows a preferred hand for holding pencils and an interest in writing, handwriting instructions can successfully begin.
Giving attention to your child's writing environment at home will have a major impact on the quality of work your child is able to produce.

FURNITURE: The table and chair your child uses should be the proper height. They should allow your child's knees to fit comfortably under the table, feet to be flat on the floor, and about three-quarters of the lower arm to rest on the table top. The chair should be placed so your child faces the desk squarely. The table for a left-handed writer should be about two inches lower than for a right-handed writer. This helps the left-handed writer to see what he or she has written.

POSTURE: Your child's posture is important for comfort and legibility. He or she should sit with feet flat on the floor, back straight, and leaning slighly forward.

PAPER: Provide paper similar to that used by your child at school. In Kindergarten we will begin writing on blank spaces, without lines. Later we will add line paper.

For a right-handed child, the paper is placed directly infront of the child and slanted to the left. the child should place his or her free hand on the top of the peper to keep it steady on the desk.

For the left-handed child, the paper is placed in front of the child's left shoulder and slanted to the right, placing his/her free hand at the top of the paper.

PENCILS: The pencil should be gripped lightly with the forefinger and thumb and should rest on the third finger. The hand should face down.

The right-handed child should grip the pencil one inch from the point.

The left-handed child should grip the pencil one and one-half inches from the point.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child's posture or grip, please let me know!

Thanks so much!

Scissor Skill Progress

Progression for cutting (ages 3-6)
Snips with scissors
Makes consecutive cuts 2" 4" 6" Paper in half
Cut on broad line 2" 4" 6" Paper in half
Cut on narrow line
Cut on gradual curve, building to varying curves
Cut on zigzag broad to narrow
Cut simple shapes

Cutting on heavy paper (cardstock) is easier than paper. The lighter weight the paper the harder it is to cut.

Lucky Lady Bugs

http://www.geocities.com/sseagraves/ladybugfacts.htm