OT with Mrs Yarnal & Ms Ware

Back to School Edition, September 2022

Resources, Activities, & Ideas for an Organized & Fun-Filled School Year!

"handy" fine motor information

Posture Is So Important!

Students need stability before fine motor mobility. Try smaller furniture, seat cushions, a step stool under the feet, or back support! This is important at home and at school.

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THE CLAW!!!

Once of my Go-To grippers is called The Claw. It easily stretches to fit on most pencils, crayons, and markers! The child places their thumb and first two fingers inside the "cups" and this grippers helps the child maintain the tripod grasp. Great for kids that revert back to an awkward grasp when not being closely monitored.

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Twist N' Write Pencils!!!

The Twist N' Write pencil gives more stability for children with a weak grasp. It is ergonomically designed to feel very comfortable. You simply slip your index finger through the opening and rest your fingers along the sides. The sides of the pencil are actually erasers, which kids think is really fun!

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Slant Boards!!!

Writing on a sloped surface helps extend the wrist into a better position. It also improves posture. Try this with any student that may have visual issues or difficulty copying from the board too! This position helps with visual perception as well. You can make your own for school or home by using a big 3-ring binder and turning it sideways as in the picture!

Handy tricks for better grips!

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Use a clothespin

Have the child hold onto the clothes pin with the helper fingers. This helps create more stability to allow the "writing fingers" to do the work.

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Hide objects with helper fingers

Use a pompom, a coin, or a balled up tissue! Have the child hide it under the pinky and ring finger while writing. This will stabilize the pinky side of the hand and allow the "writing fingers" to move the pencil.

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break those crayons and pencils!

Use small chunks of broken crayons when coloring. Try using small golf pencils instead of those big pencils! The smaller the better because it will help the child use those pincher fingers more than their whole hand!

Have some fun with that fine motor!!!

The BEST way to improve pencil grip and hand function is to build up those hand muscles! Just like our big muscles need exercise, our little hand muscles do too!!! Strong hands are needed to cut, color, write, manage our clothing, and open those snacks at school! So here is a great website that gives many fun activities to work out those hands while having fun!

https://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/hand-exercises-for-kids.html