Cardboard Coin Mail
Purpose
This fun activity combines heavy work with precision. It offers wonderful feedback to the hand muscles. First, squeezing the hole puncher requires strong finger strength and bilateral coordination. This is great preparation for scissor skills later on. Second, picking up the stiff cardboard 'coins' and pushing them through a tight slot helps refine the pincer grasp. Your child practices grading their force when pushing the coin into the slot. This control is a foundational skill needed for tasks like buttoning and writing lightly with a pencil.
Activity Steps
Steps:
- Adult Prep: Use scissors to cut a narrow, horizontal slot (about 1 inch long) into the container lid. Secure the lid tightly onto the container with masking tape.
- Give your child the cardboard. Encourage them to hold the cardboard steady with their helper hand.
- Challenge them to squeeze the hole puncher forcefully onto the cardboard to create a big pile of small cardboard ‘coins.’ Squeezing hard provides deep muscle input!
- Ask your child to pick up one stiff cardboard coin using a neat pincer grasp (thumb and pointer finger).
- Hold the container steady with your helper hand. Aim the cardboard coin at the narrow slot.
- Use a strong, controlled push to mail the coin completely through the resistant slot. Repeat until all the coins are successfully delivered.
Safety Tip:
Constant and direct adult supervision is required. Hole punchers can pinch fingers if hands are misplaced. Ensure all small cardboard pieces are collected immediately after play, as they pose a choking hazard.
