Cap Twister Rings
Purpose
This fun twisting activity strengthens the small hand muscles and forearm rotation (pronation and supination), which are critical skills for tasks like opening bottles, turning doorknobs, and managing self-dressing fasteners.
Activity Steps
Steps:
- Prep: An adult should cut the pipe cleaners into small 4-inch strips. Place the container and the strips on the table.
- Show the child how to firmly hold the body of the plastic container steady with one hand (the helper hand) to ensure it doesn’t move.
- Demonstrate how to take a pipe cleaner strip and use the fingertips of the other hand to tightly twist and wrap it around the ridges of the container cap, creating a tight ring.
- Challenge the child to continue wrapping the pipe cleaner strips until the entire cap is covered in colorful, tight rings.
- For extra practice, encourage the child to use the opposite rotation (untwisting and unwinding) to remove all the pipe cleaner rings before starting the challenge again.
Safety Tip:
Adult supervision is required. Since this activity involves pipe cleaners cut into small pieces, they can pose a potential choking hazard and should be immediately collected and stored safely after the activity.
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