Color Drop Towers
- Play time:
- 10 to 15 minutes
- Setup:
- 10 minutes
- Where:
- Table
Why it helps
This fun precision activity is designed to strengthen the tiny muscles in the hand (intrinsic muscles) that control pencil grip. Using the eyedropper requires a strong pincer grasp and excellent eye-hand coordination to aim the liquid into the small target.
Steps
- Press the playdough into a thick, flat pancake on a placemat.
- Push six to eight golf tees into the playdough, pointed end down, so the small cups on top face up. These are the towers.
- Pour a little water into two or three paper cups and add a few drops of a different food coloring to each one.
- Show your child how to squeeze the eyedropper bulb, dip the tip in the colored water, and slowly let go to fill it.
- Ask your child to hold the dropper over a tower and squeeze gently to let out one drop into the little cup on top.
- Count together how many drops each tower holds before it spills over. Try a drop of blue and a drop of yellow in the same tower to make green.
- When the towers are full, pull out the tees, shake them off over the sink, and play again.
Safety tip: Golf tees are pointed and playdough is not food, so stay close and keep both away from mouths. Food coloring can stain skin, clothes, and tables, so protect your work area.
Need personalized support?
While these activities are great for home practice, nothing replaces the guidance of a licensed therapist. If you are in Irvine, CA or the Orange County area and have concerns about your child's Distal Finger Control, we invite you to connect with us.
Contact Tumble N' Dots Therapy →These activities are for home practice and don't replace the guidance of a licensed therapist.
