Foam Spike Pom-Pom Insert
Purpose
This activity is a fantastic way to give your child's hands a heavy work workout. Cutting through the thick foam provides powerful sensory feedback (proprioception), which helps strengthen the small muscles inside the hands. These intrinsic muscles are essential for precise tasks like buttoning and pencil control. Once the 'spikes' are created, the job shifts to precision. Your child uses a neat pincer grasp to maneuver the pom-poms into the tight slits. This transition from hard work (cutting) to fine control (insertion) challenges their ability to grade force and improves bilateral hand use, preparing their hands for complicated daily tasks.
Activity Steps
Steps:
- Secure the foam sheet firmly onto a piece of construction paper using masking tape. This stabilizes the work surface.
- Use a marker to draw 10 to 15 short, straight lines (these are your ‘spike’ targets) randomly across the foam sheet’s surface.
- Challenge your child to hold the foam steady with their helper hand. Use child-safe scissors to snip along each drawn marker line. Squeezing through the resistant foam requires strong effort!
- Pick up one pom-pom using a precise pincer grasp (thumb and pointer finger).
- Carefully aim the soft pom-pom at one of the newly snipped slits. Use controlled force to push the pom-pom halfway into the slit, turning the foam into a colorful, spiky cushion.
- Repeat this inserting action until the entire foam surface is covered in pom-pom ‘spikes’.
Safety Tip:
Constant and direct adult supervision is required when using scissors. Ensure that the child uses the scissors only for cutting the foam. Small pom-poms are used in this activity and pose a potential choking hazard for young children. Collect all small materials immediately after play.
