Taut String Barrier Push
Purpose
This activity helps strengthen your child's hand and finger muscles. Pushing a stick through resistant yarn provides heavy work input (proprioception). This sensory feedback is calming and helps the child feel where their hand is in space. Holding the cardboard steady while pushing the stick with the other hand builds essential bilateral coordination. This is important for tasks like tying shoes or cutting paper.
Activity Steps
Steps:
- An adult should cut a sturdy rectangle from the cardboard. Use markers to draw a simple picture on the cardboard, like a big car or boat.
- Wrap several lengths of string or yarn tightly across the cardboard surface. Crisscross the strings both horizontally and vertically to create a resistant ‘gate’ barrier over the picture.
- Secure the ends of the string firmly with tape on the back of the cardboard. Ensure the strings are taut and resistant.
- Place the yarn gate barrier flat on a table. Ask your child to hold the cardboard firmly with their helper hand to keep it stable.
- Pick up one craft stick. Challenge your child to use the stick to push and weave straight through the resistant yarn gate until the stick is completely past the barrier.
- Encourage strong, controlled pushes. Repeat the process to push all the sticks through the resistant strings and fill the picture.
Safety Tip:
Constant and direct adult supervision is required. Craft sticks and small pieces of tape or string are small objects. They pose a choking hazard for children under five.
X
![]()
