Tight Band Tunnel Clip

Ages:: Preschoolers (3 to 5)
Play time:: 10 to 15 minutes
Setup:: 5 minutes
Where:: Table

Why it helps

Squeezing clothespins open again and again builds finger strength and endurance for tasks like cutting and drawing. Clipping onto a narrow rim and onto slanted bands asks your child to aim and line up each pinch. The helper hand holds the board steady, so both hands work as a team.

Steps

Before play, stand the paper roll upright in the middle of the cardboard and tape around its base so it stays put.
Fold each pipe cleaner in half and twist it into a short, stiff band. Make four bands.
Tape one end of each band partway up the roll and the other end to the cardboard, so the bands slant out tight like tent ropes.
Ask your child to hold the cardboard steady with their helper hand. Show your child how to squeeze a clothespin open wide and clip it onto the top rim of the roll.
Keep clipping all the way around the rim until the top of the roll is ringed with clothespins.
Next, ask your child to clip clothespins along each tight band, from the roll down to the cardboard.
To finish, ask your child to squeeze each clothespin open to take it off.

Safety tip: Clothespins can pinch, so show your child where to hold them. Fold the sharp pipe cleaner tips under the tape, and stay close during play.

Make it easier

Use plastic clothespins with a softer spring that open with less squeeze.
Hold the paper roll for your child so they can use both hands on each clothespin.
Start with three clothespins around the rim instead of filling the whole rim.

Make it harder

Clip the clothespins around the rim in a color pattern.
Open each clothespin with only the thumb and pointer finger.
Take the clothespins off one by one using the non-dominant hand.

What to watch for

Notice which fingers squeeze the clothespin and whether your child changes grip as the hand gets tired.
Watch the wrist. A wrist tipped slightly back gives the fingers more squeeze power than a wrist bent forward.
If the snap of the clothespin startles your child, show how to let it close slowly.