Skill: Bilateral Hand Use

The ability to use both hands together as a team. We use this for almost everything, like holding the paper with one hand while cutting with the other, or buttoning a shirt.

Rainbow Fish

On the paper plate, draw a V shape, starting at the edge of the plate and pointing to the center of the plate (once the child cuts this part, it will be used as the fish’s tail). Ask the child to cut the lines (provide assistance as needed) and glue the “triangle” to the paper plate, forming the fish.

Have the child use the water colors to paint the fish, using as many colors as he wishes. Let the child glue a googly eye or draw an eye for the fish using a marker/crayon.

The painting can be done using water colors, tempera paint, markers, and even dot paint. To promote pincer grasp, let the child peel small stickers and decorate the fish with them.

Birthday Cake

1. Prep the Cake Dough Start by having your child “knead” the dough. Encourage them to use both hands to squash, roll, and flatten the play-dough into a thick cake shape. If you have a rolling pin, this is a great time to use it. Pressing down firmly provides calming sensory input to the joints and helps build the hand strength needed for tasks like opening containers or using scissors.

2. Decorate the Cake Once the cake is “baked” (flattened and shaped), it is time to decorate.

  • The Candles: Have your child push the cut straws into the dough. This requires a nice “pincer grasp” (using the thumb and index finger) and a bit of focus to get them standing upright.

  • The Sprinkles: Use the rice or sequins to decorate. Picking up these tiny items is excellent for developing precision and coordination.

3. The Birthday Celebration Take a moment to sing a favorite song and let your child “blow out” the candles. This adds a sweet social element to the activity and makes the hard work feel like a game.

4. The Straw Cleanup Challenge After the celebration, have your child pull the straws out. You will notice that some play-dough often gets stuck inside the straw. Give your child an unbent paper clip or a pipe cleaner and show them how to poke the “cake” out from the other end. This is a very focused fine motor task that requires steady hands and patience.

5. Cut and Serve If your child is working on using a knife and fork, use this time to practice. Have them hold the “cake” still with one hand (or a fork) while they use a plastic knife to cut slices. They can then practice the social steps of placing a slice on a plate and “serving” it to you or a favorite stuffed animal.

Why This Helps

This activity covers a lot of ground in one sitting. The initial rolling and squishing provide heavy work that can be very grounding for children. The decorating and straw-cleaning phases focus on fine motor control, while the cutting and serving portion builds independence with utensils and encourages imaginative social play.

Fall Foot Tree

Have the child trace their foot on brown construction paper to make the trunk of the tree. Then have the child trace their hand in different fall leaf colors. Have them glue on the pieces they cut onto a larger piece of construction paper. Provide assistance as needed. For older children, working on handwriting, place lined paper on the bottom of the tree, and have them write a story about the tree or about fall. Both older and younger children enjoy decorating the tree and its surroundings with tissue paper (crumbled), sequins, pom-poms, etc.

You can relate this activity to a specific holiday or the different seasons.

Therapy Snowman

Make two circles (one big and one small) from construction paper, to be used as stencils for the snowman’s body and face. You may also make a stencil for a hat.

Let the child trace the circles on a white construction paper and trace the hat on a piece of fabric.

If needed, trace the child’s circle to make a wider line to assist with cutting accuracy.

Ask the child to cut the traced shapes.

On a separate piece of construction paper, have the child glue the circles and the hat: the big circle on the bottom for the body and the small circle on the top for the snowman’s face.

Ask the child to draw the snowman’s face using markers or crayons.

Cut out a stripe from the tissue paper for the scarf and let the child glue it on the snowman.

For buttons, let the child glue pom-poms, buttons, or stickers on the big circle.

Use the wooden sticks or branches for hands.

If you wish to work on handwriting skills, let the child write a story about the snowman.

Multi Step Shamrock

Print and cut the provided picture below of a shamrock (about 7 inch in size). You will use this as your stencil.

Provide the child with a green or white page of construction paper.

Ask the child to trace the shamrock on his paper using the stencil you made.

Instruct the child to cut out the shamrock.

Allow the child to spread some glue over the shamrock he cut. You may use a paint brush or a craft stick if the child avoids sticky materials.

Place the different manipulatives in front of the child inside a shallow container or a paper plate.

Instruct the child to glue the different objects on the shamrock transferring the objects from the container to his paper using the tweezers or the tongs.

The child may also use his fingers to reinforce pincer grasp and in-hand manipulation skills.

You may also have the child crumble pieces of tissue paper into small ball to work on dexterity and strengthening of the small muscles in your child’s hands.