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.

Foil Smash Target

Foil Smash Target

Steps:

  • Set up the target zone: Tape a large piece of Construction Paper vertically to a door or wall at your child’s chest height. Use Masking Tape to create a fun target shape (like a star or circle) on the paper, making sure the sticky side faces OUT toward the child.
  • Prep the ‘ammo’: Give the child a sheet of Aluminium Foil. Encourage them to use both hands to tear the foil into small, postage-stamp-sized pieces. Tearing foil requires great strength!
  • Crumple and compress: Challenge the child to take each foil piece and squeeze it into the tightest, densest little ball (a ‘foil marble’) they can make, using only their fingertips. Place the finished balls in a Plastic Container.
  • Get into position: Have your child lie on their tummy on the floor (prone position) directly facing the sticky target. Their shoulders and elbows should be supporting their weight.
  • Smash the target: Ask the child to pick up one foil marble at a time and use a firm, whole-hand push to stick it onto the exposed sticky tape. Try to cover the entire target zone with heavy foil balls!

Safety Tip:
Due to the potential choking risk associated with small, dense foil balls, constant adult supervision is required. Ensure the child maintains a safe, stable prone position and does not lift their hips too high.

Bubble Wrap Architect Challenge

Preschool boy using bilateral hand use and concentration to pierce bubble wrap with a craft stick.

Steps:

  • Cut the bubble wrap into various sizes (squares, rectangles). Encourage your child to use both hands, one to stabilize the wrap, and the other to carefully tear smaller pieces off for better bilateral practice.
  • Ask your child to use their dominant hand to push the craft sticks straight through the air pockets of the bubble wrap, aiming for the satisfying ‘pop!’ This provides great auditory feedback and proprioceptive input.
  • Challenge them to build 3D structures (towers, houses, animals) by connecting multiple pieces of bubble wrap together using the craft sticks as sturdy connectors. Encourage them to work while kneeling or lying on their tummy for added core strength!

Safety Tip:
Always supervise this activity closely. Ensure that the child handles the craft sticks safely, using them only to connect the bubble wrap and not as toys for poking.

Sticker Garden Peel

Sticker Garden Peel

Steps:

  • Prepare the ‘garden’ by firmly taping a small piece of cardboard (or a stiff paper plate) to the table surface or high chair tray using masking tape. Securing the surface helps the child focus purely on peeling.
  • Place several easy-to-peel stickers (like dot stickers or large character stickers) onto the cardboard surface. Place them far enough apart that the child must target one at a time.
  • Encourage your child to use just their thumb and pointer finger (pincer grasp) to try and peel the sticker off the cardboard. Provide verbal cues like, ‘Use your pinching fingers!’
  • Once peeled, the child can practice sticking the sticker onto another piece of paper or directly onto a designated container. This shift between peeling and sticking promotes bilateral hand coordination (stabilizing the paper/container with the non-working hand).

Safety Tip:
Due to the small size of many stickers, ensure close adult supervision at all times, as stickers can be a choking hazard if placed in the mouth. Only use high-quality stickers that peel cleanly.

Felt Slot Feed

Felt Slot Feed

Steps:

  • Adult Prep: Cut a felt square to cover the container opening. Glue the felt securely onto the container rim, creating a lid.
  • Cut 4 to 6 short, narrow slits (about 1 inch long) into the center of the felt lid. These slits must be tight.
  • Give your child a sheet of construction paper. Encourage them to use both hands to tear the paper into small pieces (about stamp-sized).
  • Ask your child to hold the container steady with their helper hand to provide proximal stability.
  • Challenge them to use a strong finger push to insert one torn paper piece through a narrow felt slot.
  • Continue feeding the container until all the torn paper scraps are successfully pushed through the resistant felt slots.

Safety Tip:
Adult supervision is required when using scissors. The torn paper pieces are small and pose a potential choking hazard for children who still place objects in their mouths.

Slot & Stitch Sculpture

Slot & Stitch Sculpture

Steps:

  • Prepare the structure ‘parts’ by cutting several index cards into different shapes (squares, rectangles, triangles). Then, cut small, narrow slots (about 1/4 inch deep) into the edges of each card. (Adult help required for cutting slots.)
  • Challenge your child to connect the slotted cards by sliding them into each other to create a 3D structure, like a tall building, a bridge, or a fun abstract sculpture.
  • Using the hole puncher, encourage your child to punch several holes around the edges of the assembled structure. Remind them to hold the structure steady with one hand while squeezing the puncher with the other to strengthen their grasp.
  • Give your child long pieces of yarn. Demonstrate how to weave the yarn through the punched holes to ‘stitch’ the structure together, reinforcing the corners and decorating their sculpture with color.

Safety Tip:
Always supervise the use of child-safe scissors. Yarn and small pieces of index card can pose a choking hazard for children who still mouth objects; ensure all pieces are kept away from the mouth.