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.

Sticky Pom-Pom Push

Steps:

  • Prepare your ‘sticky canvas’ by securing long strips of masking tape to a wall or a safe vertical surface (like a refrigerator or door). The key is to place the tape so the sticky side faces OUT toward the child.
  • Place a basket or container of pom-poms next to the child. Encourage them to pick up the pom-poms using their thumb and fingertips (pincer control).
  • Ask your child to stick the pom-poms onto the tape, using a firm push to make sure they stick. Challenge them to reach up, down, and across their body to fill the entire sticky surface!
  • When finished, the child can peel the pom-poms off the tape, which provides great resistance and further works those intrinsic hand muscles.

Safety Tip:
Ensure the child is supervised, especially when reaching up high. Make sure the tape is placed at an appropriate height where the child is not required to over-extend dangerously.

Tacky Tape Puzzle Pull-Off

A preschooler uses fine motor skills and a pincer grasp to pull a pom-pom off tacky masking tape on a vertical surface, demonstrating the Tacky Tape Puzzle Pull-Off activity for improved shoulder stability and hand strength.

Steps:

  • Tape a piece of construction paper vertically to a door or wall using masking tape. This is your ‘puzzle board.’
  • Use small loops of masking tape to stick several pom-poms and stickers onto the construction paper. Make sure they are secure enough to stay put but loose enough to be pulled off with some effort.
  • Challenge your preschooler to ‘rescue’ the materials from the tacky tape! Encourage them to stand and use both hands—one hand to stabilize the paper and the other hand to pull the items off using a pincer grasp.
  • For an added challenge, hide small plastic animals or lightweight blocks under larger pieces of tape, requiring more effort and bilateral hand use to tear the tape away.

Safety Tip:
Always supervise vertical activities to ensure the child does not climb or lean heavily on the surface. Check that the masking tape used does not damage the wall or door finish upon removal.

Color Codes

This color-coding activity provides the child with a fun chance to address fine motor skills and bilateral coordination.

Preparation:

Step 1: Draw different code sheets, such as the one shown in the picture.
Step 2: Cut a portion of the pool noodle.
Step 3: Have insert the golf ball tees into the pool noodle to imitate the code.

*Be sure to provide necessary assistance as the bottom of the golf ball tee is pointed.

Dinosaur Feet

The purpose of this activity is to promote visual motor skills and spatial awareness, as it pertains to directionality (i.e. above, below, to the right of, to the left of, etc.).

Preparation:

Step 1: Cut out colored paper into “dinosaur feet.”
Step 2: Arrange stickers on one dinosaur foot.
Step 3: Have your child imitate the exact pattern with stickers on the opposite foot.

Size Triangles

The purpose of this activity is to promote fine motor skills and visual motor skills. You can use Post-Its, paper, newspaper, or construction paper to complete this activity.

Preparation:

Step 1: Have the child fold a Post-It, corner to corner to create the “big triangle.”
Step 2: Have the child complete step 1 two times to create the “medium triangle.”
Step 3: Have the child complete step 1 three times to create the “small triangle.”

To increase the challenge, have the child accurately aim to match the corner to corner & press down on each fold as much as they can.