Skill: Hand Dexterity

How skillful and quick the fingers are when handling small objects. Good dexterity helps with tying shoes, handling coins, and manipulating fasteners.

Small Button Box

Take 4oz putty container or container of equal size with a lid and use scissors or box cutter to slice a 2 inch x 1/8 or 1/4 inch rectangular slot into the top of the lid.

Place sticky back Velcro hook on bottom of container. Wrap a Velcro hook strap around the child’s chest or abdomen. The small constructed “Button Box” is placed on the Velcro strap on the child. The angle of the slot can be changed to suit the child’s abilities or needs.

Have the child use appropriate grasp to pick up buttons or coins of various sizes and place into the button box on self.

This activity can be modified in many ways to suit the child’s needs:
– Adjusting size or shape of the slot to accommodate the items placed inside.
– Weights can be used for upper extremity strengthening.
– Markers can be used to provide color around slot hole for children with Visual Perceptual difficulties.
– The items placed in the slots can vary in size, shape, density, and texture for added ease or difficulty

Paper Roll Sheep

Cut out an oval for the head of the sheep from the construction paper using the scissors.

The oval should be about half the length of the toilet roll tube.

Stick masking tape on the underside of the head and stick onto the inside of the tube. Then put some on the top of the head and onto the top of the tube.

Paint the head using black paint and stick on the wiggle eyes.

Take the masking tape and stick two of the sticks on each side of the tube to create legs.

Cover the tube in glue and stick on the cotton balls.

Colorful Bookmark

Let the child trace or draw a 3″ x 10″ rectangle (if you want to work on cutting curves, you may draw wiggly lines instead of straight ones). Have the child cut the rectangle out.

Using a single hole hole-puncher, assist the child in punching a hole in the top part of the rectangle. Then, have the child thread a piece of yarn through the hole.

Using the markers and stickers, let the child decorate the bookmark and make it colorful.

Additional ideas for decorating the bookmark:
1. Have the child crumble small pieces of tissue paper
2. Cut/trace a 2.5″ x 9″ rectangle with white printer paper, and glue onto the center within the 3″ x 10″ construction paper.
3. Have the child cut out pictures that he likes from newspaper and magazines
4. Laminate the bookmarks to preserve them!

Dot Dot Paint

Draw a picture on the construction paper. The picture could be anything that the child likes.

Provide the child with different colors of Tempera Paint.

Use the q-tips to paint your picture by dipping the tips into the paint and making little dots on your picture.

Yarn Painting

Draw a geometric shape or a picture on the paper and fold it in half (i.e. square, pumpkin, a person, butterfly, etc.). Let the child cut out the picture and open the paper.

Cut a piece of yarn (about 6-inch long). Put paint into the container and ask the child to dip one end of the yarn in the paint while holding on to the other end. Instruct the child to place the painted end of the yarn on one side of the paper, at the top. Fold the paper again and tell the child to pull the yarn out, from the bottom.

Open the folded paper, place the painted yarn at the top again, fold the paper, and pull the yarn out. Repeat these steps until the picture is painted.

You can use different colors and cut a piece of yarn for each color the child is using.