Skill: In-hand Manipulation

Moving an object around inside one hand without using the other hand to help. This skill lets children pick up a coin and move it to their fingertips to put it in a piggy bank or flip a pencil around to use the eraser.

Beads for All

Provide the child with different size beads and encourage him to use only his thumb and index finger to pick up one bead at a time.

The child strings the beads using his dominant hand to manipulate the lace and his non-dominant hand to hold the bead.

You want to make sure the child does not stabilize his arms on the table or push his elbows into the sides of his body for stabilization.

Remember that stabilization should occur at the shoulders and make sure the elbows are a couple of inches away from the trunk.

Spaghetti Stringing

Using a paper cup, a styrofoam plate, or a piece of play dough, instruct the child to place the spaghetti vertically.

Provide the child with cheerios or beads and have him string the small objects onto the spaghetti.

If using different color beads or cheerios, you can have the child either sort the items into the different color groups or work on patterns (e.g. yellow-red-yellow-red…)