Skill: Shoulder Strength

Stability in the upper arms and shoulders allows the hands to do delicate work. Strong shoulders help kids write or draw for longer periods without getting tired.

Sticky Web Art

Sticky Web Art

Steps:

  • Select a clean, sturdy wall or door frame. Place a large piece of masking tape vertically to act as an anchor point.
  • Create a ‘sticky web’ or vertical canvas by attaching strips of masking tape across the anchored piece, ensuring the sticky side faces OUT toward the child.
  • Provide a bowl of pom-poms, crumbled tissue paper, and wiggle eyes. Encourage the child to peel and stick these items onto the sticky web. Challenge them to reach high and low to activate different muscle groups.
  • Discuss the textures and colors they are adding. This is a great way to work on bilateral coordination by having one hand stabilize the body while the other hand works to place the materials precisely.

Safety Tip:
Always supervise the activity. Ensure the floor area is clear, especially if your child is reaching up on their toes. When removing the tape, peel it off slowly and carefully to prevent paint damage.

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.

Basket Sock for Eye-Hand Coordination

This game is all too familiar for many of us: Laundry Basketball.

Challenge your child’s core muscles by having them stand in a tall kneeling positioning.

Place about 10 laundry items on the ground, to the child’s left and right. Have them side bend to retrieve the laundry items from the ground.

Position the basket in front of the child and have them shoot the laundry items into the laundry basket.

Increase the challenge by:

  • Moving the laundry basket further away from the child.
  • Scattering the laundry items further around the child.
  • Holding the laundry basket while moving around the room.
  • Tilting the laundry basket away from them, then toward them.
  • Having the child kneel on a more unstable surface (such as a pillow or dyna disc).
  • Having the child kneel on one leg.
  • Having the child shoot smaller laundry items/laundry items that weigh less.
  • Placing a timer.
  • Setting a goal for how many baskets to make.

Shoulder Strength Leopard Crawl

Leopard-crawl under table

The leopard crawl is a military type-specific crawl that can increase shoulder strength by using the shoulder muscles to move forward.

Place an empty bucket at one side of the room and give the child a few small size balls (tennis balls, ping pong balls, cotton balls, etc.).

Ask the child to hold one ball in each hand while on his tummy and do a leopard crawl towards the empty bucket. The route to the bucket can go under a table, inside a tunnel, under chairs, or other obstacles for grading.

When the child reaches the bucket, ask the child to put the balls in it and crawl back to the start.

For proper crawl ensure the child is advancing an arm/elbow with the diagonal knee. When an elbow is placed forward, the diagonal knee is also placed forward, and then alternated with the other elbow and knee.

Toss it Catch it

Spread the blanket/towel (it is recommended to use a large towel for this activity) on the ground and ask the child to place the bean bag or a stuffed animal at the center of the blanket.

Have the child stand on one side of the blanket while you stand on the other side of the blanket. Hold on to two corners of the blanket and ask the child to follow you and hold on to the other two corners.

Then, when a cue is given (first given by you and then might be given by the child), both you and the child should lift the blanket and toss the object up in the air.

As the object falls down, try to catch it using the blanket. You can move around to catch the object if needed.

For this activity, you can use more than one bean bag or one stuffed animal. You can also use a tennis ball or a small fabric ball.