Wrist Extension - Page 8 of 8

Squeeze Noodle Maker

Steps:

Adult Step: Take a Ziplock Bag and cut a tiny corner (less than 1/4 inch) off the bottom corner. Roll a soft piece of Playdough into a log shape and place it inside the bag, pushing it toward the cut corner.
Place the Paper Plate on the table. Show your child how to hold the top of the bag securely with their helper hand to provide proximal stability.
Encourage your child to use their dominant hand to squeeze the Playdough firmly downward, forcing the dough through the tiny hole to create ‘spaghetti noodles’ on the plate. Cheer on their strong effort!

Safety Tip:
Constant adult supervision is required. Ensure the Ziplock bag and any loose pieces of extruded dough are monitored and not placed in the mouth, as they pose a choking hazard.

Preparation:

Take an empty cardboard box (with openings that create handles), and insert a gift wrapping paper tube through the openings.
Tape a long piece of yarn to the gift wrapping paper tube.
Draw a Toy Story Alien & cut it out.
Tape the alien to the other end of the yarn.

Play:

Have the child place both hands toward the ends of gift wrapping paper tube (“The Claw”), to reel in the alien.

Instruct the child to use alternating hands, or both hands at the same time.

To add a challenge, have the child use their non-dominant hand, create a longer line of yarn, or add resistance.

To add resistance, draw and cut out an alien on 2 pieces of paper, place beans on one paper, then staple the other paper on top to seal the beans inside.

Pick the Toothpick

Put a piece of styrofoam sheet or block on the floor or on a slanted surface and have the child push the toothpicks into the styrofoam.

If the styrofoam is on the floor have the child lay prone and weight bear on the elbows.

Give the child a shape, a letter, or a pattern to trace over in order to develop visual-motor skills.

Ping Pong Plates

This activity is divided into 2 parts: creating the rackets and playing ping pong with the rackets and the balloon.

First, glue the wooden stick to the paper plate with the wooden stick sticking out of the plate. The wooden stick is going to be where you hold the racket so the length of the stick that comes out of the paper plate should be at least 4 inches.

Once the sticks are glued, use the crayons to color or write on the paper plates.

Inflate the balloon.

Hold the paper plate racket and bounce the ball around.

If done in a group setting, you can instruct the kids to use the paper plate to bounce the balloon from one to another while playing a ping-pong game.

Magnadoodle

First, have the child explore the Magnadoodle by scribbling and drawing anything they wish.

To work on pre-writing skills ask the child to imitate or copy certain strokes such as horizontal line, vertical line, circle, cross, and X.

For writing skills, you can have the child imitate or copy letters and numbers.
To promote wrist extension and proximal stabilization, place the Magnadoodle on a vertical surface.