Tool Kit for Hand Programs:

Play-Doh:

  1. Choose one color of play-doh.

  2. Squish and flatten like a pancake.

  3. Drape the play-doh over one finger entirely and squeeze it so it’s secured around the finger.

  4. Choose another color of play-doh and repeat this process with another finger, until all 5 fingers are covered in different colors of play-doh.

  5. Encourage the kiddo to try tapping each finger on the table or have them wiggle one finger at a time. You can also have them practice finger running.  

Taping Highways:

  1. Cut a piece of tape about 5 inches long.

  2. Have the kiddo place their hand palm side up on a table.

  3. Tape the palm of their hand from the fingertip, past the wrist, and up the forearm slightly.

  4. Also, tape the lateral sides of each finger.

  5. Repeat this process for all 5 fingers.

  6. Have the child take a pen or small piece of sponge and trace each individual highway.

Hand Tracing:

  1. Have the kiddo place one hand palm side down on a blank piece of paper.

  2. Have them spread their fingers wide.

  3. Carefully have them trace their hand using a pen in their opposite hand.  

  4. Label each finger appropriately (thumb, index, middle, ring, and pinky, as well as number them 1-5).

Sharp vs Dull Discrimination:

  1. The purpose of this activity is to have the child differentiate between being touched by the soft end of a Q tip or the sharp end of a toothpick.

  2. You can first begin this activity by instructing the child to keep their eyes open.

  3. Carefully touch the child with either the Q tip or toothpick anywhere on the palm of their hand or fingers.

  4. Then ask the kiddo what finger you specifically touched and where. Also, ask the kiddo if the touch was soft or sharp.

    1. You can have the child touch the location on their finger where they felt the prick (toothpick, Q-tip, or cotton ball) or have them point to where on a traced and labeled drawing of their hand. (diagram)

  5. To make this exercise harder, have the child close their eyes.

    1. If the child does not want to close their eyes, have the tester hold a piece of paper to act as a shield to block their vision. You can also have the kiddo look away in a different direction

Finger Weaving:

  1. Form a small loop at one end of the yarn and secure with a knot.

  2. Place this loop over the kiddo’s thumb and then proceed to weave the string in and out between their fingers.

  3. After you have woven the yarn between the fingers, you can have the kiddo adjust it by spreading the yarn out to the fingertips or keeping it close to the base of the finger.

  4. You can also cut smaller pieces of yarn to form individual rings for each finger.

    1. Cut about 3 inches of yarn and secure with a knot.

    2. Then have the kiddo slip this small loop onto their fingers.

    3. Verbally instruct the kiddo to remove each ring from a specific finger. For example: take the ring off your pinky finger.

Sponge Squeeze:

  1. Dip a small rectangular piece of sponge into a dish of water.

  2. Then place the sponge between 2 fingers, such as the pad of the thumb and the pad of the index finger.

  3. See how much water you can squeeze out into the dish, ONLY using those two fingers.

  4. You can also repeat this sponge squeeze exercise using different fingers and even the sides of your fingers. For example, between your index and middle finger.

Paper Crumbling

  1. Place a tissue in the palm of the kiddo’s hand and have them crinkle it up.

  2. Repeat this with a piece of aluminum foil or a piece of paper.

  3. Start with 2 hands and progress to 1.

Texture Matching: Stereognosis (cotton ball, toothbrush, penny, paper cup)

  1. Have the child close their eyes and identify the object that is placed in their hand by simply feeling it.

  2. Encourage them to express whether the object is soft, bumpy, hard, smooth. Essentially you are asking them to identify the texture.

Hand/Finger Laterality with Washable Marker

  1. With one color marker, draw one line on each finger.

  2. With another color, draw a line on each side of the finger.

  3. Have the kiddo practice spreading and closing their fingers. Express to the child how the lines on the sides of the fingers disappear when you close them.

  4. Have the child circle their palm and label whether this is their left or right hand.

  5. You can also have the kiddo label their fingers. For example T for thumb, P for pinky.

  6. Have the kiddo divide their palm in half with the marker and label each side, right or left. You can have the kiddo do the same with their fingers, labeling them right or left.

Finger Opposition Using Emoji Stickers

  1. During this exercise, we want the kiddo to be able to touch the pad of thumb with the pad of another finger.

  2. Place an emoji sticker on the pad of the thumb.

  3. Then place an emoji sticker on the pad of the pinky.

  4. Have the child attempt to touch or “kiss” both emoji stickers together!

  5. Repeat this exercise again, moving the sticker on the pad of the pinky, to the pad of the ring, middle and index fingers.