1.
Stress Ball Squeeze
Games
8.
Finger Painting
2.
Light Skittles
9.
Flick Painting
3.
Cornflour
Gloup/Ooblick
10.
Peg Board Games
4.
Marbles
11.
Fist with Both Hands
5.
Thumb Touches
12.
Ball and Racket Sports
6.
Colouring/Drawing
13.
Waving Goodbye
7.
Glove/Sock Puppets
14.
Dragon’s Claw
1
Hand Home Programme Two for:
Name:
Date:
Please read the ‘Home Programme instructions’ sheet before commencing with this programme.
1.
’Stress ball’ squeeze games e.g.
a.) Squeeze ball 3 times with right hand and then throw it as hard as you can towards
a target. (Dads make good targets if they don’t mind!) Repeat with left hand.
(Good for Grip strength)
b.) Gladiator game: Fold fingers of 2 hands together and put the stress ball between your
palms. Squeeze the ball as hard as you can and try to make the palms touch each other
while lifting your elbows. (Good for wrist extension.)
‘Squeeze ball hand exerciser’ or ‘animal squeezers’ are available from Homecraft at
www.homecraft-roylan.com; Tel: 01623 754047.
2.
Light Skittles (Plastic bottles with grit/ sand inside works well)
Balls of different sizes and weights (as appropriate and tolerated) can be used to grade this
activity. (Concentrate on extending the wrist!) This is a lovely family activity.
3. Corn flour gloup/ Ooblick: Mix 1 box of cornstarch with 1.5 /2 cups of water and see what
happens! (Store covered in refrigerator) Hide coins or toys in the mixture and ask your child
to find them. (Very good for finger strengthening and sensory feedback.)
4.
Marbles – Flicking with different fingers
(This encourages bending and straightening of the fingers.)
5.
Thumb touches each finger tip in following sequence:
Index-, Middle, Ring-, Little finger, base of little finger, Little, Ring- Middle, Index finger.
Do each hand separate and then try to do both hands together. (This helps to maintain range
of movement in the fingers as well as maintaining pincer grips.) It can also be done with
putty/play dough between the tips of the fingers for strengthening. When you can do this
well – see how fast you can do it.
6.
Colouring/ Drawing activities (Encourage maintenance and strength of pincer grip).
7.
Glove/Sock puppets: Keep the fingers and thumb straight and bring the tips together
like a talking mouth. Make puppets out of your old socks and create your own theatre
at home.
2
8.
Finger Painting with paint/ shaving cream (add food colouring)/mud and water/ yoghurt/
ketchup or mustard and relish. Add stuff like rice, sand and raisins to change the texture
of the paint. (This encourages use of the fingers and is great fun.)
9. Flick painting (flicking the wrist while holding the paintbrush) encourages wrist movements.
10. Pegboard games (Good for general fine motor skills and pincer grip)
11. Make a fist with both hands and then open it and straighten the fingers as far as possible.
(5 times) You can pretend you are traffic cop making people stop.
12. Ball and Racket Sports (Encourages power grip and wrist strength). It is important to make
sure your child is ready for this activity and starts slowly to prevent injuries. Speak to your
Therapist if you are not sure.
13. Waving goodbye with fingers open wide, then with fingers closed. Keep the forearm still
with the other hand and only wave with the wrist. Do 5 times with each hand.
14. Dragon’s claw: Try to make a claw with each hand 5 times.
Tick the activities you do every day on the ‘Games Record’. This helps you and the therapist to monitor
how many exercises your child is doing.
We hope you have lots of fun!
Hand Home Programme Two – ROM and Strength
Author: Sunette Letley—Senior Occupational Therapist
Version 1; August 2006
© 2006 Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre
3