You know you’re a therapy blogger when your daughter runs in the house one day and exclaims… “MOM, I have a fun summer activity to help kids strengthen their hands! Come and take a picture!”
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Yep, this actually happened. And, her activity was awesome! What she didn’t realize is that fun summer activities like this are not only great for hand strengthening but also amazing for visual motor practice and that all-important core strengthening! Here is what my 9 year old came up with.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
-A squeeze bottle
–Sidewalk chalk
-Access to water for refills
WHAT TO DO:
Have your child practice their super fingers and explore her creative side by drawing a beautiful picture on the driveway with the chalk.
Next, supply her with a squeeze bottle full of water and explain that she needs to use both of her hands to squeeze out the water to trace her picture. This is an awesome visual motor challenge that will help her strengthen her ability to focus visually on details as she moves her hands to replicate the lines of the image.
It is also a fantastic way to get her to engage her core and strengthen all of those muscles that help her to stand up straight, maintain good posture at school, speak clearly and with good volume, and even write!
Try it yourself….it is next to impossible to use both of your hands to squeeze water out of that bottle without engaging your core muscles!
HOW TO CHANGE IT UP:
-Use a spray bottle to target hand strengthening in other ways. Check out this bug spray activity and this fun one with shaving cream and Matchbox cars!
-Chalk isn’t necessary. Try using only the squeeze bottle to create a masterpiece!
-Make a game out of “erasing” the chalk image and see who can make it disappear the fastest by squeezing hardest!
What do you think? Will your kids have a blast with this activity? I am pretty sure that a water fight will ensue at some point in the hot summer sun! I also think my daughter is officially hired as a blogging intern! :)
Need more fun ideas for visual motor practice? Try these…
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