Welcome back to Therapy Thursday! It’s that time of the week again! Whether you’re swamped with paperwork in the therapy office, looking to entertain your little one while you’re making dinner, or in search of fun and easy crafts for preschoolers in your classroom – we’ve got you covered today!
Let’s chat for a minute about the deceptively simple act of tearing paper. Grasping paper, moving one hand forward as the other hand moves back, and working against the resistance of the paper are all very powerful movements when it comes to building grasping skills, bilateral coordination, and fine motor strength. We also use paper tearing as one way to build the skills needed for opening food packages!
Plus…I’ve never met a kid who doesn’t love to tear paper! There’s something about it that makes you feel like you’re breaking the rules. And breaking the rules can be kind of fun, right? Just check out all the ways we like to break the rules on the playground!
This week, as one of my therapy activities with my preschoolers, I decided to make simple torn paper rainbows to keep in line with our rainbow theme! For kids who are working on learning how to use scissors, I had them first cut a strip of each colored paper before tearing the strips into the little pieces.
For kids who really struggle with fine motor strength and coordination, I helped a little by starting each tear for them with a little tiny tear. Once they got the motion down of moving one hand in one direction and the other hand in the other direction, most of them were able to get it on their own by the end of the rainbow! :)
Torn paper projects are nothing new in the world of preschool and pediatric occupational therapy – but hopefully these cute little rainbows inspire you to dust off this old favorite activity and give it a whirl this week when you’re looking for a quick-on-the-draw fine motor activity for kids!
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