Tag: putty

Categories
Fine Motor Activities

St-Patty’s Putty

Therapy Corner:

Putty is one of the best tools to use to improve finger and hand strength. The putty comes in different colors for different resistance however I like to use the medium resistance with my kids.
When a child digs to find items it helps him improve finger strength. At the same time, using their hands and fingers to feel for hidden items helps them work on tactile discrimination. This translates into activities such as closing their own buttons on pants or shirts without visually monitoring their fingers but instead using tactile discrimination to feel their way through the task.

You Will Need:

  • St-Patrick’s themed eraser
  • Putty (You can purchase here at MissMancy’s SHOP)
  • Containers
  • Graphing printout

The Activity:

I like to use small themed erasers that I hide in the putty and ask children to look for them.

Ask your child to find items on the putty by digging, pulling and kneading.

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As they find an item, they mark it on the graph and drop it into a container.

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Keep similar items together so they can double check their answers to the markings on the graph to make sure the amounts match!

Categories
Fine Motor Activities Gross Motor Activities

Monkey See Monkey Do

You will need:

The Activity:

Ask any therapist, they will all tell you the same thing… Kids love to play with thera-putty. Putty comes in different strength depending on the color. I like the orange one best as it usually provides the “just right” resistance for most age groups. The only thing you want to watch out for with putty is to not let it get on clothing or carpets. It will never come off!!! Playing with putty should therefore always be supervised unless making a “permanent” mess is not an issue.

I love to hide all sorts of items in the putty and have the children find it. (I don’t suggest any metals such as coins as they become faded and dull.  So I’m always looking for small, fun items I can hide in the putty and have the kids look for them. My favorite things to hide are these tiny plastic monkeys that I found online and available on MissMancy’s AMAZON Shop. They all have different body positions and facial features.

Ask your child finds one of the monkeys, tell him to imitate what the monkey is doing! Kids absolutely love this game! You are not only working on finger strength but the added component of imitating the monkey helps your child develop motor planning skills. In other words I see what the monkey is doing, now how do I get my body to do the same thing!