Development of Hand and Play Skills

Children’s Occupational Therapy And Physiotherapy Service

NAME : D.O.B.: NHS NO:

Therapist: Date issued: Saturday, 07 April 2018

Seating and Positioning  Use a high chair/supportive seat to further develop hand play whilst in a supported position. This will enable your child to focus on hand function and play without needing to focus on his sitting position.  Provide opportunities to play in floor sitting and lying on their tummy

Body Awareness Children first need to learn about their own bodies before they can interact with their environment. This develops as they learn to move around as babies. Games, songs and rhymes are a good way of reinforcing awareness of one’s own body e.g. ‘round and round the garden’, ‘Hokey Cokey’, ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ etc. Another good time to reinforce body awareness and body concept is during washing and dressing activities. For example, naming body parts when you are washing and dressing e.g. push your arm through the sleeve now. This is a good time to talk about top and bottom, in and out, etc and this will gradually help your child to understand a little about spatial relationships.

Turn-taking  Emphasise the concepts “Stop”, “Start” and “Wait”  A component of sequencing i.e. your turn and my turn  Turn taking games such as rolling ball to an adult or another child

Cause and Effect  A child’s awareness that he/she has an ability to influence their environment i.e. pressing a button to make a light flash or rattling a noisy toy  Select toys which have this element i.e. musical toys  Cause and effect toys, like activity centres, pop-up toys, hammering toys, musical toys (Rompa) Shape containers/ sorters  Moving toys from one container to another. If the containers are made of a hard material there will be an auditory reward to motivate your child

 You can also use an ice-cream box, cutting three slits into it. Keep the box in one position and encourage a child to put i.e. buttons or milk bottle lids through the three slits for different positions.

Nesting cups  Practice stacking the cups into each other. Start with three cups and increase the amount gradually.  Place cups in different formations.

Eye Tracking/Visual attention  Roll balls from left to right and vice versa in front of a child and encourage a child to catch a rolling ball  Peek a boo games, hiding objects under a cloth or upturned cup as well as peek a boo with people

Stacking rings  Start with three rings, demonstrate and encourage a child to make a correct sequence and gradually increase number of rings Constructional Toys i.e. tower of blocks, steps etc.

Activities to improve the sensory awareness of both hands:  Finger painting  Play dough  Sand/Bean box with interesting objects hidden inside  Textured toys will provide enhanced sensory stimulation and feedback e.g. a textured ball instead of a smooth one or a furry toy

Pincer grip/index isolation  Picking up raisins and cereal to develop a pincer grip between the thumb and first finger and placing in a cup/ small tub  Pointing to objects e.g. in a book

Imitation  Imitation is very important component in children’s learning. A child learns new things first through imitation, then copying and finally following a verbal instruction  Imitation can involve simple movement i.e. clapping hands, imitation of sound, brushing hair or stirring a pot etc.

Interaction  Encourage “give” and “take”  Use simple, clear verbal instructions

Confidence and Self-Esteem  Give a child positive feedback when they have done well

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your Occupational Therapist.