They can be creative and come up with their own ideas too!

Create putty animals- Another would be creating therapy putty animals such as a building a caterpillar, porcupine, or a cute snail.

Press stamps into theraputty- A few other fun young kiddos activities could be pressing picture stampers into the putty to make fun animal scenes.

Then ask them to write a word or a sentence using that letter for more advanced writing tasks. When kids find the letter, they can write it on paper to practice handwriting skills. Extend the activity by using letter beads. This is a great activity for younger kiddos who are not yet ready to engage in direct putty exercises.

Bury beads in theraputty- For instance, if children bury fun beads into the putty, they are working on finger strength and dexterity as they bury and retrieve those beads by digging them out.

For some kids on my OT caseload, theraputty activities are some of the most engaging! For younger children, therapy putty activities are preferable, because the activity is motivating and engaging. Therapy putty is engaging and its use can be very a versatile therapy material with minor changes implemented to make it appealing to multiple ages. Thumbs-up extension is an exercise in which a loop of putty is placed around the thumb and then the child pulls their thumb upward stretching the putty slowly as they do so.įingers-up extension is an exercise in which a loop of putty is placed around each finger, one at a time, and then the child pulls their fingers upward stretching the putty slowly as they do so. The child follows by inserting their fingers into the putty and pulling the putty upward with pinching motion making the putty appear more like a pyramid. Pancake pinch is completed by making a pancake of putty and placing on the table top. The child follows by inserting each finger one at a time into the putty. Log press is completed by making a log of putty and placing on the table top. Scissor fingers is completed by inserting a 1” thick ball of putty between each pair of fingers and the child attempts to squeeze the fingers together as close as possible. Pancake stretch is a whole hand exercise in which a pancake piece of putty is placed on the tips of the fingers and thumb and the child slowly spreads their fingers outward stretching the putty out while doing so.įinger pinch is an isolated finger to thumb exercise in which small balls of putty are placed between each finger and the thumb, one at a time, and the child squeezes each ball as flat as possible between each finger and the thumb. Piano fingers is an isolated finger exercise in which a log of putty is in the palm of the hand and the child slowly squeezes one finger at a time into the log. Thumb press is an exercise in which a ball of putty is placed in the palm near the base of the thumb and the child grips and presses their thumb deeply into the ball.įull hand grip is a complete hand exercise in which a ball of putty is in the palm of the hand and the child slowly squeezes the ball making it ooze out around the fingers and thumb. This is a great exercise for targeting a hook grasp. These exercises target the intrinsic muscles of the hands.įinger hook is a putty exercise in which a ball of putty is in the hand and the child hooks their fingers around it and presses their fingers deeply into the ball. Putty Exercises: These grip strength exercises are some of the ways to encourage stronger hands in functional tasks. Just keep in mind that in general, therapy putty exercise progress can be gauged by beginning with 10 repetitions for each exercise that the child needs to work on and have them work up to 3 sets of 10 reps for each exercise before you switch them to the next resistance level.

It helps to provide a fun way for children to work on strengthening the muscles of the fingers, hands, and forearms. Theraputty is an excellent tool that can be utilized by all ages.

Therapy putty is a resistive material, much like silly putty, that has a range of resistances, depending on the color of the putty. One way to build these skills is with a therapy tool called theraputty. Finger strength is important for children when they perform daily living activities such as eating, dressing, writing, bathing, oral hygiene, school tool management, technology use, and many other daily tasks.Ĭhildren need to be able to perform these tasks as independently as possible so that they feel confident and prepared for their daily routines.Īs children age, more expectations make hand and finger strength essential.

Occupational therapy putty