How to Improve Hand Dexterity in Children

Making and playing with slime is all the rage and is great for hand dexterity!

As small children begin to grow from babies to little boys and girls, they develop better hand dexterity. Any parent is familiar with the dilemma of a child who frequently drops their drinking cup through inattention or a lack of hand dexterity and strength. When introducing small kids to playful exercises that they’ll enjoy while improving their hand dexterity, it’s a win-win for parents.

Here are a few ways to get your children to be better with their hands.

Paper Folding

Origami is all about using paper to produce interesting shapes and objects. As the Origami Way website shows, there’s no end of creativity that’s possible for children who happily while away the hours producing their latest invention. Origami can also be an extension of the coloring book because coloring in the sides of what they’ve made and drawing fun things to bring the shape to life is what it’s all about.

Play-Dough

Colorful play-dough, and the edible play-dough that’s available now too, has been pleasing kids for many years. They learn to mold the dough into different shapes and forms to create new things with their hands. Play-dough comes in sets with different colors to add pleasing visual elements to make it more exciting for toddlers.

Edible play-dough is also a safer option for kids that like to put everything in their mouths. It’s a good idea to keep an eye on them while they play with the play-dough to ensure their safety always. There are also YouTube videos to show kids 5+ how to get more creative using the malleable product.

Learning to Move a Finger Ball

For little ones learning to get more control with their fingers, introducing a finger ball lets them grab it and try to walk it along the floor with their fingers. If they aren’t using their thumb enough – known as having a lazy thumb – encourage them to do so. The sense of touch, movement of the ball and finger dexterity all play a part in this activity. Introduce finger balls of different sizes to vary up the exercise – some little ones will quickly discover that larger balls are harder to control for them. They’ll have to try harder until they’ve mastered it which teaches them not to give up easily.

Paper Scrunch

Paper scrunching helps kids to strengthen their hands while improving control at the same time. The idea is to have small pieces of paper beneath each palm that are wider than each hand. With the left and right palm laid flat over the paper, the child attempts to grip the paper and scrunch it up into a small ball. Different paper is useful to offer a greater or lesser challenge depending on their age and hand control: plain sheets, tissue paper or sheets with a heavy-weight for a greater challenge work best.

There are many little exercises and fun games that children can play to improve hand dexterity and strength. Without both, they’ll keep dropping drinks on the floor and find it increasingly difficult to manage hand-eye coordination. But once they’ve gotten better, they’ll enjoy a sense of achievement and new confidence for new challenges ahead.