Fun Hand-Strengthening Activities for Kids!

Looking for fun and easy ways to strengthen your child’s hands?  Look no further.  Below are Enablr Therapy’s top 5 fun hand-strengthening activities!

Sponges and Spray Bottles:

Squeezing water out of a sponge or squeezing the handle of a spray bottle is an effective way to strengthen hands. Put sponges and water bottles in the tub for bathtime fun. Have your child help with simple chores like spraying and wiping down tables, chairs, or counters with water or a mild soap mixture.  

Playdough:

Squeezing, pinching, and forming playdough is a great way to increase hand strength and coordination. For a homemade, gluten-free playdough, check out the recipe from Parents.com

Legos or Snap Together Building Blocks:

Snapping building blocks require kids to use their pincer grasp to manipulate the blocks, increasing both strength and fine motor coordination. In addition, as kids build, they integrate their visual and motor skills together. There are endless projects that can be made. For ideas on how to build with Legos, check out this link from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls. It gives a ton of ideas from making spinning tops, building animals, to creating marble runs that can spur on your child’s creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. 

Scissors:

Cutting different types of materials such as paper, playdough, card stock, paper, straws, ribbon, felt and fabric offer different amounts of resistance to make hands stronger. Allow your child to cut and create collages or other craft activities, supervising them for safety as needed.  For more information on how scissor skills develop, see Enablr Therapy’s Scissor Use blog

Bubble Wrap:

Many kids really enjoy popping the individual bubbles on a sheet of bubble wrap. Be sure that your child pinches using the pads of their finger and thumb (not the side of the thumb) to strengthen their pinch.  

In addition to focusing on activities that use the hands, upper extremity strength is also improved with full-body movement like climbing, crawling, and playing ball. Encourage your child to be active and get outside to play!


If you or your child is in need of therapy to address strength, coordination, or other needs, view our therapy services page to see how Enablr Therapy can help. 

Contact us to learn more or browse our roster of therapists to book directly!

About Enablr Therapy
Enablr Therapy offers speech, occupational, and physical therapy to people of all ages and abilities through our school-based therapy services as well as cash-based services for individual clients. Individual clients can be seen through convenient online sessions in many states across the country.