20 Classic Educational OT Toys To Help Children Prepare for School
There was a wonderful article in the NY Times, “Watch How You Hold That Crayon,” about OT and handwriting. In the article Anthony DiCarlo, a principal stated, “In the last five years, I’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of kids who don’t have the strength in their hands to wield scissors or do arts and crafts projects, which in turn prepares them for writing."
He goes on to say that while many kids head back to school with accomplishments like music, yoga and sports classes, they may not have logged enough time in open-ended play. “I’m all for academic rigor,” he said, “but these days I tell parents that letting their child mold clay, play in the sand or build with Play-Doh builds important school-readiness skills, too.”
OUR LATEST VIDEOS
All children need greater opportunities for hands-on play with simple, traditional toys. The basic games that we did as children have fallen out of the repertoire for kids today and that means they aren't having the opportunities to build their hand strength and dexterity.
We asked Casey Halper, a wonderful Pediatric Occupational Therapist, to recommend some inexpensive, open-ended games that would help children increase hand strength, improve coordination, expand attention skills and have fun. You will recognize some of the games on this this list of Finger Toys as the classic games of our youth. You just didn't realize how good they were for you.
20 Fantastic Finger Toys to Build Hand Strength
1. Pop Bead Critters
2. Pick Up Sticks
3. Lite-Brite
4. Play foam
5. Straws and Connectors
6. Stickers
7. Play Dough
8. Perfection
9. Silly Faces Stick-Ons Game
10. Tricky Fingers
11. Alex Tissue Art
12. Alex Toys Clay Pictures
13. Zoo Sticks
14. Chalk Board (with broken chalk)
15. Wikki Stix
16. Fantacolor Junior
17. Coinstruction
18. Puzzibits (also called Hexabits)
19. Pixelblocks
20. Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Pets
In my experience, if you find that your child really hates these types of activities, you might want to have them evaluated for Early Intervention. It may be that the aversion stems from difficulty with hand strength and dexterity. Catching issues early can help them succeed in school later.
Casey Halper, Pediatric Occupational Therapist and Consultant
from The Casey Halper Group and has also, previously, contributed this wonderful list of Sensory Savvy Snacks.
This post originally published in March 2010.
