finger schema helps

Finger schema refers to child’s sensory feedback from tactile stimulation of fingers. It indicates the child’s awareness of his own body in space in relation to his fingers and is critical in developing proper pencil grip and other fine motor development.

·      Have child close his eyes and lightly touch first knuckle of a finger or two and ask him to show/tell which finger was touched

·      Create “feeling” box with variety of objects of different textures for child to handle without seeing and ask them to tell what they think the object is

·      Strengthen small muscles of hand and fingers by:

·      Putting pennies in bank

·      Buttons in small bottle

·      Screw jar lids on and off

·      Wring out wash cloths after use

·      Squeeze sponges

·      String beads on shoelace or cheerios on a string

·      Lace shoes, teach to tie also

·      Tie and untie knots in an old shorting or small rope

·      Put nuts and bolts together and take them apart

·      Teach child to buckle and unbuckle own seatbelt

·      Fasten and unfasten zippers, buttons and snaps

·      Teach child to snap fingers

·      Use tweezers to pick up popcorn kernels and drop into containers

·      Lock and unlock doors

·      Use screwdriver to loosen or tighten screws

·      Use sewing cards

·      Provide clay to squeeze, roll, shape, press etc

·      Encourage much play with log sets, Lego or other building sets

·      Teach child how to use scissors

·      Roll clay into rope and cut with scissors

·      Cut corners of paper

·      Fringe sides of paper

·      Cut straight lines then curved lines

·      Cut simple pictures from magazines