Hand Strength Activities for Preschool
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Since going back to work, I’ve been noticing a trend in my preschool and kindergarten classrooms: kids are struggling with scissors and grasp pressure on writing tools. Almost all of my preschoolers are using adaptive loop scissors because they lack the strength and coordination to open and close regular scissors. I also had a parent ask me for ideas to help their preschooler with grasp strength.
Today I am sharing ideas from the handouts I created for my preschoolers. These are all easy, play-based ideas that are easily added into a preschool classroom station rotation.
Types of Hand Strength
Before we talk about activity ideas, we need to understand that there are two types of hand strength: grip strength and pinch strength.
Grip Strength is using the whole hand to grasp and hold objects, such as carrying objects/supplies and stabilizing the paper during handwriting or using scissors.
Pinch Strength is using the thumb and index finger for precise movements such as handwriting, self-care activities such as dressing, scissors skills, etc.
With this in mind, I’ve divided my activity suggestions into these two categories. Keep in mind that an activity can also target both types of hand strength.
Activities for Grip Strength for Preschoolers
🟢 Roll, squeeze, or knead play-dough (sight words, letters of their name, etc)
🟢 Squeeze spray bottles as part of cleaning the whiteboard or tables/windows
🟢 Climb at the playground
🟢 Squeeze glue bottles instead of glue sticks for gluing activities
🟢 Use tongs or tweezers during pom pom transfer activities
🟢 Hole punch activities
🟢 Crumple a sheet into a tight ball using only one hand (no resting on the desk or using the chest) before tossing it into a bucket (can be done for recycle paper/trash items)
🟢 Pressing and pulling apart interlocking building blocks
🟢 Squeezing sponges – these can be added to a small dish of water or used for a “car washing” activity
🟢 Playing with squishy stress balls
Pinch Strength Activities for Preschoolers
🟢 Roll, squeeze, or knead play-dough
🟢 Squeeze clothespin clip-it activities for letters/number activities
🟢 Water dropper pipette art or science activity
🟢 Peel stickers such as dot stickers to place on pre-writing lines/name
🟢 Tearing paper for crafts
🟢 Pushing beads or toothpicks into play dough
🟢 Use tongs or tweezers during play
🟢 Nuts and bolts sorting
🟢 Q-Tip painting
🟢 Threading beads
🟢 Thumb or fingerprint art
🟢 Bead and pipe cleaners (use letter beads, etc)
🟢 Use broken crayons or small pencils for handwriting/coloring tasks
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Heather Greutman, COTA
Heather Greutman is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant with experience in school-based OT services for preschool through high school. She uses her background to share child development tips, tools, and strategies for parents, educators, and therapists. She is the author of many ebooks, including The Basics of Fine Motor Skills, The Basics of Pre-Writing Skills, and co-author of Sensory Processing Explained: A Handbook for Parents and Educators.