Practica Activity – Exercises for Small Hands.

This Activity Develops Manual Dexterity. Ages: 3 Years and Older

Sit next to your child and do the following while he copies your hand movements.

– Make your hands into fists. Slowly spread your fingers wide open. Close them. Repeat.

– Open and close your fingers in a very quick movement. Repeat.

– Relax your hands. Then shake them vigorously. Repeat.

– Extend your hands horizontally in the air, palms down. Stretch all your fingers upwards without moving the palms or wrists. Then point your fingers downwards, towards the floor. Repeat.

– Draw eyes and a smile on the fingertips of the thumb and index finger of one hand. Let them “kiss”. Then draw faces on more fingers and train the thumb to give each of them a kiss.

– Bring your hands together in a praying gesture, but without the palms touching. Tap the corresponding fingers against each other. For fun and to boost listening skills, call out a sequence, e.g. “ring – index – pinkie”.

– Sitting next to each other, each of you place one hand on the table, palm down. Lift your fingers one at a time in random order, while keeping the palm and other fingers in place. Your child copies you by lifting the same finger every time. Take turns to be the leader. The goal is to eventually, at 5 years of age, be able to lift each finger in turn from the thumb to the pinkie and back.