Welcome to the Pencil Grasp Challenge!

January 23, 2025January 23, 2025 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

pencil grasp challenge course includes pencil grasp playbook, bundle, certificate of completion, pencil grasp activities, and data collection sheets

I am SO excited about this challenge. What is the Pencil Grasp Challenge? Well, if you know a child who struggles with pencil grasp, holds the pencil with a tight or inefficient grip, uses all of their fingers to hold a pencil, or writes with an awkward grasp, the Pencil Grasp Challenge is for you!

We’ve updated this challenge to add more resources and tools to promote functional pencil grasp for efficient and legible handwriting. Here’s what’s new…

We amped up the resources and added data collection and observation tools, the Pencil Grasp Play Book, the Pencil Grasp Bundle so you can continue to work on the areas impacting handwriting, and added a certificate of completion for this challenge.

If you are a member and access the challenge through your membership, or purchase the paid challenge, it INCLUDES a certificate of completion for 1.2 contact hours!

Challenge Includes:

Five lessons that break down pencil grasp into actionable activities
Five Activities based on underlying skills needed for a functional pencil grasp
Five Observation Sheets and Data Collection Sheets to track progress on the underlying areas that make up a functional pencil grasp
Challenge Intro Workbook
Pencil Grasp Play Book- Play-based activities and checklists to foster pencil grasp and fine motor skills ($8 value)
Pencil Grasp Bundle ($42 value)
Certificate of Completion for 1.2 contact hours!

These items are not included in the free email version of this challenge: Observation Sheets for each activity, Data Collection sheets, Pencil Grasp Play Book and Pencil Grasp Bundle. You can get these resources only in the paid version of the challenge or in the membership. What You’ll Learn:

Why behaviors and big emotions affect learning and participation.
The connection between emotions, the fight-flight-freeze response, and self-regulation challenges.
The role of heavy work, proprioceptive input, and whole-body movements in supporting regulation.
How to teach deep breathing techniques to hijack anxiety and promote calm.
Practical ways to integrate self-regulation tools into classroom settings.

In this 5 lesson challenge, I’ll be teaching everything you need to know about the skills that make us a functional pencil grasp. You’ll learn what’s going on behind the inefficient and just plain terrible pencil grasps you see everyday in the classroom, clinic, or home. Along with loads of information, you’ll gain quick, daily activities that you can do today with a student or your own child. These are easy activities that use items you probably already have in your home right now.

The Pencil Grasp Challenge is a comprehensive, self-paced online course designed to equip occupational therapy practitioners, educators, and caregivers with practical strategies to address this critical need.

Let me tell you a little more about the challenge.

PENCIL GRASP CHALLENGE

If you already signed up, be sure to check your email, because I have some surprises there for you and access to our private community.

If you haven’t sighted up yet, but want to, find the link to join us below.

What is the Pencil Grasp Challenge?

The pencil grasp challenge is a 5 day mini course and challenge. During the course of five days, I’ll be teaching everything you need to know about the skills that make us a functional pencil grasp.

You’ll learn what’s going on behind the inefficient and just plain terrible pencil grasps you see everyday in the classroom, clinic, or home. Along with loads of information, you’ll gain quick, daily activities that you can do today with a kiddo you know and love.

These are easy activities that use items you probably already have in your home right now.

Pencil grasp challenge activities to help pencil grasp problems

Besides learning and gaining a handful (pun intended) of fun ideas to make quick wins in pencil grasp work, you’ll gain free printable handouts that you can use to share with your team or with a parent/fellow teacher.

You’ll get access to printable challenge sheets, and a few other fun surprises. And, possibly the best of all, you’ll get access to a secret challengers Facebook group, where you can share wins, chat about all things pencil grasp, and join a community of other therapists, parents and teachers working on pencil grasp issues. This is going to be fun!

Pencil grasp challenge and activities for a better pencil grasp

If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up now, because we’re gearing up for a fun week in the pencil grasp Facebook group.

Use these pencil grasp activities to help build the fine motor skills kids need for handwritng

More about the challenge

This challenge has been a yearly challenge for the last three years.

The Pencil Grasp Challenge started because on The OT Toolbox, we have had many questions on handwriting and pencil grasp. Parents, teachers, and therapists have questions on concepts such as:

How do I fix pencil grasp?
What is an appropriate pencil grasp?
How does pencil grasp develop?
What is a functional pencil grasp?
How does pencil grasp impact handwriting?
I need handwriting help! Where do I begin?
When is it developmentally appropriate to work on pencil grasp?
My child/student has a terrible pencil grasp! What do I do?

As a result, I have A LOT of handwriting and fine motor activities here on The OT Toolbox website. A lot of those activities are perfect for developing a functional and efficient pencil grasp. The Pencil Grasp Challenge started as I had an idea to create a challenge of fine motor activities to boost the skills kids need for strong and efficient hands, so they can hold and manipulate a pencil without difficulty. I started using #pencilgraspchallenge hashtag on my Instagram posts for those activities, with the intention to start this challenge with all of you.

In fact, go ahead and check out #pencilgraspchallenge on Instagram…you’ll find loads of fun fine motor activities designed specifically to build the skills needed for a better pencil grasp.

Join the pencil grasp challenge series to build fine motor skills in kids

Enter the Pencil Grasp Challenge!

Get ready because The Pencil Grasp Challenge is making a comeback, and this year, it’s bigger and better than ever! Over the years, we’ve offered a free email challenge, but this time, we’ve taken it to the next level.

We’ve ramped up the lessons, added essential observation and data collection tools, and included not one but TWO incredible resources—the Pencil Grasp Bundle and the Pencil Grasp Play Book. Plus, for the first time ever, participants can earn a certificate of completion for 1.2 contact hours, making this challenge a must-have for professionals looking to enhance their skills.

How to Join the Pencil Grasp Challenge

We’re offering three flexible options so you can choose the one that best fits your needs:

1. Best Value: Purchase the Course for Just $25!

If you’re not a member yet, now is the perfect time to grab this exclusive offer. For just $25, you’ll receive:

All challenge materials, including the observation & data collection tools,
The comprehensive Pencil Grasp Bundle,
The Pencil Grasp Play Book,
And a certificate of completion for 1.2 contact hours.

👉 Sign up for the full challenge here!

This is an amazing deal considering the valuable resources included!

2. Already a Member? You Get Access!

Good news for our members—this challenge is included in your membership! Simply log into your account and access the course here:

👉 Members: Access your course now.

3. Free Email Course Option

Want to try the challenge without the extras? Join our free email course to participate in the core challenge. While you won’t receive the premium resources (such as the observation tools, play book, or certificate), it’s still a great way to improve fine motor skills.

👉 Join the free challenge below by entering your email address into the form.

Why Join the Pencil Grasp Challenge?

This challenge is fun, actionable, and effective, making it perfect for parents, teachers, and therapists looking to support children’s handwriting development. You’ll be amazed at how quickly fine motor skills improve with these targeted activities.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to take your handwriting skills to the next level. Whether you’re a professional or a parent supporting your child, there’s an option for everyone.

Join today and see the difference for yourself!

Want to join us in helping kids achieve a better, functional pencil grasp that works for them? Enter your email address into the form below. This is the free email version of the course:

Pencil activities to help kids write with a functional grasp

Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

Toys to Improve Pencil Grasp

December 15, 2024December 12, 2024 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Have you ever used pencil grasp toys to support development of handwriting? Helping kids with pencil grasp can be a challenge, so using motivating and fun activities to support the underlying skill areas is essential. Today, we’re going over the best occupational therapy toys that target pencil grasp development. Pencil grasp toys to challenge precision, dexterity, endurance, separation of the sides of the hand, and other skills needed for a functional pencil grasp. All of this can happen through play using toys to support stronger hands by focusing on grasp pattern development through play!

Amazon affiliate links are included in this blog post. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Recently, we shared fine motor toy ideas and then gross motor toys. Both of these areas are closely related to a functional pencil grasp, so be sure to check out those toy suggestions, too.

Pencil Grasp Toys

We love coming up with fun play and craft activities designed to work on the development of an efficient grasp. Being the season of gifting to others, we thought it would be fun to bring you our top recommended toys to work on tripod grasp, intrinsic muscle strength, rotation of the pencil while handwriting, and an open thumb web space.

Children who have difficulty with handwriting may completely HATE to work on letter formation and pencil grip. Why not gift them with a fun toy this holiday that will work on the developmental skills necessary to improve their grip on the pencil? Make the exercise fun as they PLAY their way to a better pencil grasp!

Handwriting is more than just pencil grasp! Manipulating a pencil to write letters and numbers has a lot to do with visual perceptual skills. You’ll find easy and fun ways to work on visual perceptual skills through play here.

You will also love these Games to Improve Pencil Grasp

Best Toys to Improve Pencil Grasp

Toys that will help improve pencil grasp

{Note: This post contains affiliate links.}

Toys That Improve Pencil Grasp

Coming up with this list, we thought about the skills needed for an appropriate pencil grasp and age-appropriate handwriting. This toy gift guide is broken down into toys that will help with different sets of problem areas when it comes to a poor pencil grasp.

Let’s take a closer look at toy suggestions for these areas:

Toys for Tripod Grasp
Toys for an Open Thumb Web Space
Toys for Hand Strength
Toys for Extended Wrist

Toys for Tripod Grasp

Tripod grasp: The most efficient way to hold the pencil when writing is with a dynamic tripod grasp. While not necessary…a functional grasp works, too…a tripod grasp is a term we’ve probably all heard described before. So WHAT is a tripod grasp?

A Tripod grasp starts with a nice round circle made with the thumb and index finger. The pencil is pinched with the tips of the thumb and index finger and held close to the point of the pencil. The pencil is resting on and assisted by the middle finger. The ring finger and pinky fingers are tucked into the palm. All movement should happen with the fingers and thumb. The wrist and arm should not move while writing, coloring, or drawing.

Often times, new pencil and crayon users will hold the writing utensil in a different way. You might see four fingers opposing the thumb to hold the pencil. You might see the pencil positioned in the knuckles between the index and middle fingers. Maybe they hold the pencil away from the tip where the lead is and instead hold it in the middle of the pencil shaft. There are SO many variations of awkward and inefficient pencil grasps. If your little hand writer is showing some version that affects their letter formation and pencil control, try a few of these fun toys…

A few toys that help to encourage a tripod grasp:

Light Brite: (affiliate link) Picking up and manipulating those little colored pegs encourage a tripod grasp. Pushing them through the paper and into the holes is a great resistive exercise…disguised as FUN!

We have this Lite Brite Flatscreen – Red (affiliate link) from Hasbro and love making pictures with the pegs! When the child holds the pegs in his hand, it’s a great way to encourage the ring finger and pinkie finger in a tucked position. Show your child how to pick up a handful of pegs and “squirrel them away” in their palm while they push one peg into the board. What a great fine motor exercise! Not to mention, the dots of the guide paper is a great visual motor activity…so important in handwriting!

Lacing Cards: (affiliate link) Lacing cards are a great way to encourage a tripod grasp. This set of Lacing Shapes (affiliate link) from Patch Products come in simple shapes with bold colors. The child must hold the tip of the string in a dynamic tripod grasp to push through the holes of the card. If your child has their thumb squashed up against their index finger while threading the cards, be sure to show them how to make a nice round circle for an easier time.

Peg Boards: (affiliate link) Grasping pegs encourage a tripod grasp especially while pushing them into the holes of a peg board. Here are homemade pegboard ideas and even a precision pegboard you can make using perler beads (see below).

This Lauri Tall-Stacker Pegs Building Set (affiliate link) from Lauri is great for building peg towers while learning colors and shapes.

Older kids might love Fusion Beads like the Perler Beads 6,000 Count Bucket-Multi Mix (affiliate link) from Perler.

Spike the Fine Motor Hedge Hog– (affiliate link) This fine motor toy builds a stronger tripod grasp, and when positioned appropriately, can place the wrist into an extended position, too. This helps to further refine precision movements for accuracy and dexterity. These are great skills to carry over to pencil control and pencil movements during handwriting tasks.

Learning Resources 3 Prong Tong– (affiliate link) This tong tool promotes a better grasp on objects…but only if the hand is positioned correctly. If you allow kids to just pick up the 3 prong tongs and start using them, they likely will position the tong into their hand with a gross grasp, or by using all of the fingers along the length of the prong. This can actually strengthen the wrong muscles, and promote an ineffective motor plan that becomes muscle memory when writing with a pencil.

When kids use these tongs, they should have their hand positioned almost under the tongs, as if it were a pencil. When used this way, the tongs can strengthen the intrinsic muscles and promote a tripod grasp. These 3 prong tongs can work well when used correctly, but be sure to work along side a child with this one.

Toys for Open Thumb Web Space

Sometimes you will see a child who is holding their pencil with a closed web space. This happens when the thumb web space is the area between the thumb and the index finger. If the thumb is squashed up against the side of their index finger, they are not able to manipulate the pencil with small movements. They might move their whole arm to make letters instead of just the hand. A closed web space is an inefficient way to grasp the pencil and will lead to poor handwriting. This type of positioning requires activities that strengthen and stabilize the thumb.

A few toys that help encourage an open web space:

Tweezer Games: Tweezer activities promote an open web space and stabilization of the thumb. This Avalanche Fruit Stand (affiliate link) from Learning Resources is a colorful way to encourage an open web space. The vertical surface is perfect for encouraging an extended wrist.

Bead Sets: (affiliate link) Stringing beads is a good way to encourage an open web space. The child must hold the bead and string between their thumb and index fingers. Collapsing of the thumb web space will happen when the child demonstrates weakness in the muscles of the thumb. Beading is a repetitive activity and promotes strength.

This Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Stringing Beads with over 200 beads (affiliate link) from Melissa & Doug has over 200 beads in different colors and shapes, and even letters! You could even form sentences for the child to copy and practice their improved pencil grasp!

Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots: (affiliate link) Often times, a child will wrap their thumb around the index finger when they are writing with a pencil.. This indicates instability in the thumb and the muscles that allow for smooth pencil motions.

Pushing down on the buttons of the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em ROBOTS Game (affiliate link) from Mattel really strengthens the muscles of the thumb and allows for more stability leading to an open web space and ultimately more fluid motions of the pencil in letter formation. Plus, this game is just plain old FUN for kids of all ages!

Toys for Hand Strength

Hand Strength: If a child has weakness in their hands, they may complain that their hand is tired when they write or color. Then, to compensate for muscle fatigue, they resort to an inefficient hand grasp. They may grip the pencil with four fingers or with their whole palm. many times, a child will start off with a nice tripod grasp and then switch to a less efficient grasp…or even switch hands! Do they complain that their hand is tired or that it hurts? These kiddos need to work on hand strength. To allow for increased endurance when writing and coloring, this child would benefit from strengthening exercises.

A few toys that help encourage hand strength:

Pop Beads: (affiliate link) Pushing pop beads together is a perfect way to strengthen the intrinsic muscles of the hands including the arches of the hands.

Pop beads are such a fun toy that can be used to make patterns, different lengths, bracelets, necklaces, and even shapes. This Pop Beads (affiliate link) from ConstructivePlaythings are unique in their shape, color, sizes, and textures. A twist on the classic bead, this set will excite girls and boys of all ages. Be sure to shop for size-appropriate beads for your child’s hands.

Play-Doh: (affiliate link) Play dough is the ultimate open-ended toy for hand strengthening. There are unlimited ways to play all the while encouraging hand development.

We love this Play-Doh 24-Pack of Colors(affiliate link) for lots of creative play! Hide coins, beans, or beads in the dough and allow the child to find the items. Roll small balls of dough using just the thumb, index, and middle fingers.

Roll a play dough snake with the dough and have the child pinch the dough between their thumb and index finger. Just get creative and make some things with your play dough. Most of all, have fun!

Tissue Paper Art: (affiliate link) There is possible no better art project for hand strengthening than tissue paper art! Crumbling little bits of tissue paper is perfect for strengthening the small muscles of the hand.

Encourage your child to use just their finger tips to crumble the bits of tissue paper rather than two hands to crumble. This ALEX® Toys – Early Learning Tissue Paper Art -Little Hands 521W (affiliate link) from Alex Toys is bold, colorful and just plain fun art! Even better for the intrinsic muscles of the hands is tearing bits of paper before crumbling.

Squeeze Toys:(affiliate link) a gross grasp is using the whole hand to squeeze and flex into a grip.

What a great way to strengthen the muscles of the hands! This Lobster Claw Catcher (affiliate link) from is a fun way to encourage hand strength and endurance for coloring and writing.

Geoboard Activities– (affiliate link) Using a geoboard supports hand strength to enable endurance in handwriting. Manipulating the rubber bands promotes finger isolation, open thumb web-space, and and extended wrist.

Learning Resources Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set Toy– (affiliate link) This set of fine motor tools includes an eye-dropper, scissor scoops, and tongs. The sensory bin scoops and tools support hand strength through manipulating small objects or water.

These tools are a great way to strengthen the exact muscles needed for a functional pencil grasp.

Toys for Extended Wrist

Extended Wrist: An Extended wrist is a slightly bent back wrist. When a child’s hand is bent forward toward the palm, they typically exhibit inefficient grasp on the pencil and weakness in the hand. A slight bend in the wrist towards the back of the hand (bent up toward the ceiling when writing) allows for better movement and flow of the fingers when forming letters. Often times a child with a poor handwriting demonstrates a “hooked wrist” or a flat wrist and it leads back to inefficient control of the pencil and messy handwriting.

A few toys that help encourage an Extended Wrist:

Easel: (affiliate link) An easel can be used in so many ways while encouraging an extended wrist. Paint, draw, color, or write on the elevated surface. We love taping contact paper to our easel and sticking all kinds of craft supplies.

This really encourages an extended wrist while using a tripod grasp or tip to tip grasp to manipulate little items (think tissue paper, sequins, foil squares…the possibilities are endless!) This Easel (affiliate link) is great for extended wrist activities. And, it even folds down to reveal a desk surface. It’s the perfect gift to promote improved handwriting!

Ker Plunk: (affiliate link) The Ker Plunk Game (affiliate link) from Mattel encourages an extended wrist as the child pushes the sticks into the holes of the game. They are encouraged to use a tripod grasp to hold the sticks as well. Rotating the sticks encourages two types of in-hand manipulation.

Take this game a step further in handwriting exercise for strengthening and play laying down on the floor, propped up on your elbows. Getting down on the floor to play will activate the large muscles of the back and the shoulder girdle to improve precision in pencil grasp.

Montessori Boards-(affiliate link) Precision and dexterity activities are needed for pencil grasp and when you add in dexterity tasks and manipulation of tongs, spoons, or tweezers to move and place objects, it’s a win-win.

This precision Montessori board (affiliate link) builds the skills needed for pencil grasp: a stabile wrist, in-hand manipulation, open thumb web space, and dexterity.

Best toys and ideas to help kids improve their pencil grasp

Looking for a few activities to improve handwriting skills? Check out our round-up of the best handwriting activities from our blog and these other toy suggestions:

More Therapy Toy Ideas

Want to find more therapy recommended toys to help kids develop specific skills? Check out the list of skill areas below.

Printable List of Toys for Pencil Grasp

Want a printable copy of our therapist-recommended toys to support pencil grasp?

As therapy professionals, we LOVE to recommend therapy toys that build skills! This toy list is done for you so you don’t need to recreate the wheel.

Your therapy caseload will love these PENCIL GRASP toy recommendations. (There’s space on this handout for you to write in your own toy suggestions, to meet the client’s individual needs, too!)

Enter your email address into the form below. The OT Toolbox Member’s Club Members can access this handout inside the dashboard, under Educational Handouts. Just be sure to log into your account, first!

Fine Motor Paper Clip Math

September 23, 2024September 23, 2024 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

This Fine Motor Paper Clip Math idea is a fine motor math activity that makes for a great busy bag or calm down time activity. We actually have several paper clip activities here on The OT Toolbox because you can target so many fine motor skills with this simple item. It’s perfect for indoor playtime and hands-on learning. Not only that, but it is a great way to work on fine motor skills like finger and thumb opposition. Plus, manipulating paper clips helps with a neat pincer grasp, which is needed for the dexterity of manipulating small objects.

Fine Motor Paper Clip Math

I also love to use paperclips in math activities because you are targeting the fine motor skills needed for a functional pencil grasp and other tasks like stringing beads, zip/unzip, button/unbutton, and various in-hand manipulation skills.

An open thumb web space is a skill is needed for manipulating items like a pencil or crayon, shoe laces, zippers, buttons, and small objects with an open web space.

Often times, we see kids who have their thumb squashed up against their fingers and the side of their palm when they are writing or manipulating items. This opposition fine motor activity is a fun way to work on opening up the web space for improved dexterity.

Add this activity to our list of games with paper clips that support skill building!

Thumb opposition activity for fine motor skills needed in pencil grasp, buttoning, shoe tying, and zippers.

Full disclosure: Affiliate links are included in this post.

You’ll need just a two items for this activity:

I love how the two sets linked above (both affiliate links) are all colors of the rainbow. Even better for color matching and color recognition for preschoolers!

Paper clip math and learning activity for kids

So, this activity is completely simple to do; Spread out the paper clips and ask your child to match them up to the craft sticks.

We worked on a few learning activities with this:

Add the number of paper clips.
Add the total number of paper clips on two craft sticks.
Subtract the difference of the number of paper clips on two craft sticks.
One to one correspondence
More than/less than
Work on color matching and color recognition
Work on fine motor skills.
Teach base ten concepts by stringing paper clips together.

Use paper clips and foam craft sticks to work on counting, addition, and subtraction as well as color recognition and color matching.

Thumb Opposition Fine Motor Activity

Using the Foam Craft Sticks makes this activity a real workout for the fingers. You could use wooden craft sticks that provide more support and are easier to manage.

But, to really challenge the fine motor skills, the foam craft sticks are the thing to use! They are a little wiggly and require stability of the thenar muscles (muscles of the thumb) to hold the thumb in place as the fingers and the tip of the thumb place the paper clip on the craft stick.

When opposing, the thumb’s thenar muscles work to oppose the pointer finger during functional tasks. This is needed for advancing and positioning a pencil when writing, managing a button with ease, and pulling a zipper. With a closed thumb web space and lateral pinch of the thumb versus true opposition, a child will fumble.

When doing this opposition activity with your child, be sure to verbally prompt them to attend to the bend thumb IP joint.

This is such an easy way to learn and play indoors. Looking for more indoor play ideas?

Fine motor color matching and math activity using paper clips and foam craft sticks.

More fine motor activities you will love:

Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.

Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:

Letters Fine Motor Kit — Summer Fine Motor Kit

Kit de motricidad fina de verano — Summer Fine Motor Kit

Or, grab one of our themed Fine Motor Kits to target skills with fun themes:

Want access to all of these kits…and more being added each month? Join The OT Toolbox Member’s Club!

Apple Tree Fine Motor Activity

November 5, 2024September 13, 2024 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

This apple activity is a fine motor activity for occupational therapy sessions with kids that builds many skill areas. I love this fine motor apple activity because you can make it work for the needs of each child. There is power to using hole punch activities with kids! Working on hand strength? Use the hole punch to build skills. Working on dexterity? Pick up the small red circles to place them on the felt apple tree. You can even incorporate it into a vertical plane activity or add apple brain breaks to the session. The sky is the limit!

I love this apple tree activity because you can use dice to work on hand mobility, small apple dots that are precision work, and you can incorporate other skills into the activity.

This fine motor apple activity would go really well with our apple sensory bin and our Apple Therapy Kit.

Apple Tree Fine Motor Activity

Pair this apple tree activity with our apple tweezer activity for even more apple themed fine motor fun.

Fine motor strengthening is a hot topic when it comes to back-to-school time. Kids go back into the classroom and need to get back up to speed on all of the fine motor requirements in the classroom. What better way to work on fine motor strength than with a Fall apple theme? This apple themed fine motor activity adds a bit of math, too and it’s super easy to create for hands-on play, learning, and fine motor work.

Kids will love this fine motor strengthening apple activity this fall.

Fine Motor Strengthening Activity

This apple tree activity is a fun way to build the intrinsic muscle strength of the hands as well as gross grasp strength. It’s an easy activity to throw together, and the steps of the activity help to build strength of the hands, too.

Materials needed to make this apple tree activity:

Affiliate links are included in this post.

Green felt
Brown felt
Red cardstock
Hole punch
Brown cardstock
Scissors (Here are my favorite scissors and why to use each type of scissors for different needs)

To create the apple tree, cut the green felt into a tree-ish shape. Cutting felt is a complex scissor task, so older kids can help with this part. If you are able to use stiff felt, cutting through the material is a strengthening exercise in itself.

Next, cut the brown felt into a trunk shape, by simply cutting strait lines. Consider allowing the child to cut the trunk shape as cutting strait lines on a material such as felt is easier, yet the flimsy material makes it difficult to cut. A stiffer material would work well for this part as well.

Use strips of paper to build hand strength

Next, cut the red cardstock into small, thin strips of paper. This is not necessary for the end result of the activity, however there is a fine motor benefit to the extra step. Kids can hold the thin strips of paper with a pincer grasp using their non-dominant, helper hand. Using the small strips of paper requires precision. Kids will then be required to slow down while using the hole punch so that they don’t cut the holes over the edge of the strip of the paper.

Need a hole punch that requires less effort for younger kids or those who need to build their gross muscle grip strength? Try this one.

Hole Punch Activity

Before we move on, I want to take a moment to talk about this portion of the activity.

Cutting paper strips and using a hole punch along the strip is an easy fine motor activity that you can set up with items you probably have on hand….Cut strips of paper. Use different grades and remember that cutting thicker paper means more resistance which is good for strengthening the hands.

Use a hole punch to punch holes along the paper strip. This supports eye hand coordination, motor planning, bilateral coordination, grip strength, and more. Here’s more on this activity…and then a fun way to use those small dots for more fine motor fun.

Use the brown cardstock to make a small apple barrel shape. This can be used in the math part of this activity.

A slower cut with the hole punch allows for the muscles of the hands to exercise with prolonged tension and increases blood flow. Using the hole punch with slow repetitions builds gross grasp strength.

Once the apple tree and apples are created, kids can place them on the tree. The cardstock will not stick permanently to the felt, but they will stay in place for temporary play. Scatter the red cardstock circles, (those are your apples!) onto the table. Show your child or student how to pick up the apples and place them onto the apple tree. Picking up the small cardstock circles is a real workout for the intrinsic muscles of the hand.

To make this activity easier, place the cardstock circles on a piece of felt.

Apple Fine Motor Activity

Add a bit of math to this activity with a pair of dice. Show your child how to roll the dice and then count the number of dots on the dice. They can then add and count the number of apples and place them on the tree.

There are several ways to build on this activity:

Use the dice to add apples.
Subtract by taking away apples from the tree.
Create multiple step math problems by adding and them subtracting the numbers on the dice to put on and then remove apples.

Apple fine motor strengthening activity and fall math with hands-on learning.

Looking for more apple activities? Try these:

The Apple Therapy Kit is full of fine motor, visual motor, and sensory motor tools to support fine motor skill development needed for handwriting and other functional tasks.

This therapy kit, along with many other apple themed resources can be found inside The OT Toolbox Membership Club.

Fine Motor Leaft Craft

September 17, 2024September 6, 2024 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

plastic canvas sewing craft to make fall leaves

I love this fine motor leaf craft and activity that we did back in September, 2015. It was a fun Fall occupational therapy activity that targets several areas of development: bilateral coordination, wrist stability, fine motor dexterity, and visual motor skills.

This plastic canvas leaf is a fine motor sewing craft for kids.

Fine Motor Leaf Craft

This week in our second grade learning activities, we’re sharing this Fall Fine Motor Leaf craft that is perfect for second graders. We love fine motor crafts and activities and this creative fall art was no exception. Kids of all ages will love crafting up these Fall leaves (my three year old and 8 year old both had a blast!) It’s great because these leaves can get creative and as unique as the crafty kids like!

Fall Leaf Art for second grade (or any age!). Kids can create this fine motor fall leaf craft and work on many skills like math, patterns, symmetry, homemaking/life skills, and more.

Fall Fine Motor Leaves Craft

(This post contains affiliate links.)You’ll need just a few materials for this easy Fall craft:

Plastic Canvas
Plastic Lacing Cord
Paper
Marker
Scissors

To make the plastic canvas leaves:

We started by making a leaf shape on paper.
Fold a small square of paper in half and show your child how to draw half of a leaf.

Now is a good time to discuss symmetry and that leaves are symmetrical. Second graders can discuss and learn about mirror symmetry by creating leaves on the halved paper.

Draw leaves on plastic canvas:

Next, trace the leaf shapes onto the Plastic Canvas. Tracing with a marker onto the bumpy textured surface of the canvas is great fine motor work as the child holds the paper in place with their assisting hand and maintains control of the marker while tracing.
You’ll want the child to manage the paper in place with bilateral coordination as they use both hands together in a coordinated manner.

Cut out the plastic canvas shapes.

After tracing the leaf shape onto the canvas, have your child cut out the shape with scissors. What a great scissor activity for older students like second graders!

The holes of the canvas really provides feedback to the child as they cut the curved lines of their leaves.

Lacing plastic canvas shapes

We’ve previously covered why I love lacing activities as an occupational therapist. There are just so many visual motor benefits to lacing tasks that support the areas that we are working on in OT sessions.

The plastic canvas craft is a great way to gain all of the benefits of lacing tasks!

After cutting out the leaves, start lacing! Discuss the colors of the plastic cording and identify warm colors (red, yellow, orange) that might be seen on Fall leaves.

Explore the look of cool colors too (blue, green, purple) through discussion.

Sewing Activity for Kids

This craft is a practical life skill activity, too. Besides the craft aspect, you can support the IADL of sewing with this activity.

Show the child how to thread the plastic cording though the holes of the canvas. Show the students a running stitch and use terms “pull, over, and under”.

Try a whipstitch where the cording goes down through the plastic canvas and around the edge with parallel stitches over the edge of the shape.

These are all great terms to introduce to kids as a pre-sewing skill.

Practice different sewing techniques using the plastic cord to make designs and trim around the plastic canvas leaves.

Allow the child to create as they like on their leaves. Some of our leaves had long stitches that resembled the veins of the leaves (More symmetry!) and others were very creative with their colors and zig zagging lines.

This Fall craft is sure to get the creativity and fine motor skills going!

More skill areas covered in this activity:

Science: Discuss leaf types, tree names, and shapes.
Math: Count out squares and patterns with the stitches.
Crafting: Create a decorative garland with the leaves by hanging all of the leaves together.
Creative Expression: Each leaf can be as unique as your child and the leaves of the trees this Fall.
Functional Skills/Homemaking: Practice types of stitches on the plastic canvas.
Sewing: Encourage more homemaking skills by introducing a plastic needle and thread.
Fine Motor: Many fine motor skills are addressed in this activity-tripod grasp, bilateral hand coordination, scissor skills,

More Fine Motor Fall Art you will love:

You can continue the Fall leaves theme by using our Fall Leaves Therapy Kit. It’s available inside The OT Toolbox Membership, or you can find it in our Therapy Kit bundle.

Dyed Rainbow Lollipop Sticks

September 17, 2024September 5, 2024 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

We made these dyed lollipop sticks many moons ago, (2015!) as a fine motor and visual motor tool to use in color sorting and other fine motor activities. The colorful sticks are fun and provide countless opportunities in your OT sessions for creative exploration, problem-solving, and hands-on learning.

We made these dyed lollipop sticks last month and have been playing with them a lot. Counting, patterns, fine motor play, art, visual perceptual work, and imagination are fun with these colorful rainbow sticks. They are so easy to dye with just a little food coloring, and very fun. We’ve used these rainbow sticks in a few different ways recently and will be sharing soon on the blog!

Rainbow lollipop sticks dyed with coloring for play, counting, busy bags, math with kids

This post contains affiliate links.

Dyed Lollipop Sticks for play and learning

How gorgeous are rainbow lollipop sticks? Don’t you want to play with them?

How to dye lollipop sticks

We had a ton of extra lollipop sticks left over from various parties. The idea to color them in rainbow shades came to me after seeing them in the baking bin next to food coloring. A rainbow of manipulatives would be fun for all kinds of play. I put a handful of sticks into small plastic baggies and added a few drops of liquid food coloring. More food coloring will bring out brighter colors.

Shake the baggies around to coat the sticks.

Spread the lollipop sticks out on wax paper and allow them to dry.

Use rainbow lollipop sticks for play, math, patterns and colorful learning with kids!

Once dry, you are ready to play! These things are completely gorgeous and we had fun just naming all of the colors, rolling them back and forth, and sorting.

Dye lollipop sticks with food coloring for colorful play!

Practice fine motor skills with kids using DIY dyed lollipop sticks

Fine Motor Skills with Dyed Rainbow Lollipop Sticks

We pulled a plastic bottle from the recycle bin and practiced fine motor skills by dropping the rainbow sticks into the plastic bottle one by one. Drop by colors and work on color identification. Practice beginner math skills by counting one-to-one correspondence as the child names the number of each color. Practice a tripod grasp on the lollipop sticks and pre-handwriting skills.

Fine motor rainbow play was never so much fun!

More rainbow activities that you will love:

Rainbow Foam Sheets on the Window

Painting Rainbows

FIne Motor With Crafting Pom Poms

Color Matching Play Dough

Rainbow Snacks

Rainbow Fine Motor Play

3 Rainbow Sensory Bins

Home Made Play Dough

Other Ways to Use Dyed Lollipop Sticks

We shared just a couple of ways to use dyed lollipop sticks in developing sensory motor skills. Here are more ideas:

Color Sorting: Have children sort the dyed lollipop sticks by color into matching containers or on a color mat.
Pattern Making: Create and replicate patterns with the sticks, such as alternating colors or building sequences.
Counting and Number Matching: Use the sticks for counting activities or to match with numbers written on paper or cards.
Stick Building: Encourage children to build simple structures or shapes by gluing the sticks together.
Letter and Shape Formation: Have kids use the sticks to form letters, numbers, or shapes on a flat surface.
Tactile Tracing: Glue the sticks to create raised lines on paper for children to trace with their fingers, enhancing tactile feedback.
Matching Games: Write letters or numbers on the sticks and have children match them to corresponding cards or objects.
Sensory Bins: Add the dyed sticks to a sensory bin filled with rice, beans, or sand for children to find and sort.
Stick Weaving: Weave yarn or string around and between sticks placed in a grid pattern, working on fine motor skills.
Craft Projects: Incorporate the sticks into art and craft projects, such as making frames, collages, or decorations.

Rainbow Handwriting Kit– This resource pack includes handwriting sheets, write the room cards, color worksheets, visual motor activities, and so much more. The handwriting kit includes:

Write the Room, Color Names: Lowercase Letters
Write the Room, Color Names: Uppercase Letters
Write the Room, Color Names: Cursive Writing
Copy/Draw/Color/Cut Color Worksheets
Colors Roll & Write Page
Color Names Letter Size Puzzle Pages
Flip and Fill A-Z Letter Pages
Colors Pre-Writing Lines Pencil Control Mazes
This handwriting kit now includes a bonus pack of pencil control worksheets, 1-10 fine motor clip cards, visual discrimination maze for directionality, handwriting sheets, and working memory/direction following sheet! Valued at $5, this bonus kit triples the goal areas you can work on in each therapy session or home program.

Click here to get your copy of the Colors Handwriting Kit.

Fall Leaf Auditory Processing Activities

November 5, 2024September 5, 2024 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Sensory Motor Leaf Activity. Image has hands crumbling fall leaves

These Fall Leaf Auditory Processing Activities are great for addressing listening skills in kids with or without auditory processing difficulties. Try this creative leaf idea at home or in the school yard to easily strengthen auditory abilities for better learning. Perfect for children of all ages and developmental levels, it’s a Fall themed activity that will help kids learn to listen to details!

For example, we love cutting Fall leaves to practice scissor skills. Another fun (and free) ideas is doing our leaf hole punch activity (also very good for working on scissor skills). Here are more hole punch activities to try.

And, don’t forget to download our Fall Leaf deep breathing activity for self regulation needs.

Let’s get started with the auditory processing info and how we can support this area of development with a handful of leaves…

Fall Auditory Processing Activities

Listening isn’t easy for everyone. For children with auditory processing disorders, learning is difficult. Imagine identifying and localizing sounds in a classroom that is filled with chattering children, scooting chair legs, pencils scratching on paper, and moving, sound-making children. The process of localizing sounds, recognizing sound patterns, discriminating between different letter sounds, and interpreting auditory information can be less than optimal for the child with difficulty processing the sound information that is coming in.

Try these listening activities using Fall’s leaves in a backyard auditory processing activity!

Try these activities to help kids who are auditory learners.

Finally, be sure to check out this resource on auditory sensitivities that impact learning.

Fall Leaf themed auditory processing activities for sensory needs in kids.

Auditory Processing Activities Using Fall Leaves

This post contains affiliate links.

When there are auditory processing difficulties present, a child may tend to have the following problems that interfere with learning:

Poor direction following
Appear confused
Distractibility
Short attention spans
Sensitive to loud sounds
Inconsistently aware of sounds
Poor listeners

To build and strengthen auditory skills, try using leaves this Fall. The crunchy, dry leaves that cover the ground are nature’s sensory tool when it comes to auditory processing needs.

We first talked about the fall leaves that are covering our lawn and read through this month’s Virtual Book Club for Kids book, (affiliate link) Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. We talked about how the leaves of fall are all different colors, shapes, and sizes but have one thing in common: a great crunch when they are dry!

To do these sensory Fall Leaf Auditory Processing activity, you’ll need a bunch of leaves that have fallen from trees. Dry leaves will work best, so if the leaves are newly fallen, you will want to gather leaves up in advance. Let them dry indoors for several hours or overnight to get a great “crunch”.

Next, spread out the leaves in a big bin. An under the bed storage bin works great for this activity.

Show your child how to squeeze and crumble the leaves using their hands. Ask them to listen to the crunch of the leaves. Notice how the leaves crumble and give off a satisfying noise as they are shifted around in the bin.

Use the dry leaves to address auditory sensory needs:

Where is that leaf? Ask the child to sit in front of the bin (or if you are outside, sit in front of the adult. Ask the child to close their eyes. Using one hand to crunch leaves, ask the child to say or point to the side that the leaf crunch is coming from. Add a high/low and front/back component by moving around to crumble the leaves, too.
Leaf Pattern- Ask your child to gather a bunch of dry leaves. Using a pile of leaves of your own, complete a crunching pattern as you crumble leaves at different speeds and in each hand. The child can then repeat the pattern.
Sound Stop- Crumble and crunch the leaves. At intervals, stop crunching leaves and wait for a moment. Ask the child to say “Now!” when the leaves stop crumbling.
Falling Leaf Sounds- With the child’s eyes closed, crumble leaves high and low above and below the child. Ask the child to determine if the leaves are above them or below them as they determine the location of the sound.
Lots of Sound Leaves- Add other sounds to the background noise: talking, music, rattle toys, birds chirping, etc. Ask the child to determine when the sound of crunching leaves stop. You can also add a localization dimension to this activity to work on auditory figure ground awareness.

Kids can complete these activities on a one-on-one basis or in a group setting. For kids with sensory issues, or those that are sensitive to crumbling leaves, try using gardening gloves while crumbling.

How would you use Fall’s leaves in a sensory or auditory processing activity?

Add this Fall leaves breathing exercise to these Fall themed activities in therapy:

Fall slide deck for virtual sessions
Fall fine motor activities for hands-on play
Fall Fine Motor Kit for fine motor skill work, crafts, handwriting, and more
Fall Fine Motor Worksheets

Visit our auditory processing activities page for more creative ways to address auditory needs.

Address sensory needs while experiencing all that the Fall season has to offer! Grab your free copy of the Fall Sensory Experiences Booklet to create sensory diet activities that meet the needs of individuals in a Fall-themed way!

Looking for more sensory motor fun with a leaf theme? Get a copy of our free Fall Leaves slide deck AND printable Fall leaves visual motor skill worksheets. Get those Fall Leaves worksheets here.

You can also grab a copy of our Fall Leaves Therapy Kit inside The OT Toolbox Membership, or by purchasing our Therapy Kit Bundle.

Keyring Pencil Grasp Trick

September 17, 2024August 30, 2024 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Hand holding a pencil with a keyring around the ring finger and pinkie finger for pencil grasp.

Today, I’m excited to share a fine motor skills book written by a fellow Occupational Therapist. Fine Motor ABC is a book full of alphabet themed activities that are designed to strengthen fine motor skills that are needed for functional tasks such as handwriting. We tried one of the activities and found a great way to encourage a tripod grasp on the pencil when writing with this super simple pencil grasp trick. This would be a great addition to our post on creative ways to improve pencil grasp with fine motor skills.

Easy Pencil Grasp Trick

One of my favorite ideas from (Amazon affiliate link) Fine Motor ABC is this super simple tripod grasp idea. We tried a version using a keychain keyring loop to work on encouraging a tripod grasp. What a simple pencil grasp trick!

Using the keyring loop is a fantastic way to separate the two sides of the hand with a tactile cue.

To use the tool, simply shoe kids how to position the loop right over the ring finger and pinky finger.

They can then tuck the keyring loop over the fingers or simply hold it in place in their palm.
This tactile cue allows them to curve their fingers into the palm while stabilizing the ulnar side of the hand.
The middle finger, index finger, and thumb are then free to manipulate the pencil with the precision side of the hand.

FAQ: Using a Keyring to Support Pencil Grasp

Q1: Why would you use a keyring to help with pencil grasp?
A: The Pencil Grasp Trick is a simple method using ABCs to improve how a child holds a pencil, making writing more comfortable and effective.

Q2: How does using a keyring help with fine motor skills?
A: By engaging specific hand muscles and coordinating movements, the keyring trick strengthens the fine motor skills needed for writing and other tasks. It engages the precision side of the hand and separates the support side of the hand. See separation of the sides of the hand for more information.

Q3: At what age can kids start using the Pencil Grasp Trick?
A: Children as young as 3-4 years old can begin practicing this trick, but it’s beneficial for any child struggling with proper pencil grasp.

Q4: Can this method be used for children with special needs?
A: Yes, the Pencil Grasp Trick is adaptable and can be a helpful tool for children with special needs to improve their writing skills.

Q5: How often should my child practice the Pencil Grasp Trick?
A: Regular practice, even just a few minutes a day, can lead to noticeable improvements in pencil grasp and writing abilities.

Super simple pencil grasp trick using a keychain keyring loop that works to separate the two sides of the hand and encourage a tripod grasp while writing.

This post contains affiliate links.

Fine Motor Skills ABC Activities

We love the book, Fine Motor ABC because it has alphabet themed fine motor activities that make it perfect for teaching young kids while focusing on much-needed fine motor skills.

Fine Motor ABC is a great book for Occupational Therapists, teachers, and parents or anyone who works with kids. This book is a resource of engaging activities that are designed to target the necessary skills needed for childhood functional tasks. Each letter of the alphabet addresses a fine motor skill with a quick and easy description of the task. There are big, bright images and corresponding hand signs for kids to copy. The engaging description of the activities really had my kids interested in reading through the book.

Following each lettered fine motor activity are through descriptions of the therapeutic reasoning for completing the task. Fine Motor ABC is a book that would be well-used in any home, classroom, or therapy clinic.

Stacie Erfle is an Occupational Therapist who has put creative ideas to work in her book and I’m excited to read the upcoming books on gross motor skills and sensory activities. Read more about the books on the Skill Builder site.

Fine motor ABC activities for kids and designed for therapists, parents, and teachers for developing fine motor skills in kids.

Great ways to use Fine Motor ABC in therapeutic development of fine motor skills in the OT clinic, classroom, or home:

Use the alphabet-themed fine motor activities in order from A-Z.
Complete only a few of the letters, by spelling a word and completing those corresponding fine motor activities.
Spell out the child’s name by completing the fine motor activities that correspond with the letters in the child’s name.
Follow the sign language images at the top of each page. Ask the child to copy the hand signs. Don’t forget to ask the child to carefully turn the pages of the book to see the next sign!
Create a customized therapy home program using the themed fine motor tasks.
Act out the activities without using manipulatives for a different way to practice the fine motor skills.
Work through the book by doing the activities that have a purple border (or blue or orange border!) Next time do a different color.

There are so many ways to use this resource activity book with kids!

More easy pencil grasp tricks for developing fine motor activities that you will love:

Learning with Dyed Alphabet Pasta

August 16, 2024August 16, 2024 by Colleen Beck OTR/L

Grab a box of alphabet noodles for a fun multisensory learning activity that builds skills in many areas. We used letters pasta to create a sensory bin that incorporates fine motor skills and a letter learning activity.

Alphabet Noodles

You might remember eating alphabet noodles as a child in soup. But if you have a box of letter noodles on hand, it’s easy to create a sensory play activity that builds skills.

This easy dyed pasta activity combines learning with fine motor development. From the scooping to the neat pincer grasp activity, this is a great way to build many skills! Younger children can use scoops and spoons to develop coordination needed to scoop and pour while gaining exposure to letters. What a fun way to build so many areas!

Alphabet Pasta Activities

So, in addition to the ideas we shared above, we love using dry alphabet pasta in other activities to support fine motor and visual motor skills. I love that you can incorporate the tactile sensory play in learning and skill development.

Some of my favorite ideas for alphabet pasta:

Alphabet Sensory Bin Search: Fill a sensory bin with dry alphabet pasta and small items like pom-poms, beads, or toy animals. Hide letter cards or small objects in the bin, and encourage kids to search for specific letters or objects. This activity helps improve pincer grasp and hand-eye coordination while engaging their sense of touch.

Letter Pasta Sensory Bottle: Create a “Alphabet Seek-and-Find” Sensory Bottle by filling a clear plastic bottle with dry alphabet pasta. Add a few small, colorful beads or buttons to make it more visually stimulating. You can also include a few small trinkets or themed charms to match a specific letter (e.g., a tiny apple for “A”). Seal the bottle tightly with glue to prevent any spills. Here are other sensory bottle ideas to use, like adding scrabble letter tiles to the sensory bottle as an I spy activity.

Pasta Art and Letter Matching: Have kids glue dry alphabet pasta onto construction paper to create letter art or spell out simple words. For an extra challenge, provide them with a printed word and have them match the letters using the pasta. This activity develops both fine motor skills and visual-motor integration as they match letters and manipulate the small pieces. It’s a great letter recognition activity!

This was such a fun activity! I found a bag of alphabet pasta at a local grocery store on sale for a dollar and couldn’t pass it up! We used a little from the bag and used the rest in wedding soup. (Little Guy’s most often request and favorite meal!) Because the only thing that makes wedding soup even more awesome is fun shaped noodles 🙂

How to dye alphabet Pasta

We dyed the pasta in a baggie…added a few drops of red food coloring and 2 Tbsp of vinegar. We dyed this batch back in May and the color is still going strong. The vinegar doesn’t leave an odor when playing with the pasta, but helps the coloring to “stick” to the pasta.

Have the kids shake the bag (or use a lidded plastic container for a fun auditory component!) and get their wiggles out.

I put up a few strips of masking tape on our easel and put out the bowl of pasta. Baby Girl had the job of scooping letters from the bowl onto a plate. She loved using my measuring spoons to scoop. Toddlers seem to love scooping any little bits…peas/beans/rice/sand…and it’s such a great fine motor task for them.

Pinching those little letters was a fun fine motor exercise for working on their tripod grasp and pincer grasp.

I positioned the tape strips high up on the easel to encourage an extended wrist. This wrist position allows for efficient use of the fingers in such a small motor activity.

Big Sister worked on locating letters as I told her how to spell words.

…Baby Girl couldn’t let her big sister do something and NOT get involved…

We also used the alphabet letter pasta to work on a little reading/spelling activity: I stuck on the -AT letters and asked Big Sister to find the letter we needed to spell different rhyming words. Fun!

Alphabet letter pasta can be used in many ways! How do you use this sensory activity to learn and play?

Working on fine motor skills, visual perception, visual motor skills, sensory tolerance, handwriting, or scissor skills? Our Fine Motor Kits cover all of these areas and more.

Check out the seasonal Fine Motor Kits that kids love:

Or, grab one of our themed Fine Motor Kits to target skills with fun themes:

Want access to all of these kits…and more being added each month? Join The OT Toolbox Member’s Club!

By Audience

By Category

PENCIL GRASP CHALLENGE

What is the Pencil Grasp Challenge?

More about the challenge

Enter the Pencil Grasp Challenge!

How to Join the Pencil Grasp Challenge

1. Best Value: Purchase the Course for Just $25!

2. Already a Member? You Get Access!

3. Free Email Course Option

Why Join the Pencil Grasp Challenge?

Do you know a child with a terrible pencil grasp?

Pencil Grasp Toys

Best Toys to Improve Pencil Grasp

Toys That Improve Pencil Grasp

Toys for Tripod Grasp

Toys for Open Thumb Web Space

Toys for Hand Strength

Toys for Extended Wrist

More Therapy Toy Ideas

Printable List of Toys for Pencil Grasp

Therapist-Recommended ​PENCIL GRASP TOYS HANDOUT

Fine Motor Paper Clip Math

Thumb Opposition Fine Motor Activity

Apple Tree Fine Motor Activity

Fine Motor Strengthening Activity

Hole Punch Activity

Apple Fine Motor Activity

Fine Motor Leaf Craft

Fall Fine Motor Leaves Craft

Lacing plastic canvas shapes

Sewing Activity for Kids

Dyed Lollipop Sticks for play and learning

How to dye lollipop sticks

Fine Motor Skills with Dyed Rainbow Lollipop Sticks

More rainbow activities that you will love:

Other Ways to Use Dyed Lollipop Sticks

Fall Auditory Processing Activities

Auditory Processing Activities Using Fall Leaves

When there are auditory processing difficulties present, a child may tend to have the following problems that interfere with learning:

Use the dry leaves to address auditory sensory needs:

How would you use Fall’s leaves in a sensory or auditory processing activity?

Get our Fall Sensory Activities Guide

Easy Pencil Grasp Trick

FAQ: Using a Keyring to Support Pencil Grasp

Fine Motor Skills ABC Activities

Alphabet Noodles

Alphabet Pasta Activities

How to dye alphabet Pasta

Quick Links

Explore

My Account

Sign Up for the OT Toolbox Newsletter

Get Connected

Therapist-Recommended
PENCIL GRASP TOYS HANDOUT