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In our last Blast, we discussed the child with a Loosey-Goosey hand grasp and strategies to improve hand use and facilitate a more functional grasp. On the other hand (no pun intended!), some children are very heavy-handed in their approach to functional tasks like experiential writing and coloring. Some children use excessive pressure when coloring, practicing handwriting, or erasing. Marks and strokes made on paper may be overly dark - some children even write or erase through the paper leaving rips and tears. The heavy-handed child may experience pain and fatigue in the hand and become frustrated if his or her coloring/writing product is perceived to be messy. Our role is to assist the child who uses too much pressure with tools to recognize and feel when he or she is using too much pressure and how to gauge the right amount of pressure for a given task. Verbal cues to "lighten up" on the pencil or tool do not always translate into understanding how to do so. Try some of these easy, hands-on strategies to reduce frustration and increase success for the heavy-handed child:  Hand Presses (palm-to-palm) with a friend or parent stretch the hands, which helps them to relax before engaging in a task. Putty - $5.00  | Hide/find beads and buttons in Putty as a way to warm-up and prepare little hands for all different types of tasks from manipulating fastners to writing! Pick-Up Chop Stix $5.50 | Playing Pick-Up Chop Stix is a twist on the old favorite game - Pick-Up Stix. This eye-hand coordination game encourages use of a delicate touch and helps children recognize how to use different amounts of pressure for different tasks. Mini Dice $2.00 | Try Manipulating a lightweight tool like our Tweezer that requires a very gentle touch in order to stack the Mini Dice successfully. This is a favorite activity of children! Tweezer $1.50 | Peel & Stick (Pets) $10.00  | Peel & Stick (Pets) - an engaging activity that facilitates the tripod grasp and use of a gentle touch when releasing the mosaic tiles and placing them accurately to make the picture. Incrediwalls $9.75 | Experience pre-writing in vertical (chalkboard, paper on the wall, or our Incrediwalls). Changing the angle of the writing experince can reduce the amount of hand pressure used by the child.  For older children, try using a mechanical pencil. Too much pressure and the lead will break, which provides natural feedback to the child and encourages him or her to use less pressure when writing. Change the tool and change the success level of the child!
Have a great week with just the right amount of pressure...Write Out of the Box! Marianne |
