Develop Hand Strength with Clay Activities

Summary:  Activities and tips for strengthening the hand, wrist and finger muscles for good handwriting development.  Homeschool handwriting curriculum for hand strengthening, is mentioned, too. #handwriting #homeschooling 

Do you have a child who struggles with handwriting?  What do you think is their main challenge?

Sometimes it can be due to fine motor coordination difficulties.  But sometimes it is not and is an issue of hand, wrist and finger strength.  

Good wrist strength is as essential for handwriting as finger coordination is.  Both are important.  Today I'd like to share a resource that we have found for strengthening the wrist and hand muscles, through clay art.

Clay Fun is a little book from Oak Meadow Homeschool Publishers, full of creative easy-to-do projects, which only require playdough or clay.

We got our clay from a local grocery/drug store, in the toy department.  

My daughter enjoyed making a all of the projects described in this book. And it helped build her hand and finger muscle strength.

There are over 20 easy to do, fun clay projects in this book.  The projects may be acceptable to teens, too.

I liked how each project included easy to follow, step by step directions.  It could easily be done independently, depending on the age of the child.

It can easily become a family project! Your homeschool could take a Clay Fun break in the afternoons.

photo credit - Oak Meadow

One fall, my daughter enjoyed making their Cornucopia project as pictured below.

Benefits:

Rolling the clay out for this project is great for strengthening the wrist muscles.

And shaping the pumpkin and the other veggies for the cornucopia is super for building up the finger muscles.

Another simple project included was their Bunny Egg Bank, which was great for not only building up wrist strength, but also finger strength, too.

Photo Credit - Oak Meadow

Benefits:

Making the pinch pots for this project is great for strengthening the finger muscles needed for a mature grasp.

Clay Fun is all about having fun working with clay, while building up the wrist and finger muscles for handwriting. 

For more information on Clay Fun, please click here to read the rest of my review of this helpful resource.

Don't forget to join me on Pinterest, for many more resources for your elementary aged child.

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is a former O.T, veteran homeschooler and now mom to her college grad, whom she homeschooled from preK through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school, college, gifted/2e and wrote - Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting. 

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