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5 Everyday Activities to Strengthen Hands

A child’s hand strength impacts many areas of their daily lives.  This is why Occupational Therapy sessions usually include a hand strengthening activity.  Hand strength affects a child’s ability to button and zip their own clothing, tie shoes, and manipulate eating utensils. At school, hand strength is required to grip a pencil and develop the endurance to complete the numerous writing tasks throughout the day.  For younger children, hand strength is required for play activities such as climbing, playing with toys and coloring.  Special equipment is not necessary for improving hand strength.  Encouraging your child to participate in everyday activities around the house can help develop the hand strength they need.

1. Crawling

Crawling is a wonderful hand strengthening activity!  When your child crawls on the floor while playing, they are supporting their weight with their hands and knees.  Weight bearing on the hands engages all the muscles in the hands and helps develop and strengthen them.  Have crawling races with your children.  It will strengthen them and use up some of their excess energy at the same time.

2. Baking

Include your child when you’re baking.  Give them a small ball of dough to play with or let them help you with the main baking task.  Using a rolling pin to roll out cookie or pie crust dough is a great activity to build hand and arm strength, as is gripping a cookie cutter and cutting out cookies. Gripping against resistance develops the muscles of the hand.

3. Bath Time

When your little one is taking a bath give them a sponge to play with.  Squeezing the water out of a sponge is fun for them and good for their hands!   In fact, using a sponge to wipe off the kitchen table, wash the car, or just for water play in the back yard is a fun way to “sneak” strengthening into the daily routine.

4. Do you garden?

Digging is another fun activity that builds the muscles necessary for a strong grip.   Give your child a small trowel and let them plant alongside you.  If you don’t garden, a sandbox or a tub of rice or dry beans are other options that provide the same benefits.

5. Watering Plants

Have your child use a spray bottle to water plants.  Like squeezing a sponge, squeezing the handle of the spray bottle to squirt water develops the muscles of the hand and forearm in a way that is fun for your child – and this activity can take one chore off your list!
These are just a few activities you can incorporate at home to help your child develop the hand strength they need to complete their daily activities.
Elise Bondy COTA/L

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LLA Therapy

Patient Reviews

Crystal Scheibe

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Great place, glad we found them. Been going to Medina over 2 months now and he loves Lauryn and Kyler. Wish they had more ABA therapy places available... live in Wooster and long drive everyday.

Karrie Swan LaRock

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My 11 year old son has dyslexia and has made noticeable gains in working At LLA THERAPY. Katie is strong in her approach toward him and also keeps him comfortable enough to perform well. We will continue visiting both the Fairlawn and Hudson offices and recommend them highly.

Ron Monroe

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My 9 year old just completed about 9 months of weekly speech sessions (due to his stuttering) with Matt Hagge at LLA and we are thrilled with the experience and results. What I thought might be a negative (what kid really wants to go to speech class?) was made very positive by Matt, and my son never hesitated or complained when we talked about class. He really enjoyed it and really took what Matt taught him to heart. His speech has been greatly improved and we definitely recommend LLA. Thank you so much!

Heather Dougherty-Pantoja

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My son’s Occupational Therapist, Jess, is an amazing OT! She gives practical tips on working with my son at home and school!

Terri Apgar

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I cannot say enough good things about LLA Therapy. My daughter was a client of Teal Simmons’ for approximately 2 years and was just released from speech therapy! She was diagnosed with Apraxia in 2015 and worked with Teal twice a week. Through Teal’s application of PROMPT therapy, my daughter had age-appropriate speech after one year. All of the staff we interacted with at LLA were absolutely wonderful. They really care about what they do and making sure your child achieves their goals.

Kelli Geisler Davisson

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LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for my son as well as my family! My son always asks, "When can I go see Ms. Jeannine again, is it Monday??" He has also made huge gains in only 5 months! I would highly recommend LLA and have already shared my experience with friends looking for services!

Victoria Hansford-Price

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We are so grateful for our Speech Therapist Ms.Teal. We have seen a great improvement with our sons confidence and communication abilities since we have started "Prompt" therapy. What we love the most about LLA and Ms. Teal is that Kohl feels comfortable and relaxed which has played a critical role in his progress. Thank you Ms. Teal for all you have done.

Laura Lee Hogsett

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They have helped in numerous ways. Speech, OT and behavioral. I've had numerous compliments on my son's progress thanks in very large part to LLA. I would recommend LLA before I recommend our local children's hospitals, though they are good, they don't have the staff that LLA does.

Amy Furukawa

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We had a great experience with Matt Hagge at LLA! Our Middle School age son was becoming very conscious of his voice, which is nasal due to a cleft palate. Matt helped him to better form his sounds and project his voice in a way that makes the unavoidable nasality less noticeable.Our son is more confident and outgoing & even took on a speaking role in the church play. Matt has the perfect personality to relate with our son, and we would recommend him to anyone needing speech therapy services!

Jessica Havalotti

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LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for our daughter. I would highly recommend LLA. Miss Grace was so amazing and I can't believe how quickly our daughter showed improvement. Thank you!
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