In 2012 I was giving a seminar and temporarily lost my luggage at the airport, so all I had available was my laptop. I typically had large duffle bag full of fun hand activities for participants to explore and I was wearing blue jeans!
So, since I had no hands-on activities to use as planned AND but there were bowls of candy available- I asked participants to use one hand to unwrap kisses and to see how many they could grasp with the other fingers pressing the kisses against the palm while unwrapping.
A great way to develop the in-hand manipulation skill called “translation” is to hold coins in the hand while feeding a tennis ball…..
or as shown in the following post, feeding the dog or therapist…..
Excerpt from From Rattles to Writing: A Parent’s Guide to Hand Skills:
You learned in Chapter 3 that six- to twelve-month-old babies pick up
small objects, such as pieces of cereal, by using the fingers like a rake and
curling them into the palm. Between twelve and fifteen months of age, your
child will not only use a pincer grasp (holding an object between the tips of
the index finger and thumb) to pick up tiny objects but begin to press the
middle, ring, and pinky fingers against the palm to hold several objects in
place. As he continues to practice picking up tiny objects, he will develop the
in-hand manipulation skills that enable him to move around and control several
small objects inside his hand.
Your child will learn that instead of shoving a handful
of cereal pieces into his mouth at once, he can manipulate
his fingers to pull out one or two pieces at a time while
retaining the rest inside his palm. After several months of
practicing in-hand manipulation, your eighteen-month-old
may be able to hold several pegs in the palm and rotate the
fingers to bring one between the index finger and thumb to
place into a pegboard. Demonstrate in-hand manipulation
as you present pieces of food to your baby. Developing in-hand manipulation
skills will help an older child play the game of jacks and control a pencil. Also,
try the following simplified version of a hide-and-seek game.