Topic 3: Why Is It Important, What Does It Look Like and How Can I Help?

You are probably going to see children with poor grip strength in your program.  Most likely it will show up when griping a pool noodle, pulling a rope or holding the edge of a parachute.   

Some other clues include:

• Using two hands on a pencil or crayon to write
• Switching between hands or changing grasp frequently while writing
• Palming the pencil or crayon with a fist rather than fingers
• Scissors getting stuck on fingers or falling off fingers
• Using both hands on scissors while cutting
• Difficulty with holding sock while putting it on
• Difficulty with pulling waistband of pants up
• Difficulty with holding shoe open to put foot inside
• Difficulty holding button to pull through a hole
• Difficulty pulling zipper, or the two sides become untethered because the anchor grip isn’t secure
• Difficulty with snaps
• Difficulty with opening lids on containers and ripping food packages open
• Difficulty holding on to climbing equipment on the playground.

Every time a child uses his hands against force or with force, he is strengthening his grip. And of course, the best way to achieve this strengthening is going to happen in big body play when he is using his body weight or some external force to work the muscles of the hand.

Some examples of play that increases grip strength:

• Climbing a tree
• Hanging from the monkey bars
• Pushing someone in a swing or hanging on to the chains of a swing while pumping the legs
• Pulling a wagon or branch across the yard
• Pinching a clothespin 
• Crawling, particularly bear crawling and crab crawling
• Yoga poses like downward facing dog and plank. 
• Opening lids of containers.