Hand Strength Toys for Delayed Handwriting Development

This article includes hand strength toys to help kids build hand strength for handwriting. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Integrated Learning Strategies (ILS) is a learning and academic center. As a reminder, ILS is not a health care provider and none of our materials or services provide a diagnosis or treatment of a specific condition or learning challenge you may see in your child or student. If you seek a diagnosis or treatment for your child or student, please contact a trained professional who can provide an evaluation of the child.

Hand strength is one of the most important elements of handwriting development. If a child falls behind in handwriting development, there are many hand strengthening toys that can improve those areas. Several of these hand strengthening toys are fun and entertaining for kids so they don’t even realize they are building their hand strength.

When helping a child with handwriting development, it’s important to remember to check the child’s core and arm strength in addition to hand strength. Areas of the back, torso and arms also support a child’s handwriting skills. You can also incorporate activities that encourage kids to work on vertical spaces to improve hand strength, pencil grip and handwriting.

Hand Strength Development

If a child has weak hand strength, there are a few signs you can watch for to see if this is a target area that needs improving. Children who experience weak hand strength often avoid tasks that involve many of the following activities or tools:

• Crafts
• Using scissors
• Paint brushes
• Opening lids or cans
• Pencils, crayons or markers

You may also find children with weak hand strengthen if they have trouble with the following:

• Weak hand grip
• Trouble with pencil grasp
• Tires easily when writing
• Shakes out hands when writing
• May try to switch hands to write
• Can’t do fine motor activities
• Applies too much pressure or not enough pressure when using a pencil
• Trouble with attention and focus
• Is uncoordinated
• Can’t isolate the opposing thumb
• Avoids playground equipment

Hand Strength Development Toys

When thinking about what toys can help a child with hand strength, it’s also important to incorporate gross motor activities as well. Strengthening the hands for handwriting development involves the whole body. Many people think handwriting skills are only related to the hands, fingers and wrists. However, getting kids playing on playground equipment and outdoors also supports a child’s hand strength.

Gross motor activities that help hand strength may include the following:

• Climbing ladders, slides and stairs
• Swinging on ropes and zip lines
• Playing in the dirt or in a sandbox
• Painting with fingers, mud or chalk
• Swinging on the monkey bars
• Pulling and pushing wagons

Hand Strength Toys

For specific hand strengthening toys that target the hands, fingers and wrists, we recommend a variety that support the child in school and at home. You can use many of these suggestions for activities both indoors and outdoors. Feel free to be as creative as you would like and adjust the toys to the child’s level or age.

Integrated Learning Strategies is a Utah-based center dedicated to helping mainstream children and children with learning challenges achieve academic success. Our services provide kids with non-traditional tutoring programs within the Davis County, Kaysville, Layton, Syracuse, Farmington, and Centerville areas. Areas to find Integrated Learning Strategies include: Reading tutors in Kaysville, Math tutors in Kaysville, Common Core Tutors in Kaysville, Tutors in Utah, Utah Tutoring Programs