Today I’m sharing some wrist activities for kids. Lots of students come to me with wrists that need the muscles to strengthen in them before we can move on to writing, drawing etc. So I’ve put together a bunch of activities in this blog post that you can do with your students to work on building up their wrist muscles which will benefit in the long run for other activities within the classroom.
At the bottom of this blog post I’ve also find to some of my favorite products and activities for working on wrist muscles with my students.
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1. Play Dough
Play dough is a great tool to use for working on those wrists muscles.. Squeezing, rolling, moulding.. All of these can help to build up the muscles in the wrists. I’ve linked some of my favorite play dough activities below including a free editable play dough name activity;
- Free Editable Name Play Dough Mats
- Play Dough Skills Task Box
- Dinosaur Play Dough Mats
- Pizza Order Play Dough Mats
2. Cutting with Scissors
There are lots of different types of scissors that you can have your students to work with. Try to avoid giving them any worksheets to begin with and instead give them errorless activities that will give them the chance to work on their cutting skills. Things likel
- Cutting grass
- Roll out play dough and cut that
- Cutting flower stems
- Cook spaghetti noodles and cut these
- Cutting thread/string
- Cut jelly cubes
Scissor skills won’t fully develop until the age of 6, so don’t stress too much on perfecting this skill.. Rather just focus on giving opportunities to work on it.
3. Lacing and Beading
Lacing and beading activities are perfect for working on wrist control and dexterity. There are lots of great activities on Amazon for this too. You can also DIY some in the classroom as well;
- Threading string through pasta shells
- Pipe cleaners through straws
- Pompoms (with holes in the middle) to thread onto pipe cleaners
- Hole punch into cardboard and use string to thread through.
4. Building Activities
Building blocks, lego and anything that your students can use for constructing structures are great for working on wrist strength and coordination.
5. Climbing Playground Equipment
Giving your students opportunities to climb on playground equipment is great for engaging wrist and arm muscles. Equipment like monkey bars and climbing walls are perfect.
6. Push and Pull Toys
Any toys that require your child to pull or push are great for working on these muscles.
7. Squeeze Toys
Squeezing can strengthen wrist muscles. Think of stress balls and squeezy toys.
8. Squirt Guns or Spray Bottles
When students squeeze the trigger of a squirt gun or spray bottle they are able to working on their wrist muscles. Activities like getting them to aim those guns and bottles on fences, walls and floor can also help to further work on this skill.
9. Stirring and Mixing
Get your students involved with baking so that they can work on mixing, stirring and kneading. The end result is also going to be a great reward for them!
10. Jumbo Chalk
We love the jumbo chalks because they’re easily for little hands to hold. Going outside and using these on the floor and walls are also great opportunities for working on those wrist muscles.
11. Tug-of-War
If you have students who love playing games, then tug-of-war is a great activity for working on wrist and arm muscles.
12. Clapping Games
There are lots of fun clapping games that you can do with your students to work on their arm and wrist muscles. You can find some great clapping activities and patterns on YouTube to copy.
13. Ball Skills
Balls are great for working on wrist and arm muscles with your students. Playing catch, or throwing balls either towards others or on walls, in basketball hoops etc. can all help to work on those important muscles.
14. Yoga Poses
There are lots of different yoga poses, like downward dog, that will get your students working on their wrist musc,es.
15. Gardening
We love having a classroom garden and it’s also another perfect way to work on wrist muscles. Getting your students digging, planting, weeding and even just trimming grass or brushes, will help to work on their wrist muscles.
16. Hole Punching
You can get lots of different sizes of hole punches and I recommend using them for different activities with your students. This will give them lots of different opportunities to use them and work on their muscles.
17. Musical Instruments
Instruments like tambourines and maracas are perfect for this too.
Shopping List
I’ve put together some of my favorite activities and resources that I use for working on wrist muscles with my students below;
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Helpful Links
You may find the following links helpful;
- Why Teaching Fine Motor Skills is So Important Blog Post
- Free Construction Play Dough Mats
- How to Make Homemade Play Dough
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Nikki
