Motor Activities To Encourage Pre-Braille Skills

Grasp

Palmar

• squeezing toys
• squeezing playdough/clay
• taking objects out of containers
• drawing
• picking up jacks
• sanding
• using a cookie cutter
• using a hole puncher
• putting pop beads together

With thumb and fingers

• stringing beads
• holding paper for cutting
• using crayons/pencil/paintbrush
• using glue sticks for art projects
• pinching playdough/clay
• using pegboards
• building towers with blocks
• picking up jacks
• painting with paintbrush
• turning pages of a book
• picking up small beads/objects with tweezers (may be too visual)
• paper weaving
• putting shapes into a shape sorter
• sorting paper clips, red hots, goldfish crackers
• buttoning, zipping and snapping - on own body

Pincer

• popping bubble wrap
• picking up small objects
• tying bows
• using pushpins
• sewing cards
• stringing beads
• putting pegs in pegboards
• using geoboards
• putting clothespins on edges of cans or jars
• using an eyedropper
• turning knobs on a wind-up toy
• putting coins through a small slot

Release

• giving an object on request
• stacking activities - cans, blocks, nesting cups
• sorting activities
• placing objects in containers
• the release that is necessary to complete the activities in the "grasp" section

Rotary Motion

(takes place from wrist with stable arm)

• assembling nuts and bolts
• using twist ties
• turning volume knobs on radio & TV
• manipulating lids on and off of jars/tubes
• mixing food in bowl
• turning knobs on water fountains or sinks
• using wind-up toys, busy boxes, music boxes
• turning doorknobs
• scooping sand, gravel, dried beans
• finger painting
• finding objects hidden in sand, dried beans
• unwrapping individually wrapped candy
• pouring from one container to another

Finger Isolation

• making fingerprints in playdough/clay
• pushing buttons on tape recorder
• pushing buttons on blender and other appliances
• playing musical instruments
• turn dial on toy phone
• pushing push-pins into cork
• tracing around stencils with fingertip

Bilateral Hand Use

(almost all of these activities involve stabilizing with one hand and manipulating with the other hand, which is hard for VI kids)

• stringing beads
• pulling tape off roll
• tearing paper
• twisting lids on and off
• cutting paper
• using a hole puncher
• sanding
• using a ruler to make lines
• holding container with one hand/placing object in with other
• stabilizing toy with one hand/using other to play with toy
• pushing together and pulling apart pop-beads
• finger painting
• rolling "snakes" and "balls" with playdough/clay
• attaching paper clips to paper
• tracing around an object/stencil
• holding paper with one hand and stapling with other
• stabilizing bowl while stirring

Hand And Finger Strength

• crumpling paper
• placing clothespins on edges of cans or jars
• stretching rubber bands
• manipulating playdough
• squeezing glue bottles
• using stapler held in hand
• using stapler by pushing
• using rolling pin
• using a hole puncher
• hammering
• pushing together and pulling apart pop-beads
• pushing together and pulling apart bristle blocks
• squeezing nerf balls
• sponge painting

Proper Finger Position

• each finger has a "job" - lead finger, detective fingers
• curve fingers over the edge of pencil or ruler

Light Touch

• work on whole body relaxation - if your body is tense, your fingers will be unable to touch lightly
• place checkers inside the squares of braille graph paper and have the student move his fingers across them so lightly that he does not move them outside the squares
• place cotton balls beneath the childs fingers and have him move them across the page
• learn to "tickle" the dots

Tracking

• tracking across lines of yarn, popsicle sticks, etc.
• tracking across pipe cleaners/straws glued to paper
• Mangold Developmental Program of Tactile Perception and Braille Letter Recognition (first eight lessons)
  • tracking from left to right across like symbols which follow closely without a space
  • tracking from left to right across unlike symbols which follow closely without a space
  • tracking from left to right across like symbols which have one or two spaces between them
  • tracking from left to right across unlike symbols which have one or two spaces between them
  • tracking from top to bottom over like symbols with follow closely without a space
  • tracking from top to bottom over unlike symbols which follow closely without a space
  • tracking from top to bottom over like symbols which have one blank space between them
  • tracking from top to bottom over unlike symbols which have one blank space between them