Intrinsic Hand Muscle Strengthening with Tongs

Handwriting legibility and hand strength are closely tied.  You might say they go hand-in-hand.  (I had to go there!)  

 
This easy fine motor tong activity is designed to build some of the muscles needed for managing a pencil.  The intrinsic muscles are the muscles in the hand that define the arches of the hands, bend the knuckles, and oppose with the thumbs.  


Among these muscles are a group called the lumbricals.  The lumbrical muscles have a job to bend (flex) the MCP joints and extend (straighten) the PIP and DIP joints.  When the lumbricals are in action, the hand might look like it is holding a plate with the big knuckles bent and the fingers extended.  


Use kitchen tongs to work on the lumbrical intrinsic muscles of the hands to build strength in handwriting, using tongs for this color search and hand eye coordination activity for kids.


Lumbrical Muscles of the Hands and Handwriting 

This post contains affiliate links.


The lumbrical muscles of the hands are important in handwriting.  They are used to hold the pencil in a functional grasp.  Advancing the pencil in an upward motion using the joints of the fingers require strength and endurance of the lumbrical muscles.  Forming letters like upstrokes in cursive letters and the re-trace of letters like a, d, g, h, m, n, p, q, r, u, v, and w require upward pencil strokes.


Hand strength can be developed through many creative, hands-on activities, like blocks and rubber bands or rolling balls of play dough.  This kitchen tong activity is another fun way to work on important skills. 
 
Use kitchen tongs to work on the lumbrical intrinsic muscles of the hands to build strength in handwriting, using tongs for this color search and hand eye coordination activity for kids.
A quick and easy way to develop and strengthen the lumbricals is a tong activity like this one.  Use a large kitchen tong utensil to grasp items.  We used this kitchen tong, but any large tong would work for this strengthening activity.  Foam blocks are a nice size and make a great hand-eye coordination exercise for children with the tongs.  Fill a bin with water and add in the foam blocks.  Ask your child to grab the blocks as you call out colors for a color identification activity.


Idea:  Re-use the blocks to build MORE fine motor skill development like we did here.

Use kitchen tongs to work on the lumbrical intrinsic muscles of the hands to build strength in handwriting, using tongs for this color search and hand eye coordination activity for kids.


Using tongs to work on handwriting

It is important to notice the position of your child’s hand on the tongs in activities like this one.  You want to see a slightly extended wrist and tongs UNDER the hand to work on lumbrical muscle strength.  This is different than a task geared toward building precision and thumb intrinsic muscle strength. 

Use kitchen tongs to work on the lumbrical intrinsic muscles of the hands to build strength in handwriting, using tongs for this color search and hand eye coordination activity for kids.


More intrinsic muscles needed in handwriting:

The muscles:  flexor digiti minimi, abductor digiti minimi and opponens pollicis & digiti minimi are referred to as the hypothenar muscles work to stabilize the ulnar side of the hand during handwriting. 
 
The muscles: abductor pollicis brevis, flexor pollicis brevis and
opponens pollicis work to rotate the thumb for manipulation of the pencil.  Adductor
pollicis strengthens thumb opposition.
 
Looking for more ways to use tongs and fine motor tools in learning?  Try these:
Learning with fine motor tools

 

Use kitchen tongs to work on the lumbrical intrinsic muscles of the hands to build strength in handwriting, using tongs for this color search and hand eye coordination activity for kids.Use kitchen tongs to work on the lumbrical intrinsic muscles of the hands to build strength in handwriting, using tongs for this color search and hand eye coordination activity for kids.
 
Looking for more strengthening exercises for hands?  Try these:
New Feature...DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS A PDF! CLICK HERE

2 thoughts on “Intrinsic Hand Muscle Strengthening with Tongs”

Comments are closed.

More Posts Like This