Pincer Grasp Activities

Are you familiar with the pincer grasp? The pincer grasp is when the thumb and the index finger work together to pick up small objects. In comparison, the tripod grasp is when the thumb, index and middle finger work together to pick up small objects. We use the pincer and tripod grasps to pick up small objects such as raisins, beads and small pegs. The pincer grasp is a more mature grasp than the tripod grasp. Kids need lots and lots of opportunities to practice pincer grasp activities.

Parents and school staff can help children develop this fine motor skill throughout the day by setting out various activities for the children to explore that will challenge and develop these skills.

Why is this Grasp Important?

Could you imagine if you could not use your thumb and index finger all day long? It would be very difficult to complete tasks that you might take for granted.

We use the pincer and tripod grasps throughout our daily routine. They are important milestones for children to acheive. These grasps allow us: to feed ourselves small food items, to pick up small objects without dropping them, to hold a crayon or pencil properly, buttoning, using zippers, and snaping. That is just naming a few examples of how often we use our fingers to manipulate objects.

Throughout early childhood, children have to use the small muscles in the hand to ensure the development of fine motor skills.

The pincer grasp is especially important in school because it helps children develop the coordination needed to learn to write. They need to be able to pick up a pencil or crayon with their thumb and index finger, then form letters with that tool.

How Do You Teach the Pincer Grasp?

The easiest way to teach the pincer grasp is to make sure your little one has opportunities for playtime to practice this skill. At around 9-12 months, babies will start to use this skill to self-feed and pick up small objects. Playing with food is a super easy way to start since you know it is safe for them to eat small, soft foods like Cheerios or peas.

If you observe your child picking up small objects with the entire fist or four fingers and thumb, provide a demonstration of how to pick up the small objects using a pincer or tripod grasp.

As children get older, they continue to need practice time to perfect this skill. This can be done with toys, outdoor exploration, and drawing utensils.

Pincer Grasp Activities for Toddlers

Here are some ideas to entertain toddlers while working on developing the pincer grasp. Remember, to watch your little ones very closely so they do not put anything in their mouth that would be a choking hazard.

Pinching play dough
Using tweezers to pick up cotton balls
Transferring objects from one bowl to another (i.e. sorting beans, acorns, pom-poms, etc.)
Puzzles with knobs on them.
Pulling ribbons out of a box
Pulling their socks off
Playing with busy box toys – these usually provide a variety of textures to incorporate sensory input as well.
Stacking small blocks
Pulling a toy by a string
Coloring/making marks on paper
Picking up sticks or small rocks outdoors

Pincer Grasp Activities for Preschoolers

As children get older, the pincer grasp will become even more refined. Here are some fun activities to try:

Pouring activities – children love to practice pouring water into different size cups.
Painting – use a short paintbrush to encourage the pincer grasp
Complete puzzles
scrunch up tissue paper to make a craft activity
Pinching play dough or clay
Squeeze water out of small sponges using only one hand.
Make homemade dot markers
squeeze water up a turkey baster or eye dropper for playtime in the bathtub or sink
tear paper or ask child to rip up junk mail – The Flip and Rip Letters A to Z includes 26 activity pages to encourage handwriting practice, fine motor skills, and hand strengthening. The digital packet is 26 black and white pages for each letter of the alphabet.
pull off stickers and place on paper – try Dot Phonics Mazes
stacking small wooden blocks
Sort beans
Toothpicks in styrofoam
play games that encourage pincer and tripod grasps such as using small building blocks, marbles, wind up toys, peg games (ie.Lite Brite™).

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Pincer Grasp Activities for Kindergartners

When children enter elementary skill, higher level tasks are required. Not only with pincer grasp activities help with fine motor skill development, they also help with eye hand coordination. Activities to encourage the pincer grasp make great fine motor stations and could include:

Write, draw or paint on a vertical surface such as an easel. Read about MORE ideas for a vertical surface here.
When eating foods such as bagels, muffins or hard rolls, pull off small pieces using thumb and index fingertips.
When putting items in plastic bags with slide zip top ask the child to seal the bag.
practice taking marker tops off and recapping using fingertips and thumb rather than the whole hand.
Try using smaller stickers to place on paper. Looking for a new, fun occupational therapy designed activity for elementary-aged children to work on fine motor-visual development (and some math objectives) while having fun? These unique, hand-drawn, Mini Sticker Dot Challenges are awesome! This activity packet was created by school-based Occupational Therapist, Jennifer Dodge.
Use cotton swabs as dot markers. The Q-Tip Painting Printables – Prewriting, Alphabet, and Numbers digital download has been updated in 2020 to include 99 pages for children to use Q-tips, push pins, or mini stickers to create pre-writing shapes, upper and lower case letters, and numbers.
Button clothes – read more on how to help children master buttoning here
Lacing cards and activities
Use eye droppers to make pictures or science experiments
Clothes pin games – Visual Perceptual Clothespin Games digital download includes 4 games to print and play to encourage hand strengthening, visual discrimination, form constancy, visual motor and math skills. Match up the dinosaur shadows, move along the number clothesline, hang up the patterned socks or give the spiders 8 legs.
Building blocks like Duplos or Legos – Building Block Patterns and Games is a collection of activities to use with DUPLO type building blocks. These patterns are full size, ranging from simple to more complex patterns. Also included addition cards for math skills, complete the pattern games and block bingo.
Make fidgets for the classroom using dried beans

More Resources to Help

Pincer grasp is a skill that infants and children need to master in order to make the most out of their early years.

Early pincer grasp can lead to better fine motor skills, which will help them as they grow up. But what if your child isn’t showing signs of developing this crucial skill? Luckily for you (and everyone else with an infant or toddler) there are plenty of ways you can encourage it!

These ideas should give you some inspiration about how best to promote pincer grasp development at home. If none of these activities work well for your classroom or family, we have many more resources here on our site just waiting for you!