Finger Strengthening Exercises

Have you ever heard of the saying “If you don’t use it you will lose it”? The human body muscles require strength and constant movement so the body can perform at its highest level. Finger strengthening exercises help improve flexibility and strength and reduce discomfort and pain during everyday activities.

CAN YOU BUILD MUSCLES IN YOUR FINGERS?

The fingers contain a total of 14 bones that connect with joints and ligaments (which attach bone to bone). Tendons (which attach bone to muscle) control fingers from our hands and forearms. The secret to improving strength and dexterity in the fingers is through building muscles in the hands and forearms.

Each finger has a job to do! The function of the thumb is to work with the other fingers to help pinch, grasp, and lift objects. The function of the index finger is to point at objects and help the thumb pinch and grab. The middle finger allows us to apply force to hold onto objects. The ring finger and pinky finger provide power and resistance.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO IMPROVE FINGER STRENGTH?

Many activities require strong finger strength such as playing a musical instrument, carrying groceries, and typing on a keyboard. The best way to improve finger and hand strength is by participating in a home exercise program. For example, quick finger-strengthening exercises can be done in the car at a stop light or at the office on a lunch break. Try and complete ten reps of the following with each hand and hold each suggested exercise position for 30 seconds before relaxing.

• fist squeeze exercise – grip a squeeze ball or a soft ball or just use each hand to make a fist while squeezing and relaxing
• claw stretch – bend fingertips until they look like a claw, tighten and relax
• thumb opposition exercise – touch the thumb to the index finger to make the letter “O” then straighten the thumb and finger
• thumb bend exercise – touch thumb to pinky finger then straighten thumb and pinky finger
• rubber band exercise – place a rubber band around the fingers and straighten and bend the fingers to apply resistance
• finger lift exercise – place the hand palm-down on a flat surface and lift each finger separately

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR KIDS TO HAVE STRONG FINGERS?

When kids have weak hands and fingers, fine motor coordination activities such as writing, cutting with scissors, and managing fasteners on clothing become difficult. Establishing right-hand or left-hand dominance becomes difficult with weak hands because they fatigue easily and kids switch hands to participate fully in a task. Having good finger and hand strength is crucial for kids to successfully participate in everyday activities and be successful in school.

FINGER STRENGTHENING EXERCISES FOR PRESCHOOLERS

Stronger fingers in preschool lead to greater finger and hand control for future skills such as handwriting, cutting, and self-care activities. The best news is most of the finger-strengthening exercises for preschoolers involve play! Preschoolers will not even realize they are working on strengthening their fingers with these fun activities.

• play dough to increase hand and finger strength in preschoolers – an amazing yet simple tool to help increase muscle strength, expand creativity, and encourage imagination
• squirt bottle squeezes – squirt water at different targets (i.e., make letters/numbers on the sidewalk with chalk and squirt off)
• sponge squeezes – cut a large sponge into smaller pieces and use your fingers to squeeze out the water
• paper crumple – crumple the paper into small balls and throw them into a paper towel roll taped to the wall
• bubble wrap color game – color each bubble a different color and play a game to pop the color
• tweezers/tongs activity – use tweezers to pick up small fun objects (i.e. colored pom poms, cheerios)

FINGER STRENGTHENING EXERCISES FOR HANDWRITING

Warm-up exercises for the fingers make handwriting fun and can be done as a class before handwriting activities. All it takes is a few minutes and you can even do it to music! Here are a few creative finger-strengthening exercises using a pencil. Make sure to complete the exercises with both hands!

• Roll a pencil in between the palms of your hands like you are warming up the pencil.
• Hold your pencil with your thumb, your index finger, and your middle finger, and spin the pencil five times then reverse.
• Lift the pencil off the desk with the thumb and index finger and put it back down on the desk. Now pick up the pencil with the thumb and the middle finger and so on switching fingers.
• Make a fist with the pencil in your hand and try to straighten the fingers while still holding onto the pencil.
• Put the pencil in both hands with palms facing up and bend all of the fingers to the palm of the hand to grasp the pencil and then straighten the fingers without dropping the pencil.

FINGER STRENGTHENING EXERCISES FOR OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

Occupational therapists are creative at providing a variety of finger-strengthening exercises disguised as purposeful or fun activities. The goal is for the fingers to have full range of motion (movement) and strength. Without finger strength, it is difficult to participate in everyday activities.

Occupational therapists love to use therapy putty to find small objects or to simply pinch, roll, squeeze, and bend the therapy putty into different shapes. A favorite finger exercise is using velcro attached to pictures or objects to stick them and remove them from a velcro board. Personally, my all-time favorite finger-strengthening activity involves building anything with Legos!

With the increasing use of technology, it seems harder to find time to fit in activities that involve finger strengthening. Finger strengthening exercises help the finger joints move freely and keep them healthy and strong. Fortunately, finger-strengthening exercises can be done anywhere, and believe me your fingers will thank you!

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Hand Strengthening Activities for Kids – Creative activity ideas with some FREE printables to use at home or in the classroom.

10 Simple Activities to Improve Grip Strength in Kids – 10 simple activities that kids can do to help make their hands and fingers stronger for everyday activities.

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY:

Kimberly Orlando, MOTR/L – Kimberly Orlando received her Master of Occupational Therapy from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA in 2001, and received her Level 1 Handwriting Specialist Certification through Handwriting Without Tears in 2012 in the areas of Pre-K Readiness, Printing, Cursive, and The Print Tool Evaluation. With 21 total years of experience as an Occupational Therapist, she has 6 years of experience providing services in hospital and home health care settings and 15 years of experience in early intervention and school settings (Pre-K through middle school levels). Kimberly also has experience tutoring children with fine motor and handwriting concerns.