Nuts and bolts

Brief Description:

A Sensory Integration activity to strengthen the use of the small muscles of the hands, thus improving fine motor skills.

Resources Required:

Nuts and Bolts of varying sizes, from quite large (possibly plastic) to very small.

Directions:

Place the objects on the table – beginning with three or four nuts and bolts the same size. The child screws these together. Next, change these for large nuts and bolts, of different sizes. The child first matches a nut to a bolt, then screws it on, continuing until all bolts have nuts screwed to them. The child may need assistance to match the two items, depending of level of ability. Once the child becomes proficient with the matching part of the exercise, then increase the number of bolts and nuts, and vary the sizes to include increasingly smaller items to be paired. Gradually work down to the smallest pairing that the child can cope with. This activity need only take a few minutes, but can be repeated regularly through the week.