Tennis Ball Monster
Tools
Tennis ball monster
10 Counter Coins (alternative: coins or pony beads)
Activity Description
Children will feed the tennis ball monster to fill his belly! We will use our fingers to move the coins from the palm of our hand to the fingertips of the thumb and index finger (“crocodile fingers”). Give the tennis ball a little shake to hear if his belly is empty or full.
Steps
Step 1: Use your “crocodile fingers” (thumb and index finger) to pick up one coin at a time and move the coin to the inside of the palm. For older children, have them try to pick up and hold five coins in their palm. For younger children, try it with one coin only if they are struggling. This skill is referred to as nesting.
Step 2: Next, Try your best to use your little fingers to move one of the five coins from the palm of your hand to the tips of the index finger and thumb (“crocodile fingers). This skill is referred to as retrieving.
Step 3: Squeeze the tennis ball monster with the helper hand until the mouth opens up. Then, feed one coin into the tennis ball monster’s mouth.
Step 4: Repeat step #3 until all coins are fed to the tennis ball monster.
Step 5: Now, let’s switch! Try steps 1-3 with the opposite hand.
Goals
The tennis ball monster is a kid favorite activity (and mine too!). This activity works on strengthening the hand, developing arches of the hand, in-hand manipulation, neat pincer grasp, and bilateral coordination. All the skills are necessary for handwriting, grasping a pencil, dressing, and more!
