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Pincer grip development

OTs talk a lot about pincer grip development. This is when a child can isolate their thumb and index finger to pick something up, rather than using their whole hand. This should develop in kids around 10 months. It’s an essential skill for self feeding, doing buttons, tying shoes and holding a pencil, amongst other things.

Lots of preschool/school aged children use a pincer grip but need to build up their hand strength.

Here are a few ways to strengthen your child’s inner hand muscles to help their pincer grip:

  • Pinch theraputty or playdoh. Try hiding small beads inside the putty and having your child find and pull them out.
  • Fill a spray bottle with water and have them water the plants, ‘paint’ the fence or house or add paint/colour and shoot onto paper to make a painting. 
  • Use small tongs or tweezers to sort blocks or beads by colour/number etc.

Written by Emily Baxter

Blossom Rural Director & Speech Pathologist (B.SP, CPSP)

"As a Speech Pathologist, I love working with rural families on their child’s literacy, speech and language skills. I opened Blossom Rural in January 2021 after noticing the lack of Speech Pathology services in my local Far Western NSW region. The number of rural children, living on properties and remote towns, who were not able to access regular Speech Pathology intervention without driving to a major capital city, was astounding. These were the families I had always hoped to work alongside and provide an accessible service to. I grew up in Broken Hill before heading to Adelaide for Boarding School at 12 years of age followed by university. The healthcare gap between country and city was very obvious!"

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