Therapy on a Shoestring Budget: Homemade Therapy Putty

Here is a recipe for homemade therapy putty that every pediatric occupational therapist needs!

 

Ingredients     


4-ounce bottle of Elmer's glue
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon borax
1/4 cup of hot water
3-4 drops of food coloring

Directions
Pour 4-ounce bottle of glue into bowl

Measure 1/4 cup of cornstarch and pour into same bowl
Add 3-4 drops of food coloring to bowl

Stir until everything is mixed
Measure & pour 1/4 teaspoon of borax into a separate bowl
Measure & pour 1/4 cup of hot water into bowl with borax

Mix the hot water & borax together until everything is dissolved
Once borax is dissolved, pour into bowl with glue/cornstarch
Knead the combination until putty becomes firm
Add beads or other small objects of your choice  

Seal in an air tight container 

Have fun with the putty! 

Guest post by UTHSC MOT students: Aliyah Hanks, MOT/S & Akosua Odei, MOT/S

More Therapy Putty Hand Exercises...Videos Included!

Here are more therapy putty exercises! As I said in my previous post, there are different strengths of therapy putty, so just click on the following links for more information and prices at Amazon.  For a child (or adult) who is quite weak, I would recommend the soft resistance putty. If there is some strength present, go with the medium-soft resistance. For older children, or an adult who has just a bit of weakness, try the medium-firm resistance putty. Most of the students that I work with use the medium-soft resistance.

The following exercise strengthens more tiny muscles that are important for grasp and coordination, and the motion that I'm making as I squeeze the putty with my fingers is called finger adduction.

Here is another great exercise. Shape the putty into a round flat disc and place it on a flat surface. Then place your fingers down on the putty and spread them out and apart slowly. This is very challenging!

And another great exercise is to make a small loop out of the putty and place it around your fingers then spread them apart, slowly stretching the loop and making it larger.

To strengthen the wrist extensor muscles, try the following:

And finally, this is my favorite therapy putty activity for children as well as adults! Hide 5 or 6 small beads in the putty and have them locate the beads using a pincer grasp. Once they locate a bead, they should pull it out of the putty. This is always a big hit!

Have fun strengthening those hands! :)

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Love Those Therapy Putty Hand Exercises...with helpful videos!

Weakness in the muscles of the hand can lead to many problems, such as a poor grasp, and difficulties with coordination and manipulation. That's why it's important to carry out therapy putty hand exercises as frequently as possible if weakness is present.

I love therapy putty, which is also called hand exercise putty. I'm going to share a series of videos with you that show how to carry out various hand exercises using therapy putty. There are different strengths of therapy putty, and you can click on the following links for more information and prices at Amazon.  For a child (or adult) who is quite weak, I would recommend the soft resistance putty. If there is some strength present, go with the medium-soft resistance. For older children, or an adult who has just a bit of weakness, try the medium-firm resistance putty. Most of the students that I work with use the medium-soft resistance.

So what do you do? Let me show you! Let's start with a very basic therapy putty exercise that works on strengthening the finger flexor muscles. As you will see in the video, I basically roll the putty into a "hotdog" shape, then pinch it using my thumb and each of my fingers.

Another exercise that's good for flexion and the other tiny muscles in the hand (as well as coordination) what I call "rolling the ball." Just take a smaller chunk of putty and using the fingers on ONE HAND ONLY, roll the putty into a small ball. The less putty that you have, the smaller the ball will be and the more challenging the task. Whatever you do, don't help out by using the opposite hand or the surface of the table...that's cheating!

I will continue in my next post with more therapy putty hand exercises! :)

Dear Readers, If you have found my blog to be helpful, please "like" my Facebook page and follow my blog...I'm trying to get my book published and this would be a great help! Thanks :)