Pig in the putty

An activity that is frequently used by OTs is working with therapy putty. Small objects such as marbles or miniature toys can be hidden in the putty and the child must squeeze and pinch the putty to find the objects. It is important to vary the activity to sustain the child's interest. You can hide different objects each time. You can also make a game out of the activity by dividing the putty in half and both you and the child can search for the objects in one of the two wads of putty; whoever has the most objects wins. Or you can have the child select one object to be the winning object (for example, the "magic pig") and whoever finds that object wins.

The purpose of working with therapy putty is twofold. First, it provides proprioceptive input to the hands and fingers. Proprioception is "the normal awareness of one's posture, movement, balance, and location based on the sensations received by the body's proprioceptors" (Webster) located in tendons and joints. "Heavy work," such as moving against resistance, pounding, pushing, stomping, and pulling, all provide proprioceptive input which increases the child's awareness of position and space. So squeezing and pinching the putty provides proprioceptive input to the fingers, which helps the child develop awareness of the movement and position of individual fingers. The second purpose of the putty activity is to improve the strength of the small muscles of the hand and fingers.

Please note that, while putty is non-toxic and does not contain latex, it sticks to clothing and is hard to get out. So it's a good idea to work at a table with it and to use a painting smock.