For my project I crafted a hand strengthening and fine motor activity. It consists of a tennis ball sliced in the middle to be squeezed open. To make it a little more fun I got 3 different items to put inside of the ball while squeezing it open. Think of it as opening the tennis ball’s mouth to feed it the items. I even got spoons to grade up the task if needed. The Items I chose to “feed” the tennis ball were pom poms, black beans, and beads. I got each one for a reason and we will go into that.

First are the Pom Poms. This item is probably the easiest to use. The pom poms are bigger and easier to grasp off of a surface. They allow for better control and to gain understanding of the task. Next, I got bracelet beads, these are a little smaller and harder to pick up. The beads help work more on fine motor skills and grasping. Then finally are the black beans. The beans are the smallest and hardest to pick up working even more on fine motor skills. To grade up the activity I have included spoons as well. With the spoons you would scoop up the beads or beans then deliver them on the spoon into the opening. This takes a little more concentration and coordination to complete.

Overall, I spent 10.5 hours planning and executing my project. My time was spent communicating with my field work coordinator, planning, shopping, preparing and crafting. When it was time to craft it, I only ended up spending $8.55. I used all new things but budgeted and used the dollar tree to my advantage. This type of activity could easily be replicated at home by anyone who needs it.  

My field work coordinator let me decide on what type of activity to do. I chose this because they didn’t have very many fine motor activities to choose from in their gym. After thinking about many options, I decided on this one because it can help work on a variety of different skills. It helps with strengthening the hand by squeezing the tennis ball. It also helps with fine motor skills and hand eye coordination, picking up small items and placing them in a designated space. Finally, it can also help with ADL’s, using a spoon and navigating food. This can help a client in many ways as well as makes them work on more than one thing at a time without knowing it. The department can use it to widen the variety of fine motor and hand strengthening activities that they have.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this experience. I liked to have the creative freedom to choose and plan how I wanted to execute it. All the way down to the details of why I chose the items I did. It felt meaningful knowing that something I made can hopefully brighten someone’s day and help them gain a better quality of life. My experience was a lot more fun than I had anticipated and I hope the clients enjoyed my activity as much as I did.