A readily available home resource, pegs can be used to assist in the development of fine motor skills, finger strength, an appropriate pencil grasp, and functional tasks such as dressing and eating.
What role do these square pegs with round holes play?
Muscle power in the hands and fingers is required to open a peg because it needs your child to apply force against a resistance. For many children, this might be a difficult task to do. Opening a peg box aids in the development of the intrinsic muscles of the finger and the index and middle fingers. Hand endurance – comparable to strength, endurance develops when a force is applied against a resistance over an extended period of time. The encouragement to open a peg for the longest time feasible will aid in the development of resistance, which is crucial for functional tasks such as handwriting. Successful performance in tasks such as handwriting, feeding, and dressing is dependent on the development of a functional pincer grasp (buttons, zippers, and shoelaces).
When your child uses pegs, he or she will be able to develop more accurate and automatic movements in their thumb and index finger. Placing pegs in the midline and encouraging your child to stretch out will assist in establishing and strengthening hand dominance in the early years of development. This is critical for jobs requiring fine motor skills, such as handwriting.
Square Pegs with round holes don’t necessarily have to be limited to their use in hanging clothing. It is necessary to have good motor accuracy in order to place a peg in a specified area. This can be made even more difficult by urging your child to place pegs in a specific position in a shorter amount of time than usual. This is why they are such good resources in helping your children develop sound motor skills.
Encourage your child to pick up a pompom from the peg with their “pinching fingers” and paint with it using the pompom as a paintbrush. Your child could try to write his or her name with the pompom, make patterns with the pompom (for example, one blue dot followed by two green dots), count the number of dots, or practice letter recognition by decorating a letter from the alphabet.
Pretend play washing line: children are fascinated by the idea of pretending! The kids enjoy pretending to be adults and imitating your activities, which they find hilarious. All that is required is a rope, a basket containing tiny garments, two chairs between which to tie the rope, and hooks to hang the basket on. Encourage your youngster to hang out his or her wet clothing by tying them to a line with clothespins.
Color matching: combine a bag of colored pegs and encourage your child to divide the pegs into different colors and pin them to a colored shape to practice matching. This will aid in the development of color and shape recognition skills. Purchase different colored pegs boxes from your local art supply store or color wooden pegs with paint or food coloring to create a unique design.
