Manipulates clay or playdough with hands to make a ball or snake

Your toddler’s hands are now becoming very useful tools. They have most likely been exploring all kinds of manipulation activities by using their whole hand and their fingers. You may have seen your toddler trying to pour using different containers, tear paper and use tools when they are playing with dough. 

Their skills in using both hands together are now at a stage where they are demonstrating much more coordination. The muscles in their shoulders, arms, wrists, and hands are strengthening, allowing your toddler to manipulate and control dough, enabling them to begin constructing simple three-dimensional forms. 

Hand strength 

When your toddler rolls dough into a snake, they are relying on their hand strength to move and manipulate the dough. Your toddler can now explore the concept of tension or resistance as their hands have become stronger, and they will use this new skill to figure out how much tension or resistance is required to roll a snake without squashing it. [1] 

It is around this time that your toddlers’ wrists are gaining more stability, this increased stability enables their palms to manipulate the dough and the fingers to extend during rolling [2]. If the wrist is unstable, the palms and fingers will be unable to make the appropriate movements.

Hand arches 

Within the palm of your hand, there are many arches that allow you to hold items of various sizes and shapes. These arches control the strength of your grip and direct the skilled movement of your fingers. There are three main arches in your hand.  The first arch is rigid, while the other two are flexible. Touching your thumb to the tips of individual fingers will reveal the shape of your arches.  

Your toddler may well be starting on their journey of learning and understanding how to roll a ball with dough. This will be tricky to start with as your toddler will be using the palms of their hands and relying on their hands to arch to control the dough. They may have explored the movements of the arches in their hands when picking up spherical objects like a ball, or when holding a crayon, however they most probably have had limited experience of using their palms and hand arches to manipulate materials. The arches in the hands flex and move, and when a ball is being formed, the palm of the hands will move so that a spherical shape can be achieved whilst the dough is kept in place. [1] 

Muscle memory 

When your child first begins rolling dough into a ball or worm, they will be concentrating on how to coordinate their movements in order to produce the desired shape. The goal of rolling dough with two hands is made possible through a systematic sequence of hand actions. [3] The more they practise these motions, the better their muscle memory will become, and their brain will form connections with their central nervous system to aid in remembering the moves. 

Symmetrical and asymmetrical movements 

At this stage, your toddler will probably find it easier to perform symmetrical movements with their hands rather than asymmetrical movements. Their hands move together when they roll a snake out of dough on a table or flat surface, making the coordination of moves slightly less difficult. You may find your toddler rolls their hands straight over the dough when they first try, or their hands may get stuck mid-roll.  

When they roll a ball, their hands move in different directions whilst working together in time and space, this is asymmetrical movement. [4] This is a new system of complex motions for your toddler to learn; they will be experimenting with how to cup the dough with their hands, whilst exploring bimanual coordination and applying the appropriate amount of pressure in the palms. This necessitates a high level of skill and strength. Your toddler may find rolling a ball shape on a flat surface, using one hand, a simpler option to start with. 

What next? 

When toddlers play with dough it helps them to strengthen their hand muscles and develop control over their fingers. More tasks will soon be achieved as the hand and fingers gain strength, such as turning a doorknob, catching a ball, holding a pencil, and cutting with scissors.  

References: 

[1] Pennine NHS Foundation Trust. Trafford Children's Therapy Service. Early Years Hand Skills. Available online at: early-years-hand-skills.pdf (mft.nhs.uk) 

[2] S.J. Edwards, D.B Gallen, J.D McCoy-Powlen, M.A. Suarez. (2018) Hand Grasps and Manipulation Skills. Second Edition. Slack Incorporated. 

[3] V. Gregory Payne, L. Isaacs, (2012) Human Motor Development A Lifespan Approach. McGraw Hill 

[4] D. Sugden, M. Wade (2013). Typical and Atypical Motor Development. Mac Keith Press