[For Seniors] DIY Hand Rehabilitation Tools to Strengthen Fingertips: A Collection of Handmade Ideas
Daily rehabilitation exercises performed by seniors contribute to both mental and physical health.
Finger rehabilitation in particular is recommended, as it provides beneficial stimulation to the brain.
In this article, we introduce handmade items that are great for finger rehabilitation for older adults.
With the goal of improving finger function, we’ve gathered easy-to-incorporate, DIY ideas for everyday life.
You can easily get the materials at 100-yen shops, so why not give them a try? If you’re thinking about making your own rehab items, be sure to use this as a reference.
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[For Seniors] Rehabilitation tools to train fingertips: Handmade idea collection (21–30)
A device for training fingers by inserting rods
This item can be used to train grasping with the fingertips.
Prepare materials like finely cut pieces of drinking straws or thin, rolled sticks made from origami paper.
Also prepare a container, and make holes in it that are just large enough for the sticks to pass through.
The person training should insert the sticks only through these holes.
It may look simple, but aiming for small holes and inserting the sticks can be quite challenging.
Let’s practice the actions of pinching and releasing with the fingertips until they can be done reliably!
magnet
This activity focuses on the colors of magnetic chips and arranging them precisely along lines drawn on a whiteboard.
First, draw lines on the whiteboard and gather magnets of various colors into a single mixed set.
At the start signal, participants pick magnets of the same color and line them up straight, competing to see who can finish the arrangement the fastest.
It helps develop color awareness, concentration on accurate placement, and fine motor skills for peeling off and placing the magnets.
The difficulty can be adjusted by changing the number or strength of the magnets, so it’s also recommended to add variations once participants get used to it.
[For Seniors] Rehabilitation tools to train fingertips: Handmade idea collection (31–40)
Wobbly Cap Game
As we age, the dexterity of our fingertips declines.
In fact, it’s said that more than half of the brain’s regions are involved in moving the hands and processing sensation.
As a result, with aging, the commands from the brain to the hands and fingers can become sluggish and don’t transmit as smoothly.
Finger exercises can help your hands and fingers move more smoothly.
So let’s train our fingertips with a game that uses an empty plastic bottle.
Cut the bottle so that about the top half from the mouth remains.
Cover the cut edge with vinyl tape to finish.
Place the bottle upright with the capped mouth facing down, and put a bottle cap inside.
A game where you try to drop the cap into a wobbling, swaying bottle seems like something everyone can enjoy together with lots of laughs.
A friendship bracelet made of cardboard
Making friendship bracelets with cardboard and yarn is also effective as finger rehabilitation.
Prepare a piece of cardboard and use a compass and ruler to mark your guide points.
Cut slits along the marks.
Once you have your yarn, weave it through the slits as you go.
When it reaches the desired length, remove it from the cardboard, tie it off, and trim any excess yarn to finish.
Because you use cardboard, it avoids excessive strain and lets you exercise your fingertips moderately, making it safe for older adults as well.
It’s also said that the colors of friendship bracelets carry meanings.
Why not make one as a gift for someone special?
Finger exercise gadget made from a milk carton
Introducing an easy rehab tool you can make with milk cartons! First, prepare lots of milk cartons cut into thin, ring-shaped slices.
If you’re using cartons that have been opened flat, shape them into rings after cutting.
Once you have plenty of milk carton rings like those used for ring toss, you’re ready to go! The trainee will pick them up one by one with their fingers and stack them like a tower.
If they use chopsticks to pick up the rings, it also becomes chopstick training! It’s also fun to add a game element, like competing to see who can build the tallest stack within a set time.
clothespin chain
Do you know where muscle strength in older adults starts to decline? The answer is: it tends to decline from the fingertips.
When fingertip strength decreases, it can affect daily life—making it harder to get dressed or causing more food to be dropped while eating.
Try using clothespins to train the fingertips.
Set a string slightly higher than the head height of a seated older adult.
Then attach clothespins to the string.
It’s a simple rule, but it seems like a way to exercise the fingertips with minimal strain on the body.
It’s also a rehabilitative game that can be done while chatting with people around them.
pegboard
It’s a simple activity where you thread a shoelace through the holes of a pegboard in order.
It helps develop concentration to accurately identify the holes and refine the delicate finger movements needed to hit them precisely.
First, focus on passing the lace through correctly, and once you get used to it, gradually increase your speed.
Keeping both accuracy and speed in mind will lead to smoother finger movements.
Not only will everyday tasks like tying shoelaces become smoother, but the threading motion also makes a perfect prompt to get back into handicrafts.