[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 (31–40)
color clip fastener
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♬ A walk with the puppies Relaxing pops – spiraea
“Color Clip Match” is an activity where you prepare colorful sheets of paper and clip on paper clips of the same color, making use of the paper’s original colors.
There’s no need to color the paper, so preparation is simple.
Pinching the clips with your fingertips and attaching them to the matching color spot is perfect for training fine motor movements and grip strength.
Distinguishing colors and placing the clip in the correct spot also stimulates the brain.
The materials are easy to find at 100-yen shops and similar stores, making it simple to get started.
It’s a fun, game-like rehab method that’s highly recommended for older adults.
hair tie holder
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superstar – Sharou
“Hair Elastic Hook” is a rehabilitation tool for older adults made with a wooden board, colored pushpins, and hair elastics.
Push pairs of red, blue, yellow, and other colored tacks into the board, then loop matching-colored hair elastics over the corresponding tacks.
Pinching and stretching the elastics with the fingertips requires fine motor control and engages the hands’ functional movement.
Matching the colors correctly also stimulates the brain, supporting cognitive training.
Its colorful and playful look helps maintain focus.
All materials are easy to source and it can be made like a simple craft, so it’s easy to introduce.
It’s a convenient and practical rehab activity that we recommend.
Finger exercises with cotton swabs
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♬ Dino Song – Mr. Popolo
The “cotton swab finger exercise,” which can be made with everyday materials, is a perfect DIY rehabilitation idea for seniors.
Paint cotton swabs in colors like red and blue, put matching colored stickers on toilet paper rolls, and make small holes there.
The way to play is very simple: find the matching color and insert the cotton swab into the corresponding hole.
Distinguishing colors and making fine finger movements provides hand dexterity training and stimulates the brain.
Because it feels like a game, it’s easy to keep doing regularly, which is a nice bonus.
All the materials are household items, so you can make it right away whenever you feel like it.
Pulley
Let’s try making a pulley system, which is highly effective for improving upper limb function.
Pulley exercises are a form of rehabilitation performed while seated.
Using exercise equipment, you thread a rope through a pulley positioned overhead, hold the grips attached to both ends of the rope, and alternately raise and lower your hands.
We’ll use items like a pulley, bag strap (webbing), and a round wooden rod to build it.
Thread and tie the cord through the pulley, and drill holes in the wooden rod to pass the cord through.
The bag strap will be used as the part that allows you to hang the pulley on a door.
By using the pulley and the pulling force of the opposite arm, even those who have difficulty raising an arm with their own strength can lift it.
Please use this as a reference and give it a try.
Handmade spinning top
Let’s do some fingertip rehabilitation while playing with spinning tops made from origami.
Are you familiar with tops made of origami? There are ones that look like a flower with a cross-shaped handle in the center, as well as square tops with a toothpick inserted in the middle.
Some folding methods are complex, but older adults who enjoy origami will likely have fun making them.
Let’s try spinning the origami tops everyone has folded.
Not only does the crafting use your fingertips, but spinning the tops does too, making it good training.
With these nostalgic spinning tops, older adults can relive their childhood and enjoy a delightful time.
[For Seniors] Rehabilitation tools to train fingertips: Handmade idea collection (41–50)
Also great for brain training! Clothing dressing/undressing training
This is a rehabilitation tool that focuses on the everyday action of fastening and unfastening clothing buttons, as well as the small finger movements involved in handling buttons.
It’s easy to make with just a few square felt pieces with a slit cut in the middle and a string with buttons attached at both ends.
You repeatedly insert the buttons through the felt and then remove them.
By adjusting the size of the buttons and the slit in the felt, fastening and unfastening can become more challenging, so it’s recommended to gradually increase the difficulty.
Let’s strengthen fingertip dexterity while also linking it to training for dressing and undressing in daily life.
A tool for training hand and finger skills with lacing (threading) activities
Let me introduce a lacing tool that can train both the fingers and the wrist! Prepare several long, narrow wooden boards with holes drilled large enough for a lace to pass through.
Stand them upright and attach them to a single base board—done! The trainee will pass a lace through the holes one by one, similar to threading a needle.
Start by using both hands, then try using only the dominant hand, moving the fingers skillfully while threading the lace.
Everyone has directions that feel easier to thread, but attempting it from the more difficult directions will further promote finger exercise.
