Toys to Encourage Two-Handed Play

When we first noticed that Robbie didn't use his right hand much, we of course were anxious to find ways to encourage him to use it more. I am always on the hunt for toys that require the use of two hands. It gets pretty tricky, because even if a toy is designed for two handed play, a child with hemiplegia can get pretty good at finding other ways to use it (using teeth, feet, other parts of their body or the floor as one "hand" while their unaffected hand operates it).

One day I looked over at Robbie (1.5 yrs old), and found him playing with a hair tie that had a pom-pom on each end. This was the first time I had seen him use both hands together spontaneously; I literally cannot describe the joy I felt in that moment. Interestingly, the hair tie had showed up randomly at our house only days before--I think one of the boys discovered it on the playground at school. I feel a little bad for the poor girl who lost her hair tie. If only she could know what an amazing little toy it was for Robbie for a few weeks.

When Robbie was just over a year old, I was searching online for two-handed toys, and found CHASA--Children's Hemiplegia and Stroke Association, and their hand play page. That, as they say, was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I finally found resources, links, and most importantly an online support group (HemiKids) that has helped me through every subsequent step of the way.

Here are some of our favorite two-handed activities and toys:

• Patty Cake: Robbie can't play it perfectly--in fact, when we first started playing he would hold just one hand up, then progressed to two hands, but his affected hand would only stay up for about one mention of the word patty cake. He can now play with two hands, and even attempts rolling, tracing the letter on his hand, and putting both hands in the air (the affected hand can't reach all the way up).
• Peek-A-Boo: Robbie still cannot rotate his affected arm enough to put his arm flat and over his eyes, but he tries hard and can usually manage to cover it with a fist.
• Baby Connects: Robbie got these for Christmas when he was just over a year old. It was a bit early for them, and for at least a year they only got played with by his brothers. He finally got to a point where he could take them apart, and now--with a lot of effort--he can put them together.
• Small toys hidden in Play-doh: it takes quite a bit of effort to pull them out.
• Monkeys in a Barrell: After a lot of practice (when he was over two years old), Robbie learned to hold the monkey barrell with his unaffected hand and use his affected hand to pick up a monkey and hang it from a suspended chain. He can then continue to place monkeys one after the other. This is an extremely difficult activity for Robbie, as he has to work very hard to keep hold of the barrel while he grasps and releases the monkeys with the other hand (the affected hand often unconsciously mirrros the unaffected hand, so it takes a lot of concentration to have them operate independently).
• Tambourine: This is the first instrument I've seen Robbie play correctly!
• Stickers: As a quiet activity during church, I often put a sticker on Robbies unaffected hand, then he has to work hard to remove it with his affected hans. It is very difficult. Before he was able to do it, we just put the stickers on his affected hand, so he would have to hold it up for his unaffected hand to be able to reach the sticker.
• White Board Markers: I loosen the lid for him, then he uses both hands to take off the lid. I'm pretty surprised that he hasn't yet realized he could use his teeth for this
• (See the CHASA hand play page for more ideas)

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Streaking for Pediatric Stroke, Day 28