Feed The Mouse

Feed the Mouse

Setting: at home or in the classroom

Materials:
Small Erasers
Scissors
Tennis Ball
Marker
Foam or Felt
Glue
Marker
Knife

Instructions:
1. Take a knife and cut open the tennis ball on one side.
2. Take out the ball middle on the inside of a tennis ball.
3. Draw eyes on the ball.
4. Cut out 2 circles one big circle and one little circle.
5. Cut the big circle in half.
6. Glue the two half circles on top of the tennis ball for ears.
7. Glue the smaller circle in the middle of the tennis ball above the cut.
8. Have the individual draw whiskers on with a marker.
9. Take the small markers and have the individual feed the mouse the erasers.

Purpose: Works on finger and thumb opposition strength which is necessary to hold a pencil properly and other grasp tasks. Grasp is important in order to hold things without having them fall and in dexterous activities. Fine motor control is also exercised in picking up the small erasers and maneuvering them to fit into the mouse mouth. Hand eye coordination is necessary in order to place the eraser inside the mouth and not around the outside of the tennis ball mouth itself. To increase safety I would already have the tennis ball cut for the individual so there is no presence of a knife that accidents could occur with, especially if they have grasp issues.

Dodge, Jennifer. (2012). Tennis Ball Heads!

Retrieved from:http://www.school-ot.com/Tennisballheads.html