Lacing Beads
Lacing Beads are great for development in all areas!
Articulation/Speech: Your child can earn beads as reinforcements following articulation practice/exercises. See how many beads he/she can earn and make a long chain!
Language: Counting, colors, shapes, concepts: push/pull, short/long, on/off, requesting, and more!
Pragmatics: Turn-taking and joint attention
Fine Motor/Visual Motor: It takes more fine motor control that you might think to push a string through a bead, but learning this skill is valuable for developing the fine motor skills required to control a writing utensil and to operate clothing fasteners. If children are not quite ready for lacing with the included string, try using pipe cleaners instead! Either way they will also be practicing visual motor skills (hand-eye coordination) to get the point through the center of the bead.
Sensory: Once lacing is easy for your child, try it while sitting on a swing or sitting on a therapy ball to increase the challenge and add some vestibular input. Or try stringing while hanging upside down off the side of a chair, bed, or therapy ball for intense vestibular stimulation.
Gross Motor: The child can perform seated trunk rotation on therapy ball or bolster to string the beads. Stringing the beads may also help encourage hands to midline.