Fastenings

Occupational therapy

﻿Hi, I'm really looking forward to our lesson today, I hope you are too. Before we get started, this is just a little reminder, we're here to support any approaches you might already be using, and any work you might have already been set. We know that this lesson is going to be going up to so many different children and families. So if you're not sure about anything or have any questions, then please do contact your usual therapy team. Today we going to look at the small fastenings that we get on clothes and how we can get better doing them much more quickly. Some of the most common clothe fastening that we might struggle with include small buttons like on polo shirts, zips on your coat or on your jumpers, velcro like on shoes and laces and bows, okay and these you can get on your shoes and your trousers. What skills do we need for small fastenings? Well, you need to have really good fine motor skills, a really strong pincer grip, okay, so it's that you need to have really good shoulder strength, a good sense of touch will be really helpful because then you can do things without looking at them. Good visual perception so you know where to push the button through the hole, and you have to be able to pay attention and focus quite well on what you're doing. Pause the video now to get the items you will need. Some playdough or some putty, coins or other tokens clothes with small buttons, shoes with laces or just some ribbon and card and then a coat or jumpa with a zip, We start once you're finished. Okay, if you want to be able to do your buttons, you need to use both hands really well. Sometimes buttons are very stiff or very tattered, the little hole the buttonhole can be really stiff sometimes okay. We also need to be able to do our buttons quite quickly sometimes if we're in a rush, and it's really important that you could also get to a point where you're able to do your buttons without looking at them. For our first activity, you going to need some playdough. I have putty there, some coins and thick card, if you don't have playdough or putty. You're going to start off by rolling the playdough into a sausage and then you're going to pick up the coins one at a time and make them stand up in the playdough. Okay, so you practising your pincer grip. And what you're then going to do is just slightly move the playdough and then use your fingers to push the coins through the playdough with the putty from one side to the other, as though you are pushing it through a buttonhole. Okay, if you don't have putty as I said, you can make a tiny little cut and some card and push a coin or token through that. This is really good for strengthening our pincer grip. For your next activity, you are going to need some clothing with small buttons. So sitting at a table with the shirt in front of you carefully do the buttons. I have chosen this shape because the buttons are quite tricky, and I like to practise them. So you can repeat the several times and see if you can go faster and faster. And then try and close your eyes and see if you can do the buttons up that way. And then you can put the shirt on and practise it on you as well. Okay, pause the video there to complete those tasks, resume once you're finished. Okay zips, so when you are first learning how to do zips you might ask an adult to help you join the two ends of the zip, and then you pull up the zip. Something that is really helpful is if you add a keyring or one little circle to your zip, because that means you've got something to pull it up with. Okay, you want to use your pincer grip on both sides of the zip and you're going to slot it together and you want to push it all the way in okay, and then you going to pinch the zip and pull it up. Your next activity, I want you to go and get the coat or the jumper that has a zip, startup sitting at the table with the zip, the cut flat in front of you and the bottom of the jumpa away from you. So as though you'd have to do it when it's actually on you, hold the ends of the zip and join them together in the clasp. Keep pinching the left side and pull the zip up with your other hand. Okay, your challenge could be to put the coat or the jumpa on and do the zip without looking, so just feeling with your fingers. Pause the video there to complete your task, resume once you're finished. Okay, making bows. Well this is really important when you have to tie your shoelaces and also when you have to tie up trousers or shorts which have drawstrings, like one in the picture. Also, making bows is very useful for tying knots in bags to keep things safe. And sometimes clothes might have some fancy ties too that you need to do. Okay, so there I have some ribbon and I'm simply going to start off with tying a knot and then a bow. Okay, it's useful to always start with a knot, because then you know that whatever you've tied after that is going to be nice and secure. Okay, I like to make two loops when I make a bow and hold it together, where you can see stick it under and cross, okay, and your bow is nice and tight. When you want to undo the bow, you simply hold on to the ends, and pull. And then it's really important that you work a little bit at the knot to get it all off completely. Pause the video there to complete your task, resume once you're finished. Remember, take your time, practise when you are not in a rush. And do all of these tasks over and over and over and you'll get really good at them. If you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share pictures of your work on Instagram Facebook or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and hashtag LearnwithOak.

Fastenings

Fastenings

These resources will be removed by the end of the Spring Term 2026.

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