Recently I experimented with a mechnical hand from Smartivity and initiated the “Smartivity Mechanical Hand Challenge”. Thankfully that was well accepted by followers of Smartivity and so many children tried doing some simple day to day activities using the mechanical hand and posted their videos.

Being a Six Bricks educator (LEAD), I always observe how children learn and do things. Some children with delayed milestones or developmental disorders find it difficult to execute simple day to day activities and with therapy they do overcome some challenges or get better at dealing with them. By using the mechanical hand, I was better able to understand children with motor skills problems.

Smartivity Mechanical Hand Challenge with Six Bricks –

Experiment – Today I used a Mechanical Hand to try the simple Six Bricks Tower Building activity.

Observation –

1. Despite using my dominant hand it was not easy to have a control over my actions. (Didn’t even think of using my non-dominant hand)

2. My brain tried every possible trick to pass the signals to the hand but not all were well received.

3. Only in my 5th attempt did I have some success with control over the grip, the movement and understood the material (though my new hand couldn’t sense it)

4. Staying focused, believing in oneself was the most important observation.

5. My tactile senses were at ZERO – which means my brain had to rely on other senses to give some direction to my hands.

Conclusion –

1. As a teacher it made me understand what my student with poor motor skills experiences.

2. It also made me understand how helpless adults with Parkinson’s feel when they have no control over their motor skills (at one moment, I felt I must just get rid of that hand)

3. Six Bricks activities are fun, playful and simple activities which when used at the right age can help children develop and overcome several developmental delays.