Handwriting is a complex task that requires using a multitude of skill sets simultaneously. Teaching the foundational skills for writing will give your child the tools they need to succeed and will result in less frustration for you both. Some of the foundational skills are listed below along with simple activities to address each skill.
Gross Motor Strength- Gross motor strength is necessary to help maintain proper posture for the writing task. Try sitting in your chair and slouch over, then with your hand to grab something. You will find that it is not so easy. This simple exercise shows the importance of proper posture when writing.
Activities include:
In the pool- Let your child hold onto a pool noodle while you pull them around the pool.
Tug of War-Use a towel or rope and "tug" gently with your child.
Have your child sit on a towel, and hold on to the sides of the towel while you drag your child. Many children enjoy this ride.
Wheelbarrow walking- Hold your child's feet or under their stomach and let them walk on their hands.
Crab walk and crab walk soccer- Sit on the floor with your knees bent up. Place your hands behind you and lift your rear end. Use your arms and legs to walk around like a crab. Once you master this skill, you can place soccer with a large ball.
Spend time at the area playgrounds and encourage your child to climb on a variety of walls, ladders and other surfaces.
Bear walks- Have your child walk with both hands and feet on the ground. You can put together a simple obstacle course to make this activity even more exciting.
Have your child pull a wagon of stuffed animals or other toys.
Fine Motor Coordination and Strength- Fine Motor Coordination refers to the ability to make small coordinated movements with the hand and fingers. It is necessary to maintain proper grasp on the pencil as well as move the pencil within the hand (such as when you flip the pencil around quickly to use the eraser). Hand strength is necessary to maintain proper grasp for the necessary time to complete the task. Activities include:
Tongs, children's chop sticks and tweezers- (be careful not to use the ones with sharp points)- A variety of tongs are available at kitchen stores. Try them all. Let your child pick up small objects such as cut up sponges, golf tees, packing peanuts, pom pom balls, or even tiny objects they find in the dirt. Let your child use the chop sticks to eat or even to pick up small objects.
Hole punching- Let your child your punch holes in different textures of paper with a regular hand held hole punch.
String beads, cereal or macaroni noodles- You can experiment with different types of string and items to use as beads.
Clips- Use clothes pins or other clips (hair clips, office clips, snack bag clips) to let your child place on the edge of a bucket, shirt, pants, or any other surface.
Tennis ball with slit - Cut a line into a tennis ball and it looks like a mouth. Draw a face on the ball with your child. Feed the tennis ball with coins, beads, or even small legos.
Eye droppers or medicine droppers- Fill ice cube trays halfway full of water. Put colored water in small containers. Let your child squeeze drops of colored water into the cube tray sections.
Play-doh- Try these activities in this sequence: Make a ball, press it flat into a pancake, roll it into a snake, pinch the snake into small pieces. You can also hide items in the play doh and have your child pull it out with a pinch grasp.
Spray bottles- Fill an empty spray bottle with water and let your child "paint" the side walk, walls and other objects with water.
Visual Motor Coordination-Visual motor Coordination is the ability to coordinate what we see with our motor movements. When playing ball, you see the ball coming towards you and decide where to move your arm and hands based on the information from your eyes. This skill is important to learn for sports and other areas. It is not just for writing. Activities include:
Toothpick and packing peanut or marshmallow structures- Let your child push toothpicks into the packing peanuts or marshmallows to build various structures. Take turns copying each others designs.
Lego or duplo blocks- Make different designs and patterns with the different colors or copy each others buildings. You can also have your child copy the simple designs that come with many lego packages.
Balloon toss- Blow up a balloon and have each person stand at opposite ends of the playing area. Toss the balloon back and forth keeping it up in the air.
Bubbles- Blow bubbles and have your child pop them with their hands or feet. Use both hands, or just one.
Sensory table- fill a table with water, rice, sand, shaving cream, or dry beans. I encourage you to try different items in the table. Provide your child with cups, buckets, spoons and other containers to fill and empty containers. Items could also be hidden in sand, shaving cream or beans.
Car mats or train tables- Have children practice driving the car along the road.
Squirt guns- Designate a set target and see how many times your child can hit the target with the water.
Visual Perceptual Skills- Visual perception is the process of taking information from the eyes then interpreting and organizing that information to give it meaning. Activities include:
Hidden picture games- Have your child find a particular object in a busy background. You can use the books or play this game in every day life.
Play memory games- You can do this with the picture cards or you can show your child several objects and then cover them up. See if your child can remember what they were.
Half made shapes- Make half of a simple shape with popsicle sticks ( or anything else) , and have your child complete the other half.
Discuss what is the same and different about similar objects or items you find on a day to day basis- What is different about these two flowers? dogs?
Early Writing tips and tricks-
Start by copying basic lines and shapes in shaving cream, play doh or even mud.
Use small pencils and crayons (about the size of golf pencils). This will help your child use the correct grasp. Regular sized or thick pencils allow children's fingers to grab the pencil over a large surface. This may cause an alternative grasp pattern which is not always efficient.
Use a toothpick to make lines or draw in aluminum foil
Make designs in the sand at the beach with your fingers.
These are just a few of the activities that you can do with your child. The most important thing is to have fun together. Let us know which activities you tried and if you have your own ideas. Please leave a comment or contact us directly if you have any further questions or concerns.
Comments