Activities To Develop Handwriting Skills

There are significant prerequisites for printing skills that begin in infancy and continue to emerge through the preschool years.  The following activities support and promote fine motor and visual motor development.  You will also find similar activities listed in the fine motor, visual perceptual, and sensory sections of the website.

Body Stability

The joints of the body need to be stable before the hands can be free to focus on specific skilled fine motor tasks.

1.  Wheelbarrow walking, crab walking, and wall push-ups.

2.  Toys:  Orbiter, silly putty, and monkey bars on the playground.

Fine Motor Skills

When a certain amount of body stability has developed, the hands and fingers begin to work on movements of dexterity and isolation as well as different kinds of grasps.  Children will develop fine motor skills best when they work on a VERTICAL or near vertical surface as much as possible.  In particular, the wrist must be in extension.  (Bent back in the direction of the hand)

1.  Attach a large piece of drawing paper to the wall.  Have the child use a large marker and try the following exercises to develop visual motor skills:  Make an outline of a one at a time.  Have the child trace over your line from left to right, or from top to bottom.  Trace each figure at least 10 times.  Then have the child draw the figure next to your model several times.

2.  Play connect the dots.  Again make sure the child's strokes connect dots from left to right, and from top to bottom.

3.  Trace around stencils - the non-dominant hand should hold the stencil flat and stable against the paper, while the dominant hand pushes the pencil firmly against the edge of the stencil.  The stencil must be held firmly.

4.  Attach a large piece of felt to the wall, or use a felt board.  The child can use felt shapes to make pictures.  Magnetic boards can be used the same way.

5.  Have the child work on a chalkboard, using chalk instead of a marker.  Do the same kinds of tracing and modeling activities as suggested above.

6.  Paint at an easel.  Some of the modeling activities as suggested above can be done at the easel.

7.  Magna Doodle- turn it upside down so that the erasing lever is on the top.  Experiment making vertical, horizontal, and parallel lines.

Ocular Motor Control

This refers to the ability of the eyes to work together to follow and hold an object in the line of vision as needed.

1.  Use a flashlight against the ceiling.  Have the child lie on his/her back or tummy and visually follow the moving light from left to right, top to bottom, and diagonally.

2.  Find hidden pictures in books.  (There are special books for this.)

3.  Maze activities.  (You can buy these in bookstores also.)

Eye-hand Coordination

This involves accuracy in placement, direction, and spatial awareness.

1.  Throw bean bags/koosh balls into a hula hoop placed flat on the floor.  Gradually increase the distance.

2.  Play throw and catch with a ball . Start with a large ball and work toward a smaller ball.  (Koosh balls are easier to catch than a tennis ball.)

3.  Practice hitting bowling pins with a ball.  (You can purchase these games or make your own with soda bottles and a small ball.)

4.  Play "Hit the Balloon" with a medium-sized balloon.

Pre-Reading and Writing Strategies

Salt Box – Line a small box with black paper and add a thin layer of salt.  Your child can write letters in the salt.  Shake the box to "clean the slate."

Sandpaper Letters – Cut the letters of your child’s name out of sandpaper.  Glue these onto a piece of cardboard.  Your child can trace his/her name with his/her finger.

Magnetic Letters – Buy several sets of magnetic letters (upper & lowercase letters.)  On the fridge or a cookie sheet, help your child find and group together all of the capital and lowercase B/b, then all of the D/d, etc.  Talk about the letter’s name and the sound it makes.  Then, find all the letters that make a "mmm" sound (M) or an "ssss" sound (C & S), etc.

Alphabet Books – Cut a piece of paper into fourths, staple them together on the side, and write an alphabet letter on the cover.  Your child can cut pictures out of magazines that begin with the letter on the cover and glue them on the following pages.  Label the pictures.

Finger Paints – Your child can smear finger paints on a piece of paper.  Help him/her write his/her name or various letters with his/her finger. Wipe the slate clean, then try some more.

Playdough – Draw a letter, and have your child roll out pieces of playdough and fit and mold them together to make that letter’s shape.  Try lots of letters!

Spaghetti – Do the same as above with cooked spaghetti.  Color small batches with food coloring to make it more fun.

Letter Hunt – Look for letters.  Pick a letter of the day and see how many everyone in the family can find.  Look on street signs, in books, etc.  Make it a game!

Body Letters – Help your child make letter shapes with his/her body.  Some letters, like L, your child will be able to make with his/her own body.  Some, like M, will require two bodies.

Fine Motor Control Practice – Draw curly lines, shapes, mazes, and have your child trace them with a pencil.  Then see if s/he can duplicate these shapes/lines/etc. by him/herself.

Word Wall – Put up separate alphabet letters on pieces of paper on the wall.  Write new words the child has mastered, cut them out and put them under the alphabet letter that has the same beginning sound.

Computer Software – Look for software that incorporates phonics into reading activities.

Post-its & Pens – Write single letters on small post-its and have your child stick the post-its on items around the house that begin with the same letter.

Magnadoodle – This is great for the car when practicing fine motor skills, writing letters, words, word families, spelling words, etc.

Alphabet Bingo – This game is wonderful for practicing letter names and sounds.

Rhyming Words – Look for rhyming words in books, poetry, writing, etc.  Practice making rhyming words with magnetic letters, pens, and paper, on the computer, etc.

Poetry – Read lots of poetry to your child.  Go back and look for words that start and/or end with the same letter, words that rhyme, capital letters, same endings, etc.

Read! Read! Read! - Read to your child often and discuss what you are reading!  Model and encourage as much language as possible.

More Pre-Writing Skills for Children

Play and draw on vertical surfaces!

Ways to strengthen the shoulder, arm, and wrist:

·         Use tabletop easels or bookstands so your child can do the activity while seated.  Flannel boards, chalkboards, sticker games, and letter and number magnets on the refrigerator can be used to strengthen the upper body while standing.

·         Try tummy-lying on the floor with arms propped on forearms to read books, color, or do puzzles.

·         Play games such as tug -of-war, wheelbarrow walking or animal walks.

·         Use the playground equipment, such as the climbers and monkey bars at your local park

Develop hand skills

·         Change how activities are done to encourage finger use.

·         Lace large beads with strings that have small plastic tips on the ends or use easy lacing cards.

·         Put pennies into a piggy bank, play with finger puppets, and spinning tops.

·         Use small tongs to pick up cotton balls, pom-poms, blocks, etc.

·         Tear paper into strips and crumble!

·         Plant sprayers or water guns: Squeeze tripper to spray designs.

Develop eye-hand coordination:

·         Roll, throw, and catch large-sized balls.

·         Play balloon volleyball, scarf toss and catch.

·         Pour, ladle and spoon soapy water into different sized containers at the kitchen sink.

Develop body awareness and directionality

·         Play Simon Says, and use positional terms such as up/down, back/forth, front/back.

·         Sing action songs such as Hokey Pokey, Wheels on the Bus.

Provide opportunities for Sensory Input

·         Hide pennies, beads, or other small objects in playdough, sand or rice tubs for your child to find.

·         Draw shapes and lines on sandpaper or carpet squares.

·         Make a feelie bucket/bag in which you put everyday items such as a key, toothbrush, spoon, eraser, paper clip, etc and ask your child to identify the objects by feeling them.

Pre-writing activities (no pencils required)

·         Make lines, shapes and letters by: finger painting, painting with pudding or shaving cream, painting with water on the sidewalk and even with your fingers in the sand.

·         Play shape and letter matching or recognition games.

·         Play with puzzles, magnetic letters and playdough.

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