Handwriting Help

Handwriting seems to be a dying art, but there are some of us who still believe in it and want our children to master it.

If your child hates handwriting, try to discover the cause. Have you unknowingly criticized your child’s handwriting too much. “That is too sloppy.” “You still are not making that letter correctly.” Evaluate what you say to your child. Maybe your child has dysgraphia or ADHD and handwriting is a big challenge. Maybe your child’s fine motor skills need some work.

Here are some activities that will help with the fine motor skills needed for handwriting:

1.Give your child clay or play-dough to play with to strengthen the major muscles used in handwriting.

2.Have your child push a thumb tack into a wooden yard stick at every inch mark.

3.Encourage her to play with Legos, miniature cars, small blocks, action figures, and other small toys.

4.Do puzzles with your child.

5.Have your child practice walking on a balance beam.

6.Provide fun art projects that involve using crayons, marking pens, scissors, and finger paints, as well as tearing paper.

7.Play games with your child that involve handling cards and small game pieces.

8.Ask your child to sort collections of loose coins into stacks of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.