Did you know that handwriting is really a multi-step process and we can make it less painful for our little ones (especially our little ones who may have fine motor difficulties!).
The first part of learning handwriting is learning the shape and form of the letters (and even before that, is building good hand-strength.)
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With my older children, I jumped too soon into handwriting, and if I could go back to my early years of homeschooling, I would do things differently! I would have focused longer on correct letter formation doing fun pre-writing activities.
Below is a list of pre-handwriting activities I’m excited to use with my 5-year-old this year to practice correct letter formation!
And then, when he is ready, we will move to Getty Dubay Book A (using fat markers or crayons). We choose to use the Getty-Dubay style of handwriting because it’s an easier AND more comfortable way to write, which is especially nice for kids who may struggle with handwriting.
15 Pre-Handwriting Activities
- Salt/Sand/Flour in a tray – Find a tray here.
2. Shaving cream in a tray
3. Playdough and straws –Cut up a few straws into many pieces and use those pieces to form letters in the playdough (you can then re-use the straws each time you do this activity.)
4. Q-tip letters-Dip q-tip in paint, then paint little dots to form the letter.
5. Bubble Letters-Adult makes bubble letters, and child fills in the bubble. (My son really enjoyed this one!)
6. Beads in Playdough-Just like the straws in playdough, but with beads. 🙂
7. WikiStix–Use the wikistix to form letters.
8. Pipe cleaner letters-Use the pipe cleaners to form letters.
9. Sensory Bag Writing-We basically filled a bag with hair gel, glitter and food coloring. We sealed it with some duct tape and now it is a writing surface! Our inspiration came from this amazing book.
10. Painting letters-Use watercolors or washable kids paint to paint letters on paper.
11. Glue and Yarn Letters-Kids can either glue the yarn a letter you’ve drawn or form their own and glue it.
12. Fingerpaint-For kids who enjoy a really rich sensory experience, use fingerpaints to form letters.
13. Rainbow letters-Another favorite of my son’s! Using pipsqueak markers, draw a letter using all the colors of the rainbow.
14. Sticker letters-Form or trace letters using stickers.
15. Fingerprint letters-Form or trace letters using your own fingerprints! You need an ink pad for this one!
