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Are you looking for some fun, hands-on ways to practice letter formations without using worksheets? Here are some FUN letter formation activities so that your child is all set when they get back to school.
Teaching Letter Formation Tips
First, remind your child that we write from left to right, just like reading.
All letters should start at the top and sit at the bottom of the line. A few letters will go down below the line, depending on their formation. Using action words such as “zoom across” or “zip-down” can help when describing how to form letters.
11 Fun Letter Formation Activities
Using hands-on ways to practice letter formations is a great way to engage children who may be hesitant in writing with a pencil.
For children who are 5-6 and younger, focusing on fine motor and multi-sensory approaches to letter formation will help as they learn the motor planning needed for each letter formation.
1 || Trace Letters on Their Back
Trace a letter on your child’s back and have them guess and write the letter on a piece of paper. Take turns and have them trace a letter on your back.
2 || Make Cookie Letters
Make cookie letters. Have your child form the letters by rolling the dough and putting the pieces together.
3 || Form letters out of french fries
If you don’t want to use food items you can use play dough or Wiki Stix.
4 || Make letters with pipe cleaners
5 || Draw letters with your finger on the carpet
6 || Have your children write your shopping lists
If your child is still learning to write, they may need to copy words from a paper onto the shopping list. You can also use this tip with older children, ages 6 and above who just need extra handwriting practice.
7 || Use a flashlight and make letters on the wall
You or your child has to guess the letter that was made. You can also cut out letter templates to place in front of the flashlight.
8 || Roll letters on a dice
Put letters on dice and have your child roll the dice and they have to write a word that starts with the letter.
9 || Fish for words
Place cut-out fish in a shoebox. Write words or letters on the fish. Attach paper clips to the fish and adapt a small pole with a magnet. Whichever fish the child gets, they have to come up with a word or sentence using what is on the fish.
10 || Have them write with icing tubes
You can freeze ice cubes with some food coloring in the water to make different colors. Put a toothpick or small stick in each cube so they have something to hold on to when writing.
11 || Marshmallow letters
Use small marshmallows and toothpicks to form letters.
12 || Bonus Tip – Write letters in the sand
Writing letters in the sand using a sand tray OR sandpaper letters is a very fun way to practice letter formations. There are lots of ideas for themed sand trays out there. I also have a round-up of ideas on my site.
Need More Handwriting Help?
I teamed up with 10 other pediatric therapy bloggers to write The Handwriting Book. It is your go-to guide for learning all about handwriting. It’s a digital ebook and is a great resource to have on hand in your home, classroom, or therapy sessions.
You can also find more tips and ideas below.
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