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Growing Hands-On Kids

Growing Hands-On Kids

Child Development Tips, Tools, and Strategies

You are here: Home / Hands-On Activities / Including Handwriting Skills in Your Tot-School/Preschool

Including Handwriting Skills in Your Tot-School/Preschool

July 24, 2014 By Heather Greutman 2 Comments

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I love talking about handwriting skills! Probably because of my background as an Occupational Therapy Assistant, but handwriting activities and ideas get my creative juices flowing! Today we are talking about how to include handwriting skills in your toddler or preschoolers day!

In case you have missed the other posts in this 5 Days of Tot-School & Preschool Series, here they are:

  • Practical Life Skills
  • Fine Motor Skills
  • Sensory Activities
  • Handwriting (Pre-writing)
  • Gross Motor Skills

Not sure how to include handwriting skills with your toddler or preschooler? Get hands-on ideas that are fun! | www.GoldenReflectionsBlog.com

How To Begin with Handwriting Skills

Handwriting skills and fine motor skills are very similar. You need good fine motor skills in order to have good handwriting! So giving your child lots of activities that require use of their fingers and hands are important!

Some great activities for this are anything that require them to use tongs, tweezers, wooden clothes pins etc.  This give them a chance to practice proper hand grasp with a fun and hands-on activity.

Also, any type of activity that requires a pincer grasp (using the index and thumb finger) to grab objects is a great skill! Here is one that I have had my daughter do and it is a simple, up-cycle activity: 2 easy pincer grasp activities for toddlers.

Two Pincer Grasp Fine Motor Activities for Toddlers

 

Toddlers start to master pre-writing lines or strokes at 2 years old. Pre-writing lines are the precursor to letter formations later on in handwriting! They follow an age appropriate sequence:

  • Vertical Lines– (Age 2 imitates, age 3 copies/masters)
  • Horizontal Lines – (Age 2 imitates, age 3 copies/masters)
  • Circle shape – (Age 2, age 3 copies/masters)
  • Cross shape (+) – (Age 3 imitates, age 4 copies)
  • Right/Left Diagonal Line – (Age 4)
  • Square shape– (Age 4)
  • X shape – (Age 4)
  • Triangle shape (Age 5)

There are lots of ways you can practice these pre-writing lines that are fun and hands-on activities, NOT sitting down at a table with pencil and paper! I have a post here on 6 Pre-writing activities for preschoolers that can get you started!

6 Pre-Writing Activities for Kids | www.GoldenReflectionsBlog.com

 

If you would like to get started with some fun pre-writing line activities, my ebook, Basic Shapes for Beginners will get you going! In the ebook I give you 6 weeks worth of activities, one for each day of the week. It also has a resource list, shopping list divided by the weeks, and all the printables you need to complete all the activities! A few people have told me they are using it with their preschoolers this school year as they teach their older children in their homeschool!

All the activities are hands-on and fun!

Basic Shapes for Beginners 3D Cover Transparent 250x288

 

 

And for your older preschoolers who are starting to learn that pre-writing lines make letters, there are some really fun ways you can do this without having to “write”! Here are 12 fun ways, using a lot of sensory type activities!

12 Fun Ways to Practice Handwriting with Preschoolers | www.GoldenReflectionsBlog.com

 

For this age, I really don't like to do a lot of formal sitting down and working on “handwriting”. There are ways to include it that are fun but also help them to practice the skills they need for a successful handwriting experience!

For more ideas you can also read my Teaching Handwriting in Your Homeschool – Preschool Edition.

Teaching Handwriting Homeschool Preschool

 

You can also check out my Pinterest board for handwriting skills and activities!

Follow Heather G. | Golden Reflections Blog's board Handwriting Skills & Activities on Pinterest.

 

 

Blessings,

 

iHomeschool Network 5 Day Hopscotch 2014!

 

Disclaimer: All activities are designed for complete adult supervision. Please use your own judgement with your child and do not provide objects that could pose a choking hazard to young children. Never leave a child unattended during these activities.Please be aware of and follow all age recommendations on all products used in these activities. Golden Reflections Blog is not liable for any injury when replicating any of the activities found on this blog. 

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Filed Under: Hands-On Activities Tagged With: Fine Motor, For Parents, Infants/Toddlers 0-3, Preschool 3-5, Tot-School, Writing Activities

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CONTENT DISCLAIMER: Heather Greutman is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. All information on the Website is for informational purposes only and is not a replacement for medical advice from a physician or your pediatrician. Please consult with a medical professional if you suspect any medical or developmental issues with your child. The information on the Websites does not replace the relationship between therapist and client in a one-on-one treatment session with an individualized treatment plan based on their professional evaluation. The information provided on the Website is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied. Do not rely on the information on the Website as an alternative to advice from your medical professional or healthcare provider. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment as a result of any information provided on the Website. All medical information on the Website is for informational purposes only. All activities outlined on the Website are designed for completion with adult supervision. Please use your own judgment with your child and do not provide objects that could pose a choking hazard to young children. Never leave a child unattended during these activities. Please be aware of and follow all age recommendations on all products used in these activities. Growing Hands-On Kids is not liable for any injury when replicating any of the activities found on this blog. YOUR RESPONSIBILITY The Website was developed strictly for informational purposes. You understand and agree that you are fully responsible for your use of the information provided on the Website. Growing Hands-On Kids makes no representations, warranties or guarantees. You understand that results may vary from person to person. Growing Hands-On Kids assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions that may appear in the Website.

Comments

  1. Vanessa says

    July 24, 2014 at 2:11 pm

    Another great post! This post gave me some ideas for my 1.5 year old! 🙂

    Reply
    • Heather Greutman says

      August 15, 2014 at 9:41 pm

      Thanks a lot Vanessa! 🙂

      Reply

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