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Growing Hands-On Kids

Growing Hands-On Kids

Child Development Tips, Tools, and Strategies

You are here: Home / Handwriting & Pre-Writing / My Favorite Apps for Letter Formation Practice

My Favorite Apps for Letter Formation Practice

July 16, 2015 By Heather Greutman 3 Comments

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iPads, tablets, and smart phones are quickly changing how children have access to educational games and practice in the home or classroom. While technology should NEVER replace the actual physical process of learning how to form letters and shapes for handwriting, it can be used as a supplement for learning. There are some great apps for letter formation practice and today I am sharing my favorites.

My favorite apps for letter formation practice for preschoolers.

When I was working as an Occupational Therapy Assistant in the public school system, I had a few favorite apps that I used with my kiddos to help enhance their letter formation skills. We always started with hands-on sensory activities and actual physical pencil and paper practice before I let them use the apps. I used it more as a reward system with many of my kiddos, which seemed to work for some of them.

A quick note here about screen time, remember that children over the age of 2 should have no more than 2 hour of screen time a day, so please keep that in mind when planning your screen time activities with your kids. Actual sensory writing and using various writing utensils will benefit your child the most when learning letter formations for handwriting.

Letter School – Download for iPad or iPhone or Amazon – There is a lite version and a paid version of this app. This one is probably my favorite of the ones I used. And the kids love it because each letter has a different theme. You can also choose between “HWT Style (Handwriting Without Tears), D’Nealian Style, and Zaner-Bloser Style fonts to practice lower case and uppercase letters.

Wet Dry Try App from Handwriting Without Tears – Download for iPad – If you have used the wet and dry chalkboard approach from HWT, then you will like this digital version of it. Children use a virtual chalkboard and then practice letter formations with a “wet” sponge and dry them with a piece of dry cloth.

I Write Words – Download for iPad or iPhone – There is a lite version and paid version of this app. I Write Words helps your child practice handwriting while learning easy words and with fun animals along the way. You can practice Capital, Lower case, numbers, and then also words which will mix up all the letters.

ABC Cursive – Download for iPad or iPhone (Free!) – Both options of this app are free. This app will help them to learn all the alphabet in cursive. The app will speak the letter, trace it for the child to see and then the child can do it themselves as well.

ABC Keyboard – Download for iPad or iPhone – Keyboarding is an important skill to have with all this technology. This is a fun app for younger children who are learning to type. This app will help children to identify and find the letters on the keyboard.

For more handwriting or letter formation tips, you can follow my Pinterest board below.

Follow Heather | Growing Hands-On Kids's board Handwriting Skills & Activities on Pinterest.
Sharing with: Living Montessori Now, ABC Creative Learning, Hip Homeschool Moms,Homeschool Creations,The Jenny Evolution

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Filed Under: Handwriting & Pre-Writing Tagged With: For Parents, For Teachers, For Therapists, Preschool 3-5, 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.

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Comments

  1. Terri says

    July 21, 2015 at 3:56 pm

    So this is so friggin typical… just because I can’t afford a I-pad or I-phone my kids don’t get to use this program…I think it’s no wonder why I-products are finally starting to lose out to android products!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
    • Heather Greutman says

      July 22, 2015 at 10:26 pm

      Very sorry Terri, I am only familiar with iOS products because the schools I was at used iPads with all their students. However, I am sure there are some great android apps as well that will work similarly. I do know the first app I mentioned is also available on Amazon, so it may be on Android as well.

      Reply
  2. Alison says

    August 6, 2015 at 7:31 pm

    Love these app suggestions! Thanks for linking up to the Thoughtful Spot Blog Hop this week! 🙂

    Reply

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