Don’t Rush To Write! Try this instead….
Any play with playdough is GREAT! Smash, squeeze, smear - do it all!
Should your child be able to trace a letter at age 2? How about 3? What about 4? When should they write their name? How do I build a solid foundation for good penmanship– special crayons or something?
Having twin 2.5-year-old littles, I often wondered this, so I have done a bunch of research! According to many occupational therapists, the hands-down, absolute best way to help them write is: DON’T HAVE THEM WRITE. What? Not the answer I thought I would find.
The key to great handwriting is strength – hand and finger strength. Here are some ways to strengthen those ever-important muscles to build the solid foundation they need for the rest of their lives.
1. Playdough
Playdough requires A LOT of intricate muscles to squish, smash, and roll. Any play with playdough is good! Having kids squeeze playdough in their palms, squishing between their fingers, is very challenging but an excellent way to build strength. Want to play a Craycraft family game we call “Squish the Grapes”?
Try this:
Make a bunch of small balls with the play dough.
Have your child hold out their thumb and index finger like they are going to pinch something.
Place the ball between their thumb and index finger and have them smash it with only those two fingers!
We like to yell “squish the grape!” when we do it to make it extra fun and create giggles. We move down our fingers all the way until our thumb and pinky are smashing grapes (this takes practice, but they will get there!). Sometimes we count as we squish the grapes, too – it just depends on what we are in the mood for that day!
2. Pre-writing shapes with something fun
Find out fun ways to incorporate age appropriate shapes to create your toddler’s foundation for writing!
We LOVE to use shaving cream to do this on our back patio window! Many kids love to feel different textures under their fingers, and the more senses we can involve, the more it helps their brain process what they are doing. Need to clean a mirror or glass door – before you do, try this!
Try this: Take shaving cream, bubbles, or even washable fingerpaint (if you are brave) and go to town on a bathroom mirror or glass door with your little one. My kids never get to stand on the bathroom counter – so we tried this activity standing up there using shaving cream, and BOY WAS IT A HIT! See the graphic for age-appropriate shapes to try but also use your imagination! Draw a cat and see if your child can guess the animal! It is an entertaining, inexpensive activity that will keep you both entertained and laughing! You can also do this with a rimmed cookie sheet with sugar, flour, rice, sand – you name it and make all the shapes and letters you want!
3. Squirt bottles and water guns
Ever think about how many muscles it takes to squeeze the handle of a squirt bottle? For a little one – a lot! Pick them up from the dollar store or wash out a cleaning bottle when you are done with it for loads of fun!
Try this: My kids LOVE to squirt “things” really, anything outside is fair game, but they especially like when something they squirt does something. If I draw a target on a box (they love the sounds of the water hitting it in a stream), set up disposable cups on that box for them to squirt over (giggles EVERY SINGLE TIME), or create a chalk drawing for them to make into chalk paint… they are over the moon with excitement!
4. Scissors (my thoughts on how to start scissor play)
Cutting is a great way to build strength, and it is major hard work. Even as an adult, if I cut a bunch of things, my hand hurts, so imagine how much effort your little ones are giving to open and close the scissors! I like to start my kids on playdough, and playdough scissors – here is why. They don’t open as far, so it is easier. The resistance is not as strong, and they can grip their object for cutting (the play dough) easier than a piece of paper. Lastly, the angle of the scissors can be off, whereas with regular paper being so thin, it can be hard to focus on cutting the paper when they are just trying to open and close the scissors well.
There are some free cutting pages on my “Friday Freebies” tab on my website here: https://www.playlearnrepeat.org
All of these toys (and many others out there) are great for fine motor practice - pressing, rolling, cutting!
Give them some colored construction paper and tear away! Tearing paper not only helps build strength but also improves hand-eye coordination and allows the hands to practice working together. Tearing paper is FUN!
Try this: We love to tear pieces of colored paper and use our glue bottles to squeeze out a tiny dot of glue to stick it. This is great for impulse control too because man, do they want to make a PUDDLE of glue! We say “little dot then stop” and they repeat it! I like to reuse things I am already going to throw away for these activities – I will draw a big bubble letter inside a soon-to-be-discarded cereal box, “A” for example, and have them glue their torn-up pieces inside. Or have them tear up that tissue box or cereal box and glue that to a giant Amazon box – that is some REAL fun 😊
In short, these are 3 easy ways (there are a million more) we can help our children with their writing skills (without actually writing) and have so much more fun in the process.
**Top two things to think about if you want to work on this and create your own activity: is the hand stretching or squeezing? If the answer is yes, then you just found a GREAT way to help build this vital skill!
Sharing makes us ALL BETTER! Comment below on any ideas you liked, other great activities you have done, or any you are thinking about trying!
