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Handwriting requires the mastery of many skills, including vision, hand-eye coordination, muscle memory, posture, body control, pencil grip, and letter formation. Today we are going to look specifically at the fine motor skills that your child will need in order to write, and 5 ways that you can support the development of these skills at home.
These activities are geared towards 3-5-year-olds to support pre-writing skills at home, before traditional handwriting really begins.
One fine motor skill that plays a major role in handwriting is in-hand manipulation. This is the skill that allows you to pick an item up and move it around in your hand (manipulate) without using your other hand for help.
Kids begin developing these skills between the ages of 2-4, and grow fully into them between 6-7. In-hand manipulation skills have three components: translation, shift, and rotation.
Translation
Translation means moving an object from the palm to the fingertips and back. A great example of this would be moving coins one at a time out of your hand to put in the parking meter or vending machine (palm to fingers), or picking up coins to gather them in your hand (finger to palm).
Shift
Shift requires moving an object up and down with your fingertips. You can think of this like an inchworm. A good example of this would be moving your fingers to position them on a pencil, from eraser to point.
Rotation
Rotation is turning an object around using the pads of the fingers. There are two types of rotation- simple and complex. A good example of simple rotation would be unscrewing a bottle cap; for complex rotation an example would be turning a pencil to use an eraser).
Luckily, supporting pre-writing skills at home can be really fun! None of the activities below even involve picking up a pencil, so you can rest assured knowing that your child will have no idea that they are actually building their handwriting skills while doing these fun activities!
5 Ways to Support Pre-Writing Skills at Home
Playing games with small pieces and manipulatives.
There are a lot of commercially available games out there that involve little pieces.
Piggy Bank
Little kids love to explore with coins! Gather a collection of coins and a piggy bank, or even just an old oatmeal container with a slit cut in the top. Let your child count coins and slide them through the slot, then empty and start again! Encourage your child to hold a few coins in their hand at once, and drop only one coin at a time into the slot.
Stringing Beads
Gather pipe cleaners and various beads. I recommend these. Sit with your child and enjoy stringing beads to create bracelets, necklaces, or just simple designs. As with the piggy bank activity above, have your child try holding a few beads in his or her palm. Bring them down one at a time to string them on the pipe cleaner. Bonus: this activity also builds counting skills, color recognition, and patterning!
Crumpled Paper Art
Kids love this one because they get to crumple paper! Provide your child with small pieces of paper that they can crumble up. Use the paper crumbles to create art. You could glue them onto a pre-cut shape- white paper crumbles into a snowman shape for winter. Try turning various colored paper crumbles onto a tree for fall- the possibilities are endless! Let your child come up with some ideas, too!
Lid Matching
Gather a collection of bottles/jar and lid. Encourage your child to match them up and screw them on the correct bottle/jar. This is a great way to keep a little one busy while you are cooking, and also a great way to reuse old jars!
I hope that you try out some of these activities for developing pre-writing skills at home with your child! If you do, please share what you did in our FREE Facebook community! It’s a fun community of parents where we celebrate successes, look for support, and share in the parenting journey.
As always, if you have concerns about your child’s development and would like to set up a free consultation to discuss your concerns, please reach out!
I would love to help you determine your child’s individual needs. We are here to support you as you help your child blossom!
