TIPS FOR HANDWRITING SUCCESS
Handwriting is a difficult habit to change. Unfortunately, many children demonstrate poor and/or illegible writing. Below are a few strategies that may help the children write.
- Writing on a slanted surface or vertical surface for wrist strengthening
- Use a 3 ring binder for the slanted surface
- Use shorter pencils for better control
- Remember little utensils for little hands
- Allow children to write while laying on their stomach (this strengthens the shoulder girdle and overall core stability
- Allow the children to type assignments
- Remind children not rest their head on the table or non dominant hand
- Encourage playing with play dough or clay for hand strengthening
- Do chair push-ups for arm strengthening
- “Fatter” pens to reduce energy expenditure (for older kids) using large writing utensils for little kids fatigues their hands quickly as well as decreases the control.
- For posture, have the child sit on a 3 ring binder (1-1 ½ inch binder).
- Place rings under the buttocks, and aim thin portion of binder toward thighs. This puts the pelvis into a more optimal position
- Remember pencil grip is not a developmental skill – it is a learned behavior.
To help improve grasping – Practice picking small items up with tweezers, string beads, and pegboards.
To help improve bilateral coordination for writing – practice cutting, stringing beads, folding or ripping paper.
To help improve pencil pressure – Practice games that require a “delicate” touch – Jenga, Don’t Spill the Beans. Or practice writing with paper on a “soft” surface such as carpet, a corkboard, corrugated cardboard, etc.
Give young children plenty of opportunity to color-in large shapes using slanting lines and learning to fill the space fairly evenly. This improves fine motor control and coordination necessary for successfully writing on lined paper. For children with difficulty controlling their lines, trace the outline with white, liquid glue. It hardens to provide a boundary that makes it easier for children to color inside the lines successfully.