If your child/children are anything like mine, then they didn’t touch a pencil/marker/crayon all summer!! Did you know that there are over 30 muscles just in your hands? These muscles need to be used and strengthened every day to help with handwriting. Try to do one of these activities for the next month:
- Use Play Dough, Silly Putty, Clay, or Theraputty:
- Push pennies/small items into putty/clay with tips of finger. Find pennies using one hand at a time.
- Using thumb and index finger pads only, pinch off small pieces of putty. Roll the pieces into small balls.
- Make a hot dog. Use both hands to stretch the putty.
- Form putty into a snake. Cut using scissors and/or knife.
- Pull and squish putty using two hands.
- Monster Putty Faces (use an unsharpened pencil and have the child press the pencil into the putty to make eyes, nose, and mouth. Once the child has created the face, have them pull the putty in different directions)
- Use coins to stack, sort, and put in an open slot (piggy bank).
- Chain/Unchain paper clips.
- Shuffle cards then deal one at a time.
- Peel off stickers to decorate pictures.
- Peel off stickers and place on isolated letters, then trace with pointer finger.
- Cut straws, these can be strung on yarn.
- String macaroni, cheerios, beads onto yarn or string.
- Use tweezers or tongs to pick up small manipulatives/toys and place in a container or fill the circles of all those Pop Its that are lying around your house :)