Fun Preschool Handwriting Lessons
Homeschool Activities that Encourage Young Children To Write
Children often experiment with writing. It is important that parent have an arsenal of fun handwriting activities ready when a child becomes bored with just practicing.
Often children make an attempt to write even before they are able to read. When a child of any age makes the attempt to write, it is vital that parents respond positively regardless of issues such as spelling and letter formation.
Preschool Handwriting Issues
In the beginning, a child may not hold his pen correctly, and he might not be able to spell a word or even write the simplest of letters correctly. By responding to his attempt in a positive and encouraging manner, parents can encourage their child to continue trying.
Handwriting is a skill learned through repetition. Children often lose interest in the repetitious writing of a letter. If this happens it is important that homeschooling parents be prepared with activities to maintain focus while encouraging the practice of necessary handwriting skills.
Fun Penmanship Activities
Ghost Writing: Using a cotton swab, a sheet of construction paper, some lemon juice and the sun, parents and children can write secret messages to each other or practice letter formation and watch them appear magically. Simply dip the cotton swab in the lemon juice and write a letter or word on the construction paper using the swab. Once the letter has been written, allow the construction paper to dry and place it in direct sunlight. The word or letters will appear on the paper as if being written by a ghost.
Sidewalk Chalk: Using sidewalk chalk to practice writing letters on a paved driveway can be a fun, and it is also a colorful way to introduce a child to writing. Parents can draw letters for the child to trace or dots for the child to connect. To make things even more interesting for the child, once a letter has been mastered, try having a letter race. Write "start" at one end of the driveway and "finish" at the other end. Then race to see who can write that letter (repeatedly) and cross the finish line first. At the end of the day allow the child to "erase" his writing with the garden hose.
Letter Puzzle: A child who is working on mastering his first few letters can write a single letter on a sheet of paper and draw pictures of things beginning with that letter around it. Next the child can cut the paper into puzzle size pieces. It is then the parents’ task to reassemble the puzzle in order to see what letter is on it. Puzzles can be reused in other teaching activities or be taped together and displayed on the wall as certificates to show which letters have been mastered.
Other Helpful Handwriting Tips
It is important to make a child who is learning to write feel successful in order to maintain his interest and limit frustration levels. When teaching a child to write, it is vital to ensure he or she is maintaining proper posture and through practice, is developing the ability to hold writing implements properly.
These goals can be accomplished by setting up an area specifically for writing. This area should include items such as a trash can and a writing table with a comfortable chair. It is not necessary, but in order to make a child feel special (and older because he is learning to write) a parent could also present him with a pen and writing paper of his very own.
For more fun tips read these other Suite 101 articles Fun Reading Activities, Teach Children to Sound Out Words and Creative Writing for Kindergarten.
