Poor Handwriting?

If you see your child struggling with handwriting- her handwriting is sloppy, illegible and the letter formation is not up to the mark, please don’t give her handwriting books to practice writing. Instead give her activities to enhance her fine motor skills. If you see no improvement in handwriting in a month or so, you could go to an occupational therapist to get her evaluated and started on therapy. Please do not ignore this problem, as it doesn’t get resolved on its own. Also, it makes academic success more difficult to achieve as your child goes up grade levels and writing becomes more and more of a task.

Below is the list of a few activities that support fine motor development:

1. Art activities like drawing, colouring, cutting, pasting, crumpling, twisting, tracing, painting and printing (creativity kit will take care of all these)
2. Play dough
3. Beading
4. Weaving
5. Construction toys like lego and blocks
6. Sand play and water play
7. Dressing up- buttoning and lacing
8. Crochet and sewing for older children
9. Cooking and baking- shelling peas, cutting vegetables, peeling, kneading, pouring, rolling, pressing, mixing
10. Pegging (for e.g. clipping clothes on the line)
11. Sharpening pencils
12. Folding clothes

Involve your child in household chores and make her independent in terms of dressing, organizing her clothes and toys, eating etc. Many activities have inbuilt opportunities to enhance fine motor skills. Get creative and for more ideas simply search the internet.