Building Fine Motor Skills for Little Writers

​Preschool is a great time to get children on track for handwriting skills. Here are our OT’s life hacks to get handwriting on the “write” track!

1. We love the Handwriting Without Tears workbooks. It’s something easily purchased for home or school.  We suggest working on one worksheet every day making sure letter formation is correct. 

​2. Proper pencil grip is so important. Here’s our trick with an old sock. Cut out 2 holes for the thumb and pointer finger.  Slip it on your child’s hand while they are writing.  This will keep the other fingers down and let the 2 fingers that should be on the pencil stay in proper position.

​3. Making sure letters start from top to bottom and go from left to write on the page can be a struggle but it’s as easy as a happy face.  On each line, draw a small happy face at the top left corner.  It will help give a little reminder where their letters should start. We also use the happy face on a small chalkboard when we start teaching letter formation.

​4. Teach the “pinch and flip” method.  Lay the pencil in front of them with the point of the pencil pointing away from them.  Tell them to pick up the pencil with their thumb and index finger (pinching the pencil). Then have them gently push the pencil over so it “flips” around and rests properly.

​5. The “OK” method of getting the correct pencil grip is easy. Tell your child to make the OK sign with their fingers. Tell them to open the circle between their index and their thumb a little bit and place the pencil between their fingers. Then curl the rest of the other fingers under.

​6. Pencil grip isn’t always easy and it’s important to strengthen those little hand muscles.  We love chopsticks.  We have kids pick up cotton ball  and all sorts of things with chopsticks. We recommend these Pororo chopsticks which can be easily purchased on Amazon. 

​7. We love wikki stix for preschoolers.  They help letter formation while strengthening fine motor skills.  We recommend that after the child forms the letter or number, have them trace the letter with their pointer finger starting at the top.

8. Trace letters on your child’s back and have them guess the letter. Have them do the same to you.  This is such a fun way to learn letter formation without any materials at all. 

9. We can’t stress enough the importance of starting handwriting skill using the top to bottom technique. Most letters are formed starting from the top and it’s a hard habit to break if letters start from the bottom.  Make sure you correct incorrect letter formation as soon as possible.

​10. We love this special pen made to promote proper grip.  Give it a try!