Letter Tracing

I am always trying to find new ways to work on letter writing.  In order for a child to learn to hold a pencil correctly and start writing, they need to first strengthen the muscles in their hands.  That is one reason why we work so much on those fine motor skills.  You can add a tactile component when you have your child practice shaping letters with different materials, these all help children internalize the shape of the letter while developing their fine motor skills.

Some ideas:

Air Writing:  Have your child write letters in the air first.  These large muscle movements will help your child process what he is writing and make it more likely to stick.

Shape Writing:  Give your child extra dough while baking or playdough and have them roll out a "snake" and shape the letters of their name.  An alternative to dough is yarn or pipe cleaners that they can manipulate into letters.

Foamy Fun: While your child is in the tub, spray a bit of shaving cream on the side of the tub or wall.  On a hot day this is also fun to do outside.    Allow your child to practice writing letters, then erase and try another set. 

Salt / Sand Tracing: Pour a small amount of sand or salt in a shallow tray.  Allow your child to practice tracing letters without the pressure of more permanent writing utensils such as markers and crayons.  If she makes a mistake, he can simply erase what he wrote and try again.

Paint Baggies: For a non-messy alternative to finger paint, put a bit of finger-paint inside a ziploc baggie.  Remove the air, seal the bag and double the seal with some masking or duct tape. Your child can practice tracing letters on the outside of the bag, manipulating the paint with no mess or cleanup!

Learn Your Letters: When he is ready to move to paper, give him large sheets of paper and show him the strokes to make different letters.  If you can give the letters human characteristics, it will be even more fun! (For example, a letter E is a straight line with a hat, a belt and a shoe)

Yesterday we used beads to cover the first letter of their name.....this a a good skill to work on their letter and also a great fine motor skill.  This may be a little tricky for the younger ones and also make sure they are not putting the beads in their mouth......they could do cereal or something bigger like buttons or beans too.

There are endless possibilities when working with children on their names.  If you are wanting the typical connect the dots to write their letters (which I also use) there is a great sight that allows you to type in anything your heart desires and print it out.....you can find it here.

Tracy