How to Help Kids Improve Handwriting When Learning Remotely?

At school children begin to learn how to write, and it can be hard to master, especially during remote learning. As a parent, you may be wondering how to help your child improve handwriting when everything they do is on a screen. First, you should create a positive environment where they can practice their pencil grip, letter formation and fine motor skills in general. Don’t replace handwriting with typing because it can affect your child’s literacy learning. Here are some fun activities and tips to improve your child’s handwriting at home.

Activities to Improve Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills are important for handwriting. Strengthening the muscles in your child’s hands and wrists can make mastering this skill easier. Try these activities at home.

Use tongs or tweezers to grab and hold small objects

Squeeze a stress ball in the palm of your hand

String pasta onto wool

Moisten the plants with a spray bottle.

Use a hole punch

Attach paper clips to paper.

Pencil Grip

When you help your child with their handwriting, start by demonstrating to them how they should hold their pencil. The right grip is when they use their index finger and thumb to hold the pencil against their middle finger. When your child masters the grip right, their handwriting will be neater and easier to read.

Letter Formation

If you combine giving clear instructions with engaging your kid in fun activities, they are sure to succeed in improving their handwriting skills in general and letter formation in particular. The best way to do this is by using free tracing worksheets. These sheets are perfect for introducing your kids to the alphabet letters and helping them learn how to write them accurately. They are also engaging, colorful and entertaining, which makes them an ideal activity for homeschooling.

Legibility

To make handwriting more legible, teach your kid to leave proper gaps between the words. There are some tricks how to do this – start with showing them how they can place their finger between words to create the necessary spacing. Younger children will enjoy using some fun items instead of their fingers, such as a lollipop stick or a small toy. Older children, however, should be able to leave the right space without using any objects.

Motivating Fun Activities

To encourage better handwriting skills in school-age children who are not interested, here are a few fun activities:

Chalk on the driveway: Let children write letters, spelling words, or poems using colored chalk on the driveway.

Letter stencils: Use stencils to trace letters onto paper, making sure the child holds the pencil correctly and starts and stops each letter correctly.