Practicing letter and number formation can become dull. There are creative ways to work on handwriting, for certain. I’ve shared a ton of fun handwriting activities that can make practicing writing tasks a little more fun. But, sometimes it can be hard to carry the skills learned in individual activities over to letters, journals, and homework lists. Your child/student/client might be able to form all of the lower case letters in the morning, but then turn in a sentence that is totally illegible that afternoon.
Natural Handwriting Activities
Natural handwriting tasks are those happen during real writing tasks: writing an address on an envelope which holds a letter to a friend, writing out a birthday wish list, or jotting down a quick to-do list. They are authentic writing tasks. What makes these natural writing experiences legible is carrying over skill that have been practiced in isolation.
You’ll also be interested in our new Summer Occupational Therapy Activities Packet. It’s a collection of 14 items that guide summer programming at home, at school, and in therapy sessions. The summer activities bundle covers handwriting, visual perceptual skills and visual motor skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, regulation, and more.
You’ll find ideas to use in virtual therapy sessions and to send home as home activities that build skills and power development with a fun, summer theme. Kids will love the Summer Spot It! game, the puzzles, handouts, and movement activities. Therapists will love the teletherapy slide deck and the easy, ready-to-go activities to slot into OT sessions. The packet is only $10.00 and can be used over and over again for every student/client!
Grab the Spring Occupational Therapy Activities Packet HERE.
Natural Handwriting Experiences for Summer
The summer months is the perfect time to practice handwriting skills. But, most kids are not going to want to spend their carefree summer with a pencil and paper, much to parents with best-intentions.
These handwriting ideas are ways to practice written work in natural and care-free ways, making them perfect for summer writing.
Try these natural handwriting experiences with your kids this summer:
Write a note to a friend. Drop it off in a mailbox.
Send a postcard while on vacation.
Make a weekly Summer-Fun to-do list.
Start sending letters to a pen-pal.
Write a vacation packing list.
Write out the weekly grocery list.
Take handwriting on the go with a portable A-Z list.
Write out a checklist of back-to-school supplies.
Write out family member’s names in chalk on the sidewalk or driveway.
Send a letter to a relative.
Write a thank you note to thank someone for something special.
Write a letter to a Disney characters.
Write a story. Add new parts each day.
Create a heart-to-heart back and forth journal with a parent.
Write a play.
Write about an interest.
Find more authentic handwriting activities here.
More handwriting ideas you will love:
Want to take summer play to the next level? Be sure to grab your copy of the Summer OT Activities Bundle!
