Sensory Handwriting Practice Letter Formation

Practicing handwriting doesn’t have to involve paper!   This sensory handwriting practice activity works on letter formation and line awareness with proper tool grasp and typical writing motor movements (unlike many sensory writing activities that use a writing tray or over-sized letters–while those sensory writing activities DO add to the tactile sense, they prevent the child from becoming accustomed to holding the pencil and the small motor advancements made by a writing utensil.  The child IS working on letter formation but they are not doing so in a typical motor pattern, and this can actually be quite confusing for some children.) 


This creative handwriting task, however DOES use a writing utensil-one that is appropriately sized to what the child typically grasps when writing on paper–and adds a bit of proprioceptive input.  We do love creative handwriting activities around here, and this one is one of our all time favorites!


Practicing Handwriting with shaving cream

Practice Handwriting with Sensory Input

 
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We practiced writing letters one day last week and this was a super fun way to do it!  I filled a couple of bags with shaving cream (not much, just a little worked great).  I used a permanent black marker to write a few letters that sometimes confuse Big Sister…common reversals: ‘b, d, p, q, and g’. 


Letter Formation with Sensory

 We also practiced ‘a’ and ‘c’ to begin.  When you make a “little curve” to make a ‘c’, you can continue with simple verbal cues to make the ‘c’ into other letters like a ‘d’…”little curve, big line down” makes a ‘d’.

sensory handwriting with shaving cream
Big Sister used a dry erase board marker to trace the lower case letters.  She could wipe the dry erase board marks off over and over again.  You can use a smaller sized dry erase marker or a fine tip marker to make this more similar to the  motor movements needed for writing with a pencil. 
We also practiced writing our address on the sensory bags.  This activity was a fun way to practice letter formation with verbal and visual cues with an added sensory input.  Plus, Big Sister just really loves writing with the dry erase board makers 🙂
This would be a fun way to practice shapes, numbers, and even beginning pencil stokes for the younger kids.
Looking for more creative handwriting activities?  My friend Erica has some great ideas on this post.  You’ll love to dive into some of our all-time favorite creative handwriting ideas:
http://www.sugaraunts.com/2015/10/visual-tracking-tips-and-tools-for.html 

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