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!

Practice Handwriting with Sensory Input

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’.