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How to Start a Handwriting Club

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How to start a handwriting club that kids want to join

In this article, you’ll discover how to start a handwriting club for kids to develop and enhance the skills needed for legible handwriting. Create a Handwriting Club as an after school program, an in-school activity, or as a home program idea. A Summer Handwriting Club is a great way to prevent the summer slide in handwriting skills in fun ways and using multisensory strategies to get the kids excited about practicing handwriting skills. A handwriting club can even be implemented as part of the RTI process. Plus, this is a great way to help with handwriting skill carry over!

Start a handwriting club to help kids learn handwriting and practice legible written work in a fun and creative environment. Handwriting club can be a fun way to practice letter formation, letter spacing, line use, and handwriting speed.

Why Start a Handwriting Club?

Occupational Therapy practitioners know the importance of learning handwriting skills for children.  They understand the necessity of learning pre-writing strokes and shapes prior to attempting letter formation and numeral formation and they understand the importance of proximal to distal development in order to provide the best foundation for a child to be the most successful.  Handwriting is a complex skill and requires many components to generate legible written output.

When handwriting instruction is overlooked, some children will struggle with letter forms, legibility and writing speed. It is important that handwriting be directly taught with a targeted focus and monitoring on body preparedness as well as formation patterns. When handwriting becomes automatic, children can focus on other aspects of writing such as grammar, planning, punctuation, composition, and self-correction or revision.

A fun handwriting club may be just the ticket for some children who experience more difficulty with learning handwriting due to a poor foundation. A handwriting club can provide direct instruction in body preparedness and formation or mechanics that utilizes sensory and motor activities to facilitate the learning process.

You can work through groups of letters following the Handwriting Without Tears letter order, for example.

This post will help describe the steps to organize and implement a simple handwriting club.

How to Start a Handwriting Club

Affiliate links are included below.

Here are the planning steps in the development of a handwriting club:

1. Determine the purpose of the club.  Will it target prewriting, upper case formation, number formation, lowercase formation, cursive formation, mechanics of handwriting such as letter size, letter placement, line use, spacing, etc.?

2. Determine your target group and the specific handwriting goals you wish to achieve.

3. Determine the handwriting resources or programs you wish to utilize such as (Amazon affiliate links) Handwriting without Tears, Size Matters, Loops and Other Groups, First Strokes,  etc.

4. Decide the club agenda or sequence of club activities – always begin with body preparation in gross motor to fine motor and then proceed to handwriting content. This will be based on the length of time for the session.  Later in this article, I will provide an example of a formation handwriting club agenda.

5. Collect and prepare the materials you will need to implement the activities of the club.

6. Create any parent information sheets explaining the purpose of the club and any homework expectations.

7. Prepare any homework materials.

8. Determine the exact day(s), time(s), duration, and location of the club.

9. If you want, decide the name of the club or this could be part of your first session.

10. Finally, begin the club meetings.

11. At the final session, present children with certificates of completion.

Use sensory handwriting activities, fine motor and gross motor activities to promote handwriting skills in a fun way with a handwriting club. Here's how to start your own handwriting club at school, as an after-school club, or a handwriting RTI process.
Use a handwriting club to foster growth in handwriting goals without pressure. Having friends be a part of the writing process makes handwriting goals more fun and meaningful.

Make a Handwriting Club Fun for Kids

By experience, a fun club name could provide the “just right” motivation for participation. Having children create a secret club name appeals to their sense of mystery and fascination.

Another fun element could be using special accessories that are worn only during the club meeting time. An example would be dollar store glasses (with lenses popped out if needed) in which children wear only during the club time.

Having a secret club handshake as the greeting can also make it more interesting and appealing for children to engage in the club.

What Happens in a Handwriting Club?

Here is an example of a formation handwriting club agenda or sequence of activities that has a duration of approximately 45 minutes:

Step 1: Approximately 5 minutes. Greet with a secret handshake. Start each session with gross motor warm-ups. Work on activities that prepare the body while simultaneously building core, shoulder, and arm strength and control. (Send any activities home.)

Step 2: Approximately 5-10 minutes. Follow with fine motor warm-ups. These should serve to “wake up” the hand and finger muscles while simultaneously building fine motor strength, coordination, and manipulation. (Send any activities home.)

Step 3: Approximately 5-7 minutes. Follow with beginning instruction in formation. (This time could also include a review of previous letters learned.)  The formation could be upper case, numeral, lower case or cursive letter focused.  Utilize verbal and visual strategies placing yourself appropriately in order for children to see from their handwriting viewpoint.

For example:
Instructor demonstrates formation with emphasizes on start point and sequence utilizing verbal and visual cues such as those in the (Amazon affiliate link) Handwriting without Tears program. Use the board and air writing format.

Follow with air writing imitation for children as they follow verbal and visual instruction. Instructor should monitor child arm movements to ensure correct start and sequence pattern. If needed, provide hand-over-hand guidance to facilitate the correct motor plan.

Once confident in gross motor, shift formation with children to finger writing on the table top while children verbalize steps and instructor monitors finger movements to ensure correct start and sequence pattern. If needed, provide hand-over-hand guidance to facilitate correct motor plan.

Step 4: Approximately 10 minutes. Provide further multisensory activities to practice formation before moving to paper. Change the medium with each session, if desired.

Step 5:  Approximately 10 minutes. Move to formation practice using handwriting workbooks or paper with instructor monitoring and correcting errors in grasp and formation. Have the children circle their best formation. (To note, utilizing the Handwriting without Tears workbooks (Amazon affiliate link) could provide children with a simple page format containing less visual clutter and improved space for handwriting practice coupled with visual cues and instruction. However, there are other handwriting programs that have a similar format.)

Step 6: Approximately 3-4 minutes. Once letter practice is complete, explain and issue any materials or information sheets that you plan to send home in order for parents to support their child’s club participation.

When you’ve collected handwriting samples from the students, you can plug the information into a handwriting rubric to collect data for any IEPs.

Handwriting Club Activities

Try some of these fun strategies to use motor components and sensory activities in handwriting:

sensory handwriting activities for kids to learn how to write letters and numbers creative ways to build and work on a functional pencil grasp

Sensory Handwriting Activities add multisensory components to learning letter formation.

Use creative fine motor and play activities to promote a better pencil grasp.

Size awareness activities for legibility and neat handwriting Spatial awareness handwriting activities to help with spacing between letters and words when writing.
Work on letter size with fun and creative activities.
Promote and boost spatial awareness in handwriting for consistent use of spacing between letters and words with creative (and memorable) activities.

A Handwriting Club Makes Handwriting Practice Fun!

A handwriting club such as described in this article can help generate enthusiasm and make handwriting fun for children who struggle or need additional support in developing the foundational skills necessary for future handwriting success.

A fun club makes it seem less like dreaded handwriting work and more like special-time fun with friends. A handwriting club can provide the much time needed for children to develop essential skills in foundational body preparedness as well as handwriting acquisition.

Included with this article is a free Handwriting Club Session Planner and a list of possible Handwriting Club Activities including gross motor, fine motor, and multisensory activities, all which could be used during club meeting times. Get it by entering your email address below. If you are already a subscriber to our newsletter, you will still need to enter your email address. This is simply so we can deliver the PDF file to you.

Kids can join a handwriting club to improve handwriting and work on the skills kids need to produce legible handwriting.

10 Ways to Teach Letter Formation

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letter formation activities

Here we are covering creative letter formation activities to help children with letter formation practice to create the motor plan of actually writing and forming letters. This handout on letter formation will support parents, teachers, and therapists with advocating for this functional handwriting skill.

Letter Formation Activities

To get started, be sure to access these practical and creative letter formation tools:

In addition to the ideas below, be sure to grab a copy of our color by letter worksheet. It’s a fun way to teach letter formation through a coloring activity that helps kids with the visual memory needed for letter writing skills.

One thing that is apparent in teaching Handwriting is the very real need  that parents and teachers struggle with when it comes to teaching letter formation.

Teaching letter formation can be a complicated thing for children with visual perception challenges, fine motor skill difficulties, or sensory processing concerns. In this article, you will find creative ways to teach letter formation.

So many members of the group question how to teach letter formation. They wonder where to start with teaching kids to write letters or they are challenged by kids who have formed bad habits with letter formation.

They are seeing kiddos who form letters incorrectly or don’t know where to even start to teach letters accurately from the beginning.

 

Read on to find 10 creative ways to teach letter formation whether you are starting at the beginning with a young child or are addressing those pesky bad handwriting habits that have resulted in poor letter formation and therefore, legibility.

Creative Ways to Teach Letter Formation

These fun handwriting activities are those that add a fresh concept to teaching letter formation. You can use these ideas to teach pre-writing skills or to work on specific letters.

Creating a motor plan for handwriting to form letters from muscle memory is the key here. These creative activities support that skill.

But first, consider these thoughts when teaching kids to write letters…

When using the ideas below, it’s typically recommended to start with uppercase letters because of the simplified forms and letters that for the most part, start at the top and are formed in a downward pencil stroke, which is developmentally appropriate for young children. Read more about the order to teach letters like cursive letter order here.


Using a non-pencil activity to teach handwriting can be the trick to get kids interested in writing!

When kids are learning to write, knowing how to write letters can be hard! These handwriting activities are great for anyone trying to teach letter formation to kids.

 


10 Ways to Teach Letter Formation

Affiliate links are included in this article.

1.) Work on letter formation by “building” letters- This is a question for some parents, teachers, and therapists. Sometimes we see children who construct letters by parts, but use inappropriate letter formation when building letters. When writing a lowercase letter “d”, they might draw a circle and then draw a line, without the re-trace. Drawing or building letters can have inefficient consequences if kids are just allowed to copy letters inaccurately and without being taught. So often, we see this in those writing tray videos over on Pinterest or Facebook. Read more about writing trays and handwriting and how to use writing trays to effectively teach letter formation. Teaching kids wot build letters with proper sequence in each letter formation is essential! This color-coded letter building activity teaches kids to start at the correct starting spot and to pick up the pencil when necessary. Try this activity for those children who respond well to visual cues. Adding a kinetic twist to teaching letter formation can be just the tool that makes formation stick! 

2.) Teach Letter Formation with a Writing Tray- The fact is, using a sensory writing tray for handwriting is a technique to practice proper letter formation is a way to incorporate multiple senses into learning letter formation.

Multisensory learning approaches to handwriting are very effective. Be sure to encourage proper starting points and direction of letter lines such as starting letters at the top and lifting the writing utensil when appropriate to form parts of letters such as the curves in a “B” or the slanted little lines in a “K”. Writing trays can come in all sorts of themes, sizes, and using all types of mediums. You can even create a mini-sensory writing tray like we did. Take it along in your therapy bag or on-the-go to learn and practice letter formation anywhere!

3.) Use the Sandpaper Letter Trick to Teach Letter Formation- Use a sheet of sandpaper to work on letter formation! This multi-sensory activity uses the senses to teach letter formation, by providing feedback for pencil control and line placement. Adding a quick sheet of sandpaper to your therapy toolkit is an easy way to work on letter placement by adding additional prompts to handwriting.

4.) Teach Letter Formation with Soap- Kids can learn to write letters in shaving cream, soap, and even pudding! Using multi-sensory strategies to work on letter formation can help kids remember the proper formation. So often we see strategies that are taught in isolation and then not carried over to the classroom or home. When a child is asked to write with increased speed or in a distracting environment, we may see letters that revert back to those bad habits. Adding sensory activities to letter formation such as writing in soap, shaving cream, or sandpaper can provide the feedback kids need to add just one more cue for formation. Remember to provide instruction in proper letter formation and line placement and not just setting up a child with an activity and then letting them “play and write”.

5.) Teach Letter Formation with Gross Motor Play- Sometimes, adding a movement component to teaching letter formation can be all it takes to make letters “stick”! There are so many options for adding gross motor to letter formation. 


6.) Teach Letter Formation on an alternate surface with a sensory bag- Fill a sandwich bag with soap, foam, or other liquid material and practice letter formation. You can even tape the sensory bag onto a wall or window to practice letter formation. Read more about how to create and use a sensory bag to teach letter formation in this older post on sensory handwriting. 


7.) Use a resistive surface to teach letter formation- The motor plan needed for letter formation can occur with practice on a resistive surface. We’ve shared ideas to teach letter formation on resistive surfaces such as using carpet squares or carpet scraps, a styrofoam tray to learn letter formation, and foam sheets to teach letter formation.


8.) Teach Letter Formation with the “Ghost Writing” Trick- Have you tried the ghost writing trick to teach letter formation? It’s a fun way to explore the pencil strokes needed for letter formation as well as skills needed for legible handwriting and pencil pressure in written work. 


9.) Use Boxes and Dots to Teach Letter Formation- This box and dot letter formation trick also helps kids learn letter size or spatial awareness in written work. It’s also a tool to help kids who struggle with letter reversals. You can make your own paper or use graph paper to create a quick practice tool for teaching letter formation. 


10.) Help kids learn to write with a Kinetic Letter Formation- This is fun kinetic fine motor activity is another spin on adding resistive input and a motor component to letter formation, all using recycled materials or objects found around the home. Use a recycled can and push pins to teach letter formation while improving hand strength and fine motor skills. 

Working on handwriting with kids? These creative handwriting activities can help kids with letter formation and are a tool for anyone trying to teach letter formation in handwriting.



Do you have any letter formation activities that you love to use when teaching handwriting? Tell us about them! There are over 14,000 members in the Sweet Ideas of Handwriting Help Facebook Group that love sharing ideas to work on handwriting. 

Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

The Handwriting Book is a comprehensive resource created by experienced pediatric OTs and PTs.

The Handwriting Book covers everything you need to know about handwriting, guided by development and focused on function. This digital resource is is the ultimate resource for tips, strategies, suggestions, and information to support handwriting development in kids.

The Handwriting Book breaks down the functional skill of handwriting into developmental areas. These include developmental progression of pre-writing strokes, fine motor skills, gross motor development, sensory considerations, and visual perceptual skills. Each section includes strategies and tips to improve these underlying areas.

  • Strategies to address letter and number formation and reversals
  • Ideas for combining handwriting and play
  • Activities to practice handwriting skills at home
  • Tips and strategies for the reluctant writer
  • Tips to improve pencil grip
  • Tips for sizing, spacing, and alignment with overall improved legibility

Click here to grab your copy of The Handwriting Book today.

Creative Cursive Practice Ideas

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creative cursive handwriting activities
Getting creative with cursive practice can help with carryover and legibility of cursive writing.  Practicing on cursive worksheets week after week can get real boring, real fast! Below you will find creative ways to practice cursive writing with a tactile sensory piece. 
This list of cursive writing ideas is part of our 31 day series on cursive handwriting where you can find strategies, tools, tips, and ideas to teach cursive writing. 
Try these creative cursive practice ideas to practice writing letters in cursive handwriting.

Cursive Practice Ideas

Try the creative ways to work on cursive writing and teaching cursive letter formation listed below. each cursive activity is a tool to practice writing letters using kinesthetic learning or by using sensory writing methods. 

Cursive Practice with Tracing

Trace over lines with transparency sheets to learn proper formation then remove the transparency sheets and practice writing letters independently.  Compare the differences between using transparency sheets and not using transparency sheets. 


Trace over letters using colored glue to practice cursive letters. Let the glue dry and then trace the letters with the finger. 

Cursive Practice with Sensory

Allow students to practice forming letters in finger paint. 


Place finger paint into a plastic Ziploc bag. Tape the top shut. Students can trace letters using their finger. 


Try using color changing markers to trace trace over cursive letters using rainbow writing. 


Practice cursive letters with wet chalk on pavement or on a chalkboard. 

Allow students to form letters using clay or play dough. Use foaming clay with baking soda clay and squirting or dropping on vinegar. 


Practice letters on another student’s back using a finger. Students can try to guess the letter that another student wrote on their back.

Spray shaving cream onto desk surfaces. Students can form letters and shaving cream right on their desk. Swoosh the shaving cream aside to a race and start over again.

Cursive Practice Games

Try using disappearing ink. Use for cursive writing games like Hangman, Madlibs, or tic tac toe.


Try the Letter Listen Game: teachers can describe how the letter is formed and students have to write it on the paper. Then when the letter is completed they can raise their hands and say the letter that they wrote. 

Cursive Practice Ideas to add to your Toolbox

What are your favorite creative ways to practice handwriting? All of the strategies that work for printed handwriting can be used to practice cursive letters. There are a ton of ideas listed under the handwriting tab at the top of this site. Here are some of our favorites:

Sky Ground handwriting method DIY desk letter strip
Letter construction for letter formation
 

 

Improve Handwriting with Cookie Cutters

Hot Glue Letters & Words
Try these creative ways to practice cursive writing to help kids learn to write cursive letters and write legibly.

Highlighted Lines Christmas Worksheets

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Highlighted lines modified Christmas paper

Working on handwriting this time of year can be like pulling teeth when kids are excited for all of the things the holiday season brings. That’s why we’ve got these Christmas Worksheets available in highlighted lines writing pages with a Christmas theme. Use the holiday worksheets for writing Christmas lists, thank you notes, or a letter to Santa while working on line awareness with modified paper in the form of highlighted lined paper. 

Christmas Worksheets

Christmas worksheets for working on handwriting with highlighted lined paper.

Kids can sometimes try a handwriting trick and you will see the light bulb switch on.  What if you had a Christmas light strand switch on when you were working on written work with kids?  One way that helps kids develop written work skills and legibility is using highlighted lines on the paper.  A highlighted bottom space on lined paper is helpful in so many ways.  

This Highlighted Lines Christmas Paper is part of our modified Christmas paper packet.  It’s a Christmas worksheet for kids that will help with handwriting this season. I decided to break the packet up into parts so that those of you who are interested in just one type of paper can benefit from a lower price.

Highlighted Lines Christmas Worksheets

 
Highlighted Lined paper is beneficial to many kids for several reasons.  Using a highlighted space can provide a visual cue that allows kids to form letters with appropriate size, spacing, and placement. 
 
There are many areas of handwriting that this type of paper can address:
Line awareness
Letter size
Letter placement
Spatial awareness
Proper letter construction
 
Read more about highlighted lined paper and it’s benefits in written work.
 
Want to try color coded paper with a Christmas theme?  This is a great paper to use for letters to Santa, holiday wish lists, thank you notes, shopping lists, recipe sharing, and Christmas time to-do lists.
 
Kids can practice handwriting in a way that is fun and meaningful with color coded Christmas handwriting paper. 
 
 
Highlighted lines modified paper for Christmas worksheets that kids will enjoy using.

What’s in the Highlighted Lines Christmas Worksheet packet?

(1) 10 pages of paper for practicing handwriting, including:
  • 4 Christmas border designs in single space (narrow rule lines)
  • 4 Christmas border designs in double space (wide rule lines)
  • “Dear Santa” writing prompt paper in narrow rule and wide rule
(2) Christmas themed writing prompt for ideas to encourage handwriting in a fun and meaningful way
(3)A How to Use This Paper writing guide

 

Christmas Worksheets for handwriting 

Highlighted lined paper is a useful tool for kids who struggle with visual perceptual needs or visual motor challenges in handwriting. Children who write with letters placed haphazardly on the lines or have trouble with spacing between letters and words will benefit from this paper. Kids who write with letters of mixed size or those who write with a mixture of upper and lowercase letters will like this modified paper. 
 
Teachers in grades Kindergarten on up will benefit from the different styles of paper in this packet. The packet comes with different sized lines and a variety of rules with each holiday-themed styles. 
 
Therapists who work with children on handwriting goals will love to use the motivation of the Christmas and holiday season to work on underlying skills needed for accuracy and function in handwriting. 
 
Parents who want their children to write out Christmas lists or Thank You notes will LOVE this modified paper that allows independence in written work.

OR, if you want to try several types of paper (bold lined paper and highlighted lined paper are also available), you can purchase the packets that work for your child or students.  For teachers or therapists, the whole bundle might be a better option.  You’ll find 30 pages of printable modified paper bundled together and will save. 

 

More Christmas Worksheets

 
 
 
Get 30 pages of modified paper with a Christmas Theme for legible and neat Letters to Santa, Christmas Wish Lists, Thank You Notes, Holiday Lists, and MORE! 
GET YOUR Christmas Handwriting Pack!

Color Coded Christmas Paper

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Color-coded lined paper Christmas handwriting

Practicing handwriting can be a struggle.  Sometimes, making the writing task fun can be just the thing to encourage practice.  This Color Coded Christmas Paper is part of our modified Christmas paper packet.  I decided to break the packet up into parts so that those of you who are interested in just one type of paper can benefit from a lower price.

Christmas Handwriting Worksheets for Kids

Color Coded Christmas paper for modified writing to improve handwriting legibility.

 

Color Coded Christmas Paper

Color coded paper is beneficial to many kids for several reasons.  Kids can address handwriting needs when presented with color specific lines.  Knowing where to place their pencil to start and stop pencil strokes can help with legibility.

There are many areas of handwriting that this type of paper can address:

Line awareness
Letter size
Letter placement
Spatial awareness
Proper letter construction


Read more about color coded paper and its benefits in written work.

Want to try color coded paper with a Christmas theme?  This is a great paper to use for letters to Santa, holiday wish lists, thank you notes, shopping lists, recipe sharing, and Christmas time to-do lists.


Kids can practice handwriting in a way that is fun and meaningful with color coded Christmas handwriting paper.


Grab your Color Coded Christmas Paper packet for $4.99.

Who is the Color-Coded Modified Lined Christmas Modified Paper Packet for?

Color-Coded modified lined paper is a useful tool for kids who struggle with visual perceptual needs or visual motor challenges in handwriting. Children who write with letters placed haphazardly on the lines or have trouble with spacing between letters and words will benefit from this paper. Kids who write with letters of mixed size or those who write with a mixture of upper and lowercase letters will like this modified paper.

 
Teachers in grades Kindergarten on up will benefit from the different styles of paper in this packet. The packet comes with different sized lines and a variety of rules with each holiday-themed styles. 
 
Therapists who work with children on handwriting goals will love to use the motivation of the Christmas and holiday season to work on underlying skills needed for accuracy and function in handwriting. 
 
Parents who want their children to write out Christmas lists or Thank You notes will LOVE this modified paper that allows independence in written work.

 

What’s in the Color Coded Christmas Paper packet?

(1) 10 pages of paper for practicing handwriting, including:

  • 4 Christmas border designs in single space (narrow rule lines)
  • 4 Christmas border designs in double space (wide rule lines)
  • “Dear Santa” writing prompt paper in narrow rule and wide rule

(2) Christmas themed writing prompt for ideas to encourage handwriting in a fun and meaningful way

(3)A How to Use This Paper writing guide

Use color coded Christmas paper for modifications during handwriting.


You can grab this printable packet for $4.99 and print to use over and over again.

OR, if you want to try several types of paper (bold lined paper and highlighted lined paper are also available), you can purchase the packets that work for your child or students.  For teachers or therapists, the whole bundle might be a better option.  You’ll find 30 pages bundled together and will save.

Color coded Christmas paper packet for handwriting needs.
 
Get 30 pages of modified paper with a Christmas Theme for legible and neat Letters to Santa, Christmas Wish Lists, Thank You Notes, Holiday Lists, and MORE! 
GET YOUR Mega Christmas Handwriting Pack!

 

Bold Line Christmas Paper

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Bold lined paper for Christmas and holiday handwriting activities

You might have seen the Christmas Paper Packet that we released last week. This time of year, kids and parents start thinking about letters to Santa, holiday to-do lists, and wish lists.  It’s a great time to sneak in handwriting practice!  


Using modified paper is one way to make the task of practicing line awareness, spatial awareness, letter size, and overall legibility just a little bit easier.  I wanted to put together a packet of modified paper with a Christmas theme for all of that handwriting practice.  


Sometimes, kids need just one type of paper that makes handwriting legibility click.  If you want to have the whole packet with three types of paper, you can grab it here.  The variety of paper styles and spacing sizes are perfect for teachers and therapists who work with kids with a variety of handwriting needs.

Christmas Writing Worksheets 

 

Use bold line Christmas paper to help with legibility when writing letters to Santa and holiday wish lists!

Bold Line Christmas Paper

For those of you with just one writing need, there are three options of modified Christmas paper.  


This bold lined Christmas Paper is perfect for helping kids with several writing concerns:
Line awareness
Letter Size
Letter Placement


Read more about bold lined paper and how it can be beneficial for kids with handwriting concerns.


Get the Bold Lined Christmas Paper packet for just $4.99

Who would use this bold-lined paper handwriting packet?  

As an Occupational Therapist, I would LOVE to have this packet available for use during the holiday season.  As we get nearer to Christmas and the holiday break, kids start to get a little antsy in the classroom.  

Bold-lined lined paper is a useful tool for kids who struggle with visual perceptual needs or visual motor challenges in handwriting. Children who write with letters placed haphazardly on the lines or have trouble with spacing between letters and words will benefit from this paper. Kids who write with letters of mixed size or those who write with a mixture of upper and lowercase letters will like this modified paper. 
 
Teachers in grades Kindergarten on up will benefit from the different styles of paper in this packet. The packet comes with different sized lines and a variety of rules with each holiday-themed styles. 
 
Therapists who work with children on handwriting goals will love to use the motivation of the Christmas and holiday season to work on underlying skills needed for accuracy and function in handwriting. 
Parents who want their children to write out Christmas lists or Thank You notes will LOVE this modified paper that allows independence in written work.

 

Bold line Christmas paper for modified paper when practicing handwriting this Christmas season.


What’s in the Bold Lined Christmas Paper packet?

10 pages of paper for practicing handwriting, including:

  • 4 Christmas border designs in single space (narrow rule lines)
  • 4 Christmas border designs in double space (wide rule lines)
  • “Dear Santa” writing prompt paper in narrow rule and wide rule
  • Christmas themed writing prompt for ideas to encourage handwriting in a fun and meaningful way.
  • A How to Use This Paper writing guide

Pssst: Here’s a deal idea–If you want to try a couple of styles of the paper, you can grab both for for $4.99 each. OR, try the whole packet to SAVE. 


The whole modified handwriting packet is a great deal for parents, teachers, and therapists who want to print off different types of modified paper to meet the needs of several different students. 

Get 30 pages of modified paper with a Christmas Theme for legible and neat Letters to Santa, Christmas Wish Lists, Thank You Notes, Holiday Lists, and MORE! 
GET YOUR Christmas Handwriting Pack!

Modified Paper Christmas Handwriting Pack

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Christmas modified paper for holiday handwriting for kids

It is hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner.  It’s just about that time of year when we have Christmas lists, to-do lists, letters to Santa, and thank you notes to write out.  


But what happens when your child struggles with handwriting?  


Writing out that Christmas wish list is a difficult task that brings out tears instead of holiday excitement.  I’ve got a solution for your kiddo with handwriting difficulties: a packet of modified paper for all of the Christmas handwriting tasks that come up each year.  Use this handwriting pack to help kids who struggle with handwriting to participate in holiday traditions while even working on and developing their handwriting skills!

Christmas Worksheets for Kids

Try this modified paper Christmas handwriting pack for helping kids work on handwriting this year.

Modified Paper for Handwriting Needs with a Christmas Theme



This handwriting packet will be a solution to so many handwriting needs.  It’s a 35 page handwriting pack that contains 30 different modified handwriting sheets.  There is a section that explains the “why” behind each type of paper and how they should be used to promote legibility in written work.  There is a printable Christmas themed writing prompt sheet to help inspire handwriting. There are two different sized line pages for each Christmas theme.  


This is a huge printable pack that can be used over and over again!

Modified paper Christmas Handwriting pages are great for kids to work on written work this holiday season.

 

Consider the ways that kids can write and practice handwriting this season:

  • Letter to Santa (Use the “Dear Santa” prompt page and additional sheets for longer letters to the Big Guy in Red.)
  • Christmas Wish List
  • Holiday To-Do List
  • Shopping List
  • Recipe Sharing
  • Thank You Notes
  • And more (There are a bunch of ideas on the printable writing prompt sheet!)
Want the packet? Grab it now in time for Christmas planning and your Advent calendar.
 
 
Dear Santa Christmas letter pages are part of the modified paper Christmas handwriting pack for kids.

So, what’s in the Handwriting Pack?

  • THREE types of modified paper: Bold lined paper, Color-coded paper (with Christmas-y colors), and Highlighted Paper
  • FIVE different Christmas and Winter themed borders.
  • TWO different sized lined of each type of paper: Narrow Rule for older kids and Wide Rule for younger kids.  
  • That’s 30 different sheets of modified paper all with a Christmas theme.
  • There is a detailed explanation of reasoning behind each type of paper.  This will help explain how to use each modified paper and the reasons why each type might be the style of adapted paper to use for particular handwriting concerns.
  • PRINTABLE Christmas writing prompt sheet.  Use this to inspire handwriting practice all season long in fun and meaningful ways…on fun Christmas-themed paper, of course!
All of this is available for printing as many sheets as you need throughout the holiday season.  The 30 handwriting pages, instructional sheets, printable Christmas writing prompt page is available for $7.99.
 
Use highlighted paper to work on letter size and formation, part of the modified paper Christmas Handwriting Pack
 
This handwriting pack will meet the needs of kids of all ages-From Kindergarten on up through High School.


What writing needs can be met with this handwriting printable pack?

  • Poor Line Awareness
  • Inaccurate Letter Size
  • Poor Spatial Awareness
  • Poor Letter Formation
  • Inaccurate Spatial Organization
  • “Floating” Letters and Words
  • Inconsistent Written Work
JUST ADDED: 


For those of you who would like to try just ONE style of paper for a lower price, you can.  I have broken the packet down into three sections so that parents, teachers, and therapists can benefit from just one style of modified paper.  Each smaller packet comes with 10 pages each of modified paper with a Christmas theme. Read about each of the packets here:

 
Highlighted paper in the modified paper Christmas Handwriting pack for kids
 

Who would use this modified paper handwriting packet?  

As an Occupational Therapist, I would LOVE to have this packet available for use during the holiday season.  As we get nearer to Christmas and the holiday break, kids start to get a little antsy in the classroom. 
Modified lined paper is a useful tool for kids who struggle with visual perceptual needs or visual motor challenges in handwriting. Children who write with letters placed haphazardly on the lines or have trouble with spacing between letters and words will benefit from this paper. Kids who write with letters of mixed size or those who write with a mixture of upper and lowercase letters will like this modified paper. 
 
Teachers in grades Kindergarten on up will benefit from the different styles of paper in this packet. The packet comes with different sized lines and a variety of rules with each holiday-themed styles. 
 
Therapists who work with children on handwriting goals will love to use the motivation of the Christmas and holiday season to work on underlying skills needed for accuracy and function in handwriting. 
 
Parents who want their children to write out Christmas lists or Thank You notes will LOVE this modified paper that allows independence in written work.
 
Use modified paper Christmas handwriting pack to work on legibility in written work.
 
Making writing practice fun and meaningful can be beneficial for addressing handwriting goal areas. Print off the pages that you need for individual students. 


Try one type of paper and then another to see what works.  When you find a modified style of paper that works, print off the other themed pages using that same modification.  
 
Bold lined paper and a modified paper Christmas handwriting pack
 
There are so many ways to practice handwriting skills in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  THEN, print off a few pages to send home with students for the holiday break. Students can use the paper to work on a list of writing prompts as part of their OT homework.
 
Work on handwriting with modified paper Christmas handwriting pack for kids.
 
Having so many different types of paper and border styles in one pack makes this resource easy to use for many different students.  Teachers can use the pack to address the needs of the whole classroom.
 
Modified paper Christmas handwriting pack for kids.
 
Parents can print off the pages that they would like to try with their child.  Use the writing prompts to work on handwriting in a fun and relaxed way.
 
Use this modified paper Christmas Handwriting Pack to work on legibility and handwriting struggles with kids.

Pre-Writing Lines Activity

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Pre-writing lines activity to help kids work on handwriting lines and pencil control with an Easter egg theme.

Working on the underlying pre-writing skills of handwriting is SO important in handwriting. This pre-writing lines activity is a fun Easter occupational therapy activity, but it’s also a powerful tool for building the foundation for handwriting. This is one of our favorite Wikki Stix activities to support pre-writing development.

You know we like to share handwriting activities around here, right? This Easter egg pre-writing activity is a fun way for young children to work on pre-writing skills in order to build a base for letter formation and pencil control. While we made this activity an Easter egg-ish shape, you could do this activity any time of year and use any shape to work on pencil control within a confined space.  

Related: Try this pre-writing lines fine motor activity to incorporate heavy work feedback in developing prewriting lines.

Preschoolers and Toddlers will love this early handwriting activity!  All of these skills are needed before a child can form letters and work on line awareness in Kindergarten.  If a child is showing difficulty with forming diagonals in letters like “A” or “M”, this would be a fun way to work on building the skill for improved legibility in written work.

 
Work on pre-writing lines needed for neat handwriting and letter formation with this wikki stix Easter egg (or any time of the year!) pre-writing and pencil control practice activity.


Pre-Writing Lines Handwriting Precursor Activity

 
This post contains affiliate links.
 
We used just a few materials for this activity:

Dry Erase Board 
Dry Erase Markers 
Wikki Stix (Amazon affiliate link)


 Using THIS Dry Erase Board worked out great for this activity, because we did the same writing activity on the reverse side, which has a chalkboard. Writing with small pieces of chalk is a fantastic fine motor and intrinsic muscle strengthening activity to work on the fine motor skills needed for endurance in drawing and coloring, as well as the tripod grasp needed for an appropriate grasp on the pencil. A chalkboard surface for drawing lines is much more resistant than a smooth dry erase surface, providing more feedback during line formation. 


 We used these Dry Erase Markers for their fine point and colorful selection, which made making these Easter eggs a creative activity, too. My preschooler loved picking out the colors to create patterns. 

 The last item we needed for this handwriting precursor activity was (Amazon affiliate link) Wikki Stix. As an Occupational Therapist, I feel like I’m always pushing the benefits of Wikki Stix. The bendable and mold-able sticks are a great fine motor and handwriting tool.  In this activity, I bent one or two wikki stix into an egg shape.  You could also make circles, squares, or any shape for your handwriting task.

Developmental Progression of Pre-Writing Strokes

As a child develops, they are typically able to copy lines and shapes with increasing accuracy.  Here are the general ages of development for pre-writing lines:
 
  • Age 2- Imitates a vertical line from top to bottom
  • Age 2-Imitates a Horizontal Line
  • Age 2-Imitates a Circle
  • Age 3- Copies (After being shown a model) a Vertical Line from top to bottom
  • Age 3 Copies a Horizontal Line from left to right
  • Age 3- Imitates a Cross 
  • Age 4- Copies a Cross 
  • Age 4- Copies a Right and Left Diagonal Line
  • Age 4- Copies a Square 
  • Age 4- Copies an “X”
  • Age 5- Copies a Triangle
 
The developmental progression of these shapes allows for accuracy and success in letter formation.
 
Get a FREE Developmental Progression of Pre-Writing Strokes printable HERE. 
 
Work on pre-writing lines needed for neat handwriting and letter formation with this wikki stix Easter egg (or any time of the year!) pre-writing and pencil control practice activity.

 

Easter Egg Pre-Writing Strokes Activity

For this activity, we used the Wikki Stix to right on the dry erase board. I created egg shaped ovals with the wikki stix. I then showed my preschooler how to draw lines across the eggs to create patterns and designs.  
 
We practiced horizontal lines (going from left to right) and vertical lines (going from top to bottom).  We also added circles within the boundaries of the wikki stix and diagonal lines, too.  
 
The physical border provided by the wikki stix gave a nice area and cue for pencil control.  Try doing this activity with progressing level of developmental line skill.  You can also work on writing letters inside the wikki stix to build spatial and size awareness in handwriting.
 
Extend the activity:
Use the wikki sticks to do this activity on paper or a chalkboard.  Other ideas might be using crayons, markers, or a grease pencil for more feedback through resistance and proprioceptive input to the hands. 
 
 
Work on pre-writing lines needed for neat handwriting and letter formation with this wikki stix Easter egg (or any time of the year!) pre-writing and pencil control practice activity.
 
 
 
 
 
 

More Pre-writing Lines Activities

Some of my favorite Handwriting activities are multi-sensory and incorporate motor planning activities for building pre-writing lines as a foundation for handwriting:  

More Easter activities:

Spring Fine Motor Kit

Score Fine Motor Tools and resources and help kids build the skills they need to thrive!

Developing hand strength, dexterity, dexterity, precision skills, and eye-hand coordination skills that kids need for holding and writing with a pencil, coloring, and manipulating small objects in every day task doesn’t need to be difficult. The Spring Fine Motor Kit includes 100 pages of fine motor activities, worksheets, crafts, and more:

Spring fine motor kit set of printable fine motor skills worksheets for kids.
  • Lacing cards
  • Sensory bin cards
  • Hole punch activities
  • Pencil control worksheets
  • Play dough mats
  • Write the Room cards
  • Modified paper
  • Sticker activities
  • MUCH MORE

Click here to add this resource set to your therapy toolbox.

Spring Fine Motor Kit
Spring Fine Motor Kit: TONS of resources and tools to build stronger hands.

Grab your copy of the Spring Fine Motor Kit and build coordination, strength, and endurance in fun and creative activities. Click here to add this resource set to your therapy toolbox.

Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

Pre-Writing Strokes and Handwriting

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pre writing strokes

Did you know there is a developmental progression to pre-writing strokes? Before children can form letters, they need the developmental ability to form straight and diagonal lines, shapes, and intersecting lines. Before children are developmentally able to form and copy letters and numbers, they need the pre-writing skills.

Prewriting Handwriting and developmental progression of lines

Developmental prgression of pre-writing strokes

Pre-writing strokes refer to the lines that young children need to form before they are developmentally capable of writing letters. Pre writing strokes include straight lines, diagonal lines, and shapes.

Below, you can get a PDF of developmental progression of pre-writing lines and the handwriting skills by age for young children.

Get your FREE printable of Developmental Progression of Pre-Writing Lines HERE.
 
Want to know more?  Here’s the activity we did to go along with this free resource: Pre-Writing Lines Activity
 
 
 
 
 
 

Read more about Handwriting and Development.  

Some of my favorite writing activities are:   

the handwriting book The OT Toolbox

For comprehensive information on the developmental progression of handwriting, check out The Handwriting Book.

Want to know more about The Handwriting Book?  Click on the image above to find out how to address every underlying area related to handwriting skills.     Click here to BUY NOW.

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