Medium Motor Activities

When teaching a child to write, you should begin with the large motor activities suggested on the March 19^th post. You then move on to medium motor activities. Here are some suggestions for medium motor activities:

• Writing in shaving cream that is on a paper plate or cookie sheet.  
• Have the child form the letters using Elmer’s glue on a piece of card stock then sprinkle the glue with colored sugar or colored sand. Once dry, these make nice tactile cards for tracing the letters with a fingertip. Have the child trace the letters with her eyes closed so that she can “feel” the formation.  
• Trace and write large letters on a sheet protector using a dry erase maker  
• Form letters out of play dough or putty  
• Form letters out of wikki stix  
• Fill a large ziplock freezer bag with cheap hair gel and glitter. Smooth it out and have the child trace and write on this using a fingertip.   

 

All of these activities will help children develop automatic motor memories for each letter formation.

Modified from information by Jan McCleskey, MA, OTR, The Handwriting Clinic, Plano,Texas