Activities to Improve Hand Strength & Handwriting at Home

• Making letters out of playdoh, clay, wikki sticks

• Use a flashlight to form/trace letters on the wall

• Using a chalkboard or dry erase board to write letters on a vertical surface

• Using a scissors to cut through playdoh or thick paper to increase hand strength

• Use a spray bottle to clean windows, mirrors or white board to increase hand strength

• Wind-up toys, spinning tops, doodle tops (spinning top with a marker on the end)

• Craft activities such as: stamping, using stencils, lacing shapes or cards

• Age appropriate maze books, have the child create their own maze on a white board, chalk board, or paper

• Use a inclined surface (e.g. 3-ring binder) under the paper while writing to promote better postural control

• Use Wikki Sticks to add a tactile component to the lines on the paper (place a Wikki Stick over the line so the child’s pencil bumps the stick, this will assist with improving letter alignment)

• Use a mechanical pencil to work on decreasing pressure while writing, this will give the child immediate feedback if they are using too much pressure

• Try various types of writing paper to see which best fits your child

(e.g. top and bottom solid lines with a middle dotted line; raised line paper (available at www.theraproducts.com); Handwriting Without Tears paper; graph paper of varying sizes (letter in each box with a box in between each word; using medium ruled paper and skipping every other line)

• Use a formal handwriting program such as: Learning Without Tears (www.lwtears.com) to learn a consistent approach to letter formation

• Games to strengthen fine motor skills include: Lite Brite; Battleship, Perfection; Don’t Spill the Beans; Kerplunk; Trouble; Lego Creator; Balloon Lagoon (ages 5+); Cadoo (ages 7+); Pick Up Sticks; Tricky Fingers; Pictionary

• Building toys that can help strengthen a child’s hands include: Legos; K’nex; Tinker Toys; Hexabits