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We also practiced letters with a small chalkboard. If S needed assistance, I drew dots for start and end points. The chalkboard is also great for starting to write words/name.
For a sensory medium, we traced letters in salt. We poured salt onto a tray and S used her finger to trace the letter. You could also use a pencil/marker to write in the salt (which is what she’s doing below).
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Natalie says
These are great tips, Paris! We’re not quite at that stage with Britton yet (she’s still in the scribbling stage), but when I taught, I tried to use multiple methods of introducing writing to my students. They don’t get bored, and the multiple approaches help different learners. Pinned!
mybigfathappylife says
Thank you Natalie! Britton will be learning to write before you know it!
Logan Can says
These are really great ideas! I will definitely be looking at your print out board!
mybigfathappylife says
Thank you Logan!
Louida says
Great ideas Paris! I would get word books for my girls when they were younger and they would write in those. Now they have journals they write in.
mybigfathappylife says
S loves to write in notebooks, but those are still mostly squiggly lines or random letters.
Reginia Cordell says
We’ve used these methods in our school. Young writers definitely need avenues to develop their muscles and stability in addition to their interests. A few of the teachers use shaving cream and/or sand with water to encourage writing. I always grab good ideas from your posts.
mybigfathappylife says
Shaving cream sounds like fun! S has always loved to play with it; I will have to try that. Thanks!
Alli says
What great and out-of-the-box ideas to encourage your child to write. Pinning!
mybigfathappylife says
Thank you so much Alli!
Lysha @ Magnolia Mom says
Girl, You’re hitting it out of the ballpark with these posts lately! Great job.
Tiffany Khyla says
She is so adorable! I loved writing as a child, and of course, even now with my blog. I definitely want to instill a love of writing in my future kids!
mybigfathappylife says
Thank you Tiffany!
Justine Y says
I started out my son with trying to learn the letters of his name too. I was afraid that was weird and I was somehow messing him up by not teaching him letters “in order”, but now he can write out his (nick)name. It’s awesome! He had a hard time holding his writing implement correctly, but I learned if I broke crayons so he only had a short nub, then he was forced to hold it correctly!
mybigfathappylife says
Great tips! Also if you place a pom pom or some tissue in the child’s hand that forces them to use the correct fingers to grip.
Sarah says
Great tips! My mom used to write out letters using big dashes and then have me trace over them. I can still remember her writing out different sentences for me to trace over during church.
mybigfathappylife says
That’s great, what a wonderful mom!
Heather says
I love the idea using salt to write letters. I will try that with my son. He struggles to write and we are always looking for new and creative ways to jump start this!!! Thanks for sharing with us on FB this week. Look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday!
mybigfathappylife says
Thank you Heather! I hope the salt helps; a couple people have mentioned shaving cream too, which I am going to have to try.
Pinkoddy says
What great tips. We like writing in shaving foam, sand etc.
mybigfathappylife says
I seriously have to try shaving cream!
Pinkoddy says
It is great fun – featuring you on this weeks Kids Co-op
mybigfathappylife says
Thank you so much!!
Katie Wassink says
I have to say I love this post because wouldn’t you know when a mom gets stuck in a rut you need to be pulled out. I am in a rut with my 4 year old son. Pencil to paper and tracing just isn’t his thing! Until I read this post I forgot that there are other ways to write and write in, on, with – brilliant. Thanks for putting pen to paper on this post! Pinning!
mybigfathappylife says
Thank you Katie! I hope these get your son gets him more interested in writing.
Michelle Cannon says
Excellent advice! I had a child who wasn’t big into writing, once upon a time. These things would have helped. I was relying on a school to teach him though. Ooops! lol THanks for sharing at the #laughlearnlinkup.
mybigfathappylife says
Thank you Michelle!
Bobbi says
Thanks so much for linking up to Teach Me Tuesday last week. We hope to see you again there this week. Our party would not be such a growing success without you 🙂
Have a great week!
mybigfathappylife says
Thank you Bobbi
Selena @ Look! We're Learning! says
Painting letters is a great suggestion for kids who aren’t quite ready for pencil grips yet. Thanks for linking up at Family Fun Friday!
mybigfathappylife says
Thank you Selena!
Barb @ A Life in Balance says
Thanks for sharing your post at last week’s Motivation Monday party. Your post is one of this week’s features.
mybigfathappylife says
Thank you so much Barb!