Here are some of the activities we use to work on handwriting in occupational therapy sessions at school. For more information, please refer to our handwriting post.
FORMATION: We use the Handwriting Without Tears program to teach the correct way to form letters. Click here for a formation guide. Of course we do include paper pencil practice but also lots of multisensory activities to engage the student's senses and enhance learning. We use the Handwriting Without Tears wooden letter pieces and small chalkboards, shaving cream, geoboards, playdough to form and pinch, magnets, pom poms, sand, cloud dough, etc.
SPACING: leaving appropriate spaces between letters and words. Some ways we work on spacing are by using small stickers or tokens between words, teaching children to use their finger or a spacer stick, and teaching them to find and correct spacing errors.
PLACEMENT: writing letters on the line - not floating above or drifting below. We talk about where the letters should sit and practice. We draw their attention to the lines through use of a highlighter, using Wikki stix on the the lines, etc. We write practice silly sentences and let them find placement errors we make. We also use specialty paper or color cues at times that makes the lines easier to see or feel.
PROPORTIONALITY: keeping tall letters (like b, d, f, etc.) tall, and small letters (like a, c, e, etc.) small. We do letter sorting and writing by tall and small letters, and letters that fall below the line. We use actions with our hands or bodies to show tall, small and fall letters. We also sometimes use specialty paper that highlights where letters should go.