Guest Post: 5 Creative Ways to Teach Your Child How to Write

Hello everyone!  I thought it'd fun and interesting to host a guest post today on a topic that's a little different than the norm around here.  This is great for those of you who have or interact a lot with young children.  It's been exciting for me watching my little YS2 learning to write and he's getting quite good.  Now, thanks to Danielle, I've got some tips on making it even more fun and challenging for him.  (Please excuse any formatting issues -- blogger is not my friend sometimes).

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5 Creative Ways to Teach Your Child How to Write

Teaching your child how to write does not have to be a boring task. There are many creative ways to engage your child in developing his/her writing skills.

 

Use handwriting worksheets. You can obtain these materials online. There is a wide array of samples from which you can choose. If your child is the initial phase of writing, you can start off with letter tracing sheets. Your child will learn how to write each letter of alphabet. Once your child has developed basic lettering skills, you can promote him/her to one-word, multi-word, and paragraph worksheets respectively. Each child develops at a different rate, therefore your child’s progress through each writing phase may vary. During each phase, make sure to congratulate your child after each assignment. You can do so by clapping after your child has written a letter, word, or paragraph. This will spur your child on to do more assignments, as well as boost his/her confidence. Before you know it, your child may be completing assignments without you initiating the activity.

 

Create traceable sheets with your child’s name.  You can write out your child’s name on a sheet of paper or do a computer generated one. Create large letters, so that your child can trace between the lines. Instead of using a regular pencil, you can have your child trace his/her name with a crayon, colored pencil, or marker. This will add an artistic touch to the activity, as well as maintain your child’s interest in writing. If you’d like to use the same traceable sheets during each assignment, you can place a plastic sheet protector over the paper. Have your child trace the letters using a dry erase marker. Your child can repeat this process multiple times without having to use a lot of paper.

 

Do finger painting activities. Teach your child how to form the letters of his/her name with the use of a finger. Instead of using paint, you may use household items such as salt, shaving cream, or pudding. This may be a bit messy, therefore you should select an area in your house where you can easily clean up after this activity. Your child’s play area may be an ideal spot. Place a tray on the floor or on a table. Spread salt on the tray. You may substitute sand for salt if you desire. Have your child form the letters of his/her name by tracing it into the salt or sand. If you decide to use the pudding or shaving cream, you may want to do so on the kitchen counter or play area. Although these products are messier, you may have your child’s undivided attention for a longer period of time, since kids enjoy partaking in activities that are fun and love getting dirty.

 

Use the sidewalk or an outdoor concrete area as a canvas. Get an assortment of thick colored sidewalk chalk. Make sure that your child can hold the chalk stick comfortably in his/her hand. You can turn this into an outdoor activity depending on the time of year and the region in which you reside. Write your child’s name in large letters. You may do so on a concrete area around your house or in a park. Have your child write his/her name using your illustration as a guide. Once your child has finished writing his/her name, you may repeat the writing process. This time you can decrease the size of the lettering in the name, and have your child repeat the process. The goal here is to get your child prepared for writing his/her name on a regular sheet of paper.

 

Do sponge painting. Let your child sponge paint his/her name on a piece of paper. As your child is writing his/her name, have him/her repeat each letter loudly. You can do an illustration before allowing your child to write on his/her own. This may make your child more comfortable during the writing process.

 

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This post is written by Danielle Norrish, a talented writer being a full-time freelancer. Her current occupation is writing for a best-resume-builder.com website, where she collects all her knowledge into the resume building.