Pre- writing skill

Activities to Improve Pre-Writing Skills

• - Playing jump rope
• - Volleyball-type activities where hands, paddles, or rackets are in palm-up position
• - Squirt bottles
• - Slinky-shift back and forth with palm up
• - Bead stringing/lacing with tip of finger against thumb
• - Pouring from small pitcher to specific level in clear glass. Increase size of pitcher as strength increases.
• - Ich a pencil or chopstick positioned in tripod grasp toward and away from palm. The shaft should rest in open web space.
• - Practice screw and unscrew lids
• - Pop bubble wrap
• - Play dough/silly putty activities
• - Use a turkey baster or nasal aspirator to blow cork or ping pong balls back and forth. These can also be used to squirt water to move floating object/toys.
• - Tier pieces of construction paper into small pieces and paste the different colors of paper on simple picture from a coloring book, or make your own design.
• - Floor activities - large mural painting, floor puzzles, coloring when lying on stomach on floor.
• - Dot-dots, color by number, mazes. (example activity)
• - Wheelbarrow walking-child's hands are the large ones from Bed Bugs game or kitchen tongs.
• - Finger plays/string games such as Cat's Cradle.
• - Use tongs/tweezers to pick up blocks/small objects. (activities using tongs or tweezers)
• - Pennies into piggy back or slot cut in plastic lid. Coins can also be put into slots cut in foam.
• - Working on vertical surface, especially above eye level. Activities can be mounted on a clip board or tapes to surface or chalkboard/easel. Examples: pegboards, Lite Brite, Etch-a-sketch( upside down), Magna doodle, outlining, coloring, painting, writing.
• - Clothespins/pinching. Put letters on clothespins and spell words by clipping on edge of shoe box. Use a clothespin to do finger "push-ups" by using the pads of the thumb and index finger to open a clothespin and count repetitions.
• - Squirrel objects into palm (pick up with index finger and thumb, move into palm without using the other hand)
• - Squeeze sponges to wash off table, clean windows, shower, etc.