Handwriting Archives - Therapy Fun Zone https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/category/ot/fine-motor/handwriting/ Where Play is FUNctional Sun, 21 Jul 2024 23:54:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/cropped-tfz-icon-copy-copy-32x32.png Handwriting Archives - Therapy Fun Zone https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/category/ot/fine-motor/handwriting/ 32 32 More ways to use Wikki Stix https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/more-ways-to-use-wikki-stix/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/more-ways-to-use-wikki-stix/#respond Mon, 22 Jul 2024 11:00:00 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=22667 This post may contain affiliate links.Making two dimensional pictures three dimensional is the power and beauty of Wikki Stix. I work with some kids that really struggle with the visual perceptual ability of figuring out where to place lines on the paper, and it helps to use Wikki Stix to physically build those lines. I...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/more-ways-to-use-wikki-stix/feed/ 0 Valentines day activities https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/valentines-day-activities/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/valentines-day-activities/#respond Sat, 10 Feb 2024 16:32:18 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=21889 This post may contain affiliate links.I like valentines day activities because they lend themselves well to coloring, writing, painting, cutting, and gluing. My favorites are the heart butterflies and the heart bugs, but just drawing hearts and coloring and cutting them are great too. Making flowers out of hearts is a really simple way to...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/valentines-day-activities/feed/ 0 A pencil charms substitute https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/a-pencil-charms-sub/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/a-pencil-charms-sub/#respond Sun, 15 Oct 2023 17:27:39 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=21401 This post may contain affiliate links.I’ve discussed before how helpful it is to have kids hold a pom pom or toy in their palm while writing. It gets then to stabilize the pinky side of their hand and frees up their index, middle finger, and thumb for controlling the pencil. One problem is that they...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/a-pencil-charms-sub/feed/ 0 Back to school activities https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/back-to-school-activities/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/back-to-school-activities/#respond Sun, 27 Aug 2023 19:40:56 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=19818 This post may contain affiliate links.It is time to head back to school and I have been working on getting files organized and figuring out the best way to do notes and activities. I am starting out simple this year and have used the paper tearing crayon to have kids color the crayon, write their...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/back-to-school-activities/feed/ 0 Operation Pet Scan https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/operation-pet-scan/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/operation-pet-scan/#respond Fri, 12 May 2023 20:55:20 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=19764 This post may contain affiliate links.I saw this game in a classroom and just had to get it to use with my kids. It is like operation in the sense that you have pieces, and if you get stuck a sound goes off. It is called operation pet scan and it is a dog that...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/operation-pet-scan/feed/ 0 Why a Slant Board https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/why-a-slant-board/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/why-a-slant-board/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2023 19:16:00 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=19703 This post may contain affiliate links.When I first started working in school based OT, it felt like slant boards were recommended for everyone. They weren’t, but it felt like they were. I didn’t really see why, but joined in the slant board party because it was expected. After 12 years of doing school based, and...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/why-a-slant-board/feed/ 1 Finding your letters on a keyboard https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/finding-your-letters-on-a-keyboard/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/finding-your-letters-on-a-keyboard/#respond Sun, 22 Sep 2019 17:28:10 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=14946 This post may contain affiliate links.I have several kids who are working on being able to write their personal information, and are struggling to find the letters on the keyboard. I wanted them to work on finding the letters of their name, but wanted to start off of the keyboard, so I made a paper...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/finding-your-letters-on-a-keyboard/feed/ 0 What is up with the ASD finger wrap pencil grasp? https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/what-is-up-with-the-asd-finger-wrap-pencil-grasp/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/what-is-up-with-the-asd-finger-wrap-pencil-grasp/#comments Mon, 24 Jun 2019 03:42:13 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=12774 This post may contain affiliate links.Have you noticed that a lot of students with autism hold their pencil with 4 fingers wrapped up the barrel of the pencil, and their thumb is pressed straight into the pencil. This grasp is not just specific to students with Autism, as the kids who use it generally have...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/what-is-up-with-the-asd-finger-wrap-pencil-grasp/feed/ 3 Clay Writing Board https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/clay-writing-board/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/clay-writing-board/#respond Wed, 17 Apr 2019 20:25:27 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=12461 This post may contain affiliate links. Have you ever wanted to add resistance for strengthening the writing muscles of the hands? Writing in clay is a perfect way to do this. This week we made letters out of clay/playdoh, and had the kids write letters on a clay tracing board. I used a little chalkboard...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/clay-writing-board/feed/ 0 OT Flower Coloring Page https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/ot-flower-coloring-page/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/ot-flower-coloring-page/#respond Thu, 04 Apr 2019 02:45:38 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=12362 This post may contain affiliate links.It is always a good time to show your love of Occupational Therapy. I created a lovely flower around the shape of OT. You can print out the flower and color it yourself or have your patients color it. Coloring works on many skills such as fine motor, and visual...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/ot-flower-coloring-page/feed/ 0 Make a fine motor balance tree https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/make-a-fine-motor-balance-tree/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/make-a-fine-motor-balance-tree/#comments Sun, 24 Feb 2019 18:51:13 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=12256 This post may contain affiliate links.It is great to work on fine motor control away from the body, as that gives more of a challenge to the muscle control. You have to have control and coordination to balance and stack small objects onto a surface. i have the game scatterpillar scramble, and wanted to make...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/make-a-fine-motor-balance-tree/feed/ 1 Bimanual Task Stencil Tracing on a Board https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/bimanual-task-stencil-tracing-on-a-board/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/bimanual-task-stencil-tracing-on-a-board/#comments Fri, 18 Jan 2019 03:48:54 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=12201 This post may contain affiliate links.Getting both hands to work together can be fun, and if you add a vertical surface, then you are able to really get some good bimanual practice. A great way to work both hands is to trace around a stencil on a vertical chalk board or white board. You have...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/bimanual-task-stencil-tracing-on-a-board/feed/ 2 Spacing Between Words https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/spacing-between-words/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/spacing-between-words/#respond Mon, 26 Nov 2018 02:00:00 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=12167 This post may contain affiliate links.As part of writing legibility, second to recognizable letters, spacing between words is very important. If there is not a noticeable space between words that is double to triple the space between letters, then all of the words run together to make it unreadable. In the early years, kids are...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/spacing-between-words/feed/ 0 Writing Legibility https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/writing-legibility-2/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/writing-legibility-2/#respond Mon, 12 Nov 2018 02:00:33 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=12147 This post may contain affiliate links.When working on writing with kids, Occupational Therapists are not handwriting teachers. We do not teach handwriting, and we don not practice handwriting. What we do is we use our specialized skills to figure out where the trouble is coming from. We are very skilled at assessing movement, motor control,...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/writing-legibility-2/feed/ 0 Big mouth creature for feeding pom poms to https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/big-mouth-creature-for-feeding-pom-poms-to/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/big-mouth-creature-for-feeding-pom-poms-to/#comments Wed, 17 Oct 2018 15:00:00 +0000 http://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=4042 This post may contain affiliate links.You can put manipulatives into any container, but when you make the container into a creature that is hungry, it makes it so much more fun to do the work. I saw this cute little creature on Pinterest, but it originally came from a blog called The Preschool Experiment.  He...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/big-mouth-creature-for-feeding-pom-poms-to/feed/ 2 Using the SnapType App https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/using-the-snaptype-app/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/using-the-snaptype-app/#respond Sun, 14 Oct 2018 23:42:28 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=12119 This post may contain affiliate links.When you have a student who knows what they want to write but all the years of therapy are not making their writing more legible, you have to try other options. Often when kids have really bad writing with no spacing, they also have trouble reading as the two are...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/using-the-snaptype-app/feed/ 0 Pencil Grips–Pros and Cons https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/pencil-gripspros-and-cons/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/pencil-gripspros-and-cons/#comments Mon, 03 Sep 2018 09:45:00 +0000 http://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=6723 This post may contain affiliate links.Most kids do not need to use a pencil grip. I rarely recommend having a student use a special grip, and when I do recommend it, it means that the grip really does help. What are the determining factors for needing a pencil grip? The student is not able to...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/pencil-gripspros-and-cons/feed/ 5 no prep fun writing task https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/no-prep-fun-writing-task/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/no-prep-fun-writing-task/#respond Tue, 12 Jun 2018 16:57:02 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=11901 This post may contain affiliate links.Today we have a quick and simple writing activity that requires little to no preparation or planning. All you need is paper and pencil (or other writing tool). It may seem like just a writing activity, but you have other skills incorporated just by where you put the paper. First...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/no-prep-fun-writing-task/feed/ 0 My Favorite hand strengthening and writing combinations https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/my-favorite-hand-strengthening-and-writing-combinations/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/my-favorite-hand-strengthening-and-writing-combinations/#respond Sat, 19 May 2018 15:58:15 +0000 https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=11889 This post may contain affiliate links.With short treatment times in school therapy, and lots to accomplish during that time, I will make good use of my time by combining a strengthening activity with a writing activity. You could think up many variations and pairings of hand strengthening and writing. My favorite includes letter beads, theraputty...

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]]> https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/my-favorite-hand-strengthening-and-writing-combinations/feed/ 0 Easter Egg Writing Lines https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/easter-egg-writing-lines/ https://therapyfunzone.net/blog/easter-egg-writing-lines/#respond Fri, 23 Mar 2018 23:44:10 +0000 http://therapyfunzone.net/blog/?p=8860 This post may contain affiliate links.Easter is almost here so here is an Easter activity.  It includes practice writing lines, coloring, cutting, and writing.  You can choose a simple grouping of eggs to practice lines on and then color.  It also has a place at the bottom of the picture to write some sentences.  The...

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