presentation

Supporting Muscle Development for Writing

Perceptual motor skills in addition to loco motor skills play an essential role in a child’s

development of writing. While every child’s needs are different the following are strategies and

ideas that teachers can try to facilitate the development of these necessary skills.

(Page 59 Volume 2 Foundations)

To Facilitate Proprioception Development Try:

• Have children wake their bodies up by massaging their arms

• Have children wake their bodies p by tickling their arms, legs, and head

• Have children do the same activity with different material weights such as tossing bean bags that

weigh different weights

To Facilitate Tactile Discrimination Development Try:

• Mixing finger paint with alt or glitter

• hiding crayons in sand and inviting children to choose a crayon before writing

• hiding puzzle pieces in beans and inviting children to reach in and grab before completing the puzzle

• Providing different types of paper such a sand paper and wax paper for children experience.

To Facilitate Visual Perception Development Try:

• Outline edges of paper, letters, puzzle pieces with Elmer’s glue

• Cover a table in a contrasting background (usually a dark color)

• Invite children to explore letters on a board light

• Invite children to explore letters that have dimension

To Facilitate Posture Development Try:

• Inviting children to stand while participating in table activities

• Inviting children to change positions while sitting on the floor frequently

• Providing table easels for children to draw and write with while sitting in a chair with their feet

flat on the floor.

• Inviting children to practice balancing objects on their heads

• Providing obstacle courses that require movement from a standing to sitting, kneeling or

crawling position

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To Facilitate Core Muscle Development Try:

• Inviting children to sit straddling a chair backwards while they write

• Inviting children to play write or draw while laying stomach down on the floor

• Inviting children to play balance games including walking on a line or a skinny beam

• Inviting children to play with hulla hoops

• Inviting children to play movement games that require balance such as the hoky poky

• Inviting children to play games that require stabilization and movement from the floor to their feet such as tracing their friends bodies.

To Facilitate shoulder Muscle Development Try:

• Inviting children to paint with on a vertical surface such as a fence or easel

• Providing equipment that require pushing and pulling such as toy wagon.

• Providing equipment that requires scooping and pouring such as sand, water, gravel.

• Inviting children to play games involving throwing, catching and rolling a ball

To Facilitate grip Development Try:

• providing materials that require pinching such as tongs, chopsticks, tweezers.

• inviting children to participate in activities that require pincer grasp such as beading, gluing small

objects, or peeling stickers.

• inviting children to participate in activities that require squeezing such as using glue bottles, kneading

play-doh, or wringing out wet wash cloths.