As the school year has come to a close, most families have begun to make the shift to the sun and fun mode, cherishing all those nice things summer has to offer like family vacations, trips to the playground, and active days at the pool. However, a question I get from parents frequently at this time of year is, “What type of workbook do you recommend so we can practice their handwriting over the summer?” In my experience, with the rigorous demands of an increasing curriculum at younger ages, all some children have to do is perceive the notion of “work” before you’ve got the latest power struggle on your hand. As a pediatric occupational therapistwith many years of experience, the key to our success is to craftily find a way to meet both needs at once. Simply, how can you work on fine motor skills for pencil grasp reinforcement and practice their newly developed letter formation skills, while finding a way to motivate the child to participate? The answer involves games you may even have in your home already, and who says the directions can’t be revised for our purpose?
One game I’ve had particular success with is that good old classic game of Memory. A quick search has found that our once cherished version of such a simple game, has also morphed to include the latest in childhood favorites with Disney Princesses, SpongeBob Squarepants, Dora, Go Diego Go, Spiderman, Little Einsteins, and the Backyardigans. Find the version that motivates your child the best, and here are some quick tips on how to modify this game:
1. I personally tend to find the character versions more challenging than the original version. For example, there are often several Spiderman cards with variations, causing even more attention to detail to be required, which can lead to some frustration.
To avoid this, have your child help you pre-sort the cards by matching them face up first before you set up the rows, look for matches that do not share as many similarities, and set those to the side for playing.
2. Start with a smaller amount of cards, such as 12 (6 pairs). Arrange those in the rows and play this smaller version first to teach the concept of the game and build their confidence with the skill. Simply add or remove pairs as needed.
3. I often tend to choose to keep even numbers of cards so that there can be a tie and there is not always a winner, in an effort to minimize the whole winner/loser concept. Pick your battles, our goal is to focus on the letter formation, and for that we need their excitement to participate.
4. Keep a small white board with a dry erase marker, chalkboard, Magnadoodle, Glodoodle, colored post-it notes with writing lines, or some good fashioned old lined paper nearby. Let your child choose which one they’d like to use.
5. When you make a match, you will then have to write the word for what is on your card. You will need to gauge your child’s skill level, but if you are simply wanting to work on reinforcing letter formation, write the word for them first and have them copy it (this method works well for those who have completed Kindergarten or are in first grade). When children copy from a model, they are more apt to focus on the letter formation and may not get as frustrated. For children in second grade and above you can suggest they sound out the word and write it independently, providing assistance as needed. Using the lined paper will add another component of reinforcing sizing, spacing and orientation to the line.