So DS had his kindy screening today

[auroraloo]

And it is very evident to me that we need to work on writing. 

How do I teach a pre-schooler to hold a pencil? 

[lala]

We have ours in May.

Does he hold a crayon "correctly" to color?

I know dd's pre k teacher uses short, fat pencils to help them. But other than that I'm not much help.

[Deleted]

Our kids' teachers recommended they hold a cotton ball in their hand and then use the proper fingers to grip the pencil while the "unused" fingers hold the cotton ball

Also tons and tons of fine motor stuff---playdoh, Legos, bead stuff

If you want to just work on forming the letters properly, start gross motor...draw the letters big with sidewalk chalk, paint, in shaving cream or finger paint

[lexus]

I've heard to break crayons so that's the only way they can use them.

[auroraloo]

lala, he does not hold crayons correctly.

@sing4mysavior, he can draw the letters tracing with his finger.

[cna]

The boys' OT used those big fat crayons and regular crayons broken in half. She would physically correct their grip until it was natural for them.

[jag01]

Our school physiotherapist says tell the kids to have their arm on the table, make a gun (I'm not thrilled with the terminology), pinch like a little bird, roll the arm over to the paper. Like Lexus said, breaking crayons is good. Do you have an art easle? They are good for getting the body in the correct position.

[abs]

Mar 3, 2016 20:25:43 GMT -5 cna said:

The boys' OT used those big fat crayons and regular crayons broken in half. She would physically correct their grip until it was natural for them.

Ditto.  DD needed some one to physically put her fingers in the right position. I would not know how to do that.  Thank goodness for OT.

ETA:  DD had zero interest in writing at 3.  She's 5 and still hates coloring but loves drawing and writing now.  It had to be her idea.  

[dizzycooks]

Golf pencils, broken crayons, smaller, thinner is better. Lots of play dough and clay to strengthen fingers; beading, stringing and lacing for pincer grip and coordination.

[gastro]

Mar 3, 2016 21:45:08 GMT -5 dizzycooks said:

Golf pencils, broken crayons, smaller, thinner is better. Lots of play dough and clay to strengthen fingers; beading, stringing and lacing for pincer grip and coordination.

I've been concerned about my DS1's lack of writing skills and this was exactly all the stuff that was recommended to me...especially the little golf pencils.

[lattelady5]

Do you do sign? I tell dd to use a "no" grip and not a "yes" grip. It helped her make the distinction. Broken crayons help too.

As far as making letters, we did them in shaving cream and sand and finger paints. I've helped dd (hand over hand) to make a few (e) but she can do most letters by herself now. She wasn't super interested until closer to 4 and picking out her own coloring books got her more interested in coloring.

[auroraloo]

Mar 4, 2016 9:15:59 GMT -5 lattelady5 said:

Do you do sign? I tell dd to use a "no" grip and not a "yes" grip. It helped her make the distinction. Broken crayons help too.

As far as making letters, we did them in shaving cream and sand and finger paints. I've helped dd (hand over hand) to make a few (e) but she can do most letters by herself now. She wasn't super interested until closer to 4 and picking out her own coloring books got her more interested in coloring.

This is part of my problem, my kids aren't big colorers so they don't have a lot of practice holding and drawing. I have to force them more, I guess.

[lala]

Instead of straight up coloring, if that doesn't pique their interest, what about magna doodles, aqua doodles, water wow books, color wonder? Maybe they'd have fun if they could use smelly markers?

I know play doh helps with the fine motor; maybe they'd like cutting, too?

[auroraloo]

Mar 4, 2016 12:35:35 GMT -5 @tooshort said:

Play doh and cutting are great options.

Our ecfe class has these kid pliers. The art teacher said it's great for building hand strength.

Chalk once it gets warmer.

Writing in salt or sand?

bath paints?

WE have a chalk wall on the back of our kitchen island, but all they ever do is lines and scribbles. 

[cjcouple]

Sounds a lot like my youngest son. I would reset his grip for a long time and practice drawing pictures or writing letters and numbers. He also seemed to have a very light/weak grip so I strengthened his grip by buying cutting worksheets, and using lots of play doh and clay. And we baked things like homemade cookies and I would have him mix the dough with his fingers...lol.

[cjcouple]

Mar 4, 2016 12:40:13 GMT -5 auroraloo said:

Mar 4, 2016 12:35:35 GMT -5 @tooshort said:

Play doh and cutting are great options.

Our ecfe class has these kid pliers. The art teacher said it's great for building hand strength.

Chalk once it gets warmer.

Writing in salt or sand?

bath paints?

WE have a chalk wall on the back of our kitchen island, but all they ever do is lines and scribbles. 

Have you tried asking them to draw a picture for you? Like a sun, person or a house. Wr bave an easel but i would draw a sun next to him and ask if he could draw one?

Oh i also used a highlighter and would write his name as a guide. He could trace highlighter letters. This worked really well.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Hard to describe, but one of our preschool teachers taught us a trick to have them but their thumb and pointer finger together. You hold the pencil, and with the eraser toward you, put the point of the pencil against there their thumb and pointer meet. The keep the point there and rotate the pencil around so it's laying correctly and tell them to hold it that way.

[quesyrah]

DS hates writing. He always has but his kinder teacher has done wonders to get him to be careful and not sloppy.

She suggested the golf pencils for homework