Handwriting practice is so important for young students. But for those who are having difficulties it can be a very frustrating endeavor. How can we help our students practice their handwriting without making them bored or frustrated? I’ve gathered some ideas together here for you. You might want to try one of these fun ideas!
fun handwriting practice ideas
One thing that really helps with this skill is to make students forget that they’re practicing. If the activity is fun, chances are they’ll be much more willing to try.
- Practice that isn’t schoolwork – Change things up by practicing writing that’s not schoolwork. You can have students write birthday cards or other seasonal/holiday cards. Family members would love to get these! Or make simple nature journals and take students outside to inspire them. Writing on sticky notes is also fun because they can’t write too much on them, making the writing seem less intimidating.
- Have students “copy” instead of writing – writing to answer questions or complete a writing assignment is not much fun. Instead, find some fun words or an inspirational saying and have students practice writing with those. Some students love to copy text from books. Let them choose the book, give them some colored paper, and let them go.
- Let students decorate your classroom windows or doors – give them window crayons and let them write quotes from books or use growth mindset phrases.
- Writing trays – these are great for sensory learning, and there are so many types of trays you can use: colored or plain sand, colored or plain rice, cornmeal, sugar, salt, or flour. Basically anything that you can move around and trace letters in will work.
- Use dipping “utensils” – use paint and have students dip cotton swabs and then write on paper. Or use a wet cotton swab to write on a chalkboard. Or dye milk with food coloring and let students use a straw to trace letters.
- Use your noodles – cook up some spaghetti noodles and use those to form letters!
Practice Cursive writing
Cursive writing is a bit more complicated. It’s a bit harder to use some of the ideas above (although some will still work).
Your students are going to love learning and practicing cursive handwriting with this Cursive Handwriting Practice Workbook. These cursive worksheets were created for both second and third graders. However, they can be used as review or teaching for students of all ages. Your students will practice reading, tracing, and writing cursive in a progressive manner, as well as learning some unusual country and animal names!
Cursive Handwriting Practice and Worksheets includes:
- Workbook cover
- 4 pages per letter of the alphabet
- plus the following extras:
- Days of the Week
- Months of the Year
- Number Words to 20
- Tens Number Words to 100
- Dolch Sight Words: 2nd Grade
- Dolch Sight Words: 3rd Grade
The structure of the main workbook comprises 4 practice pages for each letter of the alphabet. These pages can be printed back to back and stapled together to make a complete workbook. The workbook can be finished off with the workbook cover on Page 4.
Please note:
- 1. I have added a second set of pages for the letter X, should you wish to use more familiar words ending in X.
- 2. I have added some nouns for formatting purposes.
You will find a useful ‘Contents’ page which informs you of which pages to print depending on what you wish your students to practice.
You might also like this Handwriting Print Practice Workbook.
Have you tried any of these ideas? Please let us know how they went!
