Many of us dismiss the value of crafting as just a pastime activity.

 

It’s not.

 

It’s an opportunity to develop key skills; fine motor skills.

 

In particular the following activities will really help to develop the coordination and muscles needed to use writing materials:

When parents approach me about their child’s poor handwriting, my first question is: how well do they cut?

 

If they’re struggling to cut or use a pair of scissors well, the chances are they need to develop their hand muscles.

 

There’s many other reasons a child could struggle with handwriting too. But fine motor skills development play a huge part in the majority of issues I encounter.

 

It’s boring to give children handwriting worksheet after handwriting worksheet (although it’s very tempting!). It won’t motivate them.

 

Instead print off some pictures in different shapes. Squares, triangles or circles with images inside. Tell them to cut them out but the challenge is they must not have any white paper showing. It has to be a close cut to the shape – they can’t also chop off any colour from the shape itself. You can check easily by holding out the cut outs and the scrap bits.

 

 

It’s simple but effective.

Set both yourself and your child the same challenge.

It ain’t easy!

 

What activities do you do with your children that are fun, simple, yet effective?