Provide several handwriting samples to a child, ranging from poor to excellent handwriting. Include the child's own handwriting sample in the pile. Ask the child to review all the handwriting samples and rank them in order from best to poorest legibility. Look through the categorized stack of samples and ask the child to read a sentence from each sample, beginning with the one the child said was the poorest. Discuss the experience with the child and ask why it is important that handwriting is clear, good and legible.
Have students with poor handwriting skills regularly practice properly writing letters and sentences. Provide students with an example of correctly written words or sentences and ask them to replicate it. For students with extremely bad handwriting, provide the opportunity to trace letters and, after repetition, move toward freehand writing. Many worksheets are available to teachers or can be found on the Internet to help children learn to write letters or words. Return to the basics and help students relearn proper writing.
Engage children in activities that involve balance or hand-eye coordination. Walking on a balancing beam, playing catch or doing basic exercises that involve multiple body parts and balance are effective ways to improve perceptual motor skills. Practice tying shoes, buttoning or snapping closures. Build things with small blocks or otherwise manipulate small objects. Play with clay to build muscles used in handwriting. Solve mazes or put together puzzles.
Ask students with poor handwriting to participate in a handwriting challenge. Work with individual students to establish goals for improving their handwriting. Decide with the student how the handwriting needs to be improved, what will be considered acceptable evidence of improvement and how handwriting progression will be assessed. Establish rewards for improvement, making them frequent. Consider assigning the students responsibilities or opportunities to showcase their improved handwriting during the challenge, such as asking them to write the date on the classroom board each morning.