Handwriting Activities for Back to School

Comic Books

• Not reading, writing! Kids love to draw, so fold and staple some long paper to resemble a comic book format and break out the markers. Encourage your child to make up characters and supply dialogue inside word bubbles or on lines for the little ones. For a bigger budget project, have your child write an illustrated book and have the results color-copied and bound. Make several copies and include a dated biography page with a current picture of the child.

Throw a Party

• Throw a back to school party and ask your child to hand write the invitations. It doesn't have to be fancy to be fun. In fact, before the kids arrive, add another fun handwriting activity: construct a makeshift stage and have your child write a play or puppet show for the kids to perform. Let your child write the lines on a separate sheet for each performer. Then the director (you) can point to each child when it's his turn to read a line. Ask the kids over for an hour to rehearse and invite the parents to join for the last half-hour to enjoy the show.

Redecorate

• Temporarily turn your child's room into a circus or wild west show by covering the walls with colorful hand drawn and handwritten posters advertising such delights as "See the Wild Monkey Boy from Borneo" or "Buck Western and Blaze the Amazing Talking Horse". Add a few inexpensive decorations from a party store and indulge your child's imagination while he enhances his handwriting skills.

Write letters

• Write a letter to a favorite TV star or character, but warn your child that TV stars get a lot of letters and may not have time to answer specific questions, but encourage him to write anyway.

  Write a letter to the president:
  If your little one expresses concern over something she has heard in the news or from adults, encourage her to write a letter and explain to the president how he should fix it.

  Write to a soldier:
  If you don't have a soldier in the family, go to http://www.anysoldier.com for instructions on how to find a soldier and send letters, cards or even a care package to active duty soldiers.

Practice

• By encouraging your child to practice handwriting activities for back to school, you ease the burden on the teacher and can give your child an added boost of confidence as he begins the new school year.