On Your Marks! Get Set! To Your Pencils!

During the summer, our children are on vacation! This school break is a perfect time to generalize learning related to writing and pencil grasp in a more fun, spontaneous and creative context. Through play, your child will certainly be more motivated and engaged in their learning! Here’s a suggested list of fun activities for the whole family to try.

For rainy days:

- Play tic-tac-toe with letters, shapes and/or numbers (instead of O and X)
- Keep score during board games with letters, shapes and/or numbers
- Exchange messages on mirrors or windows in the house with erasable pencils
- Use fun pencils (colorful, oversized, very small, shiny).

Our favorite – the spy’s pencil!

- Write in flour, sand, shaving cream, etc.
- Vary the writing surfaces (carbon paper, sandpaper, whiteboard, chalk board)
- Write a letter to a friend and go post it
- Invent a secret code to enter a room (bedroom, living room, etc.) and write it on a sheet at the entrance to the room.
- Take an old pizza box and create a computer with the letters and numbers of a keyboard.
- Write with a brush on steamy shower doors
- Write a story or a comic book

For outdoor trips:

- Write a list of items to bring in your backpack the day before departure.
- Trace a path with a highlighter pencil on a trail map. Write the words departure and arrival.
- Using a tree branch, write words or numbers (each kilometer traveled, for example) in the dirt on the ground.
- Gather different leaves on the ground, place them under a sheet of paper and using the pencil, color from left to right to reveal the leaf. Write the name of the tree that the leaf comes from under the drawing.
- Write on a piece of paper all the animals observed during a snack break.

For transitions, travel or in a waiting room:

- With a capped pencil, have fun writing the numbers and letters on the back of your companion and making them guess the lines.
-Play hangman
- Use the following smart apps:
Escapadou (script and cursive)
Montessori Box
I am learning cursive writing

The goal of these activities is to automate pencil-grasp and motor movements associated with letters, shapes and numbers while having fun outside of school. Enjoyment will be there for sure!