DIY Handwriting Toolkit
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Last week I shared a simple DIY Fine Motor Toolkit idea. The original idea I saw was a handwriting toolkit that had been put together as a raffle at my state's Occupational Therapy Association conference. So today I am sharing my spin on the DIY handwriting toolkit.
I really wish I had thought of these ideas when I was working in the school system. It would have been so easy to keep everything in one spot and have it when I needed it.
You will probably need a larger container than the one I used for the fine motor toolkit. I found a two-tiered snap container that my dad had given me so I used that. I also used a divider for the pencil grips in the top section. It is by Snapware – Snap and Stack Portable Organizer and just like this one below:
DIY Handwriting Toolkit Items
This is certainly not an exhaustive list, you could add different items you have on hand.
- Crayola Write Start Colored Pencils
- Playdough
- TheraPutty
- Wikki Stix
- Pencil grips (the ones I included: ARK Butter Grip, The Pencil Grip, Crossover Grip, and The Pinch Grip, and Mini Pencil Grips).
- Weighted pencils
- Small hexagon pencils
- Regular H2 Pencils
- Dry erase marker
- Dry erase practice board (I like the one from Fundanoodle)
- Mini Chalkboard
- Chalk
- Sponge
- Washcloth
- Shaving Cream
- Index cards
- Small craft sticks (to use a letter/word spacers)
- Large craft sticks with velcro dots (used to make letters or shapes)
- Yellow, red, green, and/or blue highlighter
- Squeeze ball
- Pencil top chewy (I included the ARK Krypto-Bite)
- Kwik Stix
- Adaptive paper (the kinds I included: Mead See and Feel Learn to Write Raised Ruling, Mead 4-in-1 Learn to Write Letter with Guidelines, RediSpace Transitional Notebook Paper, Abilitations HiWrite Notebook Paper)
Optional:
- Muscle Mover cards from Fundanoodle (Uppercase cards and Lowercase cards)
- I Can Build Letters Magnet sets (Uppercase magnets and Lowercase magnets – works with the dry erase magnet board perfectly!)
- Pre-Writing Practice Line Printables
There are many more types of pencil grips or adaptive papers you could include (depending on the age of your child or students).
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I'm also excited to share that I am part of a resource called The Handwriting Book. It was written by 8 other pediatric therapists including myself and has everything you need to know about handwriting skills.
Heather Greutman, COTA
Heather Greutman is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant with experience in school-based OT services for preschool through high school. She uses her background to share child development tips, tools, and strategies for parents, educators, and therapists. She is the author of many ebooks including The Basics of Fine Motor Skills, and Basics of Pre-Writing Skills, and co-author of Sensory Processing Explained: A Handbook for Parents and Educators.