Who needs a pencil and paper when there are so many other (way more engaging and fun) ways to practice our letters? In fact, playing with letters in THESE ways actually strengthen little hands, dexterity, and fine motor skills, making writing with a pencil much easier down the road. 

 

My little guy loves learning like this. And so do I! I want to explore and enjoy watching him learn without even realizing it. These moments are the best! With the beautiful weather outdoors,  we took our learning outside and had a blast enjoying these fun ways to practice writing letters.

 

This is a super simple and quick activity to prepare. Since my little one is still working on writing letters, I decided to write the letters for him using sidewalk chalk. To keep it challenging, I asked him to tell me which letter came next and what the colour he needed to continue our pattern. Letter writing, recognition, and patterning, oh my! So many skills developing all in one great activity.

Practice Writing Letters Activity #1: WATER PLAY

The first fun way to practice writing letters was using a water gun to trace over the letters, and then erase them as he went. This required a lot of hand eye coordination as pointing and squirting were at play here.  

We chose to do a few letters this way and then my little guy found a paint brush and dipped it in water to trace the others. Using a paintbrush with water really helped my little Picasso as he loved watching the letters disappear with each stroke. I also loved watching him paint without having to clean up a mess – it’s a win-win situation!

Practice Writing Letters Activity #2:“CREATIVE” WRITING

Since we were still enjoying the backyard, I thought that I would allow my little one to see if he could find some other fun ways to practice writing letters. I feel this was the perfect time to allow him to use his imagination and creativity.  What was he going to come up with?

My little guy absolutely loves to play with our rock garden, so I wasn’t too surprised to see him head over there. He gathered his favorite rocks and used them to trace over the letters. Next, he meticulously placed the rocks in just the right spot to form each of the letters.

UP THE CHALLENGE

After forming letters out of rocks, I felt now was the right time to challenge him a little bit more. To make things more challenging, I had him write the letters without my sidewalk chalk letters to trace over! We found a stick that we  hunted for in our yard and some sand from our sandbox. Then, I sat my little guy in my lap, handed him his magic pencil and tested his memory some more. I said a letter to him and then he would write it in the sand using his stick. 

I can’t begin to describe the joy in my son’s face as he worked so hard with each of these fun ways to practice letter writing. While he has been working on these skills for a while, the pride in his face was incredible! He was so proud as he wrote each letter I asked then heard me reveal that he had written them correctly. This made this simple letter writing practice activity a super successful one, too! 

Practice Writing Letters – EXTENSION

Depending on your child’s skills, an extension of this letter writing activity would be to have them try all these fun ways to practice writing letters with their lower case letters! The way our littles are growing, we may have the opportunity to try this sooner than we are ready for! Grab the tissues for more ugly tears and relish in these special fun learning moments!

Joanna is a full-time teacher and part-time mompreneur with a personalized and custom gift shop. She has a passion for writing and loves creating wonderful memories for her 3 beautiful children. As a huge fan of Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus, Joanna lives by her biggest lesson: “Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!” You can find her on Facebook. 

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