The basics of handwriting

Occupational therapy

﻿Hi. I'm really looking forward to our lesson today. I hope you are too. Before we get started. This is just a little reminder. We're here to support any approaches you might already be using and any work you might've already been set. We know that this lesson is going to be going up so many different children and families. So if you're not sure about anything or have any questions. Then please do contact your usual therapy team. I want you to try the following hand warm ups before each handwriting session. This is really important. For getting your hands ready for writing. Try and do. Each activity or each little warm up say 10 times. If you're finding that it's tricky to do one warm up with both hands together at the same time. Then just do one hand at a time. Hands open and closed. Nice fist and open. Stretch those fingers. Now we are going to interlock our fingers and squeeze our hands. You can see how white my fingertips are going because I'm squeezing and getting all of that feedback into my hands and my fingers. Okay. Squeeze. Now I want you to clasp your fingers and just pull. Pull, pull, pull, pull. Excellent. Next let's do some finger taps on the table. If you struggle doing both hands at once. Then just do one hand at a time. You can also try finger taps on the tips of your thumbs. Okay. So take each finger and just gently touch that finger's tip to your thumb. Now do some finger pulls and squeezes. Squeeze your fingers as you pull them up and away from your body. This is really good activity for getting your fingers ready for writing. And don't forget your thumbs. And if you wanted an extra challenge, you could try some finger separations. Okay. So those were your hand warm ups. Please remember to do them before each handwriting session. Hi. Welcome to our module on handwriting. In our first lesson, we're going to be looking at the basics of handwriting. Okay. So we're going to be looking at our posture. Where our arms and our shoulders should be. Where our feet should be. We're also going to be looking at our chairs and tables. Our paper, where we should have our paper. Our pencils, how we should hold it. And we can add a little bit of a writing sample. So that's quite a lot to cover, but it's really important. Why is it so important for us to practise our handwriting? Excuse me. Well, handwriting is actually a really complicated skill. Which is why, when we've started all the lessons for occupational therapy. We started on all our core skills. So we looked at how strong we were physically. Then we looked at our fine motor skills. Then we looked at our visual perception. And now we're at the actual handwriting part because it's just so complex. There's so many things we have to bear in mind when we get ready to write. So we have to think is my body in a good position? I'm I holding my pencil right? Is my pen, I'm I holding it too tight? I'm holding it too loose? My eyes need to look and see where my hand is going and how it's moving. And then our brains also need to work out. Where on the paper we're going to be placing our lines to make our letters. At school we'll be writing a lot. And throughout our lives, we'll be writing a lot as well. We need to write things down all the time in our lessons. So that we can learn and note down our homework for example. And what happens is if your handwriting isn't quite so good. Then we might struggle to learn our lessons or not get all our ideas down at our paper in time for exams. Or if you're trying to rush, for example. So, why do we need to write if we can use technology? Well, typing our notes and homework is fantastic and it's great. But imagine you're stuck on a deserted island and you have no technology. All you have, to leave someone a very quick note to come and rescue you. Is a pencil and some paper. And you've got to quickly write this note because someone might see it. Okay. Or imagine you're on a spy mission. Okay. And you have to very quickly leave a note for someone before another person comes and intercepts the message. So you have to quickly write it down. Okay. And throughout our lives, we're going have to be able to write even short amounts. To make a little list for, for going shopping. Okay. So it's really important that we can do even just the basics. Okay. So, what are the basics? Well there's so many things we need to think about before we can even pick up our pencil, or start moving our pencil. And if we don't do these things correctly. Then our writing's just not going to be as good as it could be. But also we could get tired really quickly. So things we need to think about is. How we are sitting. We need to think about where we put our paper on our table and how we're holding it. And we need to think about, how we hold our pencil. Okay. Pause the video now to get the following items. The chair that you normally use for writing. The table you normally sit at when you do your writing. A pen or pencil. And then some lined paper. Restart once you're ready. Okay. Our first activity is all about sitting up straight. How we sit is really important because it gives us a stable foundation. A stable base to use our arms, our hands, our head. Okay. We need to make sure that our feet are flat on the floor. That our bottoms are back on the chair. Can you scoot back in your chair? Excellent. Your hips need to be at right angles. And so do your knees and your ankles. And all this means, is it needs to form very straight lines. Your back should be as close to the back of the chair as possible. My chair's a bit too big for me. So if I go back, I wouldn't be able to do any writing. Okay. Try not to slouch forward or rest on the table or hold your head. You're not going to get much writing down that way. And also you're tummy should be as close to the table as possible. Yeah. So have a look at those pictures there in the little Playmobil classroom. Harry's feet aren't even touching the floor. And look at how far away he is from the table. It's not going to be able to reach very well to do his writing is he? Now what about these two little chaps on here? They are sitting and reading. Well, the guy in the green T-shirt got really curved back. Which means that he's going to be really uncomfortable very quickly. Okay. Here we have some examples of, what we mean when we say 90 degree angles or right angles. Quite often I sit on an exercise ball because it gives me a really good position. And I quite often see these, in some classrooms in schools. So you can see there. His feet on the floor. His knees are at a good angle. And the same thing with the blue guy sitting on the black chair. Okay. So you can see, his hips are making that angle. His knees are making that angle and his ankles are doing the same thing. Right. Pause the video now to practise a good sitting position. Ask an adult to help you make any adjustments you may need to in order to get your feet flat on the floor. And that might be as simple as putting some books under your feet or a shoe box. Restart once you're ready. Okay. For our next activity, we need to look at our table. So our table can't be too high, because then we're right up there. Or too low. Our shoulders mustn't come scrunched up to our ears. Because that will really hurt over time. You'll become really uncomfortable. Try and make sure that your table doesn't wobble. Okay. Because if your table wobbled and you were writing. Your writing is not going to be very neat. And make sure that you pull your stomach towards the table, but make sure that you have enough space to breathe. Okay. So, there we can see. The pink guy. His table is way too low. Can you see how his back is bending? His head is bending. That does not look very comfortable to me. What about Mr. Blue guy? Well, his table is just way too high. Look at where his arms are. All the way up there. Do you think that's comfortable? No, I don't think it's comfortable either. There you can see, what happens when he sits too low. I think he's going to have neckache, backache. What else do you think become a problem for him? And in this picture where Mr. Blue guy is sitting at a table is way too high. Look at his shoulders. How long do you think he can sit like that before he's really, really uncomfortable? And here we have Mr. Just Right. Look at his lovely position. His feet are flat on the floor. His ankles are at good angle. So are his knees and his hips. His table is close enough to his tummy. He's sitting quite far back and his arms are in a really good position for him to do his writing. That's really good, isn't it? Okay. Pause the video now. To practise how you would sit at a table. Ask an adult to help you. If you're not sure that you're sitting quite right. Restart when you're finished. Okay. Next is where we put our paper. So when we have our paper on the table. It should be at an angle that is comfortable for writing. So if your arm is like that, it's going to be really hard. If your paper's turned slightly at an angle, that will make it much better. Okay. If you're lefthanded you're going to have to tilt the paper even more so. Just a tiny bit. So that you don't smudge any of your work. Okay. So start off and place your paper in line with the centre of your body. Ask an adult to show you what this looks like. Slightly tilted and make sure that you're helping hand is actually doing its job and helping and holding the paper. Because that means that when you're writing the paper's not going to slide away as you write. Yeah. And that's super important. Pause the video now. To get used to how your paper should sit in front of you. Restart once you're finished. Okay. And lastly, for our equipment side of things. How do we hold our pencil? Well, the best way really to hold our pencil. Is in a tripod grip. And that means we've got one, two, three fingers. On the pencil. Tri like a triceratops has got three horns. Tri or triangle is three sides. Okay. This is when we use just these fingers and where the pencil is sitting. Can you have a look and see, where is the pencil. It's in the space here and this is called our web space. Okay. Can you see that? That's where the pencil should sit. Nice and relaxed in your web space. Sometimes if you're not sure where to put everything on your pencil. You can add a little bit of blue tack or some Velcro just to give your fingers a little bit of a guide of where they should sit. Okay. And you'll see, later on a good way to practise is if you have a teeny tiny little crayon. Because then you can't hold your pencil like that. You can't hold your pencil like that. Which not very comfortable. That's not very comfortable either. Okay. Holding your pencil up there, not very comfortable either. So we want to aim for a tripod grip. Okay. And these fingers are just sitting in there. And if you find that they stick up. Why you should put something in there just to hold it. Okay. And we're going to do more on that in the next few lessons. Okay. Pause the video now. To practise holding a pencil in a good tripod grip. You can ask an adult or your carer to take a picture of your hand when it's holding a pencil in a really good position. And then you can always look back at that. So you could even print it and then put it on your wall. To remind you, how to hold your pencil. Okay. Restart once you're finished. Right now let's get a writing sample. Okay. So with all those things in mind. Sitting in the right position, holding your paper, holding your pen, shoulders low. We're going to think about, writing a sentence. I want you to really not rush. Go slowly and carefully. And then afterwards, take a moment and think how it feels to write when everything is in a good position. And it might feel a little bit weird, or uncomfortable or different. Because you may not be used to writing like that. Okay. But the more you practise, the more it will become more natural and more normal to you. So I want you to copy this sentence. Which says, the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy squirrel by the oak tree. That sentence has every letter of the alphabet. Here you can see. I'm having a go. Now, you have a think about my letters. Are they more or less the same size? Are they sitting nicely on the line? Not all of them are. Are they formed very neatly? Well, that last 'O' was not very neat. But I tried my best, which is the most important thing. And oh, the tail of that 'Y'. Okay. Now do you think I could have slowed down a bit? I think I could have slowed down a bit. I think I was writing too quickly. Okay. Maybe because there was a certain puppy biting my toes and I was in a rush. Pause the video now. To practise the sentence that you saw on the previous slides. Okay. Take your time. Work slowly and carefully. Restart once you're finished. Right. Now we're going to make ourselves a checklist because there's so many things we've gone over. And it's actually so much to remember. And what helps is to make yourself a little checklist. Okay. This is so that you can look it over. Tick things off as you need to before you start writing. If you can, ask an adult if maybe they would laminate the page for you. So, you can just wipe it clean and reuse it each time. Or you could rub out your pencil texts or just tick them off in your head. Right. Now if I were to do a checklist. I would be maybe writing. I'm I sitting with my back straight? Are my feet flat on the floor? Are my hips, knees and ankles at a nice comfortable angle? Is my tummy close enough to the table? Yes, it is. Give yourself a tick. Okay. Are my shoulders nice and relaxed or are they up on my neck? No, they're relaxed. Tick. Yeah. I'm I holding my paper with my helping hand? Yes. Well done. It's my paper angled slightly? It is. I'm I holding my pencil correctly? Yes, fantastic. Pause the video now, to make yourself a checklist. Ask an adult to see if you've got everything in there that we have learned about today. Okay. Restart once you're finished. There are lots of things that we can do to change our position to make writing easier for us. As you keep growing more and more. You can't always have the chair at exactly the right height or have the table at exactly the right height. So we can do things like, if your chair's too high, use a foot rest. A plastic box turned upside down. If your table is too high. You can set up some cushions to lift yourself up. Okay. Some people like to sit on a wedged cushion. That means it's a triangular shape. And that gives them a little bit of a lift. Yeah. And what you could also do, if you're struggling to get your paper at the right angle. You can ask an adult to tape, with little bits of tape on the table. Roughly where your paper should be. Okay. And also remember, if you keep on forgetting to use your helping hand. You can simply make a cut out of your hand and put it on the paper. So you know if it's on the table and you're like oh, that's what that is for. And you can put your hand there. Remember do the best for you. Don't rush. Take your time, work carefully and slowly. It's much more important to get all of the basics right first. Practise, practise, practise. If you'd like to. Please ask your parents or carer to share your writing samples or your really good handwriting position. On Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. Tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak. Bye. See you next time.

The basics of handwriting

The basics of handwriting

These resources will be removed by the end of the Spring Term 2026.

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