Fitness for Fingers

One common reason children can come to avoid writing is that their fingers aren?t prepared for the workout that writing can be. After a while, fingers get sore and writing gets tough, so they give up. If your child complains of her fingers getting tired when printing, you may want to introduce some exercises to limber up the fingers before they start writing.

Warming up before writing can be especially beneficial to those children who are always on the move and tend to balk at sit-down style learning. It helps them to transition from physical activity much more smoothly than simply expecting them to sit down and write and it helps them to focus their energies into their fingers before they start.

The process can be as simple as wiggling and stretching out their fingers before writing, but an especially active child may need more of a transition. You will want to start with general arm stretches first and then work down to ones that concentrate on the fingers like the simple and fun exercise below:

Squash the Ball or Spider Push-Ups.
I?ve heard this activity called by both names, but the actions are the same. Have your child touch their fingertips together with the centre of the hands open, in the shape of a small ball, then have them smoosh their hands together as if to squash the ball. Now have them push their fingers apart (like finger push-ups) and start over. Repeat creating and squashing the ball several times.

Remember, it doesn?t have to be complicated. Even clapping is a form of finger exercise, so playing a few rounds of patty cake can take the sting out printing practice. Adding a few exercises like this to your pre-writing routine and you?ll soon notice that writing time goes a lot smoother.

Lisa Braverman is the owner of Educational Toy http://www.educationaltoyfactory.com Factory and is dedicated to creating educational http://www.educationaltoyfactory.com/parentchildactivities.htm activities for kids and parents that are fun, easy and enriching.