Textures to write in with fingers: sand, shaving cream, and ?

[joannqn]

What have you used for fine motor skills and tactile play? I've come up with sand, sugar (very sticky), rice, lentils, shaving cream, and pudding (yummy and sticky).

 

Any other ideas?

[blondeviolin]

Salt, oatmeal (dry), play dough...

[Mothersweets]

cornmeal?

[Alessandra]

I would add some play with arms raised -- easel, drawing on any vertical surface, balloon volleyball.... This is the advice I've got from OTs.

 

Also, weight bearing play helps -- like playing with regular sized wooden blocks, rather than mini blocks or light foam ones.

 

ETA wheelbarrow walking (if dc is ready for it)

[NanceXToo]

"Oobleck" would be a fun tactile thing!

 

"Oobleck is a suspension of cornstarch and water that can behave like a solid or a liquid depending on how much pressure you apply. Try to grab some in your hand and it will form a solid ball in your palm just until you release the pressure, then it will flow out between your fingers."

 

NOTE: When you dispose of it, dispose of it in a ziplock bag and throw it in the trash, DO NOT PUT IT DOWN YOUR SINK DRAIN!

[Love_to_Read]

velvet

 

hair gel

[joannqn]

Great ideas!

 

I'm specifically looking for things to write in. I want to start handwriting with doing the letter with play doh one day, making a craft left another day, writing the letter with finger tip in tactile material the third day, etc.

[Lori D.]

- Cornmeal. (Helps the child see, say and feel the spelling.)

- Fingertip on tabletop. (write each letter large (involve whole arm), saying each letter. Helps the child see, say, and feel the spelling.)

- Write/Unwrite. (say each letter aloud while writing with marker on whiteboard, then child "unwrites" the word, saying each letter and going over the letter with fingertip to erase it letter by letter.)

- Magnetic letters. (either child says each letter and lays out each magnetic letter, or look at a written version word and sort out magnetic letters to match.)

- Clay "Snakes". (roll out "snakes" of clay and shape each into a letter of the spelling word.)

 

 

 

No idea if these would work, but I have seen these listed as possible tactile spelling practice ideas:

 

- Silly string -- with a long length of string, "write" words in cursive.

- Popsicles -- spell by forming the letters with popsicle sticks.

- Etch-A-Sketch -- spell on the etch-a-sketch

- Jump Spell -- write the letters BIG on the sidewalk in chalk in 4 stacked rows of 6 or 7 letters per row; child jumps from letter to letter while shouting out the letters (Indoor variation: one letter written per index card, spread out on floor and jump from letter to letter)

- Type Spell -- use the computer keyboard or a typewriter and type out each word

 

 

 

The spelling techniques that worked the best for our struggling speller:

 

 

1. Out Loud (4x/week, 3-5 min/day)

(idea from Andrew Pudewa/Phonetic Zoo)

You clearly say the word aloud, spell it (syllable by syllable if that helps), and toss the child a beanie toy; then the student says the word/spells it correctly, and tosses the beanie back. The beanie toss helps keep him focused and mentally prepared. *Immediately* stop and correct any misspelling by spelling it aloud correctly several times and have the student spell it correctly by looking at it and reading it letter by letter several times. Hearing the letters in correct sequential order really helps cement correct spelling in the mind.

 

 

2. Worksheets (4x/week, 5-10 min/day)

I make a variety of types of worksheets for the week, whatever fits on one sheet of paper in the spiral notebook for spelling practice:

- add the prefixes/suffixes (ex: _____ + ______ = maiden; pain+less=_______) (ex: add these endings -- "ing", "ed", "less" -- to these words -- "pain", "glaze", "rain" -- use each word and ending only once)

- break the words into syllables

- I write a brief sentence for each spelling word, with a blank for the spelling word; he writes the correct homophone to complete the sentence (ex: "The girl fell and had a ______ in her leg." choice: "pane", "pain")

- list the words in the top half of the page, then divide the bottom half of the page into 2 columns; he writes the words under the correct column headings (ex: "a_e" words / "-ai-" words) (or: 1-syllable, 2-syllable, 3-syllable words)

 

 

3. Work with words on whiteboard (3x/week, 5-10 min/day)

(expanded from original idea from Sequential Spelling)

- reinforce vowel patterns, syllabication patterns, etc.

- write out root words and practice adding endings, prefixes, etc. -- tell it and draw it as a story with character pictures (ex.: "hope" -- the vowels at the end of the word like to fight with vowels at the beginning of an ending (like "-ing", or "-ed"), so you have to drop the "-e" at the end of "hope" and then add the endings such as "-er" or "-ing"; adding endings such as "-ful" or "-less", or prefixes such as "-un" are not a problem, because they start with a consonant, and consonants don't fight with the vowel at the end of the word)

- work with homophones -- see the different spellings, and draw a picture or tell a little story to help the difference stick (ex: "meet" and "meat"; it takes 2 people to "meet" and there are 2 "e"s in "meet"; draw the letter "a" to look like a heart and say "I love to eat "meat" -- and see, the word "eat" is IN the word "meat"; etc.)

 

 

4. Dictate sentences (1-2x/week; 5-10 min./day)

(idea from Stevenson Basic Blue Spelling Manual)

Dictate 5 short sentences, (slowly, one at a time) each with 2-3 spelling words in them for student to practice simultaneous thinking/writing/spelling.

 

 

BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

[Dmmetler]

Pudding or whipped cream.

 

Fingerpaint inside a ziplock bag (so you can push it around, then erase it, then push it around again-this was a big one for my DD, who is sensitive to textures.

[sagira]

We've used flour around here too.

[MerryAtHope]

Carpet squares, sandpaper (you can even make your own sandpaper letters). I'd include some large motor movements like making the letter with the whole arm in the air. My kids also enjoyed trying to make their body into a letter shape. Here are some other tactile and kinesthetic activities. Have fun! Merry :-)

[AngelBee]

Yogurt

 

Colored salt

 

Colored sand

 

Sand using stick

 

Hair gel (super cheap ones)

 

Aloe

 

Dish soap

 

Shower gel or shampoo

 

Conditioner or lotion

 

Colored Crisco or cheap baking fat (cant think what that is called! :lol: )

 

Coffee grinds (used and dried)

 

Cocoa powder

 

flour or cornstarch

 

I LOVE this kind of stuff! :001_huh: :tongue_smilie:

 

Then we use the following to "build letters"

 

Clay

 

Playdough

 

Playdough with sand in it

 

Playdough with coffee grinds in it

 

small pieces of sticks

 

tooth picks

 

string

 

pipe cleaners

 

jump rope or ropes

 

popsicle sticks

 

Thinking.....

[woolybear]

"Oobleck" would be a fun tactile thing!

 

"NOTE: When you dispose of it, dispose of it in a ziplock bag and throw it in the trash, DO NOT PUT IT DOWN YOUR SINK DRAIN!

Now you tell me! I just put some of this down the drain last week. Is the disaster coming some time in the future or did I manage to skate past this one? :D

[AngelBee]

My kids love to paint with water on the sidewalk in the summer. You could use a trim roller paint brush, cheap chip board, small sponges and even wet fingers.

 

You can also do that on construction paper with fingers/brushes with water or ice cubes. :)

 

After, dry out paper and put away for next time.

[AngelBee]

Oh....mud.

 

You can also draw in mud. lol

[amazzie]

It's not really tactile, but the magnadoodle is fun to write on!

[AngelBee]

Just made Oobleck for the first time.....how FUN!!! :D

[Alessandra]

Wiki Stix

 

Oh, I am so glad to be past the messy stage of education!

[Carol in Cal.]

A piece of screen door screen. Use duct tape to seal the edges.

 

Also, rainbow writing is great. You have a big letter on a normal size piece of paper, and you have them write over it in every color of the rainbow.

 

Also, 3D letter models help with the kinesthetic learner. Those refrigerator magnets are excellent for this. Make sure you get lower case ones also.

[LivingHope]

I use dry watercolor pencils to write phonograms and words to be traced with a wet Q-tip...fun fun fun.

 

We have been having fun with chalk on construction paper lately.

 

Flour and cornmeal mixed together is my favorite finger tracing medium.

[momofede]

What about outdoors, perhaps in the mud?

[Stacie in UT]

I think writing in pudding would be fun. You make a letter, say it's sound, then lick your fingers clean.

 

HWOT have some great suggestions for writing your letters on a small chalkboard and erasing them with a small piece of wet sponge held like a pencil.

[AngelBee]

 

HWOT have some great suggestions for writing your letters on a small chalkboard and erasing them with a small piece of wet sponge held like a pencil.

 

Like that!

[SnMomof7]

We are a lentil family. :)