Letter Formation Practice Through Sensory Play

After receiving my Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education, I learned about the importance of teaching children the correct way to form letters beginning at an early age. 

Visually seeing correct letter formation is critical in the early pre-writing stages. Thus, leading The Creative Learning Co to create our own custom font to ensure little learners were getting the best hands-on learning experience. This was a non-negotiable for me!

I worked with a friend, who is an engineer, for about three months to learn a Computer Aided Design (CAD) software program which assisted us in drawing every letter by hand. We were determined to make each curve and shape in alignment with the most popular US based handwriting instruction. It took time and lots of editing, but I am very proud of what we have created and love seeing our Learning Boards with this font used throughout classrooms and playrooms.

Inaccurate letter formation can lead to difficulties in writing, reading and even spelling in later stages of education. That's why it is essential to start teaching the correct way of forming letters from an early age.

It feels good knowing that the children who use our products are being exposed to accurate letter formations. Letter formation through play based learning is a great way to develop letter formation confidence!

Here are some strategies to try:

• Provide hands-on experiences: children can form letters in various filler materials such as shave foam, sand, play-doh, or rice.
• Use our tracing boards and try identifying and tracing the first letter of a series of words (like colors)
• Alphabet Tracing Board™
• Number Tracing Board™
• Print Tracing Board™ 
• Model correct formation: get in the sensory learning fun with them and point out key features of each letter. Try describing each part and shape of the letters.
• Use visual aids: incorporate visual aids like our custom font alphabet products

See these ideas in action over at our Instagram: @TheCreativeLearningCo - We’ve been inspired by the Handwriting without Tears methods.