Handwriting Curriculum and Resources - Clay Activities

Summary:  Handwriting curriculum often can include hands-on activities.  Clay activities are helpful for building wrist and finger strength, plus it can help build the muscles needed for grasp. . This post may include affiliate links to products that we love and have used or would use in our own homeschool.  Please see my disclosure policy.

Do you have a child who struggles with handwriting?  

Sometimes that is due to fine motor coordination difficulties.  Sometimes it is not, and it is instead an issue of hand and finger strength.  

Good wrist strength is as essential for handwriting as finger coordination is.  

Both are important.  Today I'd like to share a resource that we have found helpful for strengthening wrist and hand muscles. 

Clay Fun is a little book from Oak Meadow Homeschool Publishers, full of creative easy-to-do projects, which only require play dough or clay.

We got our clay from a local grocery/drug store, in the toy department.  My daughter enjoyed making a number of the projects, as described in this book. 

There are over 20 easy to do, fun clay projects in this book.  The projects are great for teens, too.

I liked how each project included easy to follow, step by step directions.  It could easily be done independently, depending on the age of the child.

It can easily become a family project! Your whole homeschool could take a Clay Fun break, in the afternoons.

photo credit - Oak Meadow

One fall, my daughter enjoyed making their Cornucopia project as pictured below.

Benefits:

Rolling the clay out for this project is great for strengthening the wrist muscles.

And shaping the pumpkin and the other veggies for the cornucopia is super for building up the finger muscles.

Another simple project included was their Bunny Egg Bank, which was great for not only building up wrist strength, but also finger strength, too.

Photo Credit - Oak Meadow

Benefits:

Making the pinch pots for this project is great for strengthening the finger muscles needed for a mature grasp.

Clay Fun is all about having fun working with clay, while building up the wrist and finger muscles for handwriting. 

For more information on Clay Fun, please click here to read the rest of my review of this helpful resource.  Another benefit is that these activities can work for older kids, too.

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is a former O.T, veteran homeschooler and now mom to her college grad, whom she homeschooled from preK through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school, college, gifted/2e and wrote - Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers free homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting. 

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