Write, write, write

This post is all about handwriting. Let your little one use anything and everything to "write" or draw. Chalk, markers, colored pencils, crayons, pens, anything. In this picture, I was writing on a birthday card with a pen. K (17 mos) was sitting at the table with me coloring with triangular crayons. But, she decided she wanted what I had and took the pen. She is actually using an ideal grasp here, the tripod grasp. Don't worry if your toddler is not doing that. Many kids still use their whole fist to write. Some things you can do to encourage a tripod grasp: break crayons in half, break colored pencils down and sharpen both ends, use the pipsqueak markers or other short and fat writing tools and last have them write on a vertical surface like a wall or an easel.