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The difference between children's hands!
Did you know that a 3-year-old (top left image) and a 6-year-old (top right image) have significantly different skeletal structures in their hands?! Notice the bones in the wrist of the 3-year-old - many of them are still mostly cartilage! Look at all the spaces in between the bones where muscles and tendons will change through the years. Even the difference between a 6-year-old and a 14-year-old (lower right) is huge!
Preschoolers have SO much development to do before they can write the way school-aged children or adults can! Please do NOT stress if your preschooler does not want to write or draw. Some love it and some don't. While they are growing, strengthen those little bones and muscles! Here are some great pre-writing, muscle-strengthening activities:
- painting, drawing, colouring
- playdough
- tearing and cutting
- gluing
- poking holes in things (try toothpicks and paper)
- digging in dirt/sandpit
- building with LEGOS, marble runs, or other blocks
- beading (try beads, cut straws, or even bobbins!)
- puzzles
- squeezing (try stress balls, squeezing water in a sponge, or using a pipette)
- picking up and throwing balls (use different sizes)
- playing with toys (watch what their little fingers do when they pick up and move little cars, marbles, action figures, etc)
These all strengthen and help develop little hands, muscles, and bones. When they are physically ready to write, it will be so much easier than if they were pushed when they didn't want to and weren't ready!