Handwriting Exercises and Activities: A Parent Library

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-09-30

What the research we hold says about practice

Handwriting improves when it is taught and practiced.

Handwriting, spelling and getting ideas down each get better when taught.

• Handwriting. Santangelo and Graham (2016) pooled studies of teaching handwriting. Handwriting lessons made handwriting clearer and faster than other lessons or none.
• Spelling. In a 2014 review of 53 studies, Graham and Santangelo found that teaching spelling directly works. They also found gains in spelling while writing, not only on tests.
• Getting ideas down. Two reviews support teaching children how to plan and revise (Graham and Perin, 2007; Gillespie and Graham, 2014). The first covered grades 4 to 12. The second covered students with learning disabilities.

Work on handwriting, spelling and composing side by side.

One review looked at help for school-age children with handwriting trouble (Hoy and colleagues, 2011). Help that left out handwriting practice did not work. Neither did help with too few practice sessions. The review does not say how much practice is enough.

One review looked at classroom handwriting programs for young children (Engel and colleagues, 2018). It found no clear support for one program over another. We name no program on this page.

Another review looked at help for handwriting fluency (López-Escribano and colleagues, 2022). The children in it were in regular schools, from kindergarten to grade 6. In that review, handwriting help made writing more fluent than no help or unrelated lessons. Its authors say many of its comparisons were too small to be sure.

One study compared two groups of first and second graders (Howe and colleagues, 2013). One group practiced handwriting. The other did seeing-and-movement activities instead. In that study, the practice group gained more in how readable its writing was. The study found no speed difference between the groups. The groups were not picked at random. We could read only its summary. Handwriting improves most consistently with handwriting practice; motor work alone has not been shown to improve it.

Will better handwriting make better writing?

Handwriting practice makes handwriting better, but its effect on composing is not settled. Santangelo and Graham (2016) found gains in composing. A US federal panel, the What Works Clearinghouse, found few studies that measured writing quality. Those few found no evidence of a gain from handwriting and spelling practice. The panel still thinks it helps. So teach composing as well.

How we would teach a letter

In our view, teaching a letter means three things. Show where it starts. Show which way it goes. Show the order of the strokes. Then your child writes it.

Do it while your child watches. Say each step out loud as you write. Use the letter forms your child is being taught. If there is a teacher, ask.

Then watch your child write it. Look at where the pencil starts and which way it moves. If a letter goes wrong, show it again. In our view, one fix at a time is enough. Leave the rest of the page alone.

Start with letters your child uses a lot, or finds hard. That choice is ours, not a tested order.

The activities

The activities on this page are ours, not tested methods. Each one in our list is done with a pencil, on paper.

We hold no study that tests the activities on this page. That is a gap in what we hold, not a finding that they do not work. We chose them because each one is practice at handwriting itself. This page is not a complete list.

Show, then write. Show one letter the way the section above says. Your child writes it a few times. This one practices forming one letter from start to finish.

Letter families. Group letters that start the same way. In our grouping, c, a, d, g, o and q start with the same curve. n, m and h start with a line down, then a hump. Practice one family at a time, over several short sittings. The grouping and the order are ours. Check them against the letter forms your child is being taught. This one practices one start across several letters.

Best letter. Your child writes a short row of one letter. Then they circle their best one and say why. This one practices noticing what a well-formed letter looks like.

Copy a short line. Write a short sentence at the top of a page. Your child copies it underneath. Keep the model close, on the same page. This one practices forming letters from a model.

Real words. Say a word your child can spell. They write it. Use words from their own life, like a pet, a friend or a team. This one practices letters inside real words.

One sentence. Say a short sentence. Your child writes it, then reads it back. In our view, this is like what school asks. This one practices handwriting on the real task.

Their own sentence. Ask for one sentence about their day. They write it. Help with spelling if they ask. Today the practice is the letters. This one practices handwriting while they think of the words.

Everyday writing. A shopping list. A note for someone at home. A list of things to pack. This one practices handwriting for a real reader.

How much, how often

Our position is that short, frequent practice does more than long, rare sessions. In our experience, handwriting gets worse as a child tires. Stop before it falls apart.

The review by Hoy and colleagues (2011) found that help with too few practice sessions did not work. The review does not say how much practice is enough. We cannot put a number on it for your child.

In our view, watch the practice, not the calendar. To us, a little done well makes a good sitting. Keep an old page. Now and then, put it next to today's page.

Hand exercises and the rest

Keep any hand or finger exercise alongside handwriting practice, not in place of it. Handwriting improves most consistently with handwriting practice; motor work alone has not been shown to improve it.

In one small trial, a sensory-motor group's handwriting got worse (Denton and colleagues, 2006). A practice group in the same trial improved. The children had no identified school need. In another trial, a sensory-motor program improved about as much as a task-based one (Weintraub and colleagues, 2009). Both were called handwriting programs. That trial's summary does not say what practice each held.

One review looked at 23 trials of motor programs in schools (Eddy and colleagues, 2019). In that review, all seven handwriting-practice programs reported some gain, though results were mixed across measures. Nearly all its handwriting trials were of typical 5- to 7-year-olds. Its authors say some studies had weak designs, so the results need care.

If your child likes a warm-up, keep it short. Then go to the letters. Does your child's hand often hurt when writing? In our view, tell the teacher, and your child's doctor if it keeps up.

Print or cursive?

One study compared print, cursive and both in grade 2 classrooms in Québec (Morin and colleagues, 2012). Neither style was shown to be better. The children were not chosen for writing trouble.

We hold no trial of cursive for children with dysgraphia. In our view, practice the style your child is being taught.

When to ask for help

Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.

• Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
• Writing well below your child's other schoolwork.
• A teacher who raises a concern about writing.
• Extreme upset about writing.
• Complete avoidance of writing.
• Hopelessness about learning.
• Sadness or worry that lasts.
• Significant delays in speech, language or motor development.
• A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

Start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, delays in speech, language or movement are worth raising with your child's doctor. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.

Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.