Screen-Free Handwriting Activities

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-10-30

Some parents ask for handwriting time away from screens. This page gives ideas for that.

In our view, the studies below are not a reason to keep screens away. These ideas are for parents who want some time off them.

Screen-free handwriting activities to try

Each idea is real letters and words, written by hand. Each one ends with writing on paper.

1. Write a card or a note. A birthday card for a cousin. A thank-you note to a grandparent. Your child writes it by hand.
2. Make the shopping list. Say each item. Your child writes it down. Let them carry the list in the store.
3. Chalk on the sidewalk. Your child writes letters or short words in big chalk. Then they write the same words on paper.
4. A whiteboard. Your child writes one letter large, wipes it and goes again. Then the same letter goes on paper, at its usual size.
5. Sand or shaving cream. Your child forms one letter with a finger and says its name. Then the same letter goes on paper. Our page on multisensory letter practice has more.
6. A word chain. You write a word on paper. Your child writes a word that starts with its last letter. Take turns down the page.
7. A postcard. Your child writes two or three lines about their day. Mail it to someone in the family.

This list is our own practice, not a tested method.

Handwriting improves most consistently with handwriting practice; motor work alone has not been shown to improve it.

In our view, sand, chalk and whiteboards go alongside paper, not instead of it. To us, paper is where your child will use the letters.

How we would run a sitting

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.

Use the letter forms your child is being taught. If there is a teacher, ask.

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.

These steps are our own practice, not a tested method. Handwriting improves most consistently with handwriting practice; motor work alone has not been shown to improve it.

Our page on handwriting activities has more ideas, all on paper.

What the research we hold says, and where it stops

Pencil, tablet pen or keyboard for learning letters. One study had kindergarten children in Germany learn 16 capital letters over seven weeks (Mayer and colleagues, 2020). Each group used one tool: a pencil, a pen on a tablet, or an on-screen keyboard. The pencil group gained more in knowing letters than the keyboard group. That gain was measured at a later check, after training ended. The pencil and tablet-pen groups did not differ clearly on any test. Even so, the authors judged the tablet pen the weakest of the three. The children were typical learners. Children at risk for reading trouble were left out. Mayer's study did not measure handwriting quality. The authors say their study tells us nothing about effects over years.

Printing or typing for spellings. For learning spellings, printing and typing are mixed. In one study, 40 second graders practiced made-up words by printing or by typing (Ouellette and Tims, 2014). Both groups learned them well, with no difference. An older study found first graders spelled better after writing by hand (Cunningham and Stanovich, 1990). We could read only that older study's summary.

A tablet app in kindergarten. One study had kindergarten classes do some handwriting practice on a tablet app (Bonneton-Botté and colleagues, 2020). The other classes used only paper and pencil. Handwriting was tested on paper. The app helped only children who started at a middle level of handwriting. We could read only its summary.

Screens and hand skills. One study followed 141 preschoolers for a year (Martzog and Suggate, 2022). More screen use went with weaker hand skills a year later. That is a link, not proof that screens caused it. Martzog's study did not measure handwriting. We could read only its summary.

Where the research we hold stops. We hold no study that tracked screen use and handwriting over years. That is a gap in what we hold, not a finding either way.

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.

Nothing in the studies on this page tested a Learning Success program.

In our view, these studies are not a reason to keep screens away. Our page on whether handwriting still matters has more.

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.

If no skill has gone, 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.