Handwriting Practice resources

My kids before my kids

It's no secret that I have a special relationship with my nephew and my niece. They're older than my kids, and I had a good few years of quality time with them before my kids came along — now we're all besties who look forward to the holidays with impatience, because that's when we get to hang out. The rest of the time we live in different countries, going about our everyday lives.

Each year I see them during the summer holidays, and we're like magnets: we're meant to be together.

We love doing crafty things together — painting, drawing, making things, cooking. It's great.

Books vs screens

Having some Gen Alpha around means a few concessions have to be made about our choices of entertainment. While some might reach for the Nintendo Switch, others might reach for their dog-eared books. And the video gamers don't want to read, and the readers don't want to game. It's a mess.

To each his own. Everyone settles with their device of choice, and a lovely calm sets in the house every day after meal times, when the tummies are full and the hearts are happy. There's nothing to think about except the next meal, and the weather is warm and comfortable. The whirr of the fans and the far-away sounds of birds and traffic are the only things I hear.

Trick them into learning

In the same way you sometimes have to trick your kid into eating their veggies by sneaking them into a soup or a burger, I've been trying to trick these kids into learning things. We play games where they need to read words, we play games where they need to get rapid-fire maths questions right. It works, then it doesn't anymore. These guys need constant innovation.

The latest in my constant innovations are these handwriting worksheets, made with extracts from books they love.

Here are two:

Feel free to download, print, and use these with your own little ones — and if you make your own versions with your kids' favorite characters, I'd love to hear how it goes.