Superior handwriting with lined paper and origami aeroplanes! Be prepared for some great fun with this top handwriting activity.

Today we made origami planes but with a slight twist

There are many children who dislike handwriting and I know some parents struggle to know how to incorporate extra handwriting practise in a way that is fun for their child. If that is you then I have something ideal to share with you.

Here is what we did.

Firstly, we all had to write a secret message on lined paper

These messages will be given at the end to the child whose plane flew the furthest. For those that did not know what to write, I included motivational quotes that could be copied. These included phrases from Dr. Suess “You can steer yourself in any direction you choose”. I personally liked “No one is perfect – that’s why pencils have erasers” by Wolfgang Riebe. The child I was working with created his own and wrote: “If I try I know I will somehow do it”.

Next, we made the origami planes

Ours had a selection of planes called Arrow, Dragon Fly, and Condor.Everyone chose the plane they wanted to make. The planes came with instructions which were great for those needing to practise two handed (bilateral) and planning skills.

Finally, we had to throw them!

This was an excellent way to develop eye-hand coordination and shoulder strength skills. It helps encourage hand dominance. What actually happened was that two planes landed too close to each other. The winner was decided by using a tape measure, again a wonderful way to develop fine motor skills especially as my tape measure was quite large and needed to be gripped firmly to release the tape. The winner then read out aloud all the secret messages.

A fun way to superior handwriting

If you want to improve handwriting in a discrete way, then I suggest you give this a try. It worked brilliantly for us and it was a lot of fun. It was also such a great way to use handwriting to build up a child’s confidence in themselves.