Integrating core and upper body strength to build letters using Handwriting Without Tears

Once a child has learned to identify uppercase letters, then its a good time to start learning how to "build" them .   Its best to build the letters before actually writing them, because the building helps children remember the strokes needed and the large muscle movement is great because it helps them to integrate what they have learned.  I used this simple activity with a child that was also working on core and upper body strength.  He brought along a favorite stuffed animal, so I gladly let the doggie play too.

Materials Needed:
Platform swing  or a therapy ball will work well too 
Various wooden shapes (or make your own) from Handwriting Without Tears
Building Mat (in orange here, which is a 9.5x11 foam with smiley face in upper left corner)
Uppercase letter card (or if you child knows the strokes, then you can call out to them)

I spread out the shapes and he worked on finding and building each uppercase letter one at a time.  I put some shapes further away so he'd have to pull and crawl to retrieve the shape (therefore using core and upper body strength). 

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Once he found the shapes needed, he built the letter on the mat beside the stimulus.  You can modify the activity to be more or less challenging.  For example:  to make it harder, you could take away the stimulus cards and ask child to find a "big line and a big curve" and then see if they can make a letter with it (D).  

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