Try a Fine-Motor Journal to Encourage Enjoyment of Writing

Most kids do not love learning to write by practicing letter formation. And the truth is, there are certain fine-motor skills that need to be there before kids can learn to write.

To make both getting ready to write and developing those physical skills a little more fun for kids and teachers/parents alike, why not try setting up a fine-motor journal for preschoolers?

This idea comes from Stay at Home Educator, and it involves making little books where the kids put in stickers and draw lines between the stickers or do other activities. They get the fine-motor work both of peeling the stickers and controlling a crayon without the pressure of making letters, and in the end they have a book to show for their efforts, which should also get them excited about later writing books with real letters and words.

Check out her post for all the details and more tips for teaching writing to little ones.

[Photo: Stay at Home Educator.]

So why is tracing important for my toddler to learn and does it help with handwriting? Yes, it does, Learning to trace teaches your child fine motor skills. Tracing is not only limited to preschoolers, it is suitable for all development ages when learning to write, not matter what the age.

Tracing, when added to your child’s drawing time, helps polish those pre-writing abilities, establishing a solid basis for drawing and emerging writing. Highlights: Tracing helps young children strengthen their pre-writing abilities and lays the groundwork for drawing and writing letters and words.

Looking for more tracing worksheets and activities for your child? Check out these tracing articles. If you are looking for some great worksheets check out these tracing workbooks on Amazon.

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Teach the Teacher Printable Worksheets: A Fun…

Human brains are pretty amazing, allowing us to think, feel, create, communicate, move and more. But humans aren’t the only animals with cool brains, as Crab Museum explains in the book The No-Brainer Brain Explainer (illustrated by Bruno Valasse).

This book, aimed at kids in grades 1-4, is colorful and silly but also educational about how brains actually work, with billions of neurons sending electrical and chemical signals around the body.

“Everything we think, feel and experience comes from an electrical relay race, with neurons passing chemical batons to each other,” the book says. “The constant chatter of billions of brain cells creates your entire world.”

The book compares the brains of mammals to those of crabs (the book is “written” by a crab after all) and notes that crabs have fewer neurons and of course are much smaller, but they have separate parts of their brains that control their eyes and their legs. Crabs are also capable of remembering things, using tools and solving puzzles.

Some animals’ brains allow them to know more about their world in different ways from humans, such as spiders being sensitive to vibrations in their webs and catfish having an amazing sense of taste, with taste sensors all over their bodies.

It notes that 95 percent of brain activity goes toward things we do unconsciously, like breathing, walking and catching a ball flying toward us. It also talks about dreams, memory, how our emotions try to predict the future, where brains came from and fun facts about brains. For example, did you know a sperm whale is believed to have the biggest brain of any creature that’s even lived? Their brains weigh 18 pounds, compared to just 2.5 pounds for humans.

Information on what creatures have the smallest brains, the toughest brains, the most brains and those who actually eat their own brains will delight kids (and maybe gross them out a little bit). They’ll also enjoy learning about the mycelium network of fungi, which is like a brain without a body, and slime molds, which are like a brain without a brain.

It ends talking about why human brains are so special because we’ve found ways to work together, communicate and build communities on a scale bigger than any other animal.

Kids and adults alike will enjoy this colorful, silly and informational book about brains!

About the book: 64 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail price $19.99.

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