National Handwriting Day has been celebrated each year since 1977. National Handwriting Day was started in 1977 by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association, an organisation that’s based in Washington, D.C., USA. Their aim for coming up with this national day was to promote the use of pens, pencils and writing paper.
In today’s society, technology is everywhere. Gone are the days when we would need to send handwritten letters or postcards to relatives to keep in touch: we’re now at a stage where we can send a quick text message for instant communication. But, despite the growth of technology, handwriting is still part of our daily lives, especially in education and employment. That is, even if we find ourselves doing it less often. There are still cases where people won’t have access to devices and will need to make notes by hand. Plus, handwriting can be a beautiful art form, which means there’s all the more reason to preserve it.
That’s why National Handwriting Day is increasing in popularity each year. It celebrates the art of handwriting, and allows us to take a step back and realise the value of a pen and paper!
Our children took great pride in talking about the letters in their name, showing all the great signs of early handwriting skills and mark making for our younger children we explored different ways of mark making and using our bodies in a way that develops the movements and skills needed to be able to hold a pencil. We started with big gross motor movements by balancing along the stepping stones and climbing and clambering over obstacles such as logs in the garden. We then used fine motor skills to thread rings onto a stand and thread wooden pegs through holes. The children then enjoyed rolling cars through foam to make different tracks and from there progressed to using their hands and finger tips to create marks and patterns and as a group did a giant collaborative picture; using different markers to be creative together.
