Fun Pen Control Practice!

My son is a GREAT reader, but his handwriting…. oh his handwriting…. its mediocre at best. Its not that he can’t write well, he just doesn’t care enough to work at it. This summer I wanted to find ways to encourage him to work on his writing without making him write his alphabet 573 times a day. I am so glad I stumbled upon Q-Tip painting. It combines art, which my daughter LOVES, and pen control practice, which my son NEEDS! So its a WIN for both kiddos!

Grab yourself the FREE printable worksheets, some q-tips, and paint (we used washable paint!). Then get to work! I love that these designs invite them to explore colors, while also helping my son slow down enough to “dot each dot”.

We added one q-tip to each paint color and then began dotting. My kids tried scooping big globs of paint, but it really works best if you dip the end in the paint, dot 2-3 dots on the paper, and then dip it into the paint again.

I must say, my daughter was super excited that she got to dip her own “tools” for this project!

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I love seeing their work progress. My daughter is much younger than her brother, but she has much more patience and calmness. She desires to make it neat and she takes a lot of time deciding on her color choices.

My son, on the other hand, tried to rush through the sheets as quickly as possible. Though I want the art to be “them”, I also want it to be solid pen control practice. Hence, I did remind him several times to take his time and make sure he was dotting and not scribbling.

Such a fun #GardenWeek activity!

My daughter was SUPER PROUD of her butterfly (on the left) and I think it is pretty great too!

Don’t forget to grab the FREE Printable HERE!

Happy Painting!