Go Vertical

Want an easy way to develop your child's pre-writing skills?  Go vertical!  When the occupational therapist visited TBSCC last spring, she recommended we provide more opportunities for children to work on vertical surfaces.  Vertical surfaces can make an average activity into one that develops writing skills. They require your child to sit or stand upright, strengthening core body muscles.  As your child’s arm moves against the pull of gravity she lifts her arms to reach for the activity and the arm and shoulder muscles get a workout, too.

Vertical surfaces also place the hand in the best position for developing wrist strength and stability. The vertical surface requires your child to extend the wrist back. An extended wrist is the position used for most mature grasps during handwriting. Unlike with a horizontal surface, when the wrist is extended while using a vertical surface, your child’s thumb moves out of the palm of the hand. Once the thumb is out, it can move in an opposing manner with the other fingers for precise handling of small objects, like a pencil or paint brush. This position supports the hand in a balanced use of the hand’s intrinsic muscles, which are the small muscles responsible for the fine, skillful movements used in writing and cutting tasks. When playing on a horizontal surface like a table, children will often place their wrists in a bent position, which does not allow for skillful use of these small hand muscles.

So join us.  Go vertical!