I began my very first blog entry with Valentine’s Day a year ago. I wrote this before I “tweeted” and engaged in other various social networking schemes.  So, you may have missed this.   To celebrate the first year anniversary of The Motor Story, I am re-publishing this post.  My heart goes out to all the little boys who struggle with writing, drawing and figuring out what girls want on a daily basis.

The trauma of Valentine’ s Day begins early for little boys.  Mothers think this is a fabulous opportunity to give their sons practice with handwriting.  So they dash to the store and pick out cellophane wrapped boxes of miniature note cards...hundreds of them.  The packaging is torn off and there sit five hundred hearts and cupids waiting for the John Hancock.  A kind hearted Mom will allow her fledgeling writer to initial the card ... the true sadist will force the child to include “I love you” ...  or “Be mine -  Love Johnny!”   So the nightmare begins ...

Generally, the little hands of the nascent writer are not ready to write more than a few very large A’s  B’s and C’s at a time.  The muscles for writing are just beginning to develop.  Forcing the issue simply leads to bad habits forming in how to hold the pencil and/or developing hatred for pencils and other sundry writing devices.

So, how does the little one manage to fill up his classmates construction paper decorated shoe boxes?  Skip the trip to the store and read on ...Here are a few activities  that your little guy might ACTUALLY ENJOY ...  and in the process, readiness skills for writing develop!

STAMPS are a great way to strengthen the exact muscles needed for holding a pencil but require less work.  Wooden handled stamps at least one inch in size are perfect when the child places the thumb on one side of the wooden handle and fingers on the other  side to hold.  These cost between $5 and $10 dollars ... only one is needed,  really. 

A less expensive solution, but more creative and even better for hand development is to use a raw potato.  Slice it in half and then carve out a simple heart.   Dip the design side of the potato in paint and then stamp paper. 

Getting used to using the INDEX or POINTER FINGER is another important job of the early writer.  So, an easy way to fill in a heart is to dip the index finger into paint and then DOT the inside of a heart pre drawn by the grown up.  Try using miniature sponges as well.  The child should hold the cut up sponge with the tips of his index and middle finger along with the thumb tip.

Now, when it comes to the opposite sex,  GIRLS LOVE Valentine’s  Day.  They take great delight in decorating the boxes and will spend hours working on those little love notes.  The challenge here is satisfying her creative outlet.  Yes, there is the occasional creative little boy as well, thank goodness.  So, lucky parents with one of those, please read on.  Here are some suggested activities that enhance the creative efforts and don’t require kits of beads and baubles from the store.

PUSH PIN HEARTS:  This is a Montessori activity which is designed to strengthen very specific muscles for using a pencil.  Even boys enjoy this since they tend to like “pokey” things.  Place a pot holder or dish towel under a piece of paper.  Better yet, have the child lie on the floor and work on a carpet.  Draw a heart and have the child hold a “push pin” exactly the way you are suppose to hold a pencil (ask the teacher).  Then the child pokes little holes all the way around the design on the line previously drawn.  If done carefully, it is easy for the adult to push the design out.  Of course, since the pin is sharp, adult supervision is recommended.  These little pins can be found at most stationary stores.  The large size pins are more forgiving, so, easier for the child to use.

SCISSOR CUTTING:   also strengthens all those important muscles for eventual writing.  So, hand over the scissors-good quality such as Friskar preschool scissors will do.   Get out the piles of magazines you meant to throw out and let ‘im rip.  Actually, you can interpret that literally.  Along with cutting, using the finger tips to rip paper is a wonderful bilateral activity.  Dipping in glue and pasting  gives a great tactile kick to the activity.  Dig into those old junk drawers and find old buttons, etc. and a creative masterpiece is about to unfold.

DRAWING HEARTS:  Now my job as a therapist is to nudge the children towards proficiency in eventual writing.  So here’s a great thing about Valentine’s Day.  The letter V helps us work on diagonal lines and is the foundation of drawing a heart.  Imagine three dots of the V, then a dot between the two upper ends of the V lines; two rainbow or bumps connect the top to form a heart.

As with any demanding task,  make sure that before the activity begins and immediately following there is time for unstructured play.  Running around outside or making an obstacle course: crawling through blanketed tunnels  and climbing over furniture are great ways to release that pent up energy.  And about the pile of 500 cards ... make sure only about a dozen are done in one sitting.  The 8 PM pile at the kitchen table on February 13th is a really bad idea.