Fine Motor · 5 min read
Letters Before Pencils: How Young Brains Learn to Write
Why young children learn letters best through movement, touch and play, the building blocks that come before a pencil, and the multisensory tools I use with families.
Headlamp Maze & Cross Posters (2-Pack)
Why Erin picked it
Tape a poster to the wall, put on a headlamp and trace the maze with the light by moving the head while the eyes stay locked on the beam. It trains eye-head coordination and smooth tracking, and kids think it's a game. Pair with the headlamp below.
Kids working on tracking, reading fluency or copying from the board.
Your child has a diagnosed vision condition. Check with their eye doctor first.
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In our clinic
Hands-on review
How I use it with kids
This is one of my favorite ways to make eye work feel like a game. Tape a poster to the wall, put a headlamp on your child, and have them trace the maze with the beam by turning their head while their eyes stay locked on the light.
That combination trains eye-head coordination and smooth tracking, the same skills a child uses to follow a line of text or copy from the board. The cross poster adds practice with straight lines and crossing the middle of the body.
Start slowly, and make the movements bigger as they get the hang of it. Keep sessions to a few minutes and stop if your child gets a headache or feels dizzy. The headlamp is sold separately.
Erin Wiggins, OT · How I choose products
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From the journal
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