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PSPKK12324 Comments

Writing the Alphabet for Preschoolers: the letter W

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There are so many ways to practice forming letters for preschoolers.  Pencil and paper is just one way, and sometimes that’s too challenging.  Read on to find a dozen ways we made the letter W!

ways-to-make-W---the-measured-mom

The letter W is a tricky letter.  The down-up-down-up motion can be hard to remember.  In this list of ways that we wrote W, I’ll progress from easy to hard.

child placing power magnets on W is for watermelon worksheet

My kids love to use power magnets to complete these pages from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

child placing dot stickers on W is for whale worksheet

My Three used round office stickers to complete this dot sticker page.

child placing wagon wheel pasta on letter W outline

To make this easier, I could have had my Three make a W out of wagon wheel pasta without the printed W to work in.  However, I learned right away that he’s not ready for that.  Putting objects within a letter’s shape is a great first step!  You can get my big letter W here.

child filling letter W outline with Wheat Thins

Next, he filled the W with Wheat Thins.

child with letter W outline filled with yarn strips

Filling the letter W with yarn strips required a little more thinking.

child writing on letter W worksheet

My Three loves that he can do these handwriting pages himself by writing within the letters.  You can see that he crossed out the tiny W’s. “Those are too hard for me.”  The idea is to start with the biggest letter and keep writing until you are at the tiny ones.  Some day he’ll be ready for the little ones too. I didn’t print one of these for my Four until he protested. “I want to do one of those too! They’re fun!” You can get all of my Letters of All Sizes worksheets here.

child making letter W with fingers

While watching her brothers make the letter W, my Six offered this way.

child writing on letter W worksheet

Here’s another beginning handwriting page. My Four completed this one. You can get it here.

child writing letter W with water on chalkboard

Painting with water is a favorite way to make letters.  My Four made this one.

letter W written in chocolate pudding

Writing letters in chocolate pudding is tricky, but delicious!   My Three needed a lot of help, but my Four just needed a quick reminder: down, up, down, up!

child making letter W with play dough worms

My Four made a W out of play dough worms.

child writing on letter W worksheet

Finally, here are my most challenging handwriting pages so far.  You can see that there’s a lot of guidance until the last line, when kids are given just a single dot to begin.  You can get your copy here.

Alphabet Curriculum for Preschool

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Filed Under: General Tagged With: preschool, kindergarten, Pre-K, fine motor

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Reader Interactions

24 Comments

  1. Rachel

    February 10, 2014 at 9:31 pm

    Came across this post as I am trying to find a good way to teach my 4 year old brother Walker the letter W . . . Thanks! This will make it fun 🙂

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      February 15, 2014 at 7:25 pm

      He’s certainly blessed to have a sister helping him learn! Glad you stopped by, Rachel!

      Reply to this comment
  2. iGameMom

    July 16, 2013 at 11:35 pm

    Great activity ideas. I am featuring this on iGameMom’s Mom’s Library. Thanks for sharing! http://igamemom.com/2013/07/17/fine-motor-skill-activities-moms-library/

    Reply to this comment
  3. Carrie

    July 12, 2013 at 1:18 pm

    What great ideas!! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      July 12, 2013 at 7:21 pm

      You’re welcome, Carrie!

      Reply to this comment
  4. PragmaticMom

    July 10, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    Wow, I love all the different ways you use to learn the letter W! I bet your son has it down now!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      July 12, 2013 at 7:21 pm

      Well, my four year old does — my three year old is getting there 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by!

      Reply to this comment
  5. Katie @ Gift of Curiosity

    July 9, 2013 at 9:53 pm

    Thanks for linking to so many great resources for learning to write the letters! I’m downloading some now to use with my kids!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      July 12, 2013 at 7:20 pm

      So glad you can use some, Katie!

      Reply to this comment
  6. Beth

    July 9, 2013 at 5:08 am

    So many fun ways to practice making W’s! Thanks for linking up to TGIF! Have a great week,
    Beth =)

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      July 12, 2013 at 7:20 pm

      Thanks, Beth!

      Reply to this comment
  7. Carolyn Hadsell

    July 7, 2013 at 10:42 am

    Added it!
    http://pinterest.com/inspiredprek/writing/

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      July 12, 2013 at 7:20 pm

      Thanks for that pin!!

      Reply to this comment
  8. Carolyn Hadsell

    July 7, 2013 at 10:38 am

    Wow! You hit all the ways I have seen and ones I never thought of! Very creative and usable!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      July 12, 2013 at 7:20 pm

      Thank you, Carolyn – we’re always looking for new ways!

      Reply to this comment
  9. Jana @ HowToRunAHomeDaycare

    July 5, 2013 at 12:50 pm

    Great ideas for W. Thanks, I pinned this to my letter board.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      July 12, 2013 at 7:19 pm

      Thanks so much for the pin, Jana!

      Reply to this comment
  10. Debbie @ http://kidsbibledebjackson.blogspot.com/

    July 5, 2013 at 8:57 am

    Great ideas! Pinned it! Thanks for sharing at TGIF!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      July 12, 2013 at 7:19 pm

      Thanks for the pin!

      Reply to this comment
  11. Emma

    July 4, 2013 at 11:29 am

    I love all these different ideas! We’re working on writing letters now, so these will certainly come in handy. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply to this comment
    • annageig

      July 4, 2013 at 5:28 pm

      So glad you found something useful, Emma!

      Reply to this comment
  12. Caroline

    July 4, 2013 at 10:07 am

    What a comprehensive list of ways to form the letter “w!” Thanks for sharing. (Still in love with your site. Thanks for all the time you put in to it!)

    Reply to this comment
    • annageig

      July 4, 2013 at 5:28 pm

      Thank you, Caroline — it consumes all my free time, but I really don’t need TV anyway! I’m thankful to have discovered a passion beyond meal prep and house cleaning 🙂

      Reply to this comment

Trackbacks

  1. Fine Motor Skill Activities – Mom’s Library says:
    July 16, 2013 at 11:31 pm

    […] Can you think of 10 ways of writing letters?  I couldn’t till I read the article on writing the letter W. […]

    Reply to this comment

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