Lazy Eight Handwriting Grand Prix Fine Motor Skill Builder – Free Printables
If you want to practice pre-writing skills, crossing midline, and fine motor skills, check out this FREE printable packet – Lazy Eight Handwriting Grand Prix Fine Motor Skill Builder. You can download it for free at the end of this post. Children can work on improving the flow and control of arm movements, develops eye-hand coordination, and directionality which all are important building blocks to develop hand skills. After you print, it is a super easy activity to send with children for carrying over fine motor skill practice at home or in the classroom.
This freebie is from Fantastic Fingers® Fine Motor Skill Builders Level 1.
Why Do the Lazy Eight Handwriting Grand Prix Fine Motor Skill Builder?
Every child should have the best possible opportunities to develop skilled hand function, so essential for all life tasks. Children also use their fine motor skills in order to learn how to learn.
Remember, children spend up to 60% of their class time engaged in fine motor activities. Good fine motor skills are vital, being one of four main predictors of early academic success.
In order to quickly develop skilled hand function for life and literacy, activities should build specific performance components or foundations. In addition, it is important to show children how to do these activities in the most beneficial way. This includes correct positioning, the right techniques, making the activities more challenging and developing skill levels systematically.
This Lazy Eight Handwriting activity encourages children to practice the following skills:
- visual motor skills
- wrist extension
- tripod grasp
- hand and finger strengthening
- shoulder strengthening
- visual spatial skills
- pre-writing skills
- Kinaesthesia & tactile awareness in hand
- flow and control of arm movements
- eye-hand coordination
- directionality
How to Use the Lazy Eight Handwriting Grand Prix Fine Motor Skill Builder
You will the following materials: several large sheets of paper (or use the FREE printable Figure 8 Loop), Blu Tack (or similar to secure paper to vertical surface), felt marker, thick crayon pieces about 2 inches (4.5 cm) long, and a timer.
The child sits on a suitable chair with their feet flat on the ground, and knees just touching a smooth vertical surface e.g. indoor wall. Secure the paper sideways in line with their middle and at face height.
Draw for the child a large doubled lined, lazy eight racing track or download your FREE copy below with a start/finish line across the top left side.
Using your index fingers, take turns going from the start line around the track, crossing over the middle to make diagonal lines, and back. Once the child can do this motion (use arrows to help if needed), both choose crayon pieces which will represent your racing cars.
Take turns drawing laps with the crayon ‘cars’ held in your preferred hands in the tips of your 3 Friends (thumb, index and middle fingers).
When you are ready, have a race where you time and record how long it takes for each crayon car to do a certain number of laps e.g. 5.
Tips and Suggestions for the Lazy Eight Handwriting Grand Prix Fine Motor Skill Builder
Aim to not stop while drawing the lazy eight patterns, and don’t press too hard or too softly. Try using other colors, and take turns racing several cars around the track. See if the child can draw the initial lazy eight handwriting track.
Just for fun, also drive little toy cars around the track. Instead of calling it a racing track, make it a butterfly, and use many colors to make rainbow colored wings, draw in a head and body. This shape could be turned into google eyes with a mask or glasses.
Use chalk pieces on a large chalkboard instead. By writing with chalk, the child receives different proprioceptive and tactile feedback as they write compared to crayons.
Want More Fine Motor Skill Builders?
Busy OTs, teachers, and parents will love these Fantastic Fingers® Fine Motor Skill Builders to develop hand function in children. Three levels of fine motor activities are ready to go!
We all understand that children need practice time to develop hand function that is essential for life skills. But it can be a real struggle to find the time to create graded levels of activities to complete at home or in the classroom.
Developed by an experienced OT, Ingrid C. King, the Fantastic Fingers® Fine Motor Skill Builders includes 54 pages total of 3 levels of fine motor activities (18 pages each) plus an introductory letter in Word format (you can edit it!). FIND OUT MORE.
Download your FREE Lazy Eight Handwriting Grand Prix Fine Motor Skill Builder
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