When our eldest started to write, I spent quite a bit of time writing dashed letters for him to trace as he practiced and learned to write letters and words by himself.

But then somewhere along the way, I picked up this simple tip: so simple it’s genius!

Just use a highlighter or yellow marker to write (normally, not dashed), and let your child trace that!

I know, right? If you’ve never heard this and you have young ones who are not yet or are just learning to write, I’ll give you a moment to perform the happy dance.

Now even very young kids can “write” their own names. And this tip is also great for helping kids write thank you notes: they can dictate a short message to you, then they can trace their words themselves even if they don’t know how to write yet at all! And for little preschool or kindergarten friends’ birthdays, they can sign the card for the gift themselves. Neat-o.

[Update: I know that you can find a website or download a font and just print out dashed words… but I like the freedom to work on the fly and not have to set up, type, and print something… Not to mention the fact that much of what I write on–thank you notes, birthday cards, etc.–aren’t so easy to run through the printer…]

So, anyone else out there have any nifty kid-writing tips? Do tell!

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