In these activities you practice drawing long horizontal lines across the page. 

Drawing long horizontal lines is generally more difficult than drawing long vertical lines - so it takes a more practice to get it right. However, it is well worth taking time to get the action right because it helps the child to develop the control needed for moving the hand sideways when writing.  

Remember: Long lines are drawn using a combination of shoulder and elbow movements. The wrist is held straight and the pencil should look backwards past the shoulder. 

Activity: Long horizontal lines joining circles and squares

You will need: Long Horizontal Lines template and a marker 

To create a template: Draw 5 evenly spaced circles down the left hand side of the paper. Draw 5 squares opposite the circles down the right hand side of the paper.  

Instructions

Demonstrate how you draw a horizontal line from the middle of the top circle on the right straight across the page and end in the middle of the top square on the right hand side of the paper.  
Draw your child's attention to the sound of the marker moving down the page – it should be continuous with no stops.
Now encourage your child complete the worksheet working from top to bottom,always starting the line in the circle. 
Once the task is completed, encourage your child to evaluate the quality of the lines: which one are the best? 

Will (4 years) still has some difficulty drawing a straight horizontal line in a consistent manner. 

Roan (6 years) has fairly good control over the straightness and direction of her lines. 

Activity: a page of parallel horizontal lines 

In this activity the child is encouraged to fill a blank sheet of paper with long horizontal lines starting on the left hand side of the paper and ending close to the right hand edge. 

You will need:  Several sheets of blank A4 paper, a white board or chalk board, as well as a marker or chalk.

Instructions 

• Demonstrate how you draw several long lines across the page, starting close to the left hand side of the paper and ending just before the right hand edge of the paper. 
• Draw attention to the sound of the marker moving across the paper: it should be even and  not too loud.
• Encourage your child to fill the page with horizontal lines. 
  • If your child is pressing very hard or drawing a line which is jagged,  you may find that speeding up the movement helps to improve the quality of the movement and straightness of the line. 

Activity: drawing lines down and across the page

This activity combines drawing horizontal and vertical lines to make a grid. 

You will need: A sheet of A4 paper and several different colored markers. 

Instructions 

Encourage your child to fill a page with parallel horizontal and vertical lines to form a grid. Use different colors to create a multicolored grid. 

W (5 years) draws relatively straight lines but still needs practice controlling the direction of the lines.