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I remember sitting at my kitchen table, practicing my spelling words by writing them in shaving cream. It was messy, ridiculous, and fun. I loved it so much that I took the same activity into my classrooms twenty years later. It always seemed to work.

Even now, when I need to remember a speech or presentation, I find myself grabbing a good old-fashioned composition notebook and writing down my thoughts. For me, things just seem to stick better when my hand is moving across paper.

For a while, it felt like there was a shift away from handwriting. Schools were quicker to dismiss poor handwriting because “they will be on computers soon enough.” Thankfully, that pendulum seems to be swinging back.

Earlier this year, researchers asked five-year-old prereaders to practice new letters and two-syllable words either by handwriting or typing. Across nearly every measure, the children who wrote letters by hand outperformed students who practiced via typing.

And it is not just young children. In a 2020 study, researchers monitored the brains of seventh graders and “young adults” while they used pencils and keyboards. The brain showed deeper thinking activity when participants wrote with a pencil than when they typed on a keyboard.

Another recent study found that the focused attention required for handwriting boosts working memory. And we know how important working memory is for school success.

All of this research points in the same direction. We want students to be proficient at both typing and handwriting. We absolutely still need strong typing skills. At the same time, we cannot ignore the cognitive benefits of putting pencil to paper.

So what does this mean for us as parents and caregivers? It means we should lean in to handwriting.

For our prereaders and writers: This looks like window markers and bathtub crayons (😭) for writing on the walls, and painting and coloring at an easel to activate the whole arm. Big movements help build the fine motor skills that will support handwriting later.

For our early readers and writers: This looks like “old-fashioned” letter-and-number tracing books, handwriting and coloring birthday cards instead of buying them, and giving lots of access to “cool” paper and all kinds of colorful writing tools.

For our established readers and writers: This looks like using paper and pencil for outlines and early drafts, handwriting flashcards for studying, and annotating while reading. The goal is to keep their hands and brains working together.

And if all of that feels like one more thing to remember, here is the good news. You do not need a fancy program to build your child’s brain. You probably already have everything you need in your kitchen or bathroom.

A pencil. Some paper. Maybe even a can of shaving cream.

One helps learning stick. The other sticks to your counters. Both are surprisingly good for learning.