Celebrate National Handwriting Day on January 23rd

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Established in 1977 on the birthday of one of America's most celebrated scribes, John Hancock, National Handwriting Day will celebrate its 44^th anniversary on Saturday, January 23, 2021.  Created by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA) to acknowledge the history and influence of penmanship, National Handwriting Day encourages everyone to put a writing instrument to work today and celebrate handwriting. 

Handwriting Helps Memory and Cognitive Development
The benefits from handwriting are numrerous ranging from information retention and creativity to socialization and intelligence.  A recent study conducted by the Developmental Neuroscience Laboratory at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, concluded that children who wrote by hand showed increased activation of areas of the brain which are important in the learning process.  The leader of the study, Professor Audrey van de Meer claims "writing gives your brain 'hooks' to hang information on, similar to marking pages in books. Add to this the importance of fine motor skills: a keystroke is repetitive and uncreative, whereas you're constantly challenging your motor skills when writing." While the use of technology may make certain tasks easier, the act of putting a pen or pencil to paper and writing has been proven to have a positive impact across the board. Van de Meer concludes "in order for the brain to develop in the best possible way, we need to use it for what it's best at. If we don't challenge our brain, it can't reach its full potential."

As we recognize National Handwriting Day, WIMA suggests honoring the art of handwriting in any of the following ways:

1. Just write.
   Whether it's a letter, a postcard, a note, a list or a story, take a moment to write something by hand. Grab your favorite pen or pencil and just write!
2. Sketch, draw or scribble.
   If your creativity is not in your writing, channel your inner Picasso and create art with your favorite writing instrument.
3. Analyze your handwriting.
   Your handwriting can not only communicate your feeling with the written words, but it can also be a window to your personality by simply analyzing the way you write your words.  Delve into the world of graphology and learn a little bit more about yourself!
4. Teach someone cursive.
   Encourage a student to write in cursive. If they are not already familiar with cursive, show them how to create their signature in cursive!
5. Compose your goals. 
   The past months have been challenging for everyone.  Why not start the new year fresh and jot down your goals for 2021? It always means more when you write them down. Post them somewhere you can look at them every day to keep you on track!

"However, you choose to honor National Handwriting Day, the most important element is to write," says David H. Baker, Executive Director of WIMA. "Whether it's a letter, a note or a piece of art, putting your favorite writing instrument to work will honor the importance of handwriting."

SOURCE Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association