Pre-Writing for parents of blue birds and red birds

When you actually think about the amount of control required to hold a pencil and direct it in the manner required to form letters, it is easy to see why activities for young children that strengthen and train the muscles in the hand and fingers are so important. 

While many of the activities below may first appear as child directed play, they are actually important ‘work’ in the life of a child. We try to encourage regular opportunities to engage with these activities (and others like them) as an important first step in the process of learning to write. They are also necessary to continue as the child begins to write more and more. 

If you find that your child is struggling with basic letter formation I highly suggest giving it a break and go back to these foundation skills to help strengthen the muscles and increase controlled movements. Then move to straight lines of different lengths and angles and circles. Letter writing is much more than just copying what they think they see (another blog post to follow regarding the best way to teach young children to write letters)

1. Play-Doh ... rolling, pinching, cutting (with a knife or scissors)

2. Stringing or lacing (this helps with patterning as well  as they need to be uniform movements of up and down)

3. Scissors (just a straight snip of a narrow sheet of paper)

4. Daily life activities: Pouring, scooping, pinching and spooning 

5. Tracing (not of pre-printed worksheets) with stencils. 

6. Getting dressed (zipping, buttoning, pulling on of socks)