Prewriting skills and techniques prepare your children for handwriting. Through various creative activities children can develop hand strength and control to hold a pencil and obtain control over pencil movements. In doing so, they learn to copy, trace, draw and colour.
Some creative ways to facilitate pre-writing skills in young children include:
Shaving foam
Spread shaving foam over a wipeable surface. Encourage children to isolate their pointer finger to create patterns, shapes and letters in the shaving foam. Some pre-writing strokes to include; |, —, O, +, /, square, \, X, and Δ.
Playdough/Theraputty
Encourage children to use playdough in a variety of ways (pinch, pull, roll, flatten) to create different shapes and letters. Alternatively, encourage children to place and remove small beads or buttons into and out of the playdough. Some children may like to flatten the playdough to create a pizza shape and add the beads/buttons as pizza toppings.
Sticks in sand
Encourage children to use a stick to create shapes, letters or patterns in sand. Using sticks in the sand strengthens muscles in arms and shoulders in preparation for handwriting. In addition, using sticks supports children to develop pencil grip.
Tongs/tweezers with pom poms
Encourage children to use tongs or tweezers to pick up small items such as; pom poms to sort or place into containers. Through engaging in this activity children are able to practise maintaining concentration and attention required for handwriting as well as developing hand strength required for pencil control.
Finger painting
Finger painting can support children to develop the muscles in their fingers, hands, neck and shoulder required for handwriting. Encouraging children to paint with their fingers can assist in allowing children to achieve precise, controlled movements for writing whilst also providing tactile input.
Chalk drawing
Chalk drawing is an interactive method to develop pre-writing skills. Through using chalk children are able to develop appropriate spatial awareness required for letter placement and hand manipulation and strength - essential prerequisite skills for writing. Chalk drawings can be completed vertically on a black board or horizontally on the floor.
