Did you know that you can foster writing skills before your child gets to preschool? Early learning is essential, but it can be hard to know what activities are best for your child— and which ones are worth your time! We’re here to give you some inspiration to get your preschooler ready for writing with exercises that work on fine motor control, pattern recognition, and writing itself.
Early Learning Activities for Young Writers
The journey of learning to write is similar to the journey of learning to speak. Step by step, the patterns of language and writing systems fall into place in an orderly manner. This starts off with children first learning that there is a writing system. Being able to separate drawn scribbles from written letters and understanding that words are written to convey a message, means children can start understanding writing patterns.
Playdough Letters
When you’re introducing your child to the alphabet, it’s important to keep the activity engaging by using something they’re familiar with. If your child has made playdough creations before, creating letters out of playdough is an excellent way to introduce them to writing! You’ll need some worksheets with large and clear block letters, and playdough in any color of your choice. Roll the playdough into “snakes” and fill in the letters on the page. This is a great early learning exercise to get your child used to letters, even if they don’t know the corresponding sounds yet.
Painting With Q-Tips
Upgrade your arts and crafts activities to help with writing with one special trick: use q-tips as paintbrushes! Q-tips are smaller than paintbrushes, so your child focuses more on their grip and fine motor control to paint with them. You can also get creative with the kinds of art you’re making— polka dot paintings with many different colors also boost your child’s creativity. Holding a q-tip and gently pressing each dot of paint to paper helps prepare your preschooler for gripping a pencil.
Threading Beads
There are so many activities with beads that help with early writing, as they’re one of the best for fostering good hand-eye coordination and fine motor control. You can take a collection of beads and thread them onto a pipe cleaner (which is even better for holiday decorating!) or set up an activity ahead of time. Using a colorful marker, draw out a mix of lines onto a sheet of paper. Make sure to add some variety with curved lines, straight lines, and corners, but don’t let the lines overlap. For this activity, children line up beads along the drawn lines, working their fine motor skills and following the pattern.
Writing In Corn Meal
When you’re all out of paper for your children to draw on, use something else! Take a shallow baking tray and cover the bottom with flour, sugar, or corn meal. This makes an infinite canvas, able to be used again immediately every time it’s filled. Children can use their fingers or a writing utensil to make letters and shapes from the corn meal, letting them practice movements on repeat. Just give the baking tray a shake when you’re ready for a new blank canvas, and you can keep on going!
Early Learning at Parkland Children’s Academy
In the foundational years, it’s essential to focus on early learning. While learning at this age looks different, and a lot of it is done through play, a structured curriculum can help give your child the best head start in their academic development. If you’re interested in seeing what Parkland Children’s Academy can offer your preschooler, contact us for a tour of our early learning facilities and chat to one of our experts about our curriculum.