Pre-writing with your child

Pre-writing activities lay a solid foundation for future literacy development. Skills to incorporate when creating pre-writing activities include:

- Holding a writing utensil with palm or a few fingers

- Hand-eye coordination

- Crossing the midline (one hand moving across the page versus needing to switch hands

One activity I like to do is write down our names. Since my son likes to copy what others are doing, he “writes” his name too. I identify the letters in his name to help him make the connection between the written letter and it’s corresponding sound. It was not long until I noticed he was verbally spelling out his name while trying to write his name on his own!

Here’s some other pre-writing activities to try with your child:

- Coloring with crayons, markers, or colored pencils

- Painting with a paintbrush

- Copying horizontal or vertical lines and circles

- Draw shapes

- Connect dots