Fun Activties That Indirectly Prepare Your Child For Writing

I know there is a lot of controversy between school teachers and parents on the appropriate age  for children to begin writing. At age two, some parents expect their children to begin writing, while some wait until age three.

Montessori believes that there's a period in the child's life when he / she learns skills effortlessly. She called this period The Sensitive Period. There's a sensitive period for language which starts at birth through to age six, during which she believes that at about four and a half, children explode into writing.

However, this doesn't mean that children can not be introduced to writing much earlier. At three and a half some of my children in class who have worked with a lot of pre-writing activities develop their wrist muscles and pincer grip and are ready for writing.

In the part of the world where I live, most parents associate the child's learning to when the child begins to write. Of course this is so wrong because babies start learning even while in the womb and continue right after they are born. There's a lot your child can do way before he / she starts writing. There are also a lot of ways you can contribute in preparing your child for writing.

Here's a few...

THREADING BEADS: A simple threading activity is an awesome way to develop your child’s fine motor skills. The child uses the thumb and the index fingers (same fingers used for writing) while threading. You can easily create an activity with sizable beads and shoe lace. You’d be amazed at how much fun your child would have doing this activity. 

THREADING TEMPLATES: This is an extension of threading beads. After your child has worked with the beads you can create simple templates for him / her to thread using embossed card-boards and single paper punch. Draw an outline of any objects, fruit, animal, shape etc on a cardboard, cut out the outline and punch holes. It’s better to laminate if you want your template to last longer.

CLOTHES PEG CLAMPING: This another fun activity that you can try at home or in school. All you need to do is gather pegs in a bowl and let the child try to clamp the pegs to the rim of the bowl. With this activity the child also make use of the thumb and the index finger while opening and closing the pegs. You'll be amazed at how much effort the child needs to put in before he / she learns how to close and open a peg. What's more amazing is the fact that while doing this activity the child is exercising his pincer grip and wrist muscles which is need for writing.

TRANSFERRING USING TWEEZERS: In manipulating a pair of tweezers the child also needs the thumb and the index finger (see how this also works?). Children are generally curious about objects and are always ready to explore. Give the child a two bowls, one with large (buttons, beans, beads, pom poms, cotton balls etc) and ask him/ her to transfer from one bowl to the other. I used pom poms to create a math activity that I will be sharing in my next post.

SCRIBBLING AND COLORING: Children always enjoy coloring. Chunky crayons and color pencils are easier for the children when they are just starting off. With scribbling, the pencils strokes may not be defined initially but be patient they eventually will.

PAINTING: Every child loves to paint so let them paint. Don't be worried about the mess. You can control it by getting them plastic aprons and using washable paint. You can also get the children to assist in cleaning up after.

TRACING SANDPAPER LETTERS: Depending on the readiness of the child, you can decide to present the letters of the alphabet. This is a Montessori activity that basically introduces the child to the letter sounds and the impressions of the letters. The child learns to trace around each letter and say the sounds. I recommend reading this post on the presentation of sandpapers to children.

TRACING IN A SAND TRAY: This is an excellent way of reinforcing lessons on sandpaper letters. You can get children to trace out the letters using the fingers on the sand. I recently researched on ways that I can make our sand trays looks interesting. I will definitely be sharing when I try it out.

After trying these out, you'll notice that the children will become more confident  and ready to write.

I hope you find this post useful.

Please share how it worked out for you.